周瑞莲　姜红伟

You may know the song Happy Birthday very well. But do you know about its writer? It was written by an American girl. And now she has become a very rich woman.

When she was a child , she was poor. Once she was invited to her friends birthday party ,she was very pleased but sad. Because she had not enough money to buy presents for them.

“The party is coming soon. Now I have little money.” Tears ran down her face. Later that night she was in bed, thinking about the presents when the door opened and in came her grandma. “What is happening?” her grandma asked. Hearing the girls story, she said， “Dont worry. I think I can help you. How about singing a song together? Happy birthday to you…” What a beautiful song! They sang and sang. Suddenly she woke up. It was a dream! She decided to write it down at once and sing it to her friends at the party.

When she sang the song at the party the next day, her little friends were very happy. “How wonderfully she sings! We have never heard such a song before. Thank you for giving us the special present！” said one of them. And they learnt to sing it together. Later the girl became well-known in America.

根据短文内容回答下列问题：

1. Who wrote the song Happy Birthday?

2. How did she feel when her friends invited her to the birthday party? Why?

3. What did her grandma say when she heard the girls story?

4. Was it true to sing “Happy Birthday” with her grandma?

5. How was the girl later?

译文：你可能很熟悉《生日快乐》这首歌，但是你知道它的作者吗？它是由一个美国女孩创作的。现在她已经成了一个非常富有的妇人。

小时候，她很穷。一次，她被邀请参加朋友们的生日聚会，她很高兴，但又难过。因为她没钱给他们买礼物。“聚会马上就要到了，现在我几乎没有钱。”泪水滑过她的脸庞。夜深了，她还躺在床上想着礼物的事。这时门开了，她的奶奶走了进来。“出什么事了？”奶奶问。听了女孩的故事，她说：“别急，我想我能帮助你。一起唱首歌怎么样？祝你生日快乐！……”多优美的一首歌呀！她们唱呀唱呀，突然她醒了，原来是一个梦！她决定立刻记下来，在聚会上唱给她的朋友们听。

当她在第二天的聚会上唱这首歌时，朋友们都很高兴。“她唱得多好听呀！我们以前从来没有听过这样一首歌。谢谢你送给我们这么特殊的礼物！”他们中的一个人说道。接着他们就一起学会了唱这首歌。后来，这个女孩在美国非常知名。