William Shakespeare was born four hundred years ago and spent his childhood in his hometown, Stratfordon-Avon. Little was known about his childhood though many stories are published, some of which may be 1 . He probably went to Grammar School at Stratford. At thirteen he 2 to leave school as his father 3 a lot in business and became poorer-for a time. So William had to 4 his own living. At the age of eighteen he married a farmer's daughter. Not long after he 5 Stratford for London, London was 6 growing. AB kinds of people were 7 in it. Here Shakespeare 8 travelers, students, and scholars, and his 9 was slimed (激起)by the stories they told. He also met writers and actors. He soon found some work in a 10 . Before long he became an actor and writer of plays 11. There were a few theatres in London. One of the most famous of these was 12 the Globe. Shakespeare himself 13 one of the owners of this theatre. Shakespeare's reputation(名望)as a writer of 14 began to grow. He 15 the writing of others and found 16 in the old poets like Chaucer. By his genius (天才)he 17 all these old stories into masterpieces(杰作)of his 18 . Shakespeare wrote no fewer than 37 plays. They describe all kinds of men and women, and 19 us pictures of great events in history. In 1593 Shakespeare acted before Queen Elizabeth, and received ten pounds for his services. Soon he got greater rewards(报酬)and became 20 enough to buy a house in Stratford . He was able to retire to his native town and spent the last few years of his life in comfort there.