Question

拓展与应用：

　　Any discussion of Shakespeare's life is bound to be loaded with superlatives(最高). In the course of a quarter century, Shakespeare wrote some thirty-eight plays. Taken individually, several of them are among the world's finest written works; taken collectively, they establish Shakespeare as the foremost literary talent of his own Elizabethan Age and, even more impressively, as a genius whose creative achievement has never been surpassed in any age.

　　In light of Shakespeare's stature and the passage of nearly four centuries since his death, it is not surprising that hundreds of Shakespeare biographies have been written in all of the world's major languages. Scanning(略读) this panorama(全景), most accounts of the Bard's life (and certainly the majority of modern studies) are contextual(文脉上的) in the sense that they place the figure of Shakespeare against the rich tapestry of his “Age” or “Times” or “Society.” This characteristic approach to Shakespeare biography is actually a matter of necessity, for without such fleshing out into historical, social, and literary settings, the skeletal (骨架的) character of what we know about Shakespeare from primary sources would make for slim and, ironically, boring books. As part of this embellishment process, serious scholars continue to mine for hard facts about the nature of Shakespeare's world. The interpretation of their meaning necessarily varies, often according to the particular school or ideology of the author.

　　Whatever the differences of opinion, valid or at least plausible(似是而非的) views about Shakespeare, his character and his personal experience continue to be advanced. Yet even among modern Shakespeare biographies(传记), in addition to outlandish interpretations(奇异的解释) of the available facts, there persists (and grows) a body of traditions about such matters as Shakespeare's marriage, his move to London, the circumstances of his death and the like. The result of all this is that there is now a huge tapestry of descriptive, critical, and analytical work about Shakespeare in existence, much of it reasonable, some of it outlandish, and some of it hogwash.

Questions：

1．How does the writer evaluate Shakespeare's works?

2．Why the characteristic approach to Shakespeare biography mentioned in the passage is actually a matter of necessity?

Answer 1

答案：
解析：

Answers： 　　1．They are among the world's finest written works; taken collectively, they establish Shakespeare as the foremost literary talent of his own Elizabethan Age and, even more impressively, as a genius whose creative achievement has never been surpassed in any age. 　　2．Without such fleshing out into historical, social, and literary settings, the skeletal character of what we know about Shakespeare from primary sources would make for slim and, ironically, boring books.