Mr William Shakespeare and the Internet
Explanation of Contents
This is the fourth edition of these pages. It is hard to believe, but once again they are new and improved. My motive in publishing these pages remains to help and stimulate others in Shakespeare studies, and especially those who might contribute their work to the Internet. The spirit of altruism (利他主义) that originally built the Internet is not quite gone, though, sadly, through the pressure of time and profit has lessened.
A major new addition to the pages is a Shakespeare Timeline, which is an online biography mounted at this site. The problems with searching for Shakespeare resources using the available Search Engines are:
---- It is difficult to focus most searches so that you get a manageable number of relevant hits;
---- It is impossible by simply reading an abstract to make any distinction between the output of a Junior High School student and that of a professional researcher.
Another change in these pages over previous editions is the “What’s News” page. If you come away from these pages with the feeling that they are very useful but slightly pedantic (学究的), I will have realized my goal.
An Apology
I am continually apologizing to the many who have written me requesting revisions of the pages. We are all too busy. I simply have not had the time to dedicate to these pages that I wish. But I love the material and so have, at long last, made some time to update them.
A Reminder to Young Students
These pages contain the best links I can find to Shakespeare on the Internet. As a reminder, I would say I very much enjoy hearing from people who view and use these pages. If you want to do Shakespeare research using the web, this page is a great starting point, and I keep it as current as I can. The web is in its infancy in bringing good, scholarly content to students. Don’t forget the best, if not quickest, resources are still in your library.
57. The passage is written to ____.
A. introduce the fourth edition of these pages
B. make an apology to readers
C. show off these pages to readers
D. let Shakespeare researchers buy these pages
58. Which of the following is the new addition to the pages?
A. The writer’s apology.
B. Search Engines.
C. A Shakespeare Timeline.
D. Receiving readers’ e-mails.
59. When searching for Shakespeare resources using Search Engines, you ____.
A. will waste some time in finding what you want
B. can easily recognize what the abstract means
C. will often come into the “What’s News” pages
D. will find something special on your computers
60. Which of the following can best conclude the last paragraph?
A. The writer will often read letters from those who use these pages.
B. The writer of the passage is very selfish.
C. The web was just created four years ago.
D. Shakespeare researchers should first of all refer to these pages.
If English m
eans endless new words, difficult grammar and sometimes strange pronunciation, you are wrong. Haven’t you noticed that you have become smarter since you started to learn a language?
According to a new study by a British university, learning a second language can lead to an increase in your brain power. Researchers found that learning other languages changes grey matter（大脑灰质）. This is the area of the brain which processes information. It is similar to the way that exercise builds muscles（肌肉）.
The study also found the younger people learn a second language，the greater the effect is.
A team led by Dr Andrea Mechelli, from University College London, took a group of Britons who only spoke English. They were compared with a group of “early bilinguals” who had learnt a second language before the age of five, as well as a number of later learners.
Scans showed that grey matter density（密度）in the brain was greater in bilinguals than in people without a second language. But the longer a person waited before mastering a new language, the smaller the difference.
“Our findings suggest that the structure of the brain is changed by the experience of learning a second language,” it means that the change itself increases the ability to learn.
Professor Dylan Vaughan Jones of the University of Wales, has researched the link between bilingualism and maths skills. “Having two languages gives you two windows on the world and makes the brain more flexible(灵活的)”, he said. “You are actually going beyond language and have a better understanding of dif
ferent ideas.”
The findings were matched in a study of native Italian speakers who had learned Englis
h as a second language between the ages of 2 and 34. Reading, writing, and comprehension were all tested. The results showed that the younger they started to learn, the better. “Studying a language means you get an entrance to another world,” explained the scientists.The main subject talked about in this passage is ______.
| A．science on learning a second language |
| B．man’s ability of learning a second language |
| C．language learning can help brain power |
| D．language learning and maths study |
The underlined word “bilingual” probably means ______.
| A．a researcher on language learning |
| B．a second language learner |
| C．a person who can speak two languages |
| D．an active language learner |
We may know from the scientific findings that ______.
| A．the earlier you start to learn a second language the higher the grey matter density is |
| B．there is no difference between a later second language learner and one who doesn’t know a second language |
| C．the experience of learning a second language has bad effect on people’s brain |
| D．the ability of learning a second language is changing all the time |
In the last two paragraphs, the author wants to tell us that ______.
| A．learning a second language is the same as studying maths |
| B．early learning of a second language helps you a great deal in studying other subjects |
| C．Italian is the best choice for you as a second language |
| D．you’d better choose the ages between 2 and 34 to learn a second language |
Many people go to school for an education. They learn languages, history, geography, physics, chemistry and mathematics. Others go to school to learn a skill so that they can make a living. School education is very important and useful. Yet no one can learn everything from school. A teacher，no matter how much he knows
can not teach his students everything they want to know. The teacher’s job is to show his students how to learn. He teaches them how to read and how to think. So much more is to be learned outside school by the students themselves.
It is always more important to study by oneself than to memorize some facts or a formula(公式). It is actually quite easy to learn a certain fact in history or a formula in maths. But it is very difficult to use a formula in working out a maths problem. Great scientists, such as Einstein，Newton and Galileo didn’t get everything from school. But they were all so successful. They invented so many things for mankind. The reason for their success is that they worked hard all their lives, wasting not a single moment. They would ask many questions as they read and they did thousands of experiments. Above all, they knew how to use their brains.The subject which is not spoken of in the article is _____
| A．maths | B．history | C．physiology | D．physics |
The teacher’s job is to teach ___________.
| A．everything the students want to know |
| B．the students everything that they know |
| C．the students some facts of formulas |
| D．the students how to learn |
Who does the article say didn’t waste a single moment?
| A．Great people | B．Persons who work as teachers |
| C．The great scientist－Newton | D．Great scientists |
In the United States, 30% of the adult population has a “weight problem”. To many people, the cause is obvious（明显的）: they eat t
oo much. But scientific evidence does little to support this idea. Going back to the America of the 1910s, we find that people were thinner than today, yet they ate more food. In those days people worked harder physically（体力上）, walked more, used machines much less and didn’t watch television.
Several mod
ern studies, moreover, have shown that fatter people do not eat more on the average than thinner people. In fact, some investigations（调查）, such as the 1979 study of 3,545 London office workers, report that, on balance, fat people eat less than slimmer people.
Studies show that slim people are more active than fat people. A study by a research group at Stanford University School of Medicine found the following interesting facts:
The more the men ran, the more body fat they lost
The more they ran, the greater amount of food they ate.
Thus, th
ose who ran the most ate the most, yet lost the greatest amount of body fat.The physical problem that many adult Americans have is that ______.
| A．they are too slim | B．they work too  hard |
| C．they are too fat | D．they lose too much body fat |
According to the article, giv
en 500 adult Americans, ______ people will have a “weight problem”.
| A．30 | B．50 | C．100 | D．150 |
Is there any scientific evidence to support that eating too much is the cause of a “weight problem”?
| A．Yes, there is plenty of evidence. |
| B．Of course, there is some evidence to show this is true. |
| C．There is hardly any scientific evidence to support this. |
| D．We don’t know because the information is not given. |
In comparison with the adult American population today, the Americans of the 1910s ______.
A．ate more  food and had more physical activities |
| B．ate less food but had more activities |
| C．ate less food and had less physical exercise |
| D．had more weight problems |
Modern scientific researches have reported to us that ______.
| A．fat people eat less food and are less active |
| B．fat people eat more food than slim people and are more active |
| C．fat people eat more food than slim people but are less active |
| D．thin people run less, but have greater increase in food intake |
At two o’clock a bank robber stole in. “This is a holdup（持枪拦劫）,” the man said rudely. He took a gun from under his jacket, pointing to George. “Hand it over!” George reached into his money-box and took all the bills from the top part – close to six thousand dollars. The robber snatched them and turned to leave.
Then, while everyone watched the robber, George calmly lifted the top part of the money-box, took bills from the bottom part and put them into his own pocket secretly.
The door was shut a
nd the bank robber was gone. George fainted (晕倒).
As soon as he was safely behind his bedroom door, George counted the money. He had eight thousand dollars. He was very happy.
The next morning, while the others were examining the bank’s records, George was called into Mr. Burrow’s office and was introduced to Mr. Carruthers, who used to be president of the bank.
“Good morning, George, I was sorry to give you a hard time yesterday, but with all the banks 
being robbed these days I thought it would be a good idea to prove that our little bank can be robbed too. I have retired (退休), but I’m always thinking of our bank. That’s why I played my little game yesterday, just to keep everyone on his toes (保持警觉). Now, I have put the money back in your money-box— all six thousand.” George was happy because ______.
| A．he didn’t lose his money box | B．he wasn’t killed by the robber |
| C．he got eight thousand dollars | D．he was introduced to Mr. Carruthers |
What did George do when he was taken to the bedroom?
A
. He counted money. B. He examined the bank’s record.
C. He put some money into his pocket. D. He lifted the top part of the money box.Who might be the robber?
| A．George. | B．Mr. Burrow. | C．A retired lady. | D．Mr. Carruthers. |
Over the last 25 years, British society has changed a great deal. In some ways, however, very little has changed. Ideas about social class whether a person is “working-class” or “middle-class” are one area in which changes have been extremely slow.
In the past, the working-class tended to be paid less than middle-class people, such as teachers and doctors. As a result of this and also of the fact that workers’ jobs were generally much less secure, distinct differences in life-styles and attitudes came into existence. The typical working man would collect his wages on Friday evening and then give them to his wife, leaving a little for drinking or betting.
The type of what a middle-class man did with his money was perhaps nearer the truth. He was and still is likely to take a longer-term view. Not only did he regard buying a house to provide him and his family with security. Only in very few cases did workers have the opportunity (or the education and training) to make such long-term plans.
Nowadays, much has changed. In a large number of cases factory workers earn as much. Social security and laws have made it less necessary than before to worry about “tomorrow”. Working-class people seem slowly to be losing the feeling of inferiority(自卑感)they had in the past. In fact there has been a growing tendency in the past few years for the middle-classes to feel slightly ashamed of their position.
The changes in both life-styles and attitudes are probably most easily seen among younger people. They generally tend to share very similar tastes in music and clothes. They spend their money enjoying themselves, and save for holidays or longer-term plans when necessary. There seems to be much less difference than in precious generations. Nevertheless, we still have a wide gap between the well-paid and the low-paid. As long as this gap exists, there will always be a possibility that new problems will appear between different groups.Which of the following is seen as the main cause of class differences in the past?
| A．Life style and occupation. |
| B．Attitude and income. |
| C．Income and job security. |
| D．Job security and hobbies. |
The writer seems to suggest that _______.
| A．the description of middle-class ways of spending money is quite real |
| B．working-class ways of spending the weekend remain the same |
| C．working-class drinking habits differ from the past |
| D．middle-class attitudes towards their positions have changed greatly |
According to the passage, what was the typical feature of the middle–class in the past?
| A．They had to save money for security. |
| B．They couldn’t make long-term plans. |
| C．They could make as much money as they do now. |
| D．They didn’t have the sense of inferiority. |
Working-class people's sense of security has increased as a result of all the following factors EXCEPT that _______.
| A．they are provided with social security |
| B．they can get much income |
| C．better jobs are available for all of them |
| D．the government offers legal protection |
Which of the following statements is incorrect?
| A．Changes are slowly taking place in all aspects of the British society. |
| B．The difference between working-class and middle-class young people is narrowing. |
| C．The gap in income between the two classes will still remain. |
| D．Middle-class people may sometimes feel a little inferior. |
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