The United Kingdom（Period 3 Reading and Writing）
inside the enormous dome lies the whispering gallery(回音廊).it is said that if you whisper close to the wall it can be heard over a hundred feet away at the other side of the dome, although the gallery is normally too busy to try this for yourself.tower of london
the tower of london started as a simple watch tower, built by william the conqueror, to keep an eye on the city.the tower of london has acted as a royal residence, treasury, mint（造幣廠）and a prison. the crown jewels are found in the jewel house, and for many catching a glimpse of these precious stones can be the highlight of their visit.
tower bridge
despite being just over one hundred years old, tower bridge ranks as one of london’s most famous attractions. a steel frame clad in granite（花崗巖） and portland stone, represents an amazing engineering achievement, allowing the road crossing to be raised giving tall ships access to upper reaches of the thames.it is an impressive sight although it happens infrequently.inside the north tower an exhibition explains the bridge’s history and design.
shakespeare in londonsome time between 1585 and 1592, it is believed that shakespeare left stratford for london and joined a company of actors as a performer and a playwright.legend long held that shakespeare left stratford because he was being pursued by the law for poaching deer on private property.by 1592 shakespeare had received some recognition, though not entirely positive, as an actor and playwright.he was mentioned in a pamphlet (a groats-worth of wit) written by robert greene.greene refers to shakespeare as an“upstart crow”in the london theater and charges that shakespeare was an unschooled player and a writer who used material written by his better educated contemporaries.also during this year, the theaters in london closed due to the plague.by 1594 shakespeare had joined a theater troupe known as the lord chamberlain’s men.scholars attribute several of shakespeare’s plays to this time period.although no one can be certain of the dates of composition for any of the plays, a considerable amount of scholarship has gone into the endeavor of accurately determining an approximate time period during which shakespeare wrote each play.some believe that the comedy of errors, a farcical play centering on the mistaken identities of two sets of twins, may have been shakespeare’s first play.a few counter that the two gentlemen of verona, which focuses on the conflict between romantic love and friendship, may have been shakespeare’s first play.some scholars suggest that these plays may have been written as early as 1588 or 1589, while many others date both plays several years later, suggesting that they were written between 1592 and 1594.other plays written during this early period include one of the history tetralogies: henry ⅵ, part one(1589-1590); henry ⅵ, part two (1590-1591); henry ⅵ, part three(1590-1591); and richard ⅲ(1592-1593).many people believe that henry ⅵ, part one was shakespeare’s first play.this tetralogy treats the wars of the roses, the conflict between two factions of nobles.the last play of the sequence, richard ⅲ, ends with the establishment of the tudor dynasty, to which belonged queen elizabeth, who ruled during much of shakespeare’s life.it is also believed that shakespeare wrote titus andronicus (1592-1594), the taming of the shrew(1593-1594), and love’s labor’s lost (1593-1595) during this period of his life. titus andronicus, shakespeare’s earliest tragedy, deals with the cycle of revenge which destroys the families involved in the play’s action.the taming of the shrew is a lively comedy featuring the willful kate and her“tamer, ”petruchio.kate’s“taming”(her apparent and uncharacteristic submission to her husband) often troubles modern audiences. love’s labor’s lost has been described as a satirization of the courtly and somewhat artificial love of male nobles, and of the academic pursuits, which were often more fashionable than serious in shakespeare’s time, of the nobility.in addition to these dramatic works, it is believed that shakespeare wrote the poem venus and adonis and began composing his sonnets in 1592 or 1593.he eventually wrote 154 sonnets.between 1593 and 1594, he probably wrote the poem the rape of lucrece.