Shakespeare lives on (P1)
I. Pre-reading
Discuss the following questions with your partner.
 What do you know about Shakespeare？
 Which of his works have impressed you most? What are the stories about?
 Can you remember any lines from Shakespeare’s plays? If so, what are they?

II. Reading
Read the article and choose the best answer for each of the following questions.
1. What was the author’s main purpose in writing the article?
A. To introduce the “Shakespeare Lives” project.
B. To recommend some of Shakespeare’s best-known works.
C. To analyze why Shakespeare’s writing lives on.
D. To explore the features and effects of Shakespeare’s tragedies.
2. How is the article mainly developed?
A. With comparisons.           
B. Through examples.
C. By following the order of time.    
D. Through an analysis of cause and effect.
3. Which of the following best describes Shakespeare’s idea of beauty?
A. There is always beauty in tragedy.  
B. True beauty only exists in illusion.
C. The beauty of someone’s personality is not as important as his or her appearance.
D. The beauty of a “fair youth” will decline if the youth marries and has children.

Key:
1. C。本文主要分析了莎士比亚的作品经久不衰的魅力的原因，所以答案为C。
2. B。文中通过列举多部莎翁的作品来说明他的作品拥有经久不衰魅力的原因，所以答案为B。
3. A。由文中的“Beauty features in Shakespeare’s plays, too.”以及“So beauty comes with tragedy. Shakespeare is at his greatest as a tragic poet. It is in the four tragedies written around 1600 that his genius for tragedy is clearest. ”可以推知A为正确答案。由第三段可以推知D项错误，莎士比亚认为结婚生子恰是延续美丽的一种方式。B无中生有，由文中的“Cleopatra’s beauty, which is a beauty of personality as much as of appearance, is what attracts Anthony.”可推知C不对。

III. Post-reading
Read the article again and answer the following questions.
1. How has Shakespeare influenced the English language?
A large amount of Shakespeare’s language is now used in common speech. Every day, English speakers use phrases of Shakespeare’s, usually without knowing it.

2. In what way did Shakespeare think a “fair youth” could make his beauty live on?
Shakespeare thought a “fair youth” had to marry and have children so that his beauty could live on in his children. If not, his beauty would decline as he aged and finally died.

3. Why does the author mention Shakespeare’s King Lear in the article?
To show that Shakespeare had a genius for tragedy, and beauty comes with tragedy, too.

IV. Language study
Study the following sentences.
1. “SWEETS to the sweet”: It is right and fitting that in 2016 the British Council and the Great Britain Campaign should celebrate the work of Shakespeare in their “Shakespeare Lives” project to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of the great playwright.
 Sweets to the sweet源自莎士比亚的十四行诗，意思为：giving something sweet to a person, usually to children or someone considered very wonderful.
 句中it用作形式主语，真正的主语为后面that引导的从句，不定式短语to mark …用作目的状语。

2. 1) It is the quality that pulls the great soldier away from his duties and causes him – and Cleopatra – to lose everything, including life.
2) It is in the four tragedies written around 1600 that his genius for tragedy is clearest.
这两句话都使用了强调句型，分别强调主语the quality和地点状语in the four tragedies written around 1600。判断一个句子是否是强调句的方法就是去掉It is和that，看剩下的部分能否组成完整的句子。例如上面两句可以改为：
1) The quality pulls the great soldier away from his duties and causes him – and Cleopatra – to lose everything, including life.、
2) His genius for tragedy is clearest in the four tragedies written around 1600.

3. In truth Cordelia dies, as does Lear, as did the poet and playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616).
句中“as/so +助动词/情态动词/be 动词+主语”的结构表示“某人也一样处于前面所述的某种情况”，相当于：and Lear dies, and the poet and playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616) died, too.

Strong glass coming (P5)
I. Fast reading
Read the article quickly and find out what it is mainly about.
What is the article mainly about?
A. The principles of making glass that is both strong and safe.
B. The different benefits of glass made of PVB and alumina.
C. A comparison of tempered safety glass and laminated safety glass.
D. A revolutionary technology that can make glass that doesn’t break easily.

Key:
D。本文主要介绍了日本科学家研发出的一种超硬玻璃，所以答案为D。

II. Reading
Read the article and choose the best answer for each of the following questions.
1. Laminated safety glass is mainly used in ____.
A. computer monitors B. car windshields
C. windows in buildings D. screens for electronics
2. What problem did Japanese scientists overcome to develop the new type of glass?
A. Cutting a sheet of polyvinyl butyral between two pieces of glass.
B. Collecting large amounts of alumina and mixing alumina with silicon dioxide.
C. Stopping the mixture of alumina and silicon dioxide from crystallization.
D. Heating, cooling and hardening the mixture of alumina and silicon dioxide.
3. What can we conclude from the article about the new technology for making glass?
A. It has been proven useful in certain industries.
B. It is expected to be widely applied in industries next year.
C. It can produce glass twice as strong as tempered safety glass.
D. It could greatly improve the quality of strong glass needed in certain industries.

Key:
1. B。由第五段的“It’s commonly seen in car windshields (挡风玻璃).”可知B为正确答案。
2. C。由第七、八段可知过去试图提高玻璃中氧化铝含量的尝试都没有成功，因为这种混合物在与容器接触后会形成结晶，以致无法聚合成可以使用的玻璃。为了解决这一问题，日本的科学家们使用了无容器技术，通过氧气将材料推至空气中，然后再用激光使其熔化。所以C为正确答案。
3. D。倒数第三段提到了这种技术可能会在某些工业领域很有用，但是现在并没有被证实，所以A项不对；B项的next year与最后一段的“We are looking to commercialize (使商业化) the technique within five years”相悖，所以不对；倒数第四段提到了“The results of tests showed that the glass was twice as strong as typical glass and similar to steel and iron.”，但是并没有比较这种新玻璃与tempered safety glass的硬度，所以C项不对，但是根据这句话以及倒数第三段我们可以推知D为正确答案。

III. Post-reading
Fill in the blanks with proper words based on the article.
Glass that is stronger and safer
Tempered safety glass It is a single piece made by heating, cooling and 1. hardening it.
The process increases the strength of the glass to 2. five to 10 times that of untempered glass.
It is used in 3. computer monitors, windows and tables.
Laminated safety glass It is created by 4. cutting a sheet of polyvinyl butyral between two pieces of glass. The different 5. layers of the structure strengthen the glass.
When it does break, the PVB acts like tape to 6. bind the pieces together.
It’s commonly seen in 7. car windshields.
The glass that Japanese scientists developed It is made from alumina. By mixing it with silicon dioxide, the glass becomes much stronger.
Scientists used 8. gas to push the chemicals into the air, where they synthesized.
The glass turned out much stronger than typical glass and similar to 9. steel and iron.
The technology to make super strong glass could not only change windows in buildings and vehicles, but also prove useful in 10. screens for electronics.

Simply say sorry (P6)
I. Pre-reading
Discuss the following questions with your partner.
 Do you find it hard to say sorry, even when you know you are wrong?
 Do you think saying sorry helps? If so, how does it help?

II. Reading
Read the article and choose the best answer for each of the following questions.
1. The underlined phrase “own up to” in Paragraph 4 probably means ____.
A. understand       B. admit     
C. learn from      D. benefit from
2. Which of the following is one of the advantages of saying sorry, according to the author?
A. Putting an end to a pointless argument.
B. Improving your opinion of yourself.
C. Letting the other person realize his or her faults.
D. Making doing something wrong sound more reasonable.
3. The author uses the incident between her husband and her to show that ____.
A. close family ties can overcome any conflict
B. sometimes it is hard to blame others when it’s no one’s fault
C. forgiving gives us more time to enjoy life instead of suffering
D. small troubles can make you so angry that forgiving becomes difficult
4. What does the expression “things that can’t be helped” in the last paragraph but four mean?
A. things that cannot be avoided
B. things that are nobody’s fault
C. things that nobody helps with
D. things that happen for a reason

Key:
1. B。前面都在说要道歉，所以这里是说道歉的好处。最接近道歉的就是承认自己的错误，所以B正确。
2. A。细节理解题。根据五六七三段可知，主动说对不起可以阻止毫无意义的争吵、可以让对方感觉好受一点儿、可以通向涵养。所以A正确。
3. C。逻辑推断题。作者讲述自己和老公之间的故事是为了说明下面的道理：“I told you all that to say this: Life is short. We waste precious time blaming others for things that are no one’s fault, while we long to forgive and be forgiven.”所以如果我们不浪费时间去谴责别人而是原谅别人，就会减少不快乐，增加享受快乐的时光。
4. A。猜测词义题。根据上下文关系我们不难推断出，此处that can not be helped应为不可避免的意思。

III. Language study
Study the following sentences.
1. No matter how sorry you say you are, I will be sorrier.
释义：不管你有多抱歉，我会比你更抱歉。
分析：No matter how意思是“不管怎样”。例如：You’ll never succeed, no matter how hard you try.

2. Forgiveness (宽恕) blooms in the heart of the one who’s wronged, but it’s planted by the one who says, “I’m sorry.”
此处作者运用了暗喻的修辞手法，准确地表达出宽恕和道歉之间的关系。作者将宽恕比做正在开放的花朵，将道歉比作花朵的种子。宽恕在被伤害的人心中（像花朵般）生长开放，而它的种子是由说“抱歉”的人播下的。

3. The ancient poet Rumi said: “The wound is the place where the Light enters you.”
作者在这里引用了诗人Rumi的一句话，大意是：“伤痛是阳光照亮你的入口”。此处作者突出表达的观点是，作为被伤害的一方，当对方表达歉意之后，应该要尽快宽恕并且走出阴霾，否则耿耿于怀会使自己再次受到伤害。“The wound”作为被伤害的地方，其实就像是为阳光创造了更多机会一般，阳光不仅仅填满、充实它，而且还可以照进人的内心深处。

Translate the following sentences with the given words or phrases.
1. 这次事故怪不着司机。(blame)
The driver was not to blame for the accident.
2. 中国的诗歌在唐代十分盛行。(bloom)
Poetry bloomed in China during the Tang dynasty.
3. 如果你觉得我做这件事只是为了自己的话，你就冤枉我了。(wrong)
You wrong me if you think I only did it for selfish reasons.
4. 该忘掉过去了。(let go of)
It’s time to let go of the past.