William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, in England. He 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 theatre opened in 1576. Shakespeare worked in London as an actor and then started writing plays too. 17 years later, a terrible disease (疾病) killed thousands of people and theatres were closed. During this time William started to write poems instead of plays.

Later, Shakespeare helped build a new theatre called The Globe. It opened in 1599. It was round. At The Globe some people stood in front of the stage (舞台) and others had seats. 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 (悲剧) 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.

1.When did the terrible disease happen?

A In 1593.

B In 1590.

C In 1576.

D In 1599.

解析：选A。A数字计算题。根据第一段的“London’s first theatre opened in 1576.”和“17 years later”可知，（1576+17=）1593年，一种可怕的疾病导致数千人死亡，剧院关闭。故选A。

2.What can we know about The Globe?

A Its size.

B Its purpose.

C Its color.

D Its shape.

解析：选D。D细节理解题。根据第二段中的“It was round.”可知这个剧场的形状是圆形的。故选D。

3.What’s the third paragraph mainly about?

A Shakespeare’s childhood.

B Shakespeare’s works.

C Shakespeare’s family.

D Shakespeare’s school life.

解析：选B。B段落大意题。该段主要描述了莎士比亚的一些作品。故选B。

4.Which word can describe William Shakespeare?

A Excellent.

B Mystery.

C Active.

D Hardworking.

解析：选A。A推理判断题。根据最后两段内容可知，莎士比亚写了至少38部戏剧；他热爱语言，发明了我们至今仍在使用的新词和表达方式；他的作品至今仍很流行；全世界的人都喜欢他的作品。由此可知，莎士比亚是一个优秀的剧作家。故选A。

5.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”“Three years later”“in 1576”“17 years later”“in 1599”和“on 23 April 1616”可知，该文按照时间先后顺序发展。故选C。