recite

Californians of a certain age can recite it by heart: A 1994 ballot initiative sought to make life miserable for undocumented immigrants, with proponents claiming that unchecked migration was destroying the Golden State by burdening social services and changing the demographics of cities.

The music of jazz trumpeter Enrico Rava washes over the dining room as solicitous waiters recite the evening’s specials, their delivery unaffected by the thud of bombs falling on a neighborhood nearby.

He can recite by heart the different prices per kilowatt hour that his residents pay for power on different sides of his district, and he leans heavily on his background working the family business, a nursery that grows almonds, grapes, pistachios and walnuts.

Luckily, he didn't recite his own lyrics when he popped into CBeebies earlier this month.

More people can recite the plot of “Romeo and Juliet” than they can, let's say, “The Merchant of Venice.”