In his 402nd anniversary year, Shakespeare is still rightly celebrated as a great wordsmith （语言大师）and playwright （剧作家）.But he was not the only great master of dramatic writing to die in 1616, and he is certainly not the only writer to have left a lasting influence on theater.

　　　While less known worldwide, Tang Xianzu is considered China's greatest playwright and is highly spoken of in that country of ancient literary and dramatic traditions.

　　　Tang was born in 1550 in Linchuan, Jiangxi province, and pursued a low-key career as an official until, in 1598 and aged 49, he retired to focus on writing. Unlike Shakespeare's large body of plays, poems and sonnets （十四行诗），Tang wrote only four major plays: The Purple Hairpin （《紫钗记》），Peony Pavilion （《牡丹亭》），A Dream under the Southern Bough （《南柯记》，and Dream of Handan（《邯郸记》. The Peony Pavilion is considered Tang's masterpiece. The latter three are constructed around a dream narrative, a device through which Tang unlocked the emotional dimension of human desires and ambitions and explored human nature beyond the social and political restrictions of that time.

　　　Tang lived toward the end of the Ming Dynasty（1368-1644）and the popularity of his works had a good reason. Similar to Shakespeare, his success rode the wave of a renaissance （复兴）in theater as an artistic practice. As in Shakespeare's England, Tang's works became hugely popular in China too. During Tang's China, the way, in which playlets were enjoyed and performed, changed. Kunqu opera, a form of musical drama, spread from southern China to the whole nation and became a symbol of Chinese culture. Combining northern tune and southern music, kunqu opera was known for its poetic language, music, dance movements and gestures. Tang's works benefited greatly from the popularity of kunqu opera, and his playlets are considered classics of kunqu opera.

　　　While Tang and Shakespeare lived in a world away from each other, there are many things they share in common, such as the humanity of their drama, their iconic and heroic figures, their love for poetic language, a lasting popularity and the anniversary during which we still celebrate them.

　　　12．How is the text developed?

　　　A．By analyzing data. B．By giving examples.

　　　C．By providing arguments. D．By making comparisons.

　　　13．What's the most outstanding feature of Tang's works according to Paragraph 3 ?

　　　A．They are love stories based on real events.

　　　B．They reflect political environment at that time.

　　　C．They focus on discovering human emotions.

　　　D．They are mainly about dreams of females.

　　　14．What does the underlined phrase in Paragraph 4 mean?

　　　A．Led to. B．Called up.

　　　C．Set off. D．Benefited from.

　　　15．What's the best title for the text?

　　　A．Tang Xianzu-The Shakespeare of China

　　　B．Kunqu Opera--A Symbol of Chinese Culture

　　　C．Tang Xianzu and His Work--The Peony Pavilion

　　　D．Shakespeare and His Influence on Chinese Theater

二、七选五

　　　 There is nothing worse than sitting next to someone whose breath smells bad. In order to solve this problem, people have tried various methods since thousands of years ago.16．. Nowadays, we use gum（口香糖）instead and it seems to be much easier.

　　　3717．. Scientists can even tell whether or not somebody has a disease just from a simple breath test now.

　　　How does it work? Breath is made up of waste chemicals that the body makes.18．. In fact, they are just like fingerprints （指纹）一that's why scientists sometimes call them " breathprints" .

　　　Compared with other kinds of tests, a breath test is much quicker. Instead of taking hours, it only takes a few minutes.19．. This machine will help to test their breath. It has been useful in finding early signs of problems such as stomach cancer.

　　　Now, scientists are trying to use breath tests as many as they can.20．.

　　　A．There are many ways to make your breath smell better

　　　B．It's much cheaper to do a breath test than other tests

　　　C．How your breath smells says a lot about your health

　　　D．In ancient China, people used to eat a special plant to make their breath smell better

　　　E. Hopefully, someday, visits to the hospital will be a lot quicker and easier for everyone

　　　F. Breath tests are also a lot easier to do than regular tests as people only need to blow into a special machine

　　　G. Scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology found that these chemicals are different for each person

三、完形填空

You may be surprised to see "making sure children never suffer" as a mistake. The following 21 may help you understand how rescuing children from all suffering 22 weakness.