•The Merchant of Venice

Do you know who he is and can you say any of his plays?

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) first came to notice in 1592 as a playwright in London. In 1599 he became a part owner of the Globe Theatre in London and finally retired to his birthday place, Stratford-on-Avon., in 1613. As a playwright, he wrote tragedies, comedies and historical plays, and as a poet e wrote narrative poems and sonnets.

Shakespeare’s plays•The King Henry VI 亨利六世

•Romeo and Juliet 罗密欧与朱丽叶 •A Midsummer Night’s Dream 仲夏夜之梦

• Hamlet 哈姆莱特

•The Merchant of Venice 威尼斯商人

•Twelfth Night(What You Will) 第十二夜

• King Lear 李尔王

Shylock

Bassanio and Portia

What are the man doing?

Do you know who he is?

Listening1. Antonio was a merchant of Venice who was liked by

everyone because ______.

A. he was always happy to give others advice.

B. he was always ready to lend money to others.

C. he never refused to help others.

2. Shylock was a moneylender, who ______ .

A. was glad to lend money to others without conditions.

B. worked hard to make a lot of money.

C. was cruel and hated Antonio.

3. Shylock lent Antonio three thousand ducats on condition that ______.

A. Antonio would return the money within three months.

B. Antonio would return the money with a pound of flesh.

C. Antonio would let Shylock have a pound of his flesh if he failed to repay the money in time.

4. Shylock refused to have mercy on Antonio because _______.

A. he hated Antonio and intended to kill him.

B. he had done nothing wrong and feared no judgement.

5. The phrase “ so young a body with so wise a head “ means ______.

A. such a young man with so much wealth.

B. such a young man with such great wisdom.

C. a man who increases in wisdom with his increase of age.

Listening1. What did Antonio do ?who was Shylock? What

did they think each other ?

2. Who was Antonio’s best friend? Who did Bassanio want to marry?

3. What made Bassanio feel sad?What did Antonio do to help his friend?

4. On what condition did Shylock agree to lend money to Antonio?

5. Why did Antonio accept Shylock’s bitter condition?

6. What happened to Antonio as Bassanio and Portia were getting married?

7. What did Portia decided to do immediately after her wedding?

8. Did the Duke succeed in persuading Shylock to have mercy on Antonio?

9. Why did Shylock insist on taking Antonio’s flesh even when Basanio offered to repay him much more than Antonio owed him?

10. What happened as the Duke was wondering what to do ?

11. What did Portia say to Shylock when she took her seat as judge?

12. How did Shylock stop Shylock from cutting Antonio’s flesh?

13. What did Portia say when Shylock finally agreed to take three times more than Antonio borrowed from him? What was the result of the trial?

14. What do you think of the “judge “ and her judgement?

Watch and answer

The text mainly talks about______________

A.Antonio’s charities( 善行 )and Shylock’s cruelty

B.Portia’s cleverness and Antonio’s charities

C.Shylock’s cruelty and Portia’s cleverness

•Which happened last in Part 2? ______

A.Shylock insisted on having one pound of Antonio’s flesh.

B.Portia declared that the law allowed Shylock to take Antonio’s flesh.

C.Antonio said his last words to Bassanio.

D.Portia warned Bassanio of the impossibility of changing the law.

What was the result of the trial?

Shylock has to give half of his money to the city of Venice and leave the other half of his money upon his death to his daughter and her husband. Then Antonio was saved.

Bassanio fell in love with Portia, but he couldn’t ask her to ______him because he poor. His beat friend Antonio , a ________of Venice, was ______to help him, but he had no money just then. Antonio went to Shylock , a____________, for help. Having been_______ by Antonio for been cruel and______, Shylock hated him. However, he agreed to lend him the money on ________that Antonio would_______ him to take a pound of flesh if him couldn’t repay him within three months.

With the money Antonio had __________from Shylock , Bassanio married Portia, but

marrymerchant willing

moneylenderscolded greedy

condition allowed

borrowed

Fill in the blanks according to the tape:

He would have to give Shylock a pound of his_____. Hearing the_____, Bassanio went to his friends right away. At the_____, the Duke tried hard to persuaded Shylock to have _____on Antonio, But Shylock ________on having a pound of his flesh. Even ________Bassanio would pay him double the money Antonio had borrowed, Shylock would not ________his mind. While the Duke was__________ what to do, a young ____arrived, who was ____________to be a famous lawyer. It was Portia. After she entered the room, she took her seat as________. She knew how to deal with this ____________case.

fleshnews

courtmercy

insistedthough

change wonderingman

pretending

judge

troublesome

unfortunately, Antonio lost all his ship at______sea.

Fill in the blanks according to the tape:When Shylock prepared to ___ ____ _____, Portia stopped

him and ________ ___ Shylock _______ off one pound of

flesh from Antonio’s body,no_____, no____without a drop of blood.Shylock wanted to leave the _____.The judge ________ that _________ ___ the law all Shylock’s wealth should be _____ ____ and his life should be __ ___ _____ ___ the Duke.Shylock said that he would rather ___ because his money and goods were __ ____ to him __ life itself.Finally, Antonio ____ __ his part of Shylock’s money __ _________ ____ Shylock would leave the money to his own daughter and her husband ____ his death. Shylock had no choice ___ __ agree. That was the end of the _____.

do the deed

insisted on cutting

more less

courtdeclared according to

taken away at the mercyof die

as dear asgave up

on condition thatupon

but to trial