阅读理解。
The writings of Shakespeare are today little read by young people in Britain. His young readership is limited
to those who choose to study literature at university.
Shakespeare's work, together with most other classics, is seen as remote, and written in a 400-year-old
version of English that is about as inviting as toothache.
Still, in British schools, it is compulsory to study the bard (诗人), and when something is made compulsory,
usually the result is boredom, resentment (憎恨) or both.
This was my experience of the classics at school. But when I reached my late teenage years, I had a change
of heart. Like every other young person since the dawn of time, the world confused me. I wanted answers, so
I turned to books to find them.
I went on to take a PhD in literature and have taught it in Britain and China. I have never regretted it. There
is something in literature that people want, even if they don't read books. You see this in the popularity of TV
and movie adaptations of great works, the recent film version of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice being a case
in point. These popular adaptations may help increase people's interest in the classics.
Reading a simplified Romeo and Juliet may perhaps lead to a reading of Shakespeare play. If that is the case,
then I welcome the trend. But do not make the mistake of thinking that it is the same thing. Shakespeare is a
poet. His greatness is in his language. Reading someone else's rewriting of his work is like peeling a banana,
throwing away the fruit, and eating the skin. Take on the original. It really is worth the effort.
1. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. The language used in classics is no longer in use today.
B. British students usually find compulsory reading dull.
C. Only those studying literature read Shakespeare's works.
D. For British people, Shakespeare's works are no longer classics.
2. According to the passage, the writer _____.
A. has liked literary classics since an early age
B. was forced to read the classics for a PhD
C. turned to literature to seek answers in his teens
D. thinks only people who read books like literature
3. The popularity of TV and movie adaptations of great works may help people _____.
A. learn more about tradition
B. get a PhD in literature
C. seek their answers about the world
D. become more interested in the classics
4. What does the writer intend to tell us in the last paragraph?
A. The fruit of a banana is more useful than its skin.
B. The rewriting trend does more harm than good.
C. Readers should try to read the original versions.
D. Readers need to learn the language in the classics.
