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

A. president, lawyer, beef

B. president, bread, water

C. beard, field, sheep

D. folk, field, cow

[解析] 从第三段可知，当时在英国，凡是政治、法律和供Normans上层阶级吃的食物，其名称都来源于法语。

[答案] A

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

[解析] 这是一道细节理解题。从第二段可知，在1066年前，在英国主要说两种语言--Celtic和Old English。

[答案] C

5. According to this passage, British people and Americans have __________ difficulty in understanding each other.

A. little　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. much

C. some　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. great

[解析] 本文第三段意在指明：尽管英式英语和美式英语在几个方面有些不同，但大体来说，它们仍同属一种语言。所以说英国人和美国人相互理解起来也没有多大的困难。

[答案] A

C

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 people belonging to two major language groups. In the west-central region in the Welsh, who spoke a Celtic language, and in the north lived the Scots, whose language, thought not the same as Welsh, was also Celtic. In the rest of the country lived the Saxons, actually a mixture of Anglos, Saxons, and other Germanic and Nordic peoples, 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 England. For about a century, French became the official language of England while Old English became the language of peasant. 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(区别)between upper-class French and lower-class Anglo-Saxon in its words. We even have different words for some foods, meat 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 the 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 advertisements 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 one man’s ambition.

4.Most __________ say “Do you have a watch?”

A. British people　　　　　　　　 B. Americans

C. children　　　　　　　　　　 D. teachers

[答案] B

3.What is NOT mentioned(提及) in the passage?

A. Whether there are differences between British English and American English.

B. Whether British English and American English are one language or two.

C. How the differences between British English and American English　 came about.

D. How important the differences are.

[解析] 此题亦用排除法。只有英式及美式英语不同之处的起源本文中没有涉及，故选C。

[答案] C

2. American English and British English are different in __________.

A. spelling　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. pronunciation

C. grammar　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. all of the above

[解析] 文章第二段给出了英式英语和美式英语的几点不同：在拼写、发音、词汇及语法上。故此题选D。

[答案] D

1. According to this passage, a student who is learning to speak American English might be afraid that __________.

A. British people cannot understand him

B. American people cannot understand him

C. the grammar is too hard for him

D. the spelling is too hard for him

[解析] 此题考查细节事实和辨别能力。学美式英语的学生常会担心英国人不懂得他们的意思，从文中第一段可以找到。

[答案] A

5.“Learn through use” means __________.

A. we use a language in order to learn it

B. we learn a foreign language in order to use it

C. we can learn a language well while we are using it

D. both B and C

[解析] “在用中学”，文章强调练习的重要性。A项颠倒了学与用的关系，B项虽对，却不合题意。

[答案] C

B

A student is learning to speak British English. He wonders(想知道): Can I communicate(交际) with Americans? Can they understand me? Learners of English often ask: What are the differences between British and American English? How important are these differences?

Certainly, there are some differences between British and American English. There are a few differences in grammar. For example, speakers of British English say “in hospital” and “Have you a pen?” ,Americans say “in the hospital” and “Do you have a pen?”.Pronunciation is sometimes different. Americans usually sound theirs in words like “bird” and “hurt”. Speakers of British English do not sound theirs in these words. There are differences between British and American English in spelling and vocabulary. For example, “colour” and “honour” are British, “color” and “honor” are American.

These differences in grammar, pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary are not important, however. For the most part, British and American English are the same language.

4. Which of the following is the most important in learning a foreign language?

A. A good memory.

B. Speaking.

C. Practice.

D. Writing.

[解析] 在学习英语时，最重要的还是“练”(practice)，古语说，熟能生巧(Practice makes perfect)，故选C项。

[答案] C

3. One can never learn a foreign language well only by __________.

A. much practice

B. studying the dictionary

C. learning through use

D. using the language

[答案] B