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¡¡¡¡Do you dream of a huge comfortable bed? Nearly everyone does. This is not only because rest is necessary for life, but also because there's comfort in a large bed. It's wonderful to stretch out. The narrow single bed really means lonely life in fenced rooms. So, many people buy beds which are even bigger than the traditional double bed. Here, in comfort, they can spend a third of their lives asleep.
¡¡¡¡Perhaps this was why a man called Sir Henry Fanshawe asked a carpener £¨Ä¾½³£© to build the biggest bed in England, called The Great Bed of Ware. It was made in about 1580 and soon became famous. For in 1596 a German traveler saw it and noted that it was wide enough for four couples. Poets and playwrights (including Shakespeare in ¡°Twelfth Night¡±) often mentioned it.
¡¡¡¡This is not surprising for it is a grand piece of work. It is made of oak£¨Ïñľ£©and measures 3.3 metres in length and width. Except for its size, it is like other beds of the period, a four-poster bed. The posts, the headboard and the cover are richly decorated. The headboard in particular has carved and painted figures and two panels of inlaid wood which show special structure.
¡¡¡¡The Great Bed of Ware became a curiosity. In 1610 it was placed in a small hotel, the Saracen's Head, in the town of Ware. People came to see it and those who slept in it carved some words and their names on the woodwork, just like modern tourists. Over the years, the bed became covered with words, names and dates; the earliest date is 1653. During the nineteenth century, the old bed was moved from one hotel to another until it was finally shown to the public at two pence a head.
(1) The Great Bed of Ware ________.
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A£®is shown to the public in the Saracen's Head; one ticket costs two Pence
B£®was named after the carpenter
C£®is big enough for eight persons to sleep in
D£®was made because people spend a third of their lives asleep
(2) Ware is the name of ________.
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(3) We can learn from the passage that ________
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A£®a narrow single bed at home stands for lonely life
B£®a German tourist had an effect on making the Great Bed well-known in the world
C£®the Great Bed was shown in ¡°Twelfth Night¡±.
D£®it is its size that makes the Great Bed look like other beds of that time
(4) How many years has it been since the first date was carved on the Great Bed?
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