Shakespeare's day.

　　However, it is surprising that we should know comparatively (相对地) little about the life of the greatest English author. We know that Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford­on­Avon, and that he died there in 1616. He almost certainly attended the grammar school in the town, but of this we cannot be sure. We know that he was married there in 1582 to Anne Hathaway and that he had three children. We know that he spent much of his life in London writing his masterpieces. But this is almost all that we do know.

　　However, what is important about Shakespeare's life is not its details but its products, the plays and the poems. For many years scholars have been trying to add a few facts about Shakespeare's life to the small number we already possess and for an equally long time critics (批评) have been theorizing (理论化) about the plays. Sometimes, indeed, it seems that the poetry of Shakespeare will disappear under the great mass of comment that has been written up­on it.

　　Fortunately, this is not likely to happen. Shakespeare's people have long delighted not just the English but lovers of literature everywhere, and will continue to do so after the scholars and critics and all their works have been forgotten.

　　8．What's Paragraph 1 mainly about?

　　A．The great varieties in writing styles.

　　B．The great length of Shakespeare's works.

　　C．The richness of the content in Shakespeare's works.

　　D．The rich English language used by Shakespeare in his works.

　　9．According to the passage，which of the following remains uncertain about Shakespeare?

　　A．His date of birth.

　　B．His marriage.

　　C．His life in the grammar school.

　　D．His date of death.

　　10．What does the last sentence in Paragraph 3 mean?

　　A．People don't think the poetry of Shakespeare good any more.

　　B．People pay more attention to the comment than the poetry of Shakespeare.

　　C．People can't read the poetry of Shakespeare any more.

　　D．The comment is printed on the poetry of Shakespeare.

　　11．"Shakespeare's people" in Paragraph 4 refers to ________.

　　A．the characters in Shakespeare's works

　　B．the people living in Shakespeare's day

　　C．the readers of Shakespeare's works

　　D．the people whose native language is English

　　课下能力提升(九)

　　1．解析：选B　推理判断题。根据短文第一段所表述的：文坛巨匠亚瑟·科南·道尔和罗伯特·伯恩斯和文学界的其他一些名人一样，他们两人都出生在爱丁堡，笔耕于爱丁堡。在这座城市里诞生了许许多多的作家，正因为这浓郁的书香，联合国教科文组织于10月14日把"世界首座文学之城"的荣誉授予了爱丁堡。

　　2．解析：选A　推理判断题。根据短文第二段中的内容：亚瑟·科南·道尔创作了福尔摩斯故事系列，其探案方法被描绘得非常奇妙，这让犯罪学研究也获益匪浅，得到了进一步的发展。由此推理他是以"侦探小说"而出名。

　　3．解析：选D　细节理解题。根据第三段中的"He is celebrated all over the world through translations of his work and the annual Burns Night supper on his birthday."一句可知：每年，人们在他的诞辰日举行"伯恩斯之夜"晚宴，以示纪念。

4．解析：选C　段落大意题。根据最后一段所表述的意义：苏格兰之所以产生这么