题目内容
Thirty-seven years ________ not long in the history of mankind .
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During the first half of the nineteenth century in the United States, Christmas was a very different kind of holiday than it is today. There was no set of way of celebrating the day,which was not yet an official holiday. 71 Some observed Christmas as an important Christian religious day honoring the birth of Jesus.Others celebrated the day with parties,music,drinking and eating. 72 73 .Calvinist Christians banned the celebration of Christmas.But groups such as Episcopalians
and Moravians honored the day with religious services and seasonal decorations.
By mid-century,Christian groups began to ignore their religious diffrences over the meaning of Christmas and honored the day in special ways.
Christmas became an important time for families to celebrate at home. More and more Christians Americans also began to follow the European traditions of Christmas trees and giving gifts.Christians believed that the tree represented Jesus and was also a sign of new beginnings. German immigrants brought their tradion of putting lights,sweets and toys on the branches of evergreen trees placed in their homes.
This tradition of setting up a Christmas tree soon spread to many American homes. 74 As these traditions increased in popularity,the modern trade and business linked to Christmas also grew.
As Christmas became more popular,some states declared the day a state holiday.Louisiana was the first state to make the move in eighteen thirty-seven. 75 .It was not until eighteen seventy that President Ulysses Grant made Christmas a federal holiday.
| A.So did the practice of giving people presents. |
| B.By eighteen sixty,fourteen other states had followed. |
| C.And,some communities did not celebrate the day at all. |
| D.Americans seldom gave each other presents on Christmas Day. |
F. Religion played a big role in how an American might celebrate the holiday.
G. Communities around the country honored the day in different ways.
William Shakespeare was a writer of plays and poems. Some of his most famous plays are Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth. He wrote thirty-seven plays in all. They are still popular today.
He was born in 1564 in England. At school he liked watching plays. He decided to be an actor when he finished school at the age of fourteen. In 1582, he married a farmer’s daughter. She was eight years older than he was. Their first child was a daughter. Later they had twins. In 1585, Shakespeare left his hometown, Stratford-upon-Avon. His wife and children stayed behind. No one knows why he left or what he did between 1585 and 1592.
At twenty-eight he moved to London and joined a theatre company which opened the Globe Theatre in 1599. He became an actor, and he also wrote plays. He usually acted in his own plays. He earned almost no money from his writing. But he made a lot of money from acting. With the money he bought a large house in his hometown.
At the age of forty-nine, Shakespeare retired (退休) and went to live in Stratford-upon-Avon. He died at the age of fifty-two. He left his money to his family. He left his genius to the world. You still see his plays in English and in many other languages. He is one of the most famous writers in the world.
【小题1】Shakespeare wrote many famous plays except _______.
| A.Hamlet | B.Macbeth |
| C.Romeo and Juliet | D.Man and Superman |
| A.1578 | B.1582 | C.1599 | D.1616 |
| A.with his wife | B.with his daughter |
| C.with his wife and children | D.alone |
| A.writing | B.plays | C.acting | D.retirement |
| A.Shakespeare had two children |
| B.Shakespeare wrote both plays and poems |
| C.Shakespeare left his money to the Globe Theatre |
| D.Shakespeare wrote plays in English and some other languages |