Question

   English surnames have an interesting history. In early times people had just one name that they were given at birth. It might have been John or Hilda,for example. One name was quite enough. If someone mentioned Hilda or John,everyone knew who was meant because there would be only one Hilda or one John in a tiny village. But as time went on,small villages grew into towns. Then there might be five or six Johns and five or six Hildas all living in the same place. How were people to know which John or which Hilda was meant then?

   One way of getting over the difficulty was by adding the name of the work the person did. Thus the man who was a cook might be called John the Cook. The man who weaved clothes might be called John the Weaver. Second names or,surnames as we now call them,had come into being. At that time these surnames were given to a man's children. So John Weaver's children would,perhaps,be called Hilda Weaver and Charles Weaver. And this is how we still use surnames today.

    Another way of telling one person from another with the same name was by adding the place where they lived. Thus the two men in the same village,both with the name of Tom,might be known as Tom by the Wood and Tom in the Field. This would give rise to such surnames as Wood,Field,Street,Tree,Pond,Lake,Forest,etc.

    The origin of many surnames is easy to find. But how others started is difficult to know. Only scholars who have studied the history of words can tell the origin of the more difficult ones,and even then they can't always be sure.

50. In early times English people.

   A. had only one name given at birth

   B. had two names： John and Hilda

   C. had two given names at birth

   D. had no name at birth

51. People use Wood as their surnames because.

   A. they lived near a place where many trees grew

   B. they were farmers

   C. they lived in a village

   D. it was a common thing

52. The passage mainly tells us about .

   A. how some English names started

   B. why so many people were named John and Smith

   C. the history of the English words

   D. the history of the English people

Answer 1

50. A 51. A 52. A

[阅读C篇短文大意]本文讲述了英语中一些姓氏的发 展史。

50. A 由第一段中的11 In early times people ha "just one name that they were given at birth" 可知答案为 A.

51. A 由第三段中的"Another way of telling one person from another with the same name was by adding the place where they lived11

可推断答案为A.

52. A通读全文可知，本文讲述了英语中一些姓氏的来源。故答案为A.