英语听力精选进阶版 6160（在线收听）

Big Week for the Bard 大吟游诗人光彩的一周

It’s not every week that England’s greatest playwright William Shakespeare hits the headlines, but the Bard of Avon has been the subject of two news stories in recent days as new information has come to light about the writer and his working environment.

In the first development, a portrait of Shakespeare, which is believed to be the only picture painted of him during his lifetime, was unveiled in London.

The artwork has been dated back to 1610, meaning it was painted six years before the writer’s death.

The painting had been owned by a family descended from Shakespeare’s literary patron for hundreds of years without them ever knowing who the man in the picture was.

Alec Cobbe, who inherited the portrait, realised that the painting was a likeness of Shakespeare after visiting an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery where he saw a portrait that had, until 70 years ago, been accepted as a life portrait of Shakespeare.

Mr Cobbe immediately realised he was looking at a copy of the painting that had been in his family for centuries.

The painting will now go on display in Shakespeare’s hometown Stratford-upon-Avon.

In a separate story, archaeologists in London believe they have unearthed the remains of Shakespeare’s first theatre.

The site was excavated by a team from the Museum of London last summer, and is believed to have been built in 1576.

Experts think that Shakespeare himself acted at the theatre, which may have been where the play Romeo and Juliet was premiered.

It is believed that 25 years after construction, the building was dismantled and moved timber by timber to the South Bank of the Thames, where a reconstruction of the theatre now stands.

GLOSSARY 词汇表

playwright 剧作家

hits the headlines 登上头条

Bard of Avon 艾芬河的吟游诗人

come to light 显露

portrait 肖像

unveiled 揭开面纱，公开

dated 源于（某日期）

descended from 后代

literary patron 文学赞助人

inherited 继承

likeness 相似物

archaeologists 考古学家

unearthed 挖掘出了

remains 遗留物

site 遗址

excavated 发掘

premiered 首次公演

dismantled 拆除

timber by timber 一块一块木条

reconstruction 再建