DoyoueverwonderwhytheEnglishhaveonewordforsomeanimalsandadifferentonefortheirmeat?Whydotheyusepigandporkcowandbeefandsheepandmutton?Tofinditoutwehavetogobackto1066whentheNormanFrenchinvaded

　　DoyoueverwonderwhytheEnglishhaveonewordforsomeanimalsandadifferentonefortheirmeat?Whydotheyusepigandporkcowandbeefandsheepandmutton?Tofinditoutwehavetogobackto1066whentheNormanFrenchinvadedEnglandandputaFrenchkingontheEnglishthrone(王位)whichnotonlychangedthegovernmentbutalsochangedthelanguage.Frenchbecamethelanguageoftheupperclassesofsociety.Anditremainedthatwayfor300years.Onlythesehighsocietypeoplecouldaffordtoeatmeat.AsaresultFrenchwordslikeporc(pork)andbeouf(beef)cameintotheEnglishlanguage.HoweverpoorEnglishfarmersraisedtheanimals.SotheEnglishlanguageretainedthewordspigandcowfromtheNativeAnglo-Saxon.

　　TheNormanFrenchaddedabout10000FrenchwordstotheEnglishlanguage.Seventy-fivepercentofthemarestillinusetoday.

　　InFrenchgrammarnounshaveeitheramaleorfemalegender(性别)soadjectives(形容词)takedifferentformsforeach.EnglishhasonlyoneadjectivethatdoesthisanditcamefromFrench.Theword“blond”describessomeonewithlight-coloredhair.“Blond”isusedformenand“blonde”describeswomen.Andtheyarealsonouns.

　　SomeFrenchwordsthatenteredtheEnglishlanguagehavetakenoncompletelydifferentmeanings.TheFrenchphrase“alamode”means“instyle”.InEnglishthephrasemeans“withtheicecream”.Someonemusthavedecidedsomethingeatenwithicecreamwasinstyle!

　　NowasyoulearnEnglishyou’reonyourwaytolearningFrench!

　　【小题1】FrenchwasoncepopularamongtheupperclassesoftheUKbecause_____.

　　A．toomanyFrenchmovedtoBritainB．FrenchbroughtanimalswiththemC．thekingandhisofficialsspokeFrenchD．thekingallowedFrenchtobespoken【小题2】Whichwordcanreplacetheword“retained”inParagraph1?A．ChoseB．KeptC．IntroducedD．Giveup【小题3】WhydoesanEnglishspeakerfindFrencheasytolearn?A．BecauseEnglishandFrenchsharesimilarpronunciations.B．BecauseEnglishgrammarandFrenchgrammararesimilar.C．BecausealargenumberofEnglishw