Question

    If you ask people to name 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 west­central 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 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 Anglo­Saxon (or Old English), a Germanic language.If this state of affairs had lasted, English today would have been 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 between upper­class French and lower­class Anglo­Saxon 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 upper­class 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 advertisements seems much more different from English than French does. Few realize that the English language is actually Germanic at its beginning and that the French influences are all the result of the man’s ambition (野心).

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.Anglo­Saxon and Germanic

2.Which of the following groups of words is, 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 German to Americans on their first visit to Europe?

A.Many French words are similar to English ones.

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

C.Most advertisements in France appear in English.

D.They know French better than German.

Answer

1.C

2.A

3.A

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章主要讲了英语的历史起源以及与法语和德语的关系。

1.

细节理解题。根据第二段Before 1066, in the land we now call Great Britain lived people belonging to two major language groups. In the west­central 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 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 Anglo­Saxon (or Old English), a Germanic language.（1066年以前，在我们现在称为英国的土地上，住着属于两个主要语种的民族。中西部地区居住着讲凯尔特语的威尔士人，北部居住着讲凯尔特语的苏格兰人，尽管他们的语言与威尔士语不一样，但也是凯尔特语。在这个国家的其他地方住着撒克逊人，实际上是盎格鲁人、撒克逊人、其他日耳曼人和北欧人的混合，他们说的是我们现在所说的盎格鲁-撒克逊人(或古英语)，一种日耳曼语言。）由此可知，1066年以前，在现在的大不列颠使用的两种主要语言是凯尔特语和古英语。故选C。

2.

推理判断题。根据第三段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 upper­class French and lower­class Anglo­Saxon 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 upper­class Normans were doing most of eating.（因此，英语中的政治和法律用语来自法语，而不是德语。在某些情况下，现代英语甚至在其词汇中显示出上流社会的法语和下层社会的盎格鲁-撒克逊语之间的区别。我们甚至对某些食物有不同的词汇，尤其是肉，取决于它是在田野里还是在家里准备煮，这表明了一个事实，即撒克逊农民在种地，而上层阶级的诺曼人在吃。）“总统”属于政治范畴，“法律”属于法律领域，“牛肉”属于上层人才会吃的食物，由此推断出，“president, lawyer, beef”这组词源自法语。故选A。

3.

推理判断题。根据最后一段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 at its beginning and that the French influences are all the result of the man’s ambition.（当美国人第一次访问欧洲时，他们通常发现德国比法国更“外国”，因为他们在标牌和广告上看到的德语似乎比法语更不同于英语。很少有人意识到，英语在其开始时实际上是日耳曼语，而法语的影响都是人的野心的结果。）由此推知，在美国人第一次访问欧洲时，法语对他们来说不像德语那么陌生是因为许多法语单词与英语单词相似。故选A。