b Act of Conformity.-An Act requiring all persons to conform to the rules and worship of the Church.Those who refused to do so were called Nonconformists；that is，Dissenters.
中文阅读
1.伊丽莎白终生未婚，但在她身边却有不少宠臣。到后期她身边的大红人是埃塞克斯伯爵，这是一个英勇豪迈的年轻贵族，不过行事有些鲁莽刚愎自用。
2.他之后加入军队，被派往爱尔兰去平息一场叛乱。但是他接下来的所作所为让伊丽莎白非常不悦，首先是与叛军讲和休战，接着便不打招呼回家去了。于是他被伊丽莎白下令开除公职，被关进了监狱。不过女王后来还是原谅了他。
3.然而到了1601年，他居然起兵反叛伊丽莎白，但很快被俘，并被判处死刑。女王曾经送给他一枚戒指，告诉他如果遇到麻烦，就将这枚戒指转交给她，她就会出面保护他。
4.身陷囹圄的埃塞克斯伯爵想起了这枚戒指，让诺丁汉伯爵夫人将其转交给伊丽莎白，但是这位伯爵夫人的丈夫却与埃塞克斯伯爵素来不睦，坚决不让她将其上呈女王。毫无疑问，伊丽莎白女王也在惦记着这枚戒指，盼望着它能被交送到自己面前；但是始终没有等来这一幕，最后埃塞克斯伯爵在伦敦塔被斩首。
5.两年之后，诺丁汉伯爵夫人在临终之际吐露心事，主动说出了这桩欺君之罪。伊丽莎白女王听见这些话后，极为震怒，情绪失控地用力推搡行将离世的伯爵夫人，说：“即使上帝会原谅你，我也决不会原谅你。”
6.伊丽莎白对错杀无辜的往事悲痛欲绝，整整十天十夜都睡在地板上，茶饭不思汤药不进，最后带着一颗破碎的心，离开了人世，享年70岁，当国45年。是年为1603年，自此都铎王朝宣告终结。
7.伊丽莎白是一个博学多才、聪明智慧的女人，像所有都铎家族的人一样，她个性很强，一旦遭遇背叛就会勃然大怒；但她还是尽力希望将英格兰变成一个伟大的国家，而且她成功了。她的缺点就是她的虚荣心，还有过于耽溺宠臣。
8.她执政期间颁布过两项著名法案，一项是“至尊法案a”，其要求全国臣民起誓宣称伊丽莎白女王为全国教会的最高首领；另一项是“国教法案b”，禁止所有人到非法教堂参加礼拜。在这两部法案的影响下，众多天主教徒被处死；而那些希望以纯粹而简朴生活方式进行修行的清教徒们也因此被关押。
9.在此期间，欧洲大陆上发生的两起社会革命，也深深影响了英格兰：一是1572年发生在法国的圣巴塞洛缪屠杀事件，二是1576年荷兰的崛起。肆虐的暴政导致了当地国的大量技术工人出逃，丝绸纺织工人和木工分别从法兰西和法兰德斯逃至英格兰，将英格兰的制造业水准大幅提高。
a 至尊法案：此法案规定女王在教会中拥有最高权力。
b 国教法案：此法案规定所有人都必须遵守法定教规，按规定到指定教堂参加礼拜。拒绝遵守此法案的人被称为异类教徒，也即反国教教徒。
10.社会文明进步--在这个时期，弗朗西斯·德雷克勋爵首次完成环球航行。荷兰人将茶叶从中国引入了英格兰，沃尔特·拉雷勋爵则从美洲引入了土豆和烟草。伯明翰与谢菲尔德两地因精美的金属工艺品而远近闻名，曼彻斯特则因优良的棉纺织品而举国皆知。第一份报纸《英国信使》也在这个时期问世。
11.都铎一朝，英格兰国力得到很大发展，已成世界强国。打败西班牙无敌舰队之后，她已成为名副其实的海上霸主。商业空前繁荣，许多新大陆被逐渐发现。各阶层民众都普遍重视学习与教育，知识也因此在国人中得到了广泛的传播。
101
THE DEATH OF QUEEN ELIZABETH
伊丽莎白女王之死
apparently，as it seemed.bestowed，gave；conferred.considered，thought.palsied，trembling.pitiable，wretched.
prophecy，foretelling；prediction.recovered，got better.succession，next sovereign.utterance，speech；voice.violently，with great force.
1.It is said that the Queen，at a time of great friendship and good will towards the young Earl of Essex，gave him as a keepsake a ring，telling him to send it to her if ever he found himself in any danger or distress，and that on receiving it she would give him help.He wore it for a good while before any need to use it arose；but at length，after trying to raise a rebellion in London against the very Queen who had bestowed the gift，he found himself in prison and in exceeding great danger of losing his head.
2.He then bethought him of the ring；and one day he gave it to a lady，athe Countess of Nottingham，with the request thatshe would take it to theQueen with as little delay as possible.The Countess‘s husband was the enemy and rival of Essex，and he would gladly have had him put out of the way.When the Earl insisted that she should not give the ring to the Queen，the Countess yielded to his commands.Bitterly angry at what she considered the pride of the imprisoned Earl，Elizabeth gave orders for his death，and his head was taken off within the walls of the Tower.
3.She seems never to have fully recovered from the shock of his death.We are told that there came to her one day from the Countess of Nottingham，who was then lying at the point of death，a message，earnestly desiring a visit from Her Grace the Queen.Elizabeth went；but，when the poor dying woman gasped out with faint utterance her confession of the fraud which had been practised with regard to the ring，the Queen rose like a mad-woman，and seizing thea Countess of Nottingham.-Her husband was Howard of Effingham，who commanded against the Spanish Armada.He had been at one time a friend of Essex，but they had quarrelled.Nottingham had commanded the army that had put down Essex’s rebellion.
feeble sufferer by the arms，shook her violently，scolding her fiercely all the time.
4.By-and-by Elizabeth began to show distinct signs of failing health.She slept very little，and took scarcely any food；and her mouth and throat were so hot，that she was obliged to sip cooling liquids almost constantly.Some idle words of pretended prophecy，to the effect that she was to die in a certain bed，so weighed on her mind that she refused to go to bed at all.She lay on cushionspiled on the floor，with her fore-finger always in her mouth like a little child，and her eyes staring gloomily on the ground-a very pitiable wreck of that strong-minded woman who had held the sceptre of England with firm hand for nearly half a century.
5.Her attendants lifted her by force into bed，where she lay apparently listening to the Bishops，who crowded her chamber for the purpose of giving her spiritual advice and comfort in her last hours.Some of the Ministers of State came in to ask about the succession；upon which the daughter of the Tudor spoke sharply out：“My seat has been the seat of Kings-I will have norascal to succeed me.”
6.And when the Lords pressed her for an explanation of her words，she declared that she referred to her cousin of Scotland as the fit person to succeed her.The last action which her palsied hands performed，after her tongue had lost the power of utterance，was to make a motion over her head，as if she were pointing to a crown.Then，sinking into a sleep which ended in stupor，she passed away from life so quietly that hardly any one could tell the moment of her death.
中文阅读
1.据说当伊丽莎白女王与年轻的埃塞克斯伯爵关系最为亲密的时候，她给了他一枚戒指作为信物，并且告诉他一旦有任何危难，就将此物想办法转交给她，她会立即出手相救。伯爵将这枚戒指戴了很长时间，从来没有机会动用过它，但后来他在伦敦起兵反叛这位送他信物的女王，兵败被俘，这时他才发现大难将至，脑袋恐怕保不住了。
2.事到如今，他想起了这枚戒指。于是有一天，他将戒指交给了一位女士，诺丁汉伯爵的夫人a，并让她以最快的速度将此物交给女王伊丽莎白。但是伯爵夫人的丈夫却正好是埃塞克斯伯爵的死对头，埃塞克斯伯爵失势倒台，对他而言正中下a 诺丁汉伯爵的夫人：她的丈夫就是埃芬汉姆的霍华德勋爵，曾指挥英国海军打败了西班牙无敌舰队。他与埃塞克斯伯爵曾有过朋友之谊，但是最后闹翻了；正是他最后率军平息了埃塞克斯伯爵的叛乱。
怀。于是他制止夫人将戒指交给女王，夫人无奈只得屈服。由于没有收到戒指，女王认为埃塞克斯伯爵死不认罪，因此更加愤怒，下令将其处死，埃塞克斯伯爵便在伦敦塔内身首异处了。