Question

【题目】It's never easy to explain exactly when a specific language began, but in the case of English we can at least say that there is little sense in speaking of the English as a separate language before the Anglo-Saxons came to Britain. Little is known of this period with any certainty, but we do know that Germanic invaders came and settled in Britain from the north-western coastline of continental Europe in the fifth and sixth centuries. The invaders all spoke a language that was Germanic (related to Dutch, Frisian, German and the Scandinavian languages, and to Gothic), but we'll probably never know how different their speech was from that of their continental neighbours.

The reason that we know so little about the language in this period is because we do not have much in the way of written records from any of the Germanic languages of north-western Europe until several centuries later. When Old English writings began to appear in the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries there was a good deal of regional variation(变化), but not more than that found in later periods. This was the language that Alfred the Great referred to as ‘English’ in the ninth century.

The Celts were already resident(定居) in Britain when the Anglo-Saxons arrived, but there are few obvious traces of their language in English today. Some scholars have suggested that the Celtic tongue might have had an underlying influence on the grammatical development of English, particularly in some parts of the country, but this is highly speculative(猜测). The number of borrowed words known for certain to have entered Old English from this source is very small. Those that survive in modern English include “brock” (badger), and “comb” (a type of valley), alongside many place names.

【1】When did the English language begin ?

A. After the Anglo-Saxons came to Britain.

B. Before the Germanic invaders settled in Britain.

C. At a time that no one will know for certain.

D. At the same time as Germanic languages began.

【2】“continental neighbours” in Paragraph 1 refer to people living in _____.

A. Great Britain B. Africa C. Europe D. Ireland

【3】Why do people know so little about the language in Britain in the Anglo-Saxon period?

A. There are no written records from the Germanic languages.

B. Old English didn’t have any written system.

C. Much of the written records have been lost.

D. There was a good deal of variation in the records.

【4】What does the author think about the Celtic language ?

A. It influenced the grammatical development of English.

B. It had little influence on modern English.

C. It borrowed a few words from Old English.

D. It greatly enriched modern English vocabulary.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】C

【3】A

【4】B

【解析】本文主要介绍了英语的发展历史。

【1】细节理解题。由It's never easy to explain exactly when a specific language began, but in the case of English we can at least say that there is little sense in speaking of the English as a separate language before the Anglo-Saxons came to Britain.可知英语是在盎格鲁-撒克逊人到达英国后，才开始的，选A。

【2】细节理解题。由but we do know that Germanic invaders came and settled in Britain from the north-western coastline of continental Europe in the fifth and sixth centuries.可知“continental neighbours” 指的是生活在欧洲的人们，选C。

【3】细节理解题。由The reason that we know so little about the language in this period is because we do not have much in the way of written records from any of the Germanic languages of north-western Europe until several centuries later.可知人们对盎格鲁-撒克逊时期英国的语言知道的很少是因为没有日耳曼语的书写记录，选A。

【4】细节理解题。由The number of borrowed words known for certain to have entered Old English from this source is very small.可知作者认为凯尔特语对现代英语的影响很小，选B。