William Shakespeare is the most famous playwright (剧作家). Although he died in 1616, people still go to see his plays. Among the most popular are Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet—the story of a prince who struggles to respond to the crimes around him.

Shakespeare, who was born in 1564, was an actor as well as a writer. Most of his ideas for plays were taken from history, people’s conversation, ancient stories, and also from other writers. He wrote not only about kings and queens and princes, but also about friends and ordinary people. He wrote about the cruelty of war and the bravery of heroes, as well as about jealousy, joy, hate, ambition and love. His stories live on. The tragedy Romeo and Juliet was reborn as the musical West Side Side Story and more recently as the movie Romeo and Julie with the wonderful performance of Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.

He invented a number of great characters: powerful magicians, thrilling witches, smart women and both wise and wicked men. He also invented some great phrases. If you’ve ever said, “Oh, for goodness sake!” you can thank Shakespeare for that. Other examples of common phrases adapted from Shakespeare: “as luck would have it”, “your own flesh and blood”, “too much of a good thing”, “good riddance”, “in one fell swoop”, and “in the twinkling of an eye”. “To be, or not to be: that is the question,” Hamlet says. “Good night, good night. Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it is morrow,” says Juliet to her Romeo.

Don’t be surprised if you don’t understand everything when reading Shakespeare or watching one of his plays because the meanings of many words have changed over the years. And Shakespeare’s characters speak in poetry, so their speeches can be complicated.

It does help to find out a little bit about the story before reading a Shakespeare play. It’s worth the effort. As Shakespeare wrote, “All the world is a stage.” And in his plays you’ll find that an entire world is waiting for you.

1.Shakespeare created the following characters EXCEPT ________.

A. Juliet       B. Hamlet     C. Claire Danes   Romeo

2.From Paragraph 3 we can learn that ________.

A. most of the characters created by Shakespeare were negative ones

B. most of the phrases used today were invented by Shakespeare

C. “Oh, for goodness sake!” is what Juliet says to Romeo

Shakespeare contributed greatly to the development of English

3.Which of the following is a reason why it’s difficult to understand some of Shakespeare’s plays?

A. There are many new words in his plays.

B. He wrote his plays using uncommon words.

C. The characters in his plays speak in poetry.

Most of the words in his plays are outdated.

4.We can infer from the passage that ______.

A. most of Shakespeare’s plays have been made into films

B. language changes with the development of society

C. Shakespeare made lots of money from his works

it is more useful to read Shakespeare’s works than to watch them

Sometimes a small thing during your childhood can leave a lasting impression. The event happened one day when we were having  1after shopping. I was glad to see there were so many  2dishes on the table except for a plate of peas.

I can’t  3why so many people like to eat peas. But I do not like peas at all.

“Eat your peas,” my grandmother said. “Mother,” said my mother in her  4voice, “he doesn’t like peas.” My grandmother did not  5, but there was something in her eyes that    6she was not going to  7. She said slowly but firmly, “I’ll pay you five dollars if you eat those peas.” I didn’t know what to do then. I only knew that five dollars was a good amount of money. I began to  8the awful things down my throat.

With a  9smile on her face, Grandmother said, “I can do what I want to, Ellen, and you can’t   10me.” My mother glared at me. No one can glare like my mother. The glares made me nervous, and every single pea made me want to  11. Finally I swallowed the last pea. My grandmother   12me the five dollars with a smile.  13, my mother continued to glare  14.

That night, at dinner, my mother  15two of my all-time favorite dishes, beef and potatoes. Along with them  16a big, steaming bowl of peas. She offered me some peas, and I    17， “Mum, I don’t like peas,” I said.

“You ate them for  18,” she said. “You can also eat them for love.” “But, I ...” What could I say to refuse my mother? There was  19. I had no choice but to eat the peas. The five dollars were quickly  20. But the story of the peas lives on to this day.

1.A. tea           B. lunch      C. coffee        supper

2.A. delicious     B. perfect    C. expensive      colorful

3.A. believe       B. agree      C. understand     forgive

4.A. violent       B. angry      C. unattractive       warning

5.A. analyze       B. reply       C. insist        resist

6.A. proved    B. suggested   C. wondered      advised

7.A. give up       B. give in    C. allow for         leave alone

8.A. conduct       B. digest           C. absorb       force

9.A. greedy    B. disappointed  C. satisfied       sensitive

10.A. prevent      B. master       C. scare        arrange

11.A. put forward   B. set out   C. throw up   D.break through

12.A. spared       B. borrowed    C. showed    handed

13.A. But          B. However     C. So        Though

14.A. in silence      B. with excitement

C. in surprise      D.with doubt

15.A. chose        B. gathered       C. served      ordered

16.A. arrived      B. appeared      C. came     went

17.A. smiled       B. refused        C. accepted    admitted

18.A. Grandmother  B. lunch      C. Mother      money

19.A. no one       B. nothing       C. anything    everything

20.A. saved        B. used          C. spent         lost

 _______ enough is quite necessary for your health, so you shouldn’t stay up too late every day.

A. Sleep                      B. Sleeping

C. To sleep                     Having slept

 Most of the citizens didn’t know what had________just now.

A. come through                  B. come into

C. come along                    come about

 Out _____, with a stick in his hand.

A. did he rush                    B. rushed he

C. he rushed                      he did rush

 — Did you miss your football match yesterday?

— No, I didn’t. Hardly had I turned up at the sports field _______ the match began.

A. when         B. than       C. before       since

 — What happened to Tom yesterday?

— Well, he was walking in the street when a stone flew up and hit _______.

A. him in the head                  B. him in his head

C. him on the head                  the head

 It was ________ the soldier did at the spot of the accident, not what he said, ______ moved all the citizens of the whole city.

A. that; what                     B. what; that

C. that; that                   what; which

 Look,________.

A. here the bus comes            B. here is the bus coning

C. here comes the bus            here the bus is coming

 — I don’t feel like going to the sports meet next week. There are too many excellent athletes.

— It is foolish of you to _______ trying.

A. give in                      B. give up

C. give off                     give away