Question

April 23 marks the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. Organizations in Britain have planned numerous events to honor him.

In Stratford-upon-Avon, his birthplace, the tourism organization has a great number of free events, including performances of Shakespeare’s plays, and a dazzling fireworks display. And the BBC is broadcasting a live show from Stratfore-upon-Avon, celebrating Shakespeare’s widespread influence on the world. In England’s capital, the London Shakespeare Centre is holding a series of public performances, exhibitions and activities. It isn’t just England that honors the anniversary of the death of this extraordinary writer. In Washington, D.C., the Folger Shakespeare Library, which houses the world’s largest collection of documents relating to William Shakespeare, is displaying a series of exhibitions.

Shakespeare is probably one of the most famous authors and is considered a genius. He wrote around 37 plays and 154 sonnets(十四行诗), and his work has been translated into over one hundred languages! He penned beautiful metaphors(暗喻), serious dramas and amusing tales.

Shakespeare also invented many new terms and phrases. If someone’s behavior suggested they were not being honest and should not be trusted, Shakespeare called their actions suspicious. If someone was being silly and perhaps looking like a fool, Shakespeare found their actions laughable. And Shakespeare called people who offered their opinions on the quality of something critics. Today, for instance, food critics and film critics give audiences their opinions of foods and films. The familiar phrase “break the ice” comes from Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew. “The ice is broken” when a difficult conversation or meeting is calmed by some basic introduction, such as a simple game. More common words coined by Shakespeare include road, gossip, lonely, bump and hurry.

Four hundred years after his death, Shakespeare surely lives on，in everyday speech, as the most famous writer of all time!

1.The passage is mainly about ______.

A. the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death

B. the influence Shakespeare has on written English

C. the friends of William Shakespeare

D. Shakespeare’s colorful and fruitful life

2.Shakespeare is honored in the following ways except ______.

A. a great number of free events in Stratford-upon-Avon

B. a series of activities in the London Shakespeare Centre

C. a series of exhibitions in the Folger Shakespeare Library

D. a live show of Shakespeare in Washington, D.C.

3.According to the text, a simple game to make a difficult conversation easy is called ______.

A. an ice-breaker    B. a suspicious man

C. a critic    D. a laughable man

Answer

1.A

2.D

3.A

【解析】本文主要讲述的是在威廉·莎士比亚逝世第四百周年纪念日这一天，英国组织的一些纪念活动，比如在埃文河畔斯特拉福德有大量的免费活动，伦敦莎士比亚中心举行了一系列的公共表演、展览和活动，在福尔杰莎士比亚图书馆举行了一系列展览等以及对莎士比亚的术语短语的简单介绍。

1.主旨大意题。快速浏览文章可知，本文主要讲述的是在威廉·莎士比亚逝世第四百周年纪念日这一天，英国组织的一些纪念活动以及对莎士比亚文学的简单介绍。文章第一段“April 23 marks the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. Organizations in Britain have planned numerous events to honor him.”也直接点明了主题。故选A。

2.细节理解题。根据文章第二段“In Stratford-upon-Avon, his birthplace, the tourism organization has a great number of free events”可知，在埃文河畔斯特拉福德有大量的免费活动。A项正确。文章第二段“In England’s capital, the London Shakespeare Centre is holding a series of public performances, exhibitions and activities”可知，伦敦莎士比亚中心举行了一系列的公共表演、展览和活动。B项正确。文章第二段“In Washington, D.C., the Folger Shakespeare Library, which houses the world’s largest collection of documents relating to William Shakespeare, is displaying a series of exhibitions.”可知，在福尔杰莎士比亚图书馆举行了一系列展览。C项正确。D项文章没有提及。故选D。

3.细节理解题。根据文章最后一段““The ice is broken” when a difficult conversation or meeting is calmed by some basic introduction, such as a simple game.”可知，当一个艰难的对话或会议被一些基本的介绍所平静时，“冰被打破了”。比如一个简单的游戏。结合题干，故选A。

【名师点睛】

细节理解题可以用先题后文的方法做题，即先读问题，然后带着问题读文章。这种方法的优点是目的明确，在阅读时有所侧重，能节省时间。且做阅读理解时，尝试在原文中划出答案出处，这能帮助我们在阅读时以文章为依据，而不凭空猜想。题干一定要读清楚。例如本篇文章第2小题。题干中“Shakespeare is honored in the following ways except”问莎士比亚是通过以下方式被纪念，除了？关键词“except”，因此可知，是要找文章没有提及的。阅读时可在文章中找到相应的句子，利用排除法可知，D项“a live show of Shakespeare in Washington, D.C”没有提及。故选D。