Question

【題目】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 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 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 l066 the Normans led by William defeated the Saxons and began their rule over England. For about a century, French became the official language of Eng-land 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 (區(qū)別) 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 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.

【1】The two major languages spoken in what is now called Great Britain before l066 were

A.Welsh and ScottishB.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, beefB.president, bread, water

C.bread, field, sheepD.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】

【1】C

【2】A

【3】C

【4】D

【解析】

本文是一篇議論文。如果讓你列舉那些對應于做出最大貢獻的人，你一定會得到類似莎士比亞，塞繆爾約翰遜這樣的答案，但實際上，沒有任何人的對英語的影響力能夠超過征服者威廉。在1066年以前，我們現(xiàn)在稱為英國的土地上存在兩種主要語言，一種是凱爾特語，另一種是古英語。而后來由于威廉的雄心，使得古英語成為英國的主要語言，而法語也成為對英語影響頗深的語言。

【1】細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第二段第二句“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 Celtic.”在中西地區(qū)住著威爾士人，他們說凱爾特語，在南部居住著蘇格蘭人，他們的語言不同于威爾士人的語言，但也是凱爾特語。由此可知一大主要語言為凱爾特語。根據(jù)第二段第三句“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. ”在國家的其余地方居住著撒克遜人，他們是英國人、撒克遜人、德國人、日耳曼人的混合，他們講的語言是英格蘭語（即古英語）�？芍�另一大分支為古英語。故選C。

【2】推理判斷題。根據(jù)第三段中“As a result, English words of politics and the law come from French rather than German.”結果導致，英語中關于政治和法律的詞來源于法語而不是德語。“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 were doing most of the eating.”我們甚至在食物尤其是肉食上有不同的詞，這取決于它是長在田野里，還是在家煮著吃，事實證明，撒克遜農(nóng)民在耕作而上層社會的諾曼人在大部分食物上貢獻更多。由此可見，有關政治、法律以及家中煮著的食物最可能來源于法國，故選A。

【3】細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第三段第一句“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”當美國人到歐洲旅游時，他們經(jīng)常發(fā)現(xiàn)德語比法語更像外國語，以為在德國，他們看見的標簽和廣告語看起來比法語更與英語不同。所以可知，許多法語詞匯和英語很像。故選C。

【4】主旨大意題。文章開篇即拋出問題：誰對英語的影響最大，接著給出答案：征服者威廉。可見文章即將討論的問題就是他對英語的影響。接下來，作者介紹了1066年以前的英國語言由兩大派系組成，而之后由于威廉的雄心，才使得古英語成為英國的主要語言，而法語也成為對英語影響頗深的語言。故選D。