氣質姐與可愛可

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William Shakespeare is considered to be the greatest English writer and poet to have ever lived. He wrote 38 plays for the theater and 154 sonnets. A sonnet is a rhyming poem with 14 lines. His works have been translated into every major language and are still performed more than those of any other playwrights. What's more, about 1,700 common English words were actually created by Shakespeare. There are also countless idioms, phrases, and figures of speech credited tothis amazing wordsmith.
　　Compared with most famous people, very little is known about Shakespeare's private life. We do know that he was born in a small English town called Stratford-upon-Avon sometime in 1564. Many historians think his birthday was possibly April 23. There are norecords of him ever going to school, but he probably did go to King's New School in his home town. He got married when he was 18 and had three children. Practically nothing is known about the next 10 years of his life, however.
　　When he was 28, his family moved to London. Shakespeare then started to work as an actor in a theater company. He also started to write plays in which he sometimes acted. His plays were very popular and Shakespeare soon became wealthy enough to build his own theater.

Words & Phrases

1. rhyming a. 押韻的
   rhyme vi. 押韻
   The word rain rhymes with the word pain.
   rain 和 pain 這兩個字押韻。
2. be translated into...　　被翻譯成……
   translate vt. 翻譯
   This novel has been translated into 42 different languages.
   這部小說被翻譯成四十二種不同的語言。
3. figure of speech　n. 比喻說法
   figure n. 圖表；數字；人物；身材
   According to the figures, our company has made a lot of profit this season.
   根據數字，我們公司這一季獲利甚多。
4. (be) credited to sb　　歸功於某人
   The success of this project is credited to Mr. Wang.
   這項計劃的成功是王先生的功勞。
5. Compared with + N/V-ing, S + V　　和……相比∕較，……
   Compared with the hustle and bustle of city life, I prefer the easy tempo of country living.
   和喧囂擾攘的都市生活比起來，我比較喜歡鄉下生活的輕鬆步調。
   * hustle and bustle　　熙熙攘攘
6. private a. 私人的，個人的
   It is not wise to be curious about others' private affairs.
   對別人的私事感到好奇很不明智。
7. record n. 紀錄
   set / break / hold a record　　
   創紀錄∕破紀錄∕保持紀錄
   Samantha set a new world record in the high jump.
   珊曼莎創下跳高比賽的世界新記錄。
8. practically adv. 幾乎
   You can see that chain store in practically every city.
   你幾乎可以在任何一座城市中看到那家連鎖店。

1. sonnet n. 十四行詩
2. playwright n. 劇作家
3. wordsmith n. 擅長文字的人；作家

　威廉‧莎士比亞被公認為有史以來最偉大的英國作家和詩人。他為劇場寫了三十八齣劇本和一百五十四首十四行詩。十四行詩是有十四行押韻的詩。他的作品被翻譯成各國主要語言，而且至今仍比其他的劇作家的作品更常演出。此外，約有一千七百個常見的英文字實際上是由莎士比亞所創造的。也有無數的慣用語、片語和比喻說法都歸功於這位了不起的語言大師。和大部分的名人相比，關於莎士比亞私生活的所知甚少。我們只知道他在 1564 年左右出生於一個叫作埃文河畔斯特拉特福的英國小鎮。許多歷史學家認為他的生日可能在四月二十三日。沒有他上過學的記錄，但他很可能上過他家鄉的愛德華六世國王學校。他十八歲時結婚，有三個小孩。然而，幾乎沒人知道他接下來十年的生活概況。

　　他二十八歲時，他家搬到倫敦。莎士比亞接著開始在劇場當演員。他也開始寫劇本，有時也參與其中演出。他的劇本廣受歡迎，不久莎士比亞便有錢興建自己的劇場。

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