Birds enjoy a relatively slow rate of extinction but a new study suggests that rate might be severely underestimated(低估). Even worse, if human actions continue, bird extinction rates could skyrocket and 12 percent of the known bird species(物种) could be dying out by the end of the century.

Presently there are 10,000 known bird species — most identified after 1850 — and an estimated 130 of those have become extinct since 1500, setting the extinction rate at about one species every four years.

But according to Stuart Pimm of Duke University, this rate fails to take into account three key points: The continual identification of extinct bird species from fossil remains; numerous "missing" species not yet declared extinct; and the fact that present extinction rates were not calculated using the proper baseline date for when the species was first described.

Taking these points into consideration, the extinction rate is closer to one bird species per year, says Pimm, the leading author of the study. And the rate could be three times as high as that if not for recent bird preservation efforts.

In previous centuries, bird extinctions took place mainly on islands as Polynesian peoples expanded into the Pacific or Europeans took over the Americas, wiping out birds along the way.

In recent years, scientists are seeing an increased number of extinctions on continents, again because of human activities. Habitat destruction, introduction of invasive species, and climate change combine to harm many bird species. Before human influence, the estimated rate of bird extinctions would have been only one species per hundred years, researchers estimate.

Bird extinction rates are slower than for most animals, mainly because humans do more harm to other species and people take special efforts to protect birds. Still, if the present trends continue, the researchers estimate that the bird extinction rate will continue to climb to as many as 10 species per year,

  47. The underlined word "skyrocket" in the first paragraph means

A. fly high                             B. appear soon

C. increase quickly                    D. change regularly

  48. According to Pimm, the extinction rate of birds is____________.

A. one species per hundred years

B. one species every year

C. three species per year

D. ten species every year

  49. What can we infer from the fifth and sixth paragraphs?

A. Humans have started destroying bird habitat in recent years.

B. Humans are doing more harm to animals than to birds.

C. Humans have made no effort to protect birds.

D. Humans are responsible for the bird extinctions.

  50. What might be the best title for the passage?

A. Humans' Fighting against Bird Extinction

B. Humans' Responsibilities for Bird Protection

C. Bird Extinction Rates Far Worse Than Realized

D. Bird Extinction Occurring on Islands and Continents

A lecturer was giving a lecture to his students on stress management. He raised a glass of water and asked the audience, “How heavy do you think this glass of water is?” The students’ answers___61 _ (range) from 20g to 500g. It doesn’t matter on the absolute___62___ (weigh). It depends on how long you hold___63___. If I hold it for a minute, it is OK. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have___64___ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you will have to call an ambulance. It's the exact same weight, but the___65___ (long) I hold it, the heavier it becomes. If we carry our burdens___66___the time, sooner or later, we won't be able to carry on with the burden__67_(become) increasingly heavier. What you’ve to do is to put the glass down, rest for a while before holding it up again. We have to put down the burden periodically, so that we can be refreshed and are able to carry on.

__68__you return home from work tonight, put the burden of work___69_. Don't carry it back home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you’re having now on your shoulders, let it down__70__a moment if you can. Life is short, enjoy it!

This is a very interesting book．I’ll buy it ______________．

    A．no matter how it may cost        B．how may it cost

    C．how much may it cost             D．however much it may cost

       Educating Psyche by Bernie Neville is a book which looks at new approaches to learning. One theory discussed in the book is developed by Georgi Lozanov, which stressed the power of suggestion. His technique is based on evidence that the connections made in the brain through unconscious processing last longer than those made through conscious processing. Our experience provides evidence for it. If we think of a book we studied months or years ago, we will find it easier to remember peripheral details—the color, the book cover, the table at the library we sat while studying it—than the content on which we were concentrating. If we think of a lecture we listened to attentively, we will remember the lecturer’s appearance and behaviors, or the computer breakdown, much more easily than the ideas we went to learn. The details of the content of the lecture, however, seem to have gone forever.

       Lozanov therefore made indirect instruction central to his teaching system. In suggestopedia, as he called his method, consciousness is moved away from the curriculum to stress something peripheral.

       The suggestopedic approach to foreign language learning provides a good example. In one of his experiments, the students are listening to classical, jazz and other music when the teacher reads the text slowly or in a normal speaking voice. During the whole experiment, the students have their books closed and their attention is negative; they listen to the music but make no attempt to learn the material.

       Some hours later, there is a follow-up class at which the students are asked to recall the material presented. The students do not fix their attention on trying to remember the vocabulary, but on using the language to communicate (e.g. through games).

       The results of the experiment show that compared with conventional teaching, students can regularly learn 1,000 words of foreign language during a suggestopedic class, as well as grammar and idiom.

While suggestopedia has proven its advantage, fewer teachers use it. For one thing, the students have not developed the appropriate mindset. They are often not motivated to learn through the method. They do not have enough “faith”. They do not see it as “real teaching”, especially as it does not seem to involve the “work” that they believe is essential to learning.

32. What does the underlined word “peripheral” mean in the passage?

   A. Less important.                                                        B. Less controversial.             

   C. Less active.                                                      D. Less harmonious.

33. The author mentions reading a book and listening to a lecture in order to ________.

   A. share his life experience                                    B. introduce the text’s topic

   C. explain Lozanov’s theory                                    D. attract readers’ interest

34. According to suggestopedia, teachers should help students to ________.

   A. control their consciousness                                       B. appreciate different kinds of music

   C. memorize the details of materials                              D. become motivated learners

35. What’s the similarity between the two classes mentioned in the third and fourth paragraphs?

   A. They both involve games.                                         B. The teachers teach indirectly.

   C. They both need no textbooks.                                  D. The students enjoy them greatly.

Expensive perfumes (香水) come in tiny bottles, but many hide a whale-sized secret.

    To perfect a particular smell, perfume-makers often use an ingredient that comes from sperm whales, called ambergris (龙涎香). But using ambergris, which helps a perfume last longer, is strongly opposed by many people who think it is wrong to kill whales just so we can smell sweet. Joerg Bohlmann is neither a perfumer nor a whale expert. He's a plant biologist at the University of British Columbia in Canada. But his discovery of a new plant gene (基因) might push whales out of the perfume business.

The gene comes from fir trees, found throughout North America and commonly used as Christmas trees. The trees produce a chemical that can be used in perfume in place of ambergris-but with a catch. "There's a problem that

many people wouldn't consider. In the tree, the chemical is mixed with many others. That makes separation a challenge," Bohlmann says. "lt's like trying to isolate sugar from a biscuit. "

     This is where science becomes useful. When Bohlmann learned that fir trees produce the ambergris-like chemical, he decided to use his gene know-how to find the instructions for how to make the ambergris-substitute.

    Bohlmann found that gene and took it out of the tree cells. Then he did something that might sound strange to someone who doesn't work in genetics: Bohlmann put the gene from the tree into yeast (酵母) cells.

    Yeast may sound familiar because it's used to make things like bread, wine and beer. Biologists like to work with yeast because it easily adopts new genes and changes its features and behaviour. When Bohlmann put the fir tree gene into the yeast, the yeast started making the same chemical that had been produced by the tree.

    Perfumers pay big money for ambergris because it is a fixative, which means it holds a smell in  place on a person's body.

     "Cheap perfumes smell good in the first hour or so and then everything is gone," explains Bohlmann. "But expensive perfumes are much more stable.  Their smell lasts much longer, for hours or even a day after you apply them. "

    The new chemical, made from the tree genes, can be used as a fixative, too. And using yeast to make it is far cheaper than acquiring ambergris.

     Bohlmann admits he never thought he'd get into the perfume business. But now, he says, producers have been calling to find out how to use his technology in new perfumes.

12. It can be inferred from the passage that if a perfume contains ambergris,           .

    A. its user probably supports whale hunting

    B. it is probably very expensive

    C. its smell will last for about an hour

    D. there will be a whale symbol on the bottle

13. The underlined expression "with a catch" in Paragraph 3 means____.

    A. being difficult to hold          

    B. being too similar

    C. having a hidden problem      

    D. needing further testing          

14. According to the passage, why are yeast cells often used in genetic research?

    A. They're much cheaper to use than ambergris.

    B. They can reproduce much faster than other cells.

    C. They share some of the qualities of plant genes.

    D. They can take on the characteristics of other genes.

15. What can we learn about Joerg Bohlmann from the passage?

    A. He is opposed to whale hunting.

    B. He made his discovery during Christmas.

    C. He has worked in the perfume industry for many years.

D. He has previously done genetic research.

The little child _____ severely by his father left home yesterday.

       A. having been punished                          B. to be punished

       C. punished                                    D. who has punished

Norm Pethrick, a 36-year-old man in Australia’s northern city Darwin, was praised on Thursday 

for jumping onto a crocodile’s 鳄鱼 back to save his wife Wendy at Litchfield National Park, 

a popular tourist spot southwest of Darwin, a local newspaper reported.  Ms Pethrick was 

standing on a river bank Wednesday afternoon when the saltwater crocodile lunged (扑), locking its jaws on both her legs as it tried to drag her underwater.  

Norm Pethrick, who with his wife had been collecting water, immediately went to help her. He

 jumped onto the back, poked (戳) the eyes of the crocodile and finally got his wife free.  

 Ms Pethrick was later taken to Royal Darwin Hospital for a medical treatment. The doctors said 

she was suffering eight puncture wounds (伤口) in her right leg, a puncture wound in her left leg 

and a serious cut to one of her fingers.  “This could have been a fatal and tragic situation,” said 

the general manager of Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH), Dr Len Notaras, according to a local report.  

 He said Ms Pethrick was saved by her husband’s “quick and diligent actions”.  

 Dr Notaras also said she would remain in hospital for three to four days and have an operation to clean the wounds, which are easy to get infected because of bacteria (细菌) on the teeth 

of the crocodile. 

26. This passage is most likely to be found in _____. 

A. a travel guide   B. a newspaper    C. a textbook     D. a novel 

27. The crocodile attacked Ms Pethrick when she was ______. 

A. swimming in the river        B. standing on the river bank 

C. watching the crocodile          D. fishing in the water 

28. Which of the following statements is TRUE about Ms Pethrick? 

A. Her eyes were badly poked.         B. She had eight wounds altogether. 

C. One of her fingers also got hurt.     D. One of the crocodile’s teeth was found in her leg. 

29. According to the passage, Norm Pethrick can be described as following EXCEPT ______. 

A. brave    B. diligent     C. quick     D. humorous 

30. Which of the following would be the best title for this passage? 

A. The husband should save the wife 

B. A man saves wife’s life from crocodile’s jaws 

C. A crocodile is not so dangerous as people imagine 

D. Human beings can beat crocodiles sometimes 

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21. If a mother  wants to  learn  how  to plant flowers, which book she  can choose?

A. Big Botel of Love       B.The    Land    of  Painted Caves

C. A Gardener's  notehook   D.I Remember  Nothing

22. After reading I Remember  Nothing, you may feel     .

A. encourraged   B.clam   C. terrible  D. excited

23. The above books are mainly fit for      .

A. mother   B. children   C. teachers    D. gardeners  

 —It’s so near to the station. We could have walked.

    —Yes, we ______ a taxi.

   A. didn’t need to take                                      B. needn’t have taken

   C. needn’t take                                                       D. mustn’t take

   Your house may have an effect on your figure. Experts say the way you design your home could play a role in whether you pack on the pounds or keep them off. You can make your environment work for you instead of against you. Here are some ways to turn your home into part of your diet plan.

   Open the curtains and turn up the lights. Dark environments are more likely to encourage overeating, for people are often less self-conscious（难为情）when they’re in poorly lit places---and so more likely to eat lots of food. If your home doesn’t have enough window light, get more lamps and flood the place with brightness.

   Mind the colors. Research suggests warm colors fuel our appetites. In one study, people who ate meals in a blue room consumed 33 percent less than those in a yellow or red room. Warm colors like yellow make food appear more appetizing, while cold colors make us feel less hungry. So when it’s time to repaint, go blue.

     Don’t forget the clock---or the radio. People who eat slowly tend to consume about 70 fewer calories（卡路里）per meal than those who rush through their meals. Begin keeping track of the time, and try to make dinner last at least 30 minutes. And while you’re at it, actually sit down to eat. If you need some help slowing down, turn on relaxing music. It makes you less likely to rush through a meal.

     Downsize the dishes. Big serving bowls and plates can easily make us fat. We eat about 22 percent more when using a 12-inch plate instead of a 10-inch plate. When we choose a large spoon over a smaller one, total intake（摄入）jumps by 14 percent. And we’ll pour about 30 percent more liquid into a short, wide glass than a tall, skinny glass.

32. The text is especially helpful for those who care about_________.

    A. their home comforts            B. their body shape

    C. house buying                 D. healthy diets

33. A home environment in blue can help people_________.

    A. digest food better                              B. reduce food intake

    C. burn more calories                       D. regain their appetites

34. What are people advised to do at mealtimes?

    A.Eat quickly.                                   B. Play fast music.

    C.Use smaller spoons.                      D.Turn down the lights.

35. What can be a suitable title for the test?

    A.Is Your House Making You Fat?

    B.Ways of Serving Dinner

    C.Effects of Self-Consciousness

    D.Is Your Home Environment Relaxing?

Courtney was just 15 years old when she joined a team of space researchers. Those scientists landed NaSa’s robot. Spirit. on the planet Mars But this

was neither  Courtney's first nor her last adventure  in space  research .When she was in fifth  grade. Courtney had already decided to spend her life “exploring the mysteries of the universe” She checked out spacc books from her library . studied hard in math and science claases. and later. attended United States Space Camp in Alabama.

   Then Courtney entered a contest to become port of the Student Astronaut program run by a group called the Planetary Society. After a lot of hard work, interviews. and months of waiting, Courtney found out that she was one of 16 students who made it—out of 500 enteredi.

    Courtney and fellow student astronaut Rafael Morozowski.a 16-year-old   from Brazil, were at the Jet Propulsion Liboratory in California with NASA scientists when Spirit reached Mars.

    "The most exciting part of the thing occurred late at night on January3 ,  2004, when  we received signals   indicating that Spirit had landed successfully.Courtney says. I joined the rest of the scientists in jumping up and cheering. ”

    Courtney and Rafael spent seven nights working with and learning from the MASA scientists.(They worked «it night because that was daying on Mars. )They studied the photographf that Spirit was sending to Earth of Gusev Crater on Mars. They spoke to television reporters at NASA press conferences and attended meettng  in which the NASA team named the rocks and hills that Spirit was finding.

    When Courtney was 17 years old. she went to work for NASA as a student intern at the Coddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. With two NASA scientists.      

   Courtney plans to study astrophysics or planetary. science at Princeton Univ ersity, then return to work at NASA. She encourages other kids and teens to follow their dreams of getting involved with space research.

31. What can we learn about Courtney from Paragraph 1 and 2

    A. She was one of 16 students to be interviewed.

    B. She landed on the planet Mars at the age of 15.

    C. She entered the Student Astronaut program easily.

    D. She desired to study the universe at her early age.

32. Which of the following best describes Courtney

    A. Enthusiastic and serious.   B. Optimistic and productive.

    C.Determined and hard working. D. Creativc and ambitious.

33. What can we infer from Paragraph 5

   A. The time on the earth is in line with Mars.

   B. The scientists worked day and night on end.

   C. Spirit found rich minerals in rocks on Mars.

   D. The hills on Mars were unknown to the public.

34. What does Courtney inspire the youth to do

   A. To work for NASA.

   B. To stick to their dreams.

   C. To attend United States Space Camp.

   D.To study science at Princeton University.

We all know that listening to music can soothe emotional pain, but Taylor Swift, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys can also ease physical pain, according to a study of children and teenagers who had major surgery.

The research was carried out because of a very personal experience. Sunitha Suresh was a college student when her grandmother had major surgery and was put in intensive care (重症监护). This meant her family couldn’t always be with her. They decided to put her favorite music on an iPod so she could listen around the clock.

It was very calming, Suresh says. “She knew that someone who loved her had left that music for her and she was in a familiar place.”

Suresh could see that the music relaxed her grandmother and made her feel less anxious, but she wondered if she also felt less pain. That would make sense, because anxiety can make people more sensitive to pain. At the time Suresh was majoring in biomedical engineering with a minor (兼修) in music cognition (认知) at Northwestern University where her father, Santhanam Suresh, is a professor of pediatrics (儿科).

So the father and daughter decided to do a study. And since Dr Suresh works with children, they decided to look at how music chosen by the children themselves might affect their tolerance for pain.

It was a small study, involving 60 patients between 9 and 14 years old. All the patients were undergoing big operations that required them to stay in the hospital for at least a couple of days. Right after surgery, patients received narcotics (麻醉药) to control pain. The next day they were divided into three groups. One group heard 30 minutes of music of their choice, one heard 30 minutes of stories of their choice and one listened to 30 minutes of silence via noise canceling headphones.

After a 30-minute session, the children who listened to music or books reduced their pain burden by 1 point on a 10-point scale. Sunitha Suresh says it’s equal to taking an over-the-counter pain medication like Advil or Tylenol.

The findings suggest that doctors may be able to use less pain medication for their pediatric patients. And that’s a good thing, says Santhanam Suresh, as children are smaller and are more likely to suffer side effects. So the less pain medication, he says, the better.

38. What does the underlined word “soothe” in Paragraph 1 mean?

A. reduce    B. influence

C. stop    D. ignore

39. What inspired Sunitha Suresh to do the research on the effects of music?

A. Her father’s study into music cognition.

B. Her grandmother’s experience of recovery.

C. A book that claims anxiety can reduce pain.

D. Her desire to find a way to help patients relieve pain.

40. During the research, all the participants       .

A. were under twelve years old

B. received narcotics to control pain after big operations

C. were required to stay in the hospital for a couple of months

D. were divided into 3 groups to listen to the same music

41. What did Suresh and her father find out from their research?

A. Listening to books didn’t reduce the children’s pain burden at all.

B. Music was even more effective than pain medication for the children.

C. Listening to music did reduce the children’s pain burden to a great extent.

D. The longer the children listened to music, the less pain they felt.

42. The findings are especially important for children because        .

A. they are more sensitive to music than adults

B. they can easily get addicted to pain medication

C. they usually don’t like taking pain medication

D. they are more likely to suffer side effects of pain medication

For thousands of years，man has enjoyed the taste of apples. Apples，which are about 85 percent of water，grow almost everywhere in the world but the hottest and coldest areas. Among the leading countries in apple production are China，France and the United States.

There are various kinds of apples. But a very few make up the majority of those grown for sale. The three most common kinds grown in the United States are Delicious，Golden Delicious，and McIntosh.

Apples are different in colour，size and taste. The colour of the skin may be red，green，or yellow. They have various sizes，with delicious apples being among the largest. The taste may be sweet or tart. Generally，sweet apples are eaten fresh while tart apples are used to make apple sauce.

Apple trees may grow as tall as twelve metres. They do best in areas that have very cold winters. Although no fruit is yielded during the winter，this cold period is good for the tree.

31. It can be learned from the text that ________.

A.  Apples have a history of a thousand years.

B. Apples grow everywhere in the world.                

C.  Apples are made up of water.

D.  Apples consists of many different kinds.                       

32．China，France and the United States are considered to________.

A.  have the coldest winter among apple producing countries

B.  be large producers of apples

C.  be large producers of apple sauce

D.  have the longest history in apple production

33. The underlined word “yielded” in the last sentence means “________”．

A．sold   B．improved        C．increased    D．produced 

36. . — Have you heard that the international company is advertising for employees?

    — Of course, and I heard that there were more than 2,000 _______________ (申请人)         

37. It's said that a red sky at night is an i ___________（暗示）for fine weather the next day.

38. I was impressed by his s__________ manner of speaking.

39. With our practical experience a__________, I’d like to work part-time to relieve financial difficulties. 

40. I can’t conclude what it was that d__________ her from her colleagues?

41. What _________(标准) are used for assessing a student’s ability?

42. The policeman has no difficulty i_________the bodies as those of two suspected drug dealers.

43. He had such an e_____________memory that he could recite the whole passage without any mistake after he read it only once.

44. He acknowledged the sense of__________(背叛) of Patrick.

45. He is clearly s________ to all the other candidates in this election.

Generally speaking，________according to the directions, the drug has no side effect.

A. when taking  B. when taken  C. when to take        D. when to be taken

 Having retired from business, he now______ himself with the welfare of the disabled

   A. resists             B. occupies         C. appeals          D. raises

There once was a little boy who wanted to meet the king. He set off, walking towards the king’s castle. After many years of walking, the king’s castle came into his view. However, as the boy drew closer to the outside of the castle, the guards noticed him.

“Get out of here!” ordered the guards.

Well, the little boy didn’t have to be told twice. He turned…and ran. All he wanted to do was to tell the king wonderful things, and see all the beautiful things in the king’s house. But he couldn’t even get near the castle! The boy finally stopped running, sat down and cried.

A young man happened to be coming down the path at the very moment. He saw the little boy and stopped. “What’s wrong, young man?” he asked.

“Sir, I walked and walked just to see the king. But these guards made me scared. I wanted to tell the king how lovely everything is and just tell the king that I just wanted to see him!”

The man looked at the little boy thoughtfully. “Look, why don’t you try again? I’ll come with you this time.”

The little boy got up and took the man’s hand. The king’s guards spotted them.

“Look, mister, we don’t have to do this…I don’t want you to get hurt. We can just turn around now.”

The man held the little boy’s hand and went on. The boy really thought the man might be crazy until he looked back up at the guards. They were all smiling now. The little boy was amazed.

“Who are you?” asked the little boy in astonishment.

“Why, I’m the king’s son. You can enter the castle and be with the king.” Said the man.

The little boy broke into a huge smile.

25. What does the underlined sentence in the paragraph mean?

A. The little boy didn’t understand the guards’ words at first.     

B. The guards repeated the words to the boy.

C. The little boy had been to the castle twice.

D. The little boy understood the guards’ words immediately.

26. According to the passage, the man is       .

A. kind               B. stupid          C. ambitious                 D. mean

27. Which of the following best suits the story’s lesson for us?

   A. Never judge a book by its cover.       B. Anything is possible if one tried hard enough.  

   C. Life can sometimes be unfair.         D. Make new friends and keep the old.

一家英语报社向高中生征文，主题是“十年后的我”。请根据下列要求和你的想象完成短文；

   1．家庭；   2．工作；   3．业余生活。

注意：1。词数100左右；2．可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；3．开头语已为你写好。

I often imagine what my life will be like in the future.___________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Happy New Year! Are you excited to begin a new year with all kinds of possibilities? I hope so, because I am! I’m always ready to see what a new year—or even a new day—can bring. Life is an exciting adventure! A new year is a chance to try new things or make a change. What will you try or what changes will you make?

Some changes are happening in unexpected places. In the world of science fiction, scrappy young women are rapidly taking over the lead roles. Read more about this interesting trend in our article “Move Over, Boys” (p.12) this month.

Sometimes you don’t like the changes that come your way. You may even think they are unfair. What can you do? On one website, angry customers are speaking out via petition (请愿书) about business practices they don’t like. And companies are listening. Is this a good thing or not? Read our article “You Sign, Companies Listen” (p.29) and decide for yourself.

In classrooms, tablet computers are changing the way students learn. Everyone from preschool children to seniors finds tablets to be a fun way to learn. Read our article “Tablets in the Classroom” (p.24) to find out more.

And finally, maybe you’d like to make a change in how you vacation. Have you ever considered going “glamping”? You can read about five awesome glamping spots in Advanced (p.20) this month.

One thing will not change in 2014. In Advanced, we’ll continue to keep you informed and be your window on the world. So keep reading and listening all year!

59. This passage is probably ______.

   A. an advertisement of a newspaper      B. a letter from a magazine editor

   C. an introduction to a novel               D. a booklet of a camping spot

60. If you’d like to find out a new form of technology in the classroom, you may read the article ______.

   A. “Move Over, Boys”                  B. “You Sign, Companies Listen”

   C. “Tablets in the Classroom”             D. “Five Awesome Glamping Spots”

61. “Advanced” mentioned in the last two paragraphs may be ______.

   A. a novel  B. a science fiction book C. a magazine       D. a newspaper

Tips for Reading Shakespeare

For a beginner, Shakespeare can sometimes seem like a bunch of strange words put together in no reasonable order. Once you learn to read and understand Shakespeare, you’ll understand the beauty of the language.   36 

l         Understand the importance of “getting it”.

You can never stress the importance of Shakespeare’s works enough. It is clever, witty (诙谐的), beautiful, inspirational, funny, deep, dramatic, and more. Shakespeare was a true word genius whose works help us see the beauty and artistic potential of the English language. Shakespeare’s work has inspired students and scholars for centuries, because it also tells us so much about life, love, and human nature. Shakespeare will expand your mind if you let it.

l         Attend a reading or a play.

    37   You won’t believe how many expressions and movements of the actors can use to bring to life Shakespeare’s beautiful but complex works. Watch the actors in action and gain a deeper understanding of your text.

l         Read it again — and again.

As you progress in school and into college, you must realize that every subject gets more challenging.  38   You’re not going to be successful in your studies if you think you can get through anything quickly — and that is absolutely true for Shakespeare.

l          39 

Shakespeare is different from any other piece of literature, because it requires some engagement and active participation. Just try it — you will see that you can suddenly understand the context of the words and expressions. It’s a good idea to work with another person. Why not call your study partner and read to each other?

l         Read a plot summary.

Let’s face it — Shakespeare is tough to read and understand, no matter how many times you go through the book. After you have read the work, go ahead and read a summary of the piece you’re working on if you’re completely confused. Just read a summary and then read the actual work again.   40 

A.   Act it out.

B.    Literature is no different.

C.   You won’t believe how much you’ve missed before!

D.   Don’t feel too bad if you have a hard time reading Shakespeare.

E.    You’ll also find out why it has inspired students and scholars for centuries.

F.    Shakespeare really makes more sense when you see the words come to life on stage.

G.   When you study his works, you find that human beings haven’t really changed much over time.