教材试题 Unit 2 (Workbook) Speaking Task

Unit 2 King Lear(Workbook)SPEAKING TASKWork in groups to complete the following tasks.1 Make a list of all the characters who have appearedin the play. Summarize what has happened to eachof the main characters by the end of the play.2 Quickly re-read “The three daughters of the king”on page 19. Discuss the similarities and differences between the story and the play.3 What moral message(s) do you think Shakespeare wants the audience to understand by the end of the play?Suggested answers to Exercise 13：Question 1：King Lear：He decides to retire and divide his kingdom between his daughters. He banishes Cordelia when she refuses to flatter him. The two older sisters do all they can to relieve him of what little power he has and he runs away. The stress turns him mad. He is then found by the faithful Duke of Kent and taken to the Duke of Gloucesters castle. Upon hearing of a plot to kill him, Kent takes him to the French army where he is reconciled with Cordelia and is cured of his madmess. Regan and Gonerils army defeats the French and Lear and Cordelia are taken prisoner. Cordelia is murdered and Lear goes mad once more and then dies. Cordelia：She is unable to flatter her father by saying that she loves him more than life itself, and in his anger Lear banishes her from the kingdom. She goes to France with the King of France, who agrees to marry her even though she is now poor. Later Cordelia and France return to England to fight against Goneril and Regan. Cordelia is reconciled with her father but later they are both captured and Cordelia is hanged. Goneril：The oldest of Lears three daughters, she is the first to flatter Lear by saying she loves him more than anything in the world. Lear gives her a third of his kindom. Later, when Cordelia is banished, Lear divides the kingdom and she is given half. King Lear goes to stay with her but she is disrespectful towards him and eventually tells him he cannot stay with him if he is going to keep his 100 soldiers with him. Lear leaves to visit Regan, his second daughter, and Goneril quickly follows to put her side of the story to her sister. They both make fun of Lear who rushes away from them both. Later Goneril and Regan raise an army and defeat the French army. Goneril poisons Regan out of jealousy and later kills herself out of shame. Regan：Like her sister, Regan tells Lear how much she loves him and is given half his kingdom. When Lear comes to her castle to complain about Goneril, she at first refuses to see him, and then when they do meet she agrees with Goneril that Lear should get rid of his soldiers. Her husband is killed in a fight. After Goneril and Regans army defeat the French. Goneril poisons her out of jealousy. Duke of Kent：When Lear behaves so foolishly and banishes his daughter Cordelia, Kent speaks up for her and is also banished. Unable to leave Lear to his fate, he disguises himself as a servant and returns to Lear. When Lear decides to go to stay with Regan, he sends Kent on ahead with a message. However, Kent becomes involved in a fight with one of Regans servants and he is put into the stocks for punishment. Later when Lear runs out into the storm Kent follows him to protect him, eventually travelling him to the French army camp. At the end of the play when the Duke of Albany tries to revive Lear, Kent tells him to let the old man die because he has suffered enough. Duke of Albany：The Duke of Albany, Gonerils husband leaves Goneril and Regans army when he realizes how evil his wife is. After the French army is defeated he hears that Cordelia is going to be killed. He tries to stop it but he is too late. After Lears death. Albany announces that the Duke of Gloucesters son will be king and that he will once more unite the kingdom. Question 2：The main difference between the old story and Shakespeares play is the ending. In the story, the third daughter hears that Lear is being treated badly so she raises an army, defeats her sisters and then puts the King back on his throne. When he dies she becomes Queen. At the end of the play both Learand Cordelia die. Other differences include the daughters having names in the play but not the story. No mention in the story of Cordelia marrying the King of France and no mention of Lear going mad. In the story, the King goes backwards and forwards between the two daughters until all his soldiers have gone. In the play he travels only once and then he runs away from his daughters. Question 3：There are several morals in the play. One is that being disrespectful to your parents leads or causes bad things to happen. Another is that it is unwise to believe people who flatter you (like Regan and Gonefil) and equally unwise to give no value to honest plain-speaking people (like Cordelia and Kent). Another possible moral could be that d