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Passage One

 Last year we visited Stratford, the place where Shakespeare was born on the 23rd of April, 1564.

    Stratford is a very interesting town, right in the centre of England. The countryside around Stratford is pleasant, with its beautiful woods, green fields and quiet rivers.

    The first place we visited was the house in the centre of Stratford where Shakespeare was born. We saw the small desk that Shakespeare sat at when he went to school. One of the things we liked best was the garden behind the house, because we could see there many of the flowers, trees and plants that Shakespeare wrote about in his plays.

After we had visited Shakespeare's birthplace, we went to see the church where he was buried.

    We had lunch in a very old hotel that was probably there in Shakespeare's time. Every room of the hotel had the name of one of Shakespeare's plays on the door—the "Hamlet" room, the "Romeo and Juliet" ?room, and so on.

    After lunch we walked across the fields to the old cottage, about a mile out of Stratford, where Shakespeare spent most of his married life. The cottage is just as it was in Shakespeare's day. We saw the chairs where Shakespeare perhaps sat and thought about ideas for new plays, and we saw the plates from which he probably ate his dinner.

    When we got back to our hotel in the evening, we were very tired, but we had enjoyed a wonderful day.

( 248 words )

1. Shakespeare was born in ______.( B )

(a) 1464

(b) 1564

(c) 1664

(d) 1764

2. Stratford where Shakespeare was born is ________.( C )

(a) an industrial city in the middle of England

(b) an interesting farm surrounded by woods and fields

(c) a small town in the centre of England

(d) part of the countryside in central England

3. Which of the following is NOT true? ( C )

(a) Shakespeare was born in a house in the centre of Stratford.

(b) Shakespeare was buried in a church in his native town.

(c) Shakespeare was buried in in Wesminster Abbey.

(d) In Stratford there is a very old hotel which existed probably in Shakespeare's time.

4. After Shakespeare got married, ________. ( C )

(a) he stayed home and wrote his plays

(b) he lived in the centre of Stratford

(c) he began to write plays

(d) he spent most of his married life in an old cottage

5. A more suitable title for the above passage is ______. ( B )

(a) Shakespeare and His Birthplace

(b) A Visit to Stratford

(c) A Day in Stratford

(d) A Famous Town

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Passage Two

    I entered St. Thomas's Hospital as a medical student at the age of 18 and spent five years there. I was an unsatisfactory student, for my heart, as you might have guessed, was not in it. I wanted, I had always wanted, to be a writer, and in the evenings, after my high tea, I wrote and read. Before long, I wrote a novel, called Liza of Lambeth, which I sent to a publisher and was accepted. It appeared during my last year at the hospital and had something of a success. It was of course an accident, but naturally I did not know that. I felt I could afford to give up medicine and make writing my profession; so, three days after I graduated from the school of medicine, I set out for Spain to write another book. Looking back now, and knowing as I do the terrible difficulties of making a living by writing, I realize I was taking a fearful risk. It never even occurred to me.

    The next ten years were very hard, and I earned an average of ￡ 100 a year. Then I had a bit of luck. The manager of the Court Theatre put on a play that failed; the next play he arranged to put on was not ready, and he was at his wits' end. He read a play of mine and, though he did not much like it, he thought it might just run for the six weeks till the play he had in mind to follow it with could be produced. It ran for fifteen months. Within a short while I had four plays running in London at the same time. Nothing of the kind had ever happened before. I was the talk of the town. One of the students at St. Thomas's Hospital asked the eminent surgeon with whom I had worked whether he remembered me. "Yes, I remember him quite well," he said. "One of our failures, I'm afraid."

(331 words)

    6. When the author was a medical student, he ______. ( C )

(a) had some trouble with his heart

(b) was a very good student

(c) wanted to be a writer after graduation

(d) was satisfied with what he was doing at the time

7. When the author wrote the first novel, ______. ( B )

(a) he sent it to a publisher but it was not accepted

(b) he was still studying at the medical school

(c) he succeeded in publishing it though it was not a success

(d) he had graduated from the medical school

8. The author gave up medicine because at that time _____.( A )

(a) he thought he could make a living by writing

(b) he knew the success of the book was natural

(c) he knew it was no risk to be a writer

(d) he was quite rich after the success of the book

9. For the first ten years of his writing career after his graduation the author earned an average of  100 a year, which was ______. ( C )

(a) a great sum

(b) a bit of luck

(c) a small sum

(d) a moderate success

10. The manager of the Court Theatre agreed to put on the author's play because ______. ( C )

(a) he thought the author was a good playwright

(b) he liked the author's plays very much

(c) he failed to arrange a new play in time

(d) he heard that the author had studied medicine

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Passage Three

    We had just started a round of Bloody Marys. My girl friend took a sip, looked idly around the room and suddenly, with more vivacity (轻松活泼) than I had seen in weeks, exclaimed, "Isn't that Ernest Hemingway?"
     At the end of the bar, talking on the telephone, was a tall man with a white beard, handsome and imposing.
    "It's Hemingway all right," I said.
    "Why don't you ask him to have a drink with us?" she said, knowing I wouldn't dare.
    What matter if the barman at the Ritz threw me out? My life was over anyway. "I'll ask him," I said.
    "No, no, don't ," she said. "I was just kidding."
    "I wasn't," I said, squaring my shoulders and striding to the bar. Hemingway had just ended his phone call.
    "Mr. Hemingway," I said, "the young lady at the far table and I would like you to join us for a drink, if you have time."
    He looked at me, then across the room at her. Whether it was because I was so obviously on the spot or because she was so pretty—she really did look like a cross between Gene Tierney and Audrey Hepburn, as people often remarked—he said, "I've got another phone call to make, and then I'll join you."
    When I returned to the table, my girl friend asked: "What'd he say? What'd he say?"
   "He said he'd join us for a drink. Maybe he was just kidding."
    A few minutes later, with both of us studiously not looking toward the end of the bar, a shadow loomed over the table and Hemingway sat down. We ordered another round of Bloody Marys.
    Hemingway told us he was going down to Spain for the bullfights. He said he had fully recovered from injuries suffered when his small plane had crashed in the African jungle a few months before. He asked me what kind of car I drove, and when I told him I had a Triumph TR-2—a big engine for a small chassis (汽车底盘)—he remarked, "Get us the manifold pressure in one of those and you can really roll."
    We chatted for a few moments. Then he looked at his watch and said: "I'd like to stay longer, but I've got a dinner date. Nice talking to you."
    My girl friend took my hand and smiled warmly at me for the first time in weeks. "You've got nerve," she said.
    I signaled for the check. "Monsieur Hemingway a paye," the waiter said. Mr. Hemingway had paid for the drinks.
( 421 words )

11. When they first saw Hemingway, the latter __________.( D )

(a) was drinking Bloody Marys

(b) was talking to the barman

(c) was walking idly around the room

(d) was talking on the phone

12. The girl suggested that the author go and ask Hemingway to have a drink with them because ______.           ( D )

(a) she was sure Hemingway would come

(b) she was sure the author would do as she suggested

(c) she wanted to talk to Hemingway very much

(d) she was not speaking seriously

13. After the author went to invite Hemingway, the latter _____.( D )

(a) first said no and then said yes

(b) went to join them immediately

(c) said he didn't have time

(d) promised to join them later

14. Hemingway talked with the two people about the following except _____.( D )

(a) the recovery of his health

(b) the car the author was driving

(c) the place he was going

(d) the book he was writing

15. Which of the following is NOT true with Hemingway according to the passage?( B )

(a) Hemingway was too busy to find time to talk to common people.

(b) Hemingway was polite and considerate.

(c) Hemingway was injured a few months before.

(d) Hemingway thought people needed pressure in life

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