Read the following passage about the language known as ’Old English’.
Old English, or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest historical form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers probably in the mid-5th century, and the first Old English literary works date from the mid-7th century.
After the Norman conquest of 1066, English was replaced, for a time, as the language of the upper classes by Anglo-Norman, a relative of French. This is regarded as marking the end of the Old English era, as during this period the English language was heavily influenced by Anglo-Norman, developing into a phase known now as Middle English.
Like other old Germanic languages, Old English is very different from Modern English and difficult for Modern English speakers to understand without study. Old English grammar is quite similar to that of modern German: nouns, adjectives, pronouns and verbs have many inflectional endings and forms, and word order is much freer.
Choose the best answer, A, B or C, for the two questions below.
1. What happened in the 7th century?
A) The English language was first established in Britain.
B) The first oral stories in Old English were told.
C) The earliest examples of creative writing in Old English come from that time.
2. Old English is…
A) related to the French language.
B) more easily understood by German speakers than English speakers.
C) largely indecipherable to English speakers nowadays.
答案与解析
C
The 7th century = the mid-7th century
The earliest examples of creative writing = the first Old English literary
Come from that time = date from
C
Largely indecipherable to English speakers nowadays = difficult for Modern English speakers to study without study
想要了解雅思阅读做题技巧，可以在华盟官网预约免费的雅思试听与测评服务，老师根据您的不足针对性的进行试听课程讲解，线上咨询或者留言，来华盟校区活动免费的线上线下雅思学习大礼包（线上雅思考试分析讲解视频，加拿大、美国留学生存指南，线下华盟雅思词汇书籍,雅思口语最新话题）