Section Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
1、 Shakespeare’s life time was coincident with a period of extraordinary activity and achievement in the drama. (46) 【By the date of his birth Europe was witnessing the passing of the religious drama, and the creation of new forms under the incentive of classical tragedy and comedy.】 These new forms were at first mainly written by scholars and performed by amateurs, but in England, as everywhere else in western Europe, the growth of a class of professional actors was threatening to make the drama popular, whether it should be new or old, classical or medieval, literary or farcical. Court, school, organizations of amateurs, and the traveling actors were all rivals in supplying a widespread desire for dramatic entertainment; and (47) 【no boy who went to a grammar school could be ignorant that the drama was a form of literature which gave glory to Greece and Rome and might yet bring honor to England.】 When Shakespeare was twelve years old, the first public playhouse was built in London. For a time literature showed no interest in this public stage. Plays aiming at literary distinction were written for schools or court, or for the choir boys of St. Paul’s and the royal chapel, who, however, gave plays in public as well as at court. (48) 【But the professional companies prospered in their permanent theaters, and university men with literature ambitions were quick to turn to these theaters as offering a means of livelihood.】 By the time Shakespeare was twenty-five, Lyly, Peele, and Greene had made comedies that were at once popular and literary; Kyd had written a tragedy that crowded the pit; and Marlowe had brought poetry and genius to triumph on the common stage—where they had played no part since the death of Euripides. (49) 【A native literary drama had been created, its alliance with the public playhouses established, and at least some of its great traditions had been begun.】 The development of the Elizabethan drama for the next twenty-five years is of exceptional interest to students of literary history, for in this brief period we may trace the beginning, growth, blossoming, and decay of many kinds of plays, and of many great careers. We are amazed today at the mere number of plays produced, as well as by the number of dramatists writing at the same time for this London of two hundred thousand inhabitants. (50) 【To realize how great was the dramatic activity, we must remember further that hosts of plays have been lost, and that probably there is no author of note whose entire work has survived.】
正确答案：
46. 在他出生时，欧洲正经历着宗教戏剧的衰退，而在古典悲剧和喜剧的推动下，新式戏剧产生了。
47. 每个上过文法学校的少年都知道戏剧是文学的一种，它曾给希腊和罗马带来荣耀，也许还会将荣耀带给英国。
48. 但是专业剧团因其固定的剧院而得以繁荣，有着文学抱负的大学生迅速投向这些剧院以求谋生。
49. 一种本土的文学戏剧诞生了，它与公共剧院结成联盟，至少，这种戏剧的一些伟大传统已经开始形成。
50. 为了意识到戏剧的伟大之处，我们必须进一步记住，大量的戏剧已经丢失，而且可能没有哪个著名作家的全部作品得到了保留。
答案解析：
生词本
ignorant adj. 无知的 grammar school 文法学校
permanent theaters 固定剧院 hosts of 大量，很多
表达难点
46. ①By the date of his birth中的his指“莎士比亚”，By指“……时”。②witness指“见证”，在此句话中可意译为“经历”。 ③new forms指“新式戏剧，新的戏剧形式”。④under the incentive…作状语修饰new forms，可译为“在……的刺激下，在……的推动下”。
47. ①ignorant表示“不知道，对……无知”，no boy…ignorant为双重否定，表示肯定，可译作“每个男孩都知道……”。②grammar school起源于英国，最初是用来教拉丁文，之后开始教古希腊语等，可译作“文法学校”。③yet表示“尚未，还”的意思，含有即将的意味。④gave glory和bring honor都表示“带来荣耀”，英文中常常使用不同的表达传达相同意思。⑤定语从句1较短，可前置；定语从句2很长，因此后置。
48. ①the professional companies指的是专业剧团，与前文中的学校（school）、宫廷（court）、圣保罗教堂（St. Paul’s）等相对立。②prosper in表示“因……而繁荣，因……而兴旺”。③permanent theaters可译为“固定剧院”。④means of livelihood可译作“谋生方式”。
49. ①its alliance with the public playhouses established是独立主格结构，作伴随状语，可译作“它与公共剧院结成联盟”。②最后一个词begun译作“开始”会显得很生硬、勉强，这里说的是一些新的文学戏剧传统开始出现，因此可译作“形成”。
50. ①dramatic activity不是单纯指戏剧活动，结合后面的句子，可推知此处应该引申译为“戏剧创作活动”。②hosts of表示“大量，很多”。③no author of note表示“没有任何著名作家”。
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