Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare

YOUNG ADULT

STAGE 2

READERS

Romeo and Juliet

In this reader you will find: - Information about William Shakespeare’s life - Sections focusing on background and context - Glossary of difficult words - Comprehension activities - KET-style activities - Exit test

ROMEO AND JULIET

The story of Romeo and Juliet is probably the most famous love story of all time. It is set in mediaeval Verona and follows Romeo, son of the house of Montague as he falls in love with Juliet, daughter of the rival house of Capulet.

The story moves quickly towards its conclusion as bitter hate and ancient rivalry lead to tragedy. William Shakespeare’s play is retold here as an exciting story, making it accessible to learners of English.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

William Shakespeare

STAGE 2

Eli Readers is a beautifully illustrated series of timeless classics and specially-written stories for learners of English.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE ROMEO AND JULIET

Tag Love and Hate

Elementary

600 headwords

A1

STAGE 2

Pre-Intermediate

800 headwords

A2

KET

STAGE 3

Intermediate

1000 headwords

B1

PET

STAGE 4

Upper Intermediate

1800 headwords

B2

FCE

STAGE 5

Advanced

2500 headwords

C1

CAE

STAGE 6

Proficiency

Unabridged Texts

C2

CPE

Classic

BN

IS

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with Audio CD

www.elireaders.com

with Booklet

YOUNG ADULT ELI READERS

STAGE 1

A2

YOUNG ADULT

READERS

MAIN CHARACTERS

Juliet

Romeo

Lord Capulet

Tybalt (Juliet’s cousin) 6

Lady Capulet

Lord Montague Benvolio (Romeo’s cousin)

Mercutio (Romeo’s friend and Prince Escalus’s relative)

The nurse (Juliet’s old nanny*)

Friar Laurence (Romeo’s teacher and friend)

Count Paris (Lord Capulet’s friend) nanny a woman who looks after children when they are young ruler the leader of the town

Prince Escalus (Ruler* of Verona) 7



The Montagues and the Capulets were still fighting when the prince arrived in the square with his soldiers and their horses.

The sound of the horses was very loud. The prince was very angry.

‘STOP THIS NOW!’ he shouted, ‘This is the THIRD fight between Montagues and Capulets THIS SUMMER. This fighting MUST STOP. The people of Verona are afraid and unhappy. This CANNOT CONTINUE.’ Then the prince made a terrible threat*. ‘If there is another fight like this, you will DIE.’ Everybody stopped fighting. The prince called the heads of the families. ‘You, Capulet, come with me. Montague, I’ll speak to you later. Everybody else, go home or I’ll kill you all.’

The prince turned away with his horse and left the square. Lord Capulet followed him. Tybalt called his servants and went home.

When the square was empty, Lord Montague called Benvolio. ‘How did the fight start?’ he asked.

‘It was the servants at first,’ said Benvolio, ‘I tried to stop them and when Tybalt arrived I asked him to help me. But he wanted to fight too and he attacked me.’

‘But where’s my son?’ said Lord Montague, ‘Where’s Romeo? I can’t see him here.’

‘He wasn’t at the fight,’ Benvolio explained, ‘I saw him walking this morning, but he wanted to be alone. I don’t know why.’

‘Yes, he seems sad,’ Lord Montague replied*, ‘I don’t know what the problem is. I’ve tried asking him, but he doesn’t want to tell me.’

‘I’ll talk to him, if you want,’ said Benvolio, ‘I’ll ask him.’

‘Thank you, that’s a good idea. Look, here comes Romeo now. I’ll leave you to talk to him.’ Lord Montague left the square too.

‘Hello, Romeo,’ said Benvolio to his friend, ‘Why are you so sad?’ a threat a promise to do something terrible

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to reply to answer

AFTER-READING ACTIVITIES

KET – Reading Comprehension 1

Answer the questions true (T) or false (F). Correct the false answers.

T F 1 Friar John gave Romeo the message from Friar Laurence. ■ ■ ______________________________________________ ■■ 2 Friar John got the plague on the way to meet Romeo. ______________________________________________ 3 Count Paris went to the church to leave flowers for Juliet. ■ ■ ______________________________________________ ■■ 4 Count Paris and Romeo had a fight. ______________________________________________ ■■ 5 Count Paris killed Romeo. ______________________________________________ ■■ 6 Romeo kissed Juliet and she woke up. ______________________________________________ ■■ 7 Romeo drank poison and died. ______________________________________________ ■■ 8 Juliet ran away with Friar Laurence. ______________________________________________ 9 Romeo and Juliet escaped together and went to live ■■ in Mantua. ______________________________________________ ■■ 10 The two families built a statue of Romeo and Juliet. ______________________________________________

Characters 2

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Match the pictures of the characters to their descriptions. Name the characters.

1 A tall young man. He is violent. He fights like a tiger. _________ 2 An intelligent, fun-loving young man. He loves to laugh and joke with his friends. _________ 3 A wise old man. He’s a teacher and he knows a lot about herbs. _________ 4 An old lady. She looks after Juliet and sometimes helps her.

She doesn’t understand Juliet’s love for Romeo. _________

Summary Skills 3

Use the newspaper headlines to write a summary of the story for the newspaper.

A TIMES THE VERON

hreat

The Prince’s T Capulet and M ontague Street Fight

A SECRET WEDDING

MERCUTIO, TYBALT DEAD!

A Secret Plan

Juliet to Mar ry

Is Juliet Really

Count Paris

Dead?

D

A TRAGIC EN

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FOCUS ON...

William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616) Early Years William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, a town in the centre of England. Nobody really knows the exact day that he was born, but people say that it was on April 23rd. He was baptised on April 26th, so it’s possible that he was born on 23rd. However, people probably chose that day, firstly because Shakespeare also died on April 23rd and secondly, because April 23rd is Saint George’s Day - England’s patron saint.

Shakespeare’s mother was called Mary and his father’s name was John. John was an important man in Stratford. He was a glove* maker and wool seller. He was also involved in money-lending*. John and Mary’s first two children died before William was born, so William was their eldest son. They had five more children, but one of them also died young.

Life in Stratford People don’t know for sure, but William probably went to Stratford’s “petty” or junior school when he was five years old. There he

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learned to read and write. Then, when he was seven years old, he went to Stratford’s grammar school. The school day was very long.

It started at 6 or 7 in the morning and finished at 5 or 6 in the evening. At school he learned Latin and Greek. He probably left school when he was fifteen or sixteen, which was normal at that time. In the winter of 1582, when he was 18 years old, he married Anne Hathaway. She was 26 years old. Their first child, Susanna, was born less than six months later. Early in 1585, Anne had twins, Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet was their only son, but he died when he was only 11.

The Lost Years We don’t know when or why Shakespeare left Stratford. We don’t know what he was doing before he became a successful actor and dramatist, either. These years (1585 until 1592) are called the lost years.

One story says that he killed a deer* belonging to a lord and so he went to London to escape.

Another story says that he was a teacher during that time.

London and the Theatre Whatever happened during the lost years, by 1595 Shakespeare was already famous in London. He was an actor for an important theatre group and he had already written some successful plays. During his life he wrote a total of 38 plays – comedies, histories and tragedies. Shakespeare

also wrote hundreds of poems. Shakespeare stayed in London until 1611, when he moved back to Stratford.

He died on April 23rd 1616 at the age of 52. He was buried* in Holy Trinity church two days later.

Shakespeare Today If you visit Stratford-upon-Avon today, you can still see a lot of important places in Shakespeare’s life.

You can see the place where he was born, his school and the place where he died. You can see Shakespeare plays at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. You can also visit his mother’s house and his wife’s house. If you go to Holy Trinity church, you can see his grave*.

Task Complete the form with the information about Shakespeare.

Name: Place of birth: Date of birth: Father’s name: Mother’s name: Age started school: Age left school: Occupation: Wife’s name: Number of children: Date of death: Where buried: a glove something you wear on your hands to keep them warm money-lending giving people money for a time until they give it back to you a deer

______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ to be buried put in the ground a grave the place in a church where someone’s body is put when they die

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