IELTS Reading: multiple choice practice

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.

Comments

[Anh Tran]

1. C. (the first Old English literary works date from the mid-7th century)
2. C. (difficult for Modern English speakers to understand without study).

Well, when you are knowledgeable on this subject that you don't even have to read it carefully to choose the answer...

[zoey]

1. C
2. C

[Minh Tam]

1. C

The 7th century = the mid-7th century
The earliest examples of creative writing = the first Old English literary works
Come from that time = date from
2. C

Largely indecipherable to English speakers nowadays = difficult for Modern English speakers to study without study

[CCLT]

1. C
2. B

[Man]

1. C (earliest examples of creative writing = first Old English literary works)

2. C (largely indecipherable to English speakers nowadays = difficult for Modern English speakers to understand)

[sujit]

1.c
2.c

[Ameet]

C
C

[Rosie]

1. C
2. C

[IOS]

C
B

[Fayrouz]

C
C

[zully]

1.c
2.B

[James W.]

1. C
2. C

[CHAU Tua]

1. C ( the first Old English literary works date from the mid-7th century.)
2. C (Old English is very different from Modern English and difficult for Modern English speakers to understand without study)

[Justine]

C
C

[Rekha]

1.C
2.C

[Monica]

1. C
2. C

[Aubameyang]

Double c

[liu min yu]

c c

[Pachu]

A,C

[Simon]

CORRECT ANSWERS FROM SIMON:

C
C

A few people have already explained the reasons for these answers in the comments above.

[Navri masih belajaran]

C/c

[MO]

1- C
2- C

[Mahbub Hassan]

1.C (synonym of creative writing = literary)
2.c

[hibatullah memon]

1.C
2.C

[Nga Van]

Thanks Simon,
1.C
2.C

[Queenie]

1.c
2.c

[Helen Mirren]

thank you!

[phd]

1 c
2c

[Dylan]

1.C
2.C

===Thank you.