B E G I N N E R
R E A D I N G
&
Key to the exercises
T R A I N I N G
William Shakespeare
3. is colder / cooler than
4. is happier than
5. more problems than
Page 27 – exercise 9
If the class does not divide into equal
groups of four, ‘extra’ students can
take the role of a director. They give
advice to the actors.
For example: ‘Stand here. Speak with
more emotion.’
The students will probably need a lot
of help from the teacher with stress
and intonation. Play the relevant part
of the recording to the whole class
before they divide.
Page 22 – exercise 4
1. helmet 2. beard 3. guards
4. glove 5. belt 6. axe 7. boots
8. sword 9. shield 10. flag
The Ghost’s message: Claudius
murdered me!
Page 23 – exercise 5
Part Two (pp.35-8)
1. C 2. C 3. C 4. B 5. A 6. B
Page 35 – exercise 1
1. B 2. B 3. B 4. A 5. B 6. B
7. A 8. B 9. A 10. A
Tapescript
KEY TO THE EXERCISES
AND EXIT TEST
1. 1. C 2. D 3. C 4. C 5. A
10. Michael Almereyda
11. Ethan Hawke
12. New York
Films of Hamlet
Part One (pp.21-7)
Page 12 – exercise 1
Page 21 – exercise 1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
a. On the castle walls at Elsinore. /
At Elsinore Castle.
b. Because his father was dead.
c. Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle.
d. To meet Horatio and because he
wanted to see the Ghost.
e. He poured poison in his ear.
f. To pretend to be mad.
Page 8 – exercise 1
Almereyda
Olivier
Zeffirelli
Branagh
Kozintsev
Page 12 – exercise 2
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Laurence Olivier
two Oscars
1964
Grigory Kozintsev
Russia
Franco Zeffirelli
Castle
1996
complete/full/whole
Page 21 – exercise 2
Open answers.
Page 21 – exercise 3
Narrator: So Hamlet, who was very
intelligent, began to play the part of a
madman. He did strange things and
he talked in a crazy way. He often
said things with a hidden meaning
which only he understood. The people
believed that Hamlet was mad and
they hoped that he would soon get
better. The Queen was very worried
because she loved her son. Only
Horatio and the guards knew the
secret of Hamlet’s meeting with the
Ghost.
Page 35 – exercise 2
Open answers.
Page 35 – exercise 3
1. Claudius 2. Hamlet 3. Ophelia
4. Laertes
Page 36 – exercise 4
1. loves
2. is/’s reading
3. is / crying
4. hates
5. is/’s coming
6. is/’s talking
7. asks
8. is/’s speaking
9. see
10. are hiding
Page 24 – exercise 6
Open answers.
Page 25 – exercise 7
Open answers.
Page 37 – exercise 5
Open answer.
Page 26 – exercise 8
Page 37 – exercise 6
1. F 2. H 3. A 4. G 5. E
1. A 2. B 3. A 4. A 5. A 6. B
1. a better king
2. is prettier
10
2
Key to the exercises
Part Three
1. While Hamlet and Ophelia are
talking, Polonius and Claudius are
listening.
2. While Claudius is praying, Hamlet
is standing behind him.
3. While the actors are performing
the play, Hamlet is watching
Claudius carefully.
4. While the Player Queen is talking
to the Player King, the murderer is
planning to kill him.
8. Australia, Canada, Germany,
shout, they won’t like it. Secondly,
Japan, New Zealand, the USA.
you shouldn’t move your hands too
9. The local stations are Mansion
much. But it’s important to speak
House (a 10 minute walk),
clearly, so the audience will
Blackfriars and Cannon Street on
understand you. Next, remember to
the District and Circle Lines (a 15
pay attention to the meaning of the
minute walk), London Bridge on
words. Last of all, don’t add any extra
the Northern and Jubilee Lines (a
lines to the play and don’t change the
15 minute walk), Southwark on
writer’s words. I’ll repeat all that
the Jubilee Line (a 15 minute
because it’s important.
walk); St Paul’s and Bank on the
First of all, don’t speak too loudly or
Central Line (a 15 minute walk).
too quietly. Secondly, don’t move your
10. In the café, coffee shop or
hands too much. Thirdly, you should
restaurant.
speak clearly. Next, you should pay
attention to the meaning of the words.
Finally, don’t add any extra lines or
Part Four (pp.59-63)
change the words of the play.
Page 59 – exercise 1
Page 48 – exercise 5
Page 49 – exercise 7
1. While the soldiers are guarding the
castle, the Ghost appears.
2. While Ophelia is sitting in her
room, Hamlet enters.
3. While the murderer is poisoning
the Player King, Claudius stands
up.
4. While he is talking to the players,
Hamlet has an idea.
Beth’s questions might include:
Who were the leading actors?
(Who was in the play?)
Did the audience enjoy it?
What was the theatre like?
Were there any special effects?
Open answers.
a. Polonius was hiding behind the
curtain.
b. Because she thought Hamlet was
going to murder her.
c. Because he thought he was the
King.
d. Because she could not see the
Ghost.
e. The portrait of his father.
f. He wanted the English King to
execute Hamlet.
Page 48 – exercise 6
Page 50 – exercise 9
Page 59 – exercise 2
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Open answer.
Open answers.
Page 51 – Internet Project
Page 59 – exercise 3
possible answers:
1. 1995-1996.
2. (in Southwark) on the south bank
of the Thames.
3. address: 21 New Globe Walk,
Bankside.
4. Sam Wanamaker.
5. The answer depends on the year’s
programme.
6. At the time of publication: £11-£29.
7. Exhibitions.
Possibile answers:
HAMLET: intelligent, depressed, confused, mad, changeable, strong
HORATIO: dependable
OPHELIA: obedient, loving, unlucky,
innocent, kind
GERTRUDE: kind, loving
CLAUDIUS: clever, cruel, evil, intelligent, confident, guilty, dishonest
POLONIUS: foolish, obedient, unlucky
ROSENCRANTZ: dependable, obedient
GUILDENSTERN: dependable, obedient
g. costumes h. ticket i. box office
j. interval k. Pirandello
Tapescript
Narrator: Hamlet enjoyed making fun
of Polonius. One day, the Prince was
reading a book when he met the
foolish old lord.
Polonius: What are you reading?
Hamlet: Words, words, words.
Polonius: But what is the book about?
Hamlet: It’s full of lies. The writer
says that old men are foolish, weak
and have grey hair.
Polonius: Hmmph.
Hamlet: Can you see that cloud,
Polonius?
Polonius: Yes, my lord.
Hamlet: It looks like a camel, doesn’t it?
Polonius: Yes, my lord.
Hamlet: No, I think it looks like a
weasel.
Polonius: Yes, my lord.
Hamlet: Or perhaps it looks like a
whale.
Polonius: Yes, my lord.
Hamlet: Goodbye, you foolish old
man.
The famous name: Shakespeare
Page 47 – exercise 4
(pp.46-51)
Page 46 – exercise 1
a. Because they asked a lot of
questions.
b. To put the Ghost’s story on the
stage.
c. The murder (by poison) of a king.
d. No, he watched Claudius’s face
instead.
e. He felt guilty.
f. Because he did not want
Claudius’s soul to go to heaven.
too loudly
hands
speak clearly
meaning
add (any extra) lines
words of the play OR writer’s
words
Tapescript
Page 46 – exercise 2
Hamlet: It’s good to see you again, my
friends. Let me give you some advice
for the play tonight. First of all, you
shouldn’t speak too loudly or too
quietly. If the audience can’t hear
you, they won’t be pleased. But if you
Open answers.
Page 46 – exercise 3
a. dramatist b. stage c. characters
d. tragedy e. comedy f. audience
3
Key to the exercises
Page 49 – exercise 8
4
Key to the exercises
Part Five (pp.71-7)
Page 60 – exercise 4
Key to the exercises
See book for answers.
1. D 2. C 3. A 4. A 5. D
Page 71 – exercise 1
Page 61 – exercise 5
a. Because he thought that Claudius
had killed his father.
b. She sang sad songs and gave
flowers to everyone.
c. He jumped onto the pirates’ ship.
d. Because he was popular with the
people.
e. She drowned in the river.
f. Four. They belonged to a jester, a
lady, a lawyer and a court
gentleman.
Page 75 – exercise 8
Page 71 – exercise 2
Page 87 – exercise 2
Open answers.
Open answers.
Page 71 – exercise 3
Page 87 – exercise 3
a. fought b. hid c. met d. fell
e. shook f. thought g. sent h. sang
i. found j. ran k. felt l. stood
a. married b. rose c. saw
d. brought e. left/heard f. took
g. wrote h. broke i. know j. threw
k. drank
1. B 2. B 3. B 4. A 5. C 6. C
7. C
Tapescript
Narrator: It was a long journey by sea
to England. One night, Hamlet could
not sleep because he was thinking
about all his problems. He got out of
bed and walked around the ship.
While Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
were sleeping, he stole Claudius’s
letter to the King of England. To his
surprise, he read these orders:
‘As soon as Hamlet arrives, cut off his
head.’
Hamlet quickly prepared another
letter. ‘Execute the people who bring
you this letter,’ he wrote. He signed it
‘Claudius’. Then he went back to his
cabin and hid the original letter.
‘When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
arrive in England,’ he thought, ‘the
English King will execute them. But
how am I going to return to
Denmark?’
The next morning, Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern woke up without
realising that the letter had been
changed.
Page 72 – exercise 4
1. sheep 2. cloud 3. branch
4. leaves 5. swallow 6. flowers
7. willow tree 8. rabbits 9. grass
10. bushes 11. river 12. frog
The title is: Sweet Ophelia
e. Hamlet (II, ii, 606-7) – Hamlet
wants to use the travelling actors’
play to trap King Claudius.
f. Hamlet (III, i, 58) – Hamlet asks
which is better: to live or to die?
g. Claudius (III, i, 191) – Claudius
wants to watch Hamlet’s madness
carefully and, with the help of
Gertrude, discover the reason why
he is acting mad.
h. Hamlet (III, ii, 17-18) – Hamlet
tells the actors to connect
words/gestures to the action of
their play.
i. Claudius (III, iii, 97-8) – Claudius
knows that God is not listening to
his words.
j. Hamlet (III, iv, 23) – Hamlet
thinks the spy in Gertrude’s
bedroom is Claudius – a victim
who doesn’t cost much!
k. Gertrude (III, iv, 79) – Hamlet’s
words make Gertrude feel guilty
about her (very quick) second
marriage!
l. Ophelia (IV, v, 71-2) – Ophelia
becomes mad after her father
Polonius is murdered.
m. Hamlet (V, i, 180) – Hamlet
remembers a man who was very
comical – now only a skull.
n. Hamlet (V, ii, 10) – Hamlet
declares that God decides what
Man’s destiny is. God influenced
Hamlet to finalise the deaths of
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
o. Hamlet (V, ii, 310) – Death – and
the ‘silence’ of the grave – has
arrived for Hamlet.
Page 74 – exercise 7
Open answers.
Page 76 – exercise 9
Open answer.
Part Six (pp.87-91)
Page 87 – exercise 1
1. B 2. A 3. A 4. B 5. A 6. A
7. B 8. A 9. B 10. A
Page 88 – exercise 4
1. ’ll 2. ’m going to 3. ’ll
4. ’s going to 5. ’re going to
6. ’re going to 7. ’ll 8. ’s going to
9. ’s going to 10. ’ll
Page 89 – exercise 5
Page 73 – exercise 5
Possibile answers:
Animals: horse, cow, sheep, cat, dog,
chicken
The Countryside: field, meadow, barn,
farm, farmer, crops, tractor
Birds: blackbird, crow, nightingale,
lark, robin
Flowers: daffodils, tulips, daisies,
lilies, orchids, carnations
Page 63 – exercise 6
Possible questions include:
Why was Polonius in the bedroom?
When did you last see Polonius? Do
you know where the body is? Why
did you kill Polonius? Why did
Hamlet come to your room? Did you
see Hamlet kill him?
Page 73 – exercise 6
Open answers.
Page 63 – exercise 7
Open answers.
5
(Line references follow the Oxford
Shakespeare edition of Hamlet)
a. Hamlet (I, ii, 146) – Hamlet thinks
his mother has remarried too
quickly!
b. A Guard (Marcellus) (I, iv, 67) –
The Guard sees Hamlet following
the Ghost.
c. The Ghost (I, v, 112) – The Ghost
has revealed the terrible secret of
Elsinore to Hamlet!
d. Hamlet (I, v, 109) – Hamlet cannot
believe that Claudius – a
murderer! – can still smile.
6
Key to the exercises
7. late sixteenth century
8. Thomas Kyd’s Hamlet
9. late sixteenth century
10. Shakespeare’s Hamlet
Who was Hamlet?
Page 94 – exercise 1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
date unknown
Icelandic poems
twelfth century
a history by Saxo Grammaticus
1570
a story by Belleforest
Page 94 – exercise 2
1. B 2. A 3. B
EXIT TEST
PHOTOCOPIABLE © 2003 Black Cat Publishing
Focus on the context
1 Answer the following questions.
a. Where and when was William Shakespeare born?
b. How many plays did he write?
c. Where were many of Shakespeare’s dramas performed?
d. Why was the Globe Theatre different from a modern theatre?
e. What can you visit if you go to Stratford?
SCORE:
/5
Focus on the story
2 Read the summary of the story. Choose the best word (A, B or C) for
each space (1-8).
One night two guards 0. ………..….. the ghost of King Hamlet and
1. ………..….. Horatio, Prince Hamlet’s friend. The Prince’s father is
2. ……………. and Gertrude, his mother, is now married to Claudius, his
uncle. Hamlet doesn’t like Claudius.
Hamlet sees the ghost of his father who tells him that the Queen was
unfaithful to 3. ………..….. and that his brother murdered him. Hamlet
decides to pretend to be mad.
Ophelia is in love with Hamlet. She tells her father, Polonius, that
Hamlet looks sad and Polonius speaks to Claudius and Gertrude. They
decide to listen to a conversation between Hamlet and Ophelia to
discover the truth. Hamlet realises that this is a trap and tells Ophelia he
doesn’t love her. Hamlet’s friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, visit
him. He is suspicious of them when they ask a lot of questions.
When the travelling actors arrive at Elsinore, Hamlet decides to add
words to their play and put King Hamlet’s story on the stage. During the
play, Claudius runs out of the court and goes to pray in the chapel.
Hamlet sees him but decides not to kill him while he is praying.
Hamlet speaks to his mother 4. ………..….. the middle of the night. The
Queen screams because she is afraid of him. Someone behind the curtain
screams and Hamlet kills him. He thinks it is Claudius but it is Polonius.
After this, Claudius decides to send Hamlet to England. In the meantime
Laertes, Polonius’ son, is very angry 5. ………..….. Claudius because of
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8
PHOTOCOPIABLE © 2003 Black Cat Publishing
the death of his father. Ophelia is now mad because her father is dead.
Hamlet returns to Denmark. Meanwhile, Ophelia falls 6. ………..….. a
river and drowns. Hamlet is in the graveyard when Ophelia’s funeral
procession approaches. Hamlet is shocked at the death of Ophelia and
fights with Laertes. Laertes wants his revenge and he and Claudius plan
how to kill Hamlet. Laertes puts poison on the tip of his sword and
challenges Hamlet to a fencing match while Claudius prepares
7. ………..….. poisoned drink. During the fight, Gertrude drinks from the
cup of poison and dies. Laertes wounds Hamlet with the poisoned sword
but then, in the confusion, they exchange swords and Hamlet wounds
Laertes who dies. Hamlet has his revenge and uses the same poisoned
sword on Claudius 8. ………..….. they both die.
EXIT TEST
e. Gertrude was unfaithful to King Hamlet.
f. The travelling actors put Polonius’ story on stage.
g. Ophelia falls into a river and drowns.
h. Claudius prepares a poisoned sword.
i. Laertes drinks from the cup of poison by mistake.
j. At the end of the story, four people are dead.
SCORE:
0.
A sees
B seen
C see
1.
A tell
B telling
C tells
2.
A dying
B dead
C dies
3.
A himself
B her
C him
4.
A in
B on
C at
5.
A on
B with
C of
6.
A on
B into
C down
7.
A one
B this
C a
8.
A and
B when
C until
SCORE:
C
example
3 Are the following sentences true (T) or false (F)? Correct the false
sentences.
T
b. Queen Gertrude is married to Prince Hamlet’s uncle.
/10
TOTAL SCORE:
/23
Key to the exit test
/8
a. The story takes place in England.
PHOTOCOPIABLE © 2003 Black Cat Publishing
F
Focus on the context
1.
a. In Stratford-upon-Avon on April
23rd, 1564.
b. 38.
c. At the Globe Theatre, London.
d. The plays took place in the open
air in daylight when the weather was
good.
e. Shakespeare’s birthplace. (Also:
Mary Arden’s house, Anne
Hathaway’s cottage and the Royal
Shakespeare Theatre.)
Focus on the story
2.
1. A 2. B 3. C 4. A 5. B
6. B 7. C 8. A
3.
a. F – It takes place in Denmark.
b. T
c. F – He sees the ghost of his father.
d. F – She is in love with Hamlet.
e. T
f. F – They put the Ghost’s (King
Hamlet’s) story on stage.
g. T
h. F – Laertes prepares a poisoned
sword.
i. F – Queen Gertrude drinks from
the cup of poison by mistake.
j. F – Seven people are dead: King
Hamlet, Prince Hamlet, Polonius,
Ophelia, Laertes, Queen Gertrude
and Claudius.
© 2003
c. One night, Hamlet sees the ghost of his grandfather.
d. Ophelia is in love with Horatio.
9
Black Cat Publishing, an imprint of Cideb Editrice, Genoa, Canterbury
EXIT TEST
10