April 23，2016 marks the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death． Organizations in Britain have planned numerous events to honour him．
In Stratford-upon-Avon， his birthplace， the tourism organization has a great number of free events， including performances of Shakespeare's plays， and a dazzling fireworks display． And the BBC is broadcasting a live show from Stratford-upon-Avon， celebrating Shakespeare's widespread influence on the world． In England's capital， the London Shakespeare Centre and King's College London are holding a series of public performances， exhibitions and activities． It isn't just England that honours the anniversary of the death of this extraordinary writer． In Washington，D．C．， the Folger Shakespeare Library， which houses the world's largest collection of documents relating to William Shakespeare， is displaying a series of exhibitions．
Shakespeare is probably the most famous author and is considered a genius by most． He wrote around 38 plays and 154 sonnets（十四行诗）， and his work has been translated into over one hundred languages! He penned beautiful metaphors（暗喻）， serious dramas and amusing tales．
Shakespeare also invented many new terms and phrases． If someone's behaviour suggested he/she was not being honest and should not be trusted， Shakespeare called his/her actions suspicious． If someone was being silly and perhaps looking like a fool， Shakespeare found his/her actions laughable． And Shakespeare called people who offered their opinions on the quality of something critics． Today， for instance， food critics and film critics give audiences their opinions of food and films． The familiar phrase "break the ice" comes from Shakespeare's play The Taming of the Shrew． The "ice is broken" when a difficult conversation or meeting is calmed by some basic introduction， such as a simple game． More common words coined by Shakespeare include road， gossip， lonely， bump and hurry．
Four hundred years after his death， Shakespeare surely lives on， in everyday speech， as the most famous writer of all time!



The main idea of the text is ______ ．

A. the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death
B. the influence Shakespeare has on English
C. the achievements of William Shakespeare
D. Shakespeare's colourful and fruitful life

Shakespeare is honoured in the following ways EXCEPT ______ ．

A. a great number of free events in Stratford-upon-Avon
B. a series of activities in the London Shakespeare Centre
C. a series of exhibitions in the Folger Shakespeare Library
D. a live show of Shakespeare from Stratford-upon-Avon

According to the text， a simple game to make a difficult conversation easy is called ______ ．

A. an ice-breaker
B. a suspicious man
C. a critic
D. a laughable man