When one looks back upon the fifteen hundred years that are the life span of the English language, he should be able to notice a number of significant truths. The history of our language has always been a history of constant change—at times a slow, almost imperceptible change, at other times a violent collision between two languages. Our language has always been a living growing organism, it has never been static. Another significant truth that emerges from such a study is that language at all times has been the possession not of one class or group but of many. At one extreme it has been the property of the common, ignorant folk, who have used it in the daily business of their living, much as they have used their animals or the kitchen pots and pans.         At the other extreme it has been the treasure of those who have respected it as an instrument and a sign of civilization, and who have struggled by writing it down to give it some permanence, order, dignity, and if possible, a little beauty.

As we consider our changing language, we should note here two developments that are of special and immediate importance to us. One is that since the time of the Anglo-Saxons there has been an almost complete reversal of the different devices for showing the relationship of words in a sentence. Anglo-Saxon (old English) was a language of many inflections. Modern English has few inflections. We must now depend largely on word order and function words to convey the meanings that the older language did by means of changes in the forms of words. Function words, you should understand, are words such as prepositions, conjunctions, and a few others that are used primarily to show relationships among other words. A few inflections, however, have survived. And when some word inflections come into conflict with word order, there may be trouble for the users of the language, as we shall see later when we turn our attention to such maters as WHO or WHOM and ME or I. The second fact we must consider is that as language itself changes, our attitudes toward language forms change also. The eighteenth century, for example, produced from various sources a tendency to fix the language into patterns not always set in and grew, until at the present time there is a strong tendency to restudy and re-evaluate language practices in terms of the ways in which people speak and write.

1．In contrast to the earlier linguists, at present, more and more attention is paid to_________.

A. the standardization of the language

B. language practices in terms of current speech rather than standards or proper patterns

C. the improvement of the language than its history

D. the rules of the language usage

2．From the study we know that language is ________.

A. a possession of upper class.

B. a possession of lower class.

C. a possession of the whole society.

D. the only property of those who treasure it much.

3．Which of the following statements is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A. It is generally believed that the year 1500 can be set as the beginning of the Modern English.

B. Some other languages had great influence on the English language in its development.

C. The English language has been and still in a state of relatively constant change.

D. Many classes or groups have contributed to the development of the English language.

4．The author of these paragraphs is probably a(an) _________.

A. writer specially interested in English

B. person who pays much attention to people of lower classs

C. teacher who teaches the English language

D. expert in studying languages

5．Which of the following can be best used as the title of the passage?

A. The history of the English language.

B. Our changing attitude towards the English language.

C. Our changing language.

D. Some characteristics of modern English.

答案

1--5    BCADC

解析

讲述英语演变过程的一些特点，指出了古英语与现代英语的不同，以及语言学家对待语言形式的态度的变化。

1．B 细节理解题。这篇文章讲的主要是现代语言研究与早期研究的不同。根据文章末尾“The eighteenth century, for example, produced from … in which people speak and write.”可知，现代语言学家倾向于根据人们说和写的方式评价语言实践，而不是像早期的语言学家根据一定的模式评价语言。选项B符合文章的意思。根据题干回原文中定位，阅读文章时注意首末段及各段开头的句子，这往往都是考点所在。

2．C 细节理解题。从第一段中间“Another significant truth…..”直到结尾部分，阐明语言是所有社会阶层的共同财富，只是使用时有所不同。

3．A 细节理解题。根据文章的内容，选项A“普遍认为1500年是现代英语的起点”在文章中没有提到。

4．D 推理判断题。此题考查考生的推测能力和词汇量，文章讲述的是英国语言演进的具体细节，最适当的答案应该是D。作者很可能是一位语言学家，而不仅仅是教授英语的教师，所以排除C项。

5．C 主旨大意题。本文从各个方面谈及英语作为一种语言的发展变化，但并不是讲述英语的历史。所以选项A不对，选项C作为文章的题目最为贴切。选项B只是文章阐述的一个方面，不够全面。文章是在谈到英语的不断变化的时候谈到了现代英语的一些特点，所以选项D也失之于片面。

什么是历史文化类阅读：

本类题型常用的方式是夹叙夹议。叙述的目的是为了议，所以要把握其议才是主要方面。阅读这类文章，先弄清其引入的话题，再弄清里面人物对其不同的看法，然后理解作者本身对话题的观点看法或思考。