The famous writer William Shakespeare was born       1564.

A. in         B. on             C at               .D of

For more than four hundred years, people all over the world have been reading ,watching and listening to the plays and poetry of the British writer William Shakespeare.

Most people think of Shakespeare as a writer. But he was also a theater producer, a part owner of an acting company and an actor. For most of his career, he was a producer and main writer for an acting company called the King’s Men. Shakespeare is best known for the thirty—nine plays that he wrote, although only thirty—eight exist today. His plays are usually divided into three groups: comedies, histories and tragedies. Some of his most famous plays are Hamlet ,Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and so on.

Shakespeare 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 14.He married Anne Hathaway at the age of 18.The couple had three children, two daughters and a son who died very young. In 1585,Shakespeare left his hometown. No one knows why he left or moved to London and joined a theater company which opened the Globe Theater in 1599.He made much money from it.He became an actor, and he also wrote plays. He usually acted in his own plays. He died in 1616. He left his money to his family. He left his genius to the world. Now you can still see his plays in English and in many other languages. He is one of the most famous writers in the world.

1.What was Shakespeare?

A．A writer                              B．An actor

C．A theater producer                      D．A,B and C

2.Shakespeare made much money from_______.

A．writing                               B．a(chǎn)cting

C．opening the Globe Theater                D．selling his books

3.What’s the meaning of the underlined word “genius” in the passage?

A．房子             B．遺憾             C．悔恨             D．天賦

4.Which sentence is NOT TRUE according to the passage?

A．Shakespeare died when he was 52 years old.

B．Shakespeare married in 1582,and he had two daughters and a son.

C．Shakespeare’s plays are usually divided into three groups: comedies, histories and science fictions.

D．No one knows why Shakespeare left his hometown at he age of 21.

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World Book Day falls on April 23 every year. It was set up by the UNESCO(聯(lián)合國(guó)教科文組織) in 1995 to encourage people, especially teenagers, to discover the pleasure of reading. It is also the day to honor great writer, for example, William Shakespeare, born or dead on that day.

Many countries celebrate World Book Day. Take UK as an example. On that day, millions of school children can buy books of special price, a much lower price than usual, in any bookstore. It has been done every year since 1998. World Book Day is also celebrated in China. Premier Wen Jiabao does lots of reading every day. Wen has called on people to do more reading. He suggested that young people should spend more time reading. “Book cannot change the world, but people can change the world by changing themselves through reading,” he said.

Why do people like reading? One big advantage is that reading helps us become more knowledgeable and more intelligent. Also, reading helps us to follow the latest developments of science and technology. Besides, reading gives us information about other cultures and places of the world. When we read, we may find many things that are unfamiliar to us. We would have to use our brain to think about them or do more reading to find out the answers. The more we read, the more we know. What’s more, reading is also one of the most important ways to learn a foreign language like English.

“Reading makes a full man”. Books, magazines, newspapers and other kinds of materials can help us to know more about the outside world and perfect us. So it is necessary for us to spend time on reading every day.

1.When is World Book Day?

2.In UK, what can school children do on World Book Day?

3.What did Premier Wen Jiabao suggest young people do?

4.How many advantages of reading are mentioned in the passage?

5.What does the passage mainly talk about?

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…

1.Toby and William first met in ______.

   A. 1601          B. 1595         C.1592          D. 1579

2.Who was William’s youngest brother?

   A. Gilbert           B. Edmund       C. Richard      D. Joan

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

4.Romeo and Juliet is a play about _______.

   A. war           B. peace            C. love         D. friendship

默寫（共40小題，每小題0.5分，滿分20分）

1.: Big Ben takes its name from Sir Benjamin Hall who 1.__________ 2.__________ 3.__________ the making of the clock when the new Houses of Parliament were being built. It is not only 4.__________ 5.__________ 6.__________, but is extremely accurate as well.

Big Ben has rarely gone wrong. Once, however, it 7.__________ 8.__________ give the correct time.

2.: It was over 30 feet 1.__________ 2.__________ and had a 2,500-horsepower engine. Although Campbell 3.__________ 4.__________5.__________ 6.__________ over 304 miles per hour, he had great difficulty in controlling the car because a tyre burst during the first run.

3.: They have all 1.__________ 2.__________3.__________ 4.__________ by a boy who, while playing truant, traveled 1,600 miles.

He has surely set up a record for the thousands of children who 5.__________ 6.__________ evading school.

4.:   He 1.__________ 2.__________ 3.__________ 4.__________ Paris

until he built his home on the island.

British theatre is especially 5.__________ 6.__________ 7.__________  8.__________ William Shakespeare and his plays.

Also, it is still common to throw things onto the stage after a performance in a British theatre, but it is more usual fore people to throw flowers

9.__________ 10.__________ money or vegetables today.

5.: Han often said, “1.__________ 2.__________ 3.__________ 4.__________ drive a genius like you, Dr Einstein.”

After looking through the concerto, Mozart’s father was 5.__________6.__________ 7.__________ speak.

For example, when he was travelling, he often 8.__________ 9.__________ 10.__________ where he had placed his tickets.