I. Fill in the blanks with the correct words.

1. Companies of players sometimes came to Stratford, and it is prob­able that Will saw the plays which they acted, for he loved to see a ______ .

2. Once when Queen Elizabeth visited the Earl of Stratford at his castle there were many plays and shows of all kinds, like a great___.

3. When William was about thirteen his father _____ and had to sell much of his property.

4. Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare's wife, lived in a ___farmhouse before her marriage.

5. Most of Shakespeare's plays were performed in the famous ___ Theatre.

6. In spite of his fame Shakespeare did not grow ______ .

7. Shakespeare died at the age of fifty-two and was ___in Holy Trinity Church.

8. The ___ through the churchyard is beautiful, a long paved walk bordered by lime trees.

9. Most of Shakespeare's plays are written in ___ verse, that is, verse without rhyme.

10. Memories of Shakespeare are everywhere in Stratford-upon-Avon: you can ___ the poet's ___ from his house to the Poet's ___ in Holy Trinity Church.

II. Complete the sentences with the best answer (a, b or c).

1. In the little village of Stratford-on-Avon, in the year 1564

a) a great battle took place between two opposing feudal lords.

b) a boy was born in the home of John and Mary Shakespeare.

c) a great fair took place which was visited by the Queen of England.

2. The Shakespeares lived in a well-built house of

a) round stone, covered outside with plaster and crossed with heavy beams of dark oak.

b) brick which their parents had built for them.

c) logs which they built themselves when they got married.

3. For several years young Will attended

a) a church school, where he also sang in a choir.

b) classes of a local school teacher.

c) the Stratford Grammar School, where he learned Latin.

4. The plays in Shakespeare's time were usually performed

a) in big theatres specially built for this purpose.

b) out-of-doors, or in the courtyard of some inn.

c) on an open field in summer when the weather was good.

5. When William was thirteen he left school

a) because he wanted to go to London.

b) because his father fell into debt and so Will had to start to work.

c) as he did not like to study.

6. In 1587 Shakespeare left Stratford for London

a) in order to continue with his studies.

b) because according to one story he killed some deer of a lord nearby and had to run away.

c) because he wanted to become an actor.

7. All the actors wanted to act Shakespeare's plays

a) because there was life in them, and because they showed men and women as they really were.

b) because they were very short.

c) as they were written in very good English.

III. Are the statements true or false? Correct the false statements.

1. Shakespeare's father was a priest at the local church.

2. In Shakespeare's time actors performed in very simple clothes, but the decorations were fine.

3. When Shakespeare was little more than eighteen he married Anne Hathaway, a rich man's daughter from London.

4. When in London Will started to work in a dock carrying the goods which were brought by the ships.

5. In 1599 the famous Globe Theatre was built on the south bank of the river Thames.

6. By 1603, when Queen Elizabeth I died, Shakespeare was not yet well known as a dramatist.

7. After 1613 Shakespeare lived on his farm together with his family enjoying the life of a country gentleman.

8. Stratford-upon-Avon is a typical big city with many streets and tall buildings.

9. The splendid Royal Shakespeare Theatre located on the banks of the Avon is a very old theatre built in the 17th century.

10. When in Stratford the best way to explore the town is to take a taxi and drive through its quiet streets.