ThemenandwomenofAnglo-SaxonEng-名校题库网

The men and women of Anglo-Saxon England normally bore one name only. Distinguishing epithets were rarely added. These might be patronymic, descriptive or occupational. They were, however, hardly surnames. Heritable names gradually became general in the three centuries following the Norman Conquest in 1066. It was not until the 13th and 14th centuries that surnames became fixed, although for many years after that, the degree of stability in family names varied considerably in different parts of the country.

British surnames fall mainly into four broad categories: patronymic, occupational, descriptive and local. A few names, it is true, will remain puzzling: foreign names, perhaps, crudely translated, adapted or abbreviated; or artificial names.

In fact, over fifty per cent of genuine British surnames derive from place names of different kinds, and so they belong to the last of our four main categories. Even such a name as Simpson may belong to this last group, and not to the first, had the family once had its home in the ancient village of that name. Otherwise, Simpson means "the son of Simon", as might be expected.

Hundreds of occupational surnames are at once familiar to us, or at least recognisable after a little thought: Archer, Carter, Fisher, Mason, Thatcher, Taylor, to name but a few. Hundreds of others are more obscure in their meanings and testify to the amazing specialization in medieval arts, crafts and functions. Such are "Day" (old English for breadmaker) and "Walker" (a fuller whose job was to clean and thicken newly made cloth).

All these vocational names carry with them a certain gravity and dignity, which descriptive names often lack. Some, it is true, like "Long", "Short" or "Little", are simple. They may be taken quite literally. Others require more thinking; their meanings are slightly different from the modern ones. "Black" and "White" implied dark and fair respectively. "Sharp" meant genuinely discerning, alert, a

A.only owned by men in the Anglo-Saxon period
B.gradually became common in the three centuries following the Norman Conquest in 1066
C.became fixed for many years and rarely changed after the 13th and 14th centuries
D.had the same degree of stability in different parts of the country

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答案： B

本题解析：

细节题。定位于文章第一段，根据“The men and women of Anglo-Saxon England normally bore one name only…．They were，however，hardly surnames．"可知盎格鲁一撒克逊时期英国人还没有姓，A项与原文不符：根据“Heritable names gradually became general in the three centuries following the Norman Conquest in 1066．”可知B项正确：根据“It was not until the 13th and 14th centuries that surnames became fixed,although for many years after that,the degree of stability in family names varied considerably in different parts of the country．"可知，直到13、14世纪姓氏才开始固定下来，虽然在那之后很多年里，英国各地的姓氏有相当大的变化。C项“在13、14世纪之后固定了好多年，几乎从未变过”和D项“在各个地方有同样程度的稳定性”均与原文不符。故本题选B。