Problem: It's not every week that England's greatest playwright William Shakespeare hits the headlines, but the Bard of Avon has been the subject of two news stories in recent days as new information has come to light about the writer and his working environment.

In the first development, a portrait of Shakespeare, which is believed to be the only picture painted of him during his lifetime, was _ in London.

The artwork has been dated back to 1610, meaning it was painted six years before the writer's death.

The painting had been owned by a family descended from Shakespeare's literary patron tor hundreds of years without them ever knowing who the man in the picture was.

Alec Cobbe, who inherited the portrait, realized that the painting was a likeness of Shakespeare after visiting an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery where he saw a portrait that had, until 70 years ago, been accepted as a life portrait of Shakespeare.

Mr Cobhe immediately realized he was looking at a copy of the painting that had been in his family for centuries.

The painting will now go on display in Shakespeare's hometown Stratford-upon-Avon.

In a separate story, archaeologists in London believe they have unearthed the remains of Shakespeare's first theatre.

The site was excavated by a team from the Museum of London last summer, and is believed to have been built in 1576.

Experts think that Shakespeare himself acted at the theatre, which may have been where the play Romeo and Juliet was premiered .

It is believed that 25 years after construction, the building was pulled down and moved timber by timber to the South Bank of the Thames, where a reconstruction of the theatre now stands.
1. who is England's greatest playwright
2. The artwork has been dated back to
3. The painting had been owned by a family descended from
4. when was the art work painted
5. where is the picture of Shakespeare located?
6. are there lots of portrats of Shakespeare
7. The painting had been owned by who?
8. how long did they have the portrait?
9. did they know who the man in the picture was.
10. who is Alec Cobbe
11. what did he realize?
12. how did he come to this realization?
13. The painting will now go on display where
14. what do archaeologists in London believe
15. what do Experts think
16. what plays premiered there
Answer: 1. William Shakespeare
2. 1610
3. Shakespeare's literary patron
4. during his lifetime
5. Shakespeare's hometown
6. no
7. by a family descended from Shakespeare's literary patron
8. hundreds of years
9. no
10. he inherited the portrait
11. that the painting was a likeness of Shakespeare
12. after visiting an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery
13. in Shakespeare's hometown
14. that they have unearthed the remains of Shakespeare's first theatre
15. that Shakespeare acted at the theatre
16. Romeo and Juliet

Problem: The region, as part of Lorraine, was part of the Holy Roman Empire, and then was gradually annexed by France in the 17th century, and formalized as one of the provinces of France. The Calvinist manufacturing republic of Mulhouse, known as Stadtrepublik Mulhausen, became a part of Alsace after a vote by its citizens on 4 January 1798. Alsace is frequently mentioned with and as part of Lorraine and the former duchy of Lorraine, since it was a vital part of the duchy, and later because German possession as the imperial province (Alsace-Lorraine, 18711918) was contested in the 19th and 20th centuries; France and Germany exchanged control of parts of Lorraine (including Alsace) four times in 75 years.

With the decline of the Roman Empire, Alsace became the territory of the Germanic Alemanni. The Alemanni were agricultural people, and their Germanic language formed the basis of modern-day dialects spoken along the Upper Rhine (Alsatian, Alemannian, Swabian, Swiss). Clovis and the Franks defeated the Alemanni during the 5th century AD, culminating with the Battle of Tolbiac, and Alsace became part of the Kingdom of Austrasia. Under Clovis' Merovingian successors the inhabitants were Christianized. Alsace remained under Frankish control until the Frankish realm, following the Oaths of Strasbourg of 842, was formally dissolved in 843 at the Treaty of Verdun; the grandsons of Charlemagne divided the realm into three parts. Alsace formed part of the Middle Francia, which was ruled by the youngest grandson Lothar I. Lothar died early in 855 and his realm was divided into three parts. The part known as Lotharingia, or Lorraine, was given to Lothar's son. The rest was shared between Lothar's brothers Charles the Bald (ruler of the West Frankish realm) and Louis the German (ruler of the East Frankish realm). The Kingdom of Lotharingia was short-lived, however, becoming the stem duchy of Lorraine in Eastern Francia after the Treaty of Ribemont in 880. Alsace was united with the other Alemanni east of the Rhine into the stem duchy of Swabia.
1. What did the Alemannian's language help create?
2. What part of Lothar's realm was given to his son?
3. Why didn't his kingdom last long?
Answer:
1. modern-day dialects
2. Lotharingia
3. unknown