Examination card №12
I. Read and translate the text.
William Shakespeare
There have been many great writers in the history of English literature, but
there is no doubt about which writer was the greatest. Many people consider
William Shakespeare to have been the best writer who ever lived.
Shakespeare’s most famous plays include Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth,
Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, and Julius Caesar. Usually, Shakespeare did not
invent the stories that he told in his plays. Instead, he wrote his plays using
stories that already existed. However, Shakespeare’s plays told these stories
in a more interesting way than ever before. Some of the stories were
tragedies, some were comedies, and some described historical events.
In his plays, Shakespeare revealed a very wide knowledge of many areas of
life. The characters in his plays discuss many different topics, often with the
knowledge of experts. But what is even more impressive about these plays is
Shakespeare’s use of the English language. His vocabulary was very large,
and Shakespeare seems to have introduced many words to the language! Also,
many of the phrases that are said by Shakespeare’s characters are now used in
everyday conversation. Today, writers often use quotations from
Shakespeare’s plays in their own works.
But perhaps even the most impressive features of Shakespeare’s plays are
the characters within them. The many characters in his plays seem very
different from each other, but they seem very realistic. The emotions they
feel, the words they say, and the actions they perform are all easily
understood. Many people who watch one of Shakespeare’s plays will find that
they know people who remind them somewhat of the characters in those
plays.
II. Put a question to a sentence
1. He will tell us about his work.
2. She has some flowers.
3. He has lived in England for fifty years.
