Question

If you ask people to name the one person who had the greatest effect on the English language, you will get answers like “Shakespeare” “Samuel Johnson”, and “Webster”, but none of these men had any effect at all compared to a man who didn’t even speak English—William the conqueror.

Before 1066,in the land we now call Great Britain lived peoples belonging to two major language groups. In the west-region lived the Welsh, who spoke a Celtic language, and in the north lived the Scots, whose language, though not the same as Wish-wash also Celtic. In the rest of the century lived the Saxons, actually a mixture of Anglos, Saxons, and other Germanic and Nordic people, who spoke what we now call Anglo--Saxon(or Old English) ,a Germanic language. If this state of affairs had lasted, English today would be close to German.

But this state of affairs did not last. In 1066 the Normans led by William defeated the Saxons and began their rule over English. For about a century, French became the official language of England while Old English became the language of peasants. As a result, English words of politics and the law come from French rather than German. In some cases, modern English even shows a distinction between upper-class French and lower class Anglo Saxon in its words. We even have different words for some foods, eaten in particular, depending on whether it is still out in the fields or at home ready to be cooked, which shows the fact that the Saxon peasants were doing farming, while the upper-class Normans were doing most of eating.

When Americans visit Europe for the first time, they usually find Germany more “foreign” than France because the German they see on signs and advertisement seems much more different from English than French does. Few realize that the English language is actually Germanic in its beginning and that the French influences are all the result of the man’s ambition.

1. The two major languages spoken in what is now called Great Britain before 1066 were__________.

A. Welsh and Scottish　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　    B. Nordic and Germanic

C. Celtic and Old English　　　　　　　　　　　　　　    D. Anglo-Saxon and Germanic

2.Which of the following groups of words are, by inference, rooted in French?

A. President, lawyer, beef.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  B. President, bread, water.

C. Bread, field, sheep.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　    D. Folk, field, cow.

3. Why does French appear less foreign than Germany to Americans on their first visit to Europe?

A. Most advertisements in France appear in English.

B. They know little of the history of the English language.

C. Many French words are similar to English ones.

D. They know French better than German.

4. What is the subject discussed in the text?

A. The history of Great Britain.

B. The similarity between English and French.

C. The rule of England by William the conqueror.

D. The French influence on the English language.

 

Answer 1

答案：C;A;C;D
解析：

1.       参见第二段。 2.       参见As a result, English words of politics and the law come from French rather than German. 3.       参见最后一段。 4.       本文主要讲了1066年以后法语对英语的影响。

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