Passage 3

For any Englishman, there can never be any discussion as to who is the world's greatest poet and greatest dramatist. Only one name can possibly suggest itself to him: that of William Shakespeare. Every Englishman has stone knowledge, however slight, of the works of our greatest writer. All of us use words, phrases and quotations from Shakespeare's writings that have become part of the common property of English-speaking people. Most of the time we are probably unaware of the source of the words we use, rather like the old lady who was taken to see a performance of HAMLET and complained that 'it was full of well-known proverbs and quotations.'
Shakespeare, more perhaps than any other writer, made full use of the great resources of the English language. Most of us use about five thousand words in our normal employment of English; Shakespeare in his works used about twenty-five thousand. There is probably no better way for a foreigner to appreciate the richness and variety of the English language than by studying the various ways in which Shakespeare used it. Such a study is well worth the effort (it is not, of course, recommended to beginners) even though some aspects of English usage, and the meaning of many words, have changed since Shakespeare's day.

单选题

English people ______.

A、
have never discussed who is the world's greatest poet and greatest dramatist
B、
never discuss about the world's greatest poets or dramatists
C、
are sure who is the world's greatest poet and greatest dramatist
D、
do not care who is the world's greatest poet and greatest dramatist

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】

题干的意思是：英国人______。本题考查英国人对莎士比亚的态度，本文的前两句话就给出了答案。“there can never be any discussion...”(从没有过任何疑问……)所以，选C项。

单选题

Every Englishman knows ______.

A、
more or less about Shakespeare
B、
Shakespeare, but only slightly
C、
all the Shakespeare's writings
D、
only the name of the greatest English writer

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】

题干的意思是：每个英国人都知道______。本题询问的是英国人对莎士比亚的了解程度。首先定位信息，答案应在第一段第三句话中，其中“Every Englishman has some knowledge of the works of our greatest writer. ”为主句，而“however slight”为插入语，补充说明，意思为“无论懂得多少”。所以选A项。

单选题

Which of the following is TRUE?

A、
We use all the words, phrases and quotations from Shakespeare's writings.
B、
Shakespeare's writings have become the property of those who are learning to speak English.
C、
It is likely to be true that people often do not know the origin of the words they use.
D、
All the words people use are taken from Shakespeare's writings.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】

题干的意思是：下列哪个选项正确?这一类型的题一般用排除法。A和D项中都用了“all”，太过绝对不符合一般常识。B项中的those后的定语从句概括了所有的英语学习者，而文中倒数第二行括号中明确表明初学者除外。所以，选C项。另外，由文章第一段最后一句话也可知选项C正确。

单选题

'HAMLET' is ______.

A、
a play written by Shakespeare
B、
a play recommended by Shakespeare
C、
a play appreciated by Shakespeare
D、
a play people have been complaining about

单选题

It is worthwhile to study the various ways in which Shakespeare used English because ______.

A、
English words have changed a lot since Shakespeare's time
B、
by doing so one can be fully aware of the richness of English language
C、
English words are now being used in the same way as in Shakespeare's days
D、
English words are now the same in various ways as in Shakespeare's days

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】

题干的意思是：为什么莎士比亚作品中不断变化的语言使用方式值得人们研究?本题用排除法，通过最后一句话的尾句(尽管英语中的一些用法和词义已经在莎士比亚时代后改变了)，可排除C、D项。A项表述正确但很显然不能成为人们学习这种语言的原因。根据最后一段中第三句可知，B项正确。