Question

    Over the centuries Shakespeare’s plays have gained a reputation for being difficult to understand. But if his work is experienced on stage as Shakespeare intended, then it can become much clearer. In fact 95% of the words used in Shakespeare’s plays are the same words we use today.

The meanings of some words have altered significantly, _________, because Shakespeare was writing at a time of great linguistic change. This gave him a certain amount of _________ license in his language.

So what can Shakespeare’s plays tell us about how people really spoke at this time? And did anyone really speak like his characters? The lines spoken by Corin to Rosalind and Celia in As You Like It probably weren’t _________ of an Elizabethan shepherd.

The first thing to remember about Shakespeare’s work is that he wrote plays to entertain. They are _________ works, and the dialogue was exploited to suit the stage. Therefore his characters’ language did not always _________ how real people would have spoken.

For instance, in As You Like It when Corin, the shepherd, talks of love, his lines are beautiful and poetic – but _________ unrealistic. The lines Shakespeare gave Corin probably wouldn’t have been used by an Elizabethan shepherd – instead they _________ to highlight the drama.

Another example of how the theatrical style enriched Shakespeare’s text can be seen in the structure of his lines. According to the practice of the time, Shakespeare wrote his poems in iambic pentameter(抑扬格五音步) so it was _________ for his actors to learn. When Shakespeare was writing, new plays were performed every day so this 10-beat structure was a great help for anyone having to learn a lot of lines for the next day’s play.

_________ this structure meant that, on occasion, Shakespeare made up or adapted words to fit. __________, on several occasions Shakespeare changed the word “vast” to “vasty” when “vast” did not fit the __________ of the line. But if we look beyond the dialogue to the words themselves we can find out a little of how people really spoke.

We can come close to this thanks to “original pronunciation” which is a system of __________ that reproduce how the Elizabethans are believed to have spoken. Today it sounds like a West Country accent, with echoes of other parts of the country. When we __________ this to Shakespeare’s dialogue, rhymes and puns(押韵与双关) that are not heard in modern English are suddenly revealed.

So through Shakespeare’s plays we can __________ a great deal about how people really spoke. His dialogue was on the whole representative of the language of the time and area and now provides us with invaluable insight into a(n) __________ language.

1.A.otherwise B.furthermore C.however D.hence

2.A.creative B.significant C.limited D.practical

3.A.critical B.typical C.proud D.afraid

4.A.valuable B.outstanding C.efficient D.dramatic

5.A.reflect B.mean C.sign D.signal

6.A.luckily B.essentially C.generally D.naturally

7.A.construct B.produce C.function D.illustrate

8.A.easier B.worse C.wiser D.slower

9.A.Falling into B.Varying from C.Agreeing to D.Sticking to

10.A.By contrast B.For example C.What’s more D.In consequence

11.A.structure B.style C.rhythm D.form

12.A.speech B.writing C.communication D.symbol

13.A.fit B.devote C.apply D.input

14.A.keep up B.find out C.take on D.bring about

15.A.lost B.difficult C.ongoing D.global

Answer

1.C

2.A

3.B

4.D

5.A

6.B

7.C

8.A

9.D

10.B

11.C

12.A

13.C

14.B

15.A

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章通过莎士比亚的戏剧讲述了人们是如何说话的。

1.

考查副词词义辨析。句意：然而，有些词的意思已经发生了很大的变化，因为莎士比亚是在语言发生巨大变化的时候写作的。A. otherwise否则；B. furthermore而且；C. however然而；D. hence因此。由上文的95% of the words used in Shakespeare’s plays are the same words we use today和The meanings of some words have altered significantly可知，前后两句表转折，应用however。故选C项。

2.

考查形容词词义辨析。句意：在他的语言中，这给予他某种创造性的许可证。A. creative创造力的；B. significant重要的；C. limited有限的；D. practical实际的。由上文的Shakespeare was writing at a time of great linguistic change可知，莎士比亚在语言发生巨变的时候写作，所以语言会具有创造性。故选A项。

3.

考查形容词词义辨析。句意：科林在《皆大欢喜》中对罗莎琳德和西莉亚说的台词不可能代表伊丽莎白时代牧羊人说话方法。A. critical关键的；B. typical典型的、代表的；C. proud骄傲的；D. afraid害怕的。由下文的when Corin, the shepherd, talks of love, his lines are beautiful and poetic可知，莎士比亚笔下的牧羊人说的诗句优美而富有诗意，这不可能代表伊丽莎白时代牧羊人说话方式。故选B项。

4.

考查形容词词义辨析。句意：他们是戏剧作品，对话被用来配合舞台。A. valuable贵重的；B. outstanding杰出的；C. efficient有效的；D. dramatic戏剧的。由下文的the dialogue was exploited to suit the stage可知，莎士比亚的作品是戏剧作品。故选D项。

5.

考查动词词义辨析。句意：因此，他笔下人物的语言并不总是能反映出真实的人是如何说话的。A. reflect反映；B. mean意味着；C. sign签（名）；D. signal示意。由上文的he wrote plays to entertain和the dialogue was exploited to suit the stage可知，他笔下人物的语言并不总是能反映出真实的人是如何说话的。故选A项。

6.

考查副词词义辨析。句意：例如，在《皆大欢喜》中，牧羊人科林谈到爱时，他的诗句优美而富有诗意，但本质上是不现实的。A. luckily幸运地；B. essentially本质上地；C. generally一般地；D. naturally自然地。由上文的when Corin, the shepherd, talks of love, his lines are beautiful and poetic可知，牧羊人的诗句优美而富有诗意，这本质上是不现实的。故选B项。

7.

考查动词词义辨析。句意：莎士比亚给科林的台词可能不会被伊丽莎白时代的牧羊人使用，相反，它们的作用是突出戏剧。A. construct建造；B. produce产生；C. function起作用；D. illustrate解释、说明。由上文的the dialogue was exploited to suit the stage可知，莎士比亚语言的作用是突出戏剧。故选C项。

8.

考查形容词词义辨析。句意：根据当时的惯例，莎士比亚用抑扬格五步格来写他的诗，这样他的演员们就更容易学习了。A. easier更简单的；B. worse更糟的；C. wiser更聪明的；D. slower更慢的。由上文的According to the practice of the time可知，莎士比亚按惯例用抑扬格五步格来写他的诗，所以演员们更容易学习。故选A项。

9.

考查动词短语辨析。句意：坚持这种结构意味着，莎士比亚有时会编造或改编词语来适应。A. Falling into陷入；B. Varying from不同于；C. Agreeing to同意；D. Sticking to坚持。由上文的this 10-beat structure was a great help for anyone having to learn a lot of lines for the next day’s play可知莎士比亚坚持抑扬格五步格结构。故选D项。

10.

考查介词短语辨析。句意：例如，莎士比亚曾多次将“vast”一词改为“vasty”，而“vast”与诗行的节奏不符。A. By contrast作比较；B. For example例如；C. What’s more更重要的是；D. In consequence结果。由全文语境可知，此处表示举例。故选B项。

11.

考查名词词义辨析。句意：例如，莎士比亚曾多次将“vast”一词改为“vasty”，而“vast”与诗行的节奏不符。A. structure结构；B. style风格；C. rhythm节奏；D. form形式。由上文的Shakespeare changed the word “vast” to “vasty”可知，“vast”与诗行的节奏不符。故选C项。

12.

考查名词词义辨析。句意：我们之所以能接近这一点，要归功于“原始发音”，这是一种模仿伊丽莎白时代人说话方式的语言系统。A. speech说话方式；B. writing写作；C. communication交流；D. symbol象征。由上文的original pronunciation可知，这是一种语言系统。故选A项。

13.

考查动词词义辨析。句意：当我们把这一点应用到莎士比亚的对话中时，现代英语中听不到的押韵和双关语会突然显露出来。A. fit适合；B. devote贡献；C. apply应用；D. input输入。由下文的rhymes and puns(押韵与双关) that are not heard in modern English are suddenly revealed可知，是把这一点应用到了莎士比亚的对话中，才能凸显区别（听到现代英语中听不到的押韵和双关语）。故选C项。

14.

考查动词短语辨析。句意：因此，通过莎士比亚的戏剧，我们可以发现很多关于人们是如何说话的。A. keep up保持；B. find out发现；C. take on承担；D. bring about导致。由上文的But if we look beyond the dialogue to the words themselves we can find out a little of how people really spoke可知，从莎士比亚的戏剧中，我们可以发现人们是如何说话的。故选B项。

15.

考查形容词词义辨析。句意：他的对话大体上代表了当时和地区的语言，现在为我们提供了对一种失落的语言的宝贵见解。A. lost失去的、失落的；B. difficult困难的；C. ongoing不断发展的；D. global全球的。由全文语境可知，莎士比亚的语言现在已经不被使用了，失去了。故选A项。