STRATFORD UPON AVON, AND WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE23 April is the day when literature fans all over the world commemorate the birth, and death, of William Shakespeare, who wrote at least 37 plays and 154 sonnets, and many other poems. Many people believe that he was born and that he died on the same date, but although records prove that he died on 23 April 1616, there is nothing to prove exactly when he was born. The nearest we can get is that he was baptised on 26 April 1564. But it’s a nice idea to celebrate both his birth and his death on the same day – which is also St. George’s Day. St. George is the national saint of England (and Greece). William’s father, John was a glover, and also made other leather goods like bags, belts etc., and was also one of the local policemen. Will’s mother, Mary Arden, married John when she was about 17, in 1557. She had 7 sisters, 2 step-sisters and 2 step-brothers, so William had lots of aunts and uncles! He also ended up with 3 brothers and 2 sisters. People had much larger families then, than now. Will seems to have been a passionate teenager, and when he was 18 he married Anne Hathaway, who was 26. They had 3 children: Susanna, and twins Judith and Hamnet. Susanna and Judith gave William and Anne 3 grandchildren each, but Hamnet died when he was 11. Will was still young when he went off to London to earn a living writing plays, and acting. By 1592 his work was very popular. He would spend most of the year in London, and go back to Stratford to see his family when the theatre season ended. While he was in London he fell in love with the ‘dark lady’ whom he wrote about in his sonnets. At that time in England the Saxon characteristics of blonde hair and pale skin were admired. ‘Fair’ equalled ‘beautiful’. The darker, Celtic people, pushed to the west and north by the Saxons, were considered (by the Saxons) less beautiful. Shakespeare’s dark lady was very dark, and he describes her as beautiful, so he was prepared to be unconventional for love. For 25 or so years he lived this way. Then he went back to Stratford, and little is known of his life after that. His parents had died and he was the head of his family, and he probably spent his time looking after the property and land he had bought over the years. He wrote two more plays with another writer, but then died in 1616 at the age of 52. If you ever go to Stratford upon Avon, you will see Will’s birthplace, and the church where he was baptised and is buried, which has a memorial to him. The cottage where Anne Hathaway lived before she married him, and the house where it is thought Mary Arden lived before she married Will’s father, are just outside Stratford. They are all beautiful buildings. They are often known as ‘black and white houses’ but the correct term is ‘half-timbered houses’. This area of Warwickshire has many houses just as beautiful as these, but the difference is that you can go into the Shakespeare houses and see furniture, pictures and gardens very like those that Will and Anne would have known. On the banks of the River Avon, there is the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, which often stages productions of Will's plays. VIII. Перепишіть та письмово дайте відповіді на питання до тексту. Перепишите и письменно ответьте на вопросы к тексту. 1. When do literature fans all over the world commemorate the birth and death of William Shakespeare? 2. What were his parents? 3. Can you describe his way of living? 4. What did he do after going back to Stratford? IX. Поставте 5 запитань до 1-2 абзаців тексту. Поставьте 5 вопросов к 1-2 абзацам текста. Х. Знайдіть у 2-4 абзацах тексту 3 випадка використання ланцюжків іменників. Найдите в 2-4 абзацах текста 3 случая использования цепочек существительных. ХІ. Знайдіть у тексті іменники та прикметники, утворені за допомогою суфіксів та префіксів та перекладіть їх. Найдите в тексте существительные и прилагательные, образованные с помощью суффиксов и приставок и переведите их. ХІІ. Напишіть наступні прикметники, які трапляються у тексті у порівняльному та вищому ступені та перекладіть їх рідною мовою: Напишите следующие прилагательные, которые встречаются в тексте в сравнительной и превосходной степени, и переведите их на родной язык.
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