William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, in England. His father, John, was a glove-maker. His mother, Mary, was a farmer’s daughter. He had two older sisters, two younger sisters and three younger brothers.

William probably studied Latin, Greek and history, and left school when he was 14 or 15. Three years later he married Anne Hathaway. They had a daughter called Susanna and twins named Judith and Hamnet. Sometime before 1590 he left Stratford and went to London, the capital city of England. London’s first theater opened in 1576. Shakespeare worked in London as an actor and then started writing plays too. In 1593 a terrible disease killed thousands of people and theaters were closed. During this time William started to write poems instead of plays. His short poems are called sonnets (十四行诗).

Shakespeare helped build a new theater called The Globe. It opened in 1599. It was round and had space for 3,000 people. At The Globe some people stood in front of the stage and others had seats. The audience shouted, clapped, and laughed while they watched plays. Musicians created special noises to make the plays more exciting! No women acted in Shakespeare’s time: men and boys played all the parts.

Shakespeare wrote comedies with happy endings, like A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He wrote tragedies which had sad endings, like Romeo and Juliet. His history plays are about kings and queens, like Henry V. Shakespeare wrote 38 plays, maybe more. He loved language and invented new words and expressions that we still use today.

William became rich and famous. He had houses in London and in Stratford. He died when he was 52 on 23 April 1616. His plays and poetry were very popular 400 years ago and they are still popular today. People all over the world love his work because he wrote wonderful stories about very interesting people.

1.What can we know about William Shakespeare?

A There were nine people in his home.

B He once worked as an actor in London.

C William wrote plays after giving up poems.

D He could speak two kinds of languages.

解析：选B。B细节理解题。根据第一段的“His father, John, was a glove-maker. His mother, Mary … two older sisters, two younger sisters and three younger brothers.”可知，加上他他家有十口人，A项错误；根据第二段的“Shakespeare worked in London as an actor and then started writing plays too.”可知，莎士比亚在伦敦当过演员，B项正确；根据第二段的“During this time William started to write poems instead of plays.”可知，1593年，一种可怕的疾病导致剧院关闭，在这段时间里，莎士比亚开始写诗而不是戏剧，C项错误；根据第二段的“William probably studied Latin, Greek and history”可知，他可能学习了拉丁语和希腊语，再加上他的母语英语，他至少会三种语言，D项错误。故选B。

2.What’s the third paragraph mainly about?

A An exciting play.

B A round stage.

C A new theater.

D Famous musicians.

解析：选C。C段落大意题。该段主要讲述了莎士比亚帮助建造了一个新的剧院，叫做环球剧场。故选C。

3.Which word can best describe William Shakespeare?

A Extraordinary.

B Mystery.

C Energetic.

D Ordinary.

解析：选A。A推理判断题。根据第四和第五段内容可知，莎士比亚写了38部戏剧，也许更多；他热爱语言，发明了我们至今仍在使用的新词和表达方式，他的戏剧和诗歌至今仍很流行；全世界的人都喜欢他的作品。由此可推断，他是一个杰出的剧作家。故选A。

4.The passage is written in the order of __________.

A reason

B space

C time

D importance

解析：选C。C推理判断题。根据文章多次出现的时间点“in 1564”“in 1576”“In 1593”“in 1599”和“on 23 April 1616”等可知，该文按照时间先后顺序发展。故选C。