Question

阅读理解

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A，B，C，D）中，选出最佳选项。

　　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 1006, in the land we now call Great Britain lived peoples belonging to two major language groups. In the west-central region lived the Welsh, who spoke a Celtic language, and in the north lived the Scots, whose language, though not the same as Welsh, was also Leltic. 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 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 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 (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 the farming, while the upper-class Normans are 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.

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 influence, rooted in French?

[　　]

A．president, lawyer, beef

B．president, bread, water

C．bread, field, sheep

D．folk, field, cow

3．Why does France 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 influences on the English Language.

Answer 1

答案：C;A;C;D
解析：

1．C　　导解：从第二段的描述可知，1066年以前这一地区的语言有Celtic和Anglo-Saxon即Old English. 　　2．A　　导解：短文中说法律、政治方面及准备烹饪的食物名称来自法语，因此选A，而field, sheep, cow, water等词不属此列。 　　3．C　　导解：法语曾是旧英国的官方语言，因此很多法语单词与英语相似。 　　4．D　　导解：全文讲述法语对英语的影响及历史渊源。