Section A: Banked Cloze
Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.
It is commonly believed that the great English dramatist and poet William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-on-Avon on April 23, 1564. But it is impossible to know the 26 ______ day on which he was born. Church records show he's baptized (施洗礼) on April 26, and 3 days was a customary amount of time to wait before baptizing a newly born baby. Shakespeare's date of death is 27 ______ known, however. it was April 23, 1616. He was 52 and had retired to Stratford three years before.
Although few plays have been performed or analyzed as extensively as the 38 plays Shakespeare wrote, there are few surviving details about his life. This 28 ______ of biographical information is due primarily to his social 29 ______ : he was not a noble, but the son of a leather trader.
Shakespeare 30 ______ attended the grammar school in Stratford, where he would have studied Latin and read 31 ______ literature. He did not go to university and at age 18 married Anne Hathaway, who was eight years his 32 ______. They had four children, including the twins, Hamnet and Judith. Nothing is known of the period between the birth of the twins and Shakespeare's 33 ______ as a dramatist in London in the early 1590s.
In a million words written over 20 years, he 34 ______ the full range of human emotions and conflicts with a 35 ______ that remains sharp today. As his great contemporary the poet and dramatist Ben Jonson said, “He was not of an age, but for all time.”
Word Bank
全文翻译
人们普遍认为，伟大的英国戏剧家和诗人威廉·莎士比亚于1564年4月23日出生在埃文河畔的斯特拉特福。但不可能知道他出生的确切日期。教堂记录显示他于4月26日接受洗礼，而3天是等待为新生儿洗礼的惯例时间。然而，莎士比亚的逝世日期确实是已知的：1616年4月23日。他享年52岁，三年前已退休回到斯特拉特福。尽管很少有戏剧像莎士比亚写的38部戏剧那样被广泛演出或分析，但关于他生平的现存细节很少。这种传记信息的缺乏主要由于他的社会地位：他不是贵族，而是一个皮革商人的儿子。莎士比亚很可能就读于斯特拉特福的文法学校，在那里他会学习拉丁语并阅读古典文学。他没有上大学，18岁时与 Anne Hathaway 结婚，她比他大八岁。他们育有四个孩子，包括双胞胎 Hamnet 和 Judith。从双胞胎出生到1590年代初莎士比亚在伦敦作为剧作家崭露头角之间的时期，没有任何信息。在20年间写下的一百万字中，他以至今依然犀利的精准度捕捉了人类情感和冲突的全方位。正如他伟大的同时代人、诗人和剧作家 Ben Jonson 所说："他不属于一个时代，而属于所有时代。"Answers & Explanations
26. E (exact)。解析：空格位于定冠词 the 和名词 day 之间，应填形容词。句意为“不可能知道他出生的（确切）日子”。exact 意为“确切的，准确的”，最符合语境。
27. C (conclusively)。解析：空格位于系动词 is 和过去分词 known 之间，应填副词修饰 known。前文说出生日期无法确切知道，however 表示转折，说明死亡日期是“确凿地”为人所知的。conclusively 意为“确凿地，决定性地”。
28. L (scarcity)。解析：空格位于 This 和 of 之间，应填名词。前文提到 surviving details（存留的细节）很少，因此这里是指传记信息的“匮乏”。scarcity 意为“缺乏，不足”。
29. H (position)。解析：冒号后的解释是“他不是贵族，而是一个皮革商的儿子”，这说明缺乏信息主要是由于他的社会“地位”不高。social position 意为“社会地位”。
30. J (probably)。解析：空格位于主语 Shakespeare 和谓语 attended 之间，应填副词。因为缺乏确切的传记记录，这里是在推测他“可能”上了文法学校。probably 意为“大概，可能”。
31. B (classical)。解析：空格修饰名词 literature（文学），应填形容词。在文法学校学习拉丁文和阅读“古典”文学是合理的搭配。classical literature 意为“古典文学”。
32. M (senior)。解析：句型 sb is + 时间 + one's senior 意为“某人比某人大...岁”。这里指 Anne Hathaway 比莎士比亚大八岁，填 senior。
33. D (emergence)。解析：空格位于名词所有格 Shakespeare's 之后，且由 as a dramatist 修饰，应填名词。句意为“从双胞胎出生到他在16世纪90年代初作为剧作家在伦敦（崭露头角）期间”。emergence 意为“出现，崭露头角”。
34. A (captured)。解析：句子缺谓语动词，且发生在过去，应填动词过去式。句意为“他（捕捉）到了人类情感和冲突的全部范围”。capture 意为“捕捉，刻画”，符合语境。
35. I (precision)。解析：空格位于不定冠词 a 之后，且有 that 引导的定语从句修饰，应填名词。句意为“带着一种至今依然敏锐的（精确度）”。precision 意为“精确，精准”，与 sharp（敏锐）呼应。