单选题 For any Englishman, there can never be any discussion as to who is the world"s greatest dramatist. Only one name can possibly suggest itself to him: that of William Shakespeare. Every Englishman has some knowledge, however slight, of the work of the greatest writer. All of us use words, phrases and quotations from Shakespeare"s writings that have become part of the common property of the 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, makes full use of the great resources of the English language. Most of us use about five thousand words in our normal use 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 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 According to the passage, which of the following statement is TRUE?

A、 English people are sure who is the world"s greatest dramatist.
B、 English people never discuss any issue concerning the world"s greatest dramatist.
C、 English people have never discussed who is the world"s greatest dramatist.
D、 English people do not care who is the world"s greatest writer.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】解析：这是一道是非判断题。根据四个选项很显然可以定位在第一段。第一段的前两句就告诉我们，每个英国人都认为莎士比亚是世界上最伟大的剧作家，选项A是其同义表达，因此是正确答案。选项B意为“英国人从不谈论有关最伟大剧作家的问题”，选项C和B意思相同，选项D意为“英国人从不关心谁是世界上最伟大的剧作家”。

单选题 Every Englishman knows______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】解析：这是一道事实细节题。可定位在第一段的第三句话“Every Englishman has some knowledge，however slight，of the work of the greatest writer．”从中，我们可知每个英国人都或多或少对莎翁有些了解，因此选B。选项A“所有人对莎翁了解有限”和选项C“知道莎翁的所有作品”都说得太绝对。

单选题 According to the author of this passage, ______.

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 that people often do not know the origin of the words they use
D、 all the words that English-speaking people use are taken from Shakespeare"s writings

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】解析：这是一道主旨题。选项A和选项D都出现了“all”一词，说得太绝对，可以同时排除。选项B“莎翁的作品已经成为那些英语学习者的财富”，而文章最后一句话则说明对于英语初学者，不推荐研读莎翁的作品，因此不选。

单选题 What does the word "proverb" mean?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】解析：这是一道词语释义题。“proverb”一词出现在原文第一段最后一句话，根据上下文，“proverb”连普通老妇人都知道，并且很出名，那么只有选项C“熟悉的谚语”正确。

单选题 Why is it worthwhile to study the various ways in which Shakespeare used English?

A、 English words have changed a lot since Shakespeare"s times.
B、 Beginners may have difficulty learning some aspects of English usage.
C、 English words are now being used in the same way as in Shakespeare"s times.
D、 By doing so one can be fully aware of the richness of the English language.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】解析：这是一道细节题。本文最后一段的第一句话表明对于一个外国人来说，研读莎翁对英语丰富多彩的使用方法是欣赏英语丰富性和多样性最好的方法，因此选项D是正确答案。选项C与原文内容不符。