A
The story of English language is a story of change.The old English language, or old English, is quite different from Modern English.If we do not study old English, we can’t understand it.Some of the words are the same, but many are not used now.The story of the English language begins some time after the year 400 AD.At this time, some people came to England from North-west Europe.There were many groups of people.They were called Angles (盎格鲁人), Saxons(撒克逊人)and Jutes(朱特人),whose language, old English, is like some of the modern language of North-West Europe.In old English, the ending had many meanings.They showed past time and present time and many other things.In Modern English, most of these endings are gone.This is the biggest difference between Old and Modern English.
1. What does the first sentence of the passage mean?
A. English is a language that has changed a lot as time passes by.
B. The story of English language often changes.
C. The old English language has changed into Modern English.
D. The story of English language is one of how people change the language.
2. Old English has a story of ______.
A. 2,500 years B. 2,300 years C. more than 1,600 years D. more than 400 years
3. Old English was first used by the people from ______
A. Old English B. North-West Europe C. North-West English D. English
4. Which of the following is NOT true about Old English?
A. The endings of words gave different special meanings.
B. It was spoken by many groups of the people from North-West Europe.
C. Its words are very different from those Modern English.
D. It is easy for most English-speakers today to understand the language.
【答案】1. A 2. C 3. B 4. D
【解析】
【分析】这是一篇说明文。文章对古英语的起源以及古英语和现代英语的关联和不同进行了介绍。
【1题详解】
句意猜测题。根据第一段第二句“The old English language, or old English, is quite different from Modern English. If we do not study old English, we can’t understand it.”（古英语，或称古代英语，与现代英语有很大不同。如果我们不学古代英语，我们就不能理解它）可知，第一句话的意思是英语是一种随着时间的推移发生了很大变化的语言。故选A。
【2题详解】
推理判断题。根据第一段第五句“The story of the English language begins some time after the year 400 AD.”（英语的故事开始于公元400年之后的某个时间。）可推知，古英语有一个超过1600年的故事。故选C。
【3题详解】
细节理解题。根据第一段第六句到第八句“At this time, some people came to England from North-west Europe.There were many groups of people.They were called Angles (盎格鲁人), Saxons(撒克逊人)and Jutes(朱特人), whose language, old English, is like some of the modern language of North-West Europe.”（这时，一些人从欧洲西北部来到英格兰。有许多人群。他们被称为盎格鲁人，撒克逊人和朱特人，他们的语言，古英语，有点像现代欧洲西北部的一些语言。）可知，古英语首先由来自欧洲西北部的人使用。故选B。
【4题详解】
细节理解题。根据第一段第三句和第四句“The old English language, or old English, is quite different from Modern English.If we do not study old English, we can’t understand it.”（古英语，与现代英语有很大不同。如果我们不学习古英语，我们就不能理解它。）可知，现在大多数讲英语的人都不能理解古英语。D项“对于今天说英语的人来说理解古英语很容易”不符合以上说法。故选D。
