Willam Shakespeare was a writer of plays and poems. Some of his most famous plays are Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth .He wrote thirty-seven plays in all. They are still popular today.

He was born in 1564 in England. At school he liked watching plays. He decided to be an actor when he finished school at the age of fourteen. In 1582, he married a farmer’s daughter. She was eight years older than he was. Their first child was a daughter .Later they had twins. In1585, Shakespeare left his hometown, Stratford-upon-Avon. His wife and children stayed behind .No one knows why he left or what he did between 1585 and 1592.

At twenty-eight he moved to London and joined a theatre company which opened the Globe Theatre in 1599. He became an actor, and he also wrote plays. He usually acted in his own plays .He earned almost no money from his writing. But he made a lot of money from acting. With the money he bought a large house in his hometown.

At the age of forty-nine, Shakespeare retired (退休) and went to live in Stratford-upon-Avon. He died at the age of fifty-two. He left his money to his family. He left his genius to the world. You still see his plays in English and in many other languages. He is one of the most famous writers in the world..

1.Shakespeare wrote many famous plays except（除了） __________.

A．Hamlet                               B．Macbeth

C．Romeo and Juliet                        D．Man and Superman

2.Shakespeare decided to be an actor in _____.

A．1578             B．1582             C．1599             D．1616

3.In 1585, Shakespeare left his hometown Stratford-upon-Avon ____.

A．with his wife                           B．with his daughter

C．with his wife and children                 D．alone

4.Shakespeare got much money from ______.

A．writing.           B．plays             C．acting            D．retirement

5.According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

A．Shakespeare had two children.

B．Shakespeare wrote both plays and poems.

C．Shakespeare left his money to the Globe Theatre.

D．Shakespeare wrote plays in English and some other languages.

 

My name is Toby. I’m eighty-three years old now. I once knew the greatest man in England. William Shakespeare was his name. I first met William near a big field of apple trees in the town named Stratford in October, 1579. He told me he was 15 years old. He was two years older than me. He had a sister, Joan, and two younger brothers, Gilbert and Richard. And the next year he had another brother, Edmund. After William’s parents died, he and his sister lived with his mother’s brother. I became his friend from that day until he died. We met nearly every day. We were friends for thirty years.
I once worked with him in the theatre, through the good times and the bad times. William was good at acting. He could make all kinds of people pleased. By 1592, he became very famous. He was always busy day and night. I don’t know when he slept. He not only acted in plays, but also wrote his own plays. In his whole life, William wrote 37 plays in all. He was the best playwright in England.
He wrote a play about love in 1595. It was Romeo and Juliet. He once used my name, Toby, in his play—Twelfth Night. In this play, Sir Toby Belch was a big fat man, who liked drinking too much and having a good time. Queen Elizabeth the First watched this play on the 6^th of January, 1601. She liked it.
William Shakespeare is dead now, of course. He has been dead for more than thirty years. There’s no singing, no dancing, no plays. It isn’t like that in my young days. But I can still think—and remember when William and I were young, we had a good time in London, William and I…
【小题1】Toby and William first met in ______.

A．1601

B．1595

C．1592

D．1579

【小题2】Who was William’s youngest brother?

A．Gilbert

B．Edmund

C．Richard

D．Joan

【小题3】In the second paragraph, the underlined word “playwright” means “a person who ______”.

A．writes plays	B．performs in plays
C．watches plays	D．works in a theatre

【小题4】Romeo and Juliet is a play about _______.

A．war

B．peace

C．love

D．friendship

The tall man was sitting in the chair. He was reading a book. When I talked to him, I found that from boyhood (少年时代), he had the habit (习惯) of carrying a little book in his pocket. He often read every minute when he was not doing anything else. He found a book very useful during the time of waiting, such as waiting for meals, buses, doctors, telephone calls, plays to begin or something to happen.
That was how he found his fifteen minutes a day for reading.
That was how he read his twenty books a year --one thousand in his lifetime.
【小题1】The habit of carrying a book was the habit of ________.

A．the writer	B．the man
C．the pocket	D．the boyhood

【小题2】When the man was waiting for the doctor, he _______.

A．talk with others

B．found something to eat

C．read a book

D．wanted to know who the doctor was

【小题3】Sometimes the man read in the theatre, because ________.

A．the play was not interesting

B．the play didn't begin

C．the play was over

D．the man didn't like the play

 

William Shakespeare was a writer of plays and poems. Some of his most famous plays are Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth. He wrote thirty-seven plays in all. They are still popular today.

He was born in England. At school he liked watching plays. He decided to be an actor when he finished school at the age of fourteen. In 1582,he married a farmer’s daughter. She was eight years older than he was. Their first child was a daughter. Later they had twins.In 1585,Shakespeare left his hometown, Stratford-upon-Avon. His wife and children stayed behind. No one knows why he left or what he did between 1585 and 1592.

At twenty-eight, he moved to London and joined a theatre company which opened the Globe Theatre in 1599.He became an actor, and he also wrote plays. He usually acted in his own plays. He made almost no money from his writing. But he made a lot of money from acting. With the money he bought a large house in his hometown.

At the age of forty-nine, Shakespeare retired（退休）and went to live in Stratford-upon-Avon. He died at the age of fifty-two in 1616. He left his money to his family. He left the genius（天才）to the world. You still see his plays in English and in many other languages. He is one of the most famous writers in the world.

1.Shakespeare wrote many famous plays except        .

A. Hamlet   B. Macbeth  C. Romeo and Juliet           D. Man and Superman

2.Shakespeare decided to be an actor in        .

A.1578                                  B.1582                                  C.1599                         D.1616

3. In 1585,Shakespeare left his hometown Stratford-upon-Avon        .

A. with his wife     B. with his daughter  C. with his wife and children   D. alone

4.Shakespeare got much money from        .

A. writing                              B. plays                                 C. acting                                D. retirement

5.According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

A. Shakespeare had two children.

B. Shakespeare wrote both plays and poems.

C. Shakespeare left his money to the Globe Theatre.

D. Shakespeare wrote plays in English and some other languages.

 

Jose grew up in a poor Puerto Rican neighborhood in New York City. He was not only poor but also blind.

When Jose was still very young, a friend     a $10 guitar for him and Jose taught himself to

     songs with it. At the age of ten, he took his     to a theatre and played      the audience. Jose played very well. People stood up and      for the     boy. Jose said that day was the start of his     . By the time he was twenty, he became well-known. Then he made a(an)       record called “Light My Fire”. It was his first record. Then, Jose became one of the famous stars in      .

Now Jose  writes his own songs and      all over the world. Jose thinks it all started with the $10 guitar!

1.A. gave                     B. sent                         C. bought           D. lent

2.A. play                          B. write                         C. sing                          D. make

3.A. parents                         B. friend                      C. record                     D. guitar

4.A. for                                 B. with                         C. at                              D. in

5.A. shouted                        B. clapped                   C. laughed                   D. jumped

6.A. clever                           B. bright                      C. blind                        D. quiet 

7.A. interest                 B. project                     C. success          D. life

8.A. useful                            B. excellent                C. creative                  D. important

9.A. sports                            B. theatre                    C. culture                    D. music

10.A. succeeds          B. interviews              C. performs                D. explores