Question

 If you ask people to name the one person who had the greatest effect on the English lan?guage ,you will get answers like ^ilShakespeare" "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 were 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 Sax?ons 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 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.
(   ) 5. 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

(   ) 6. 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.

(   ) 7. 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.

(   ) 8. What may be the best title of the passage, according to what you have read?

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

5 -8 CACD

B篇文章介绍了英语的发展变化之 1066年诺曼征服之后，随着英国政权被法国人接管，英语因此吸收了许多法语词汇。所以，法语对英语产生了影响。

5. C细节理解题从第二段的描述可以知道， 1066年以前，英国人主要使用两种语言一Celtic和Old English。

6. A逻辑推理题从文章第三段的描述可以知道，当时在英国，由于统治者来自法国，凡是政治、法律和供Normans上层阶级吃的食物的名称都来源于法语。

7. C逻辑推理题从第四段第一句话"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."可知，法语单词与英语单词比较相似。

8. D主旨大意题通读全文可知，短文主要讨论了法语对英语的影响。