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  3. The men and women of Anglo-Saxon England normally bore one name only. Distinguishing epithets were rarely added. These might be

The men and women of Anglo-Saxon England normally bore one name only. Distinguishing epithets were rarely added. These might be

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问题     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, acute rather than quick-witted or clever.
    Place-names have a lasting interest since there is hardly a town or village in all England that has not at some time given its name to a family. They may be picturesque, even poetical; or they may be pedestrian, even trivial. Among the commoner names which survive with relatively little change from old-English times are "Milton" (middle enclosure) and "Hilton" (enclosure on a hill).
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
选项 A、Less than half of the genuine British surnames come from place names.
B、The name "Simpson" could be s surname deriving from a place name if the family have had its home in the ancient village of that name.
C、Thatcher is an occupational surname which testifies to the specialization in medieval arts.
D、The meanings of all descriptive names are slightly different from the modern ones.
答案B
解析 细节题。根据第三段第一句中的“over fifty per cent of genuine British sumames derive from place names of different kinds”可知A项表述错误。根据第三段的第二句话“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．”可知B项说法正确。根据第四段的前两句话可知，C项后半句表述有误。根据第五段第二、三句可知，有一些简单的描述性名字可以按字面意思理解，和现代的意思是一样的，D项说法过于绝对。故本题选B。
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