Практикум по английскому языку (по истории Англии Средних веков). Пилипенко В.А - 43 стр.

                  ASSIGNMENT TO TEXT XII

I. Translate the terms from Russian into English and remember
them:
     çàâîåâàíèå, ïðîöåññ, îïðåäåëåííûé, îáðàáàòûâàòü (çåìëþ),
ïðèâèëåãèè, ïðàâÿùèé êëàññ, ñëèâàòüñÿ, ñóä, ãðóáûé, éîìåí,
çàñåäàíèå, ïðîâîçãëàøàòü, ôèêñèðîâàòü, ïðàâèòü.

II. Answer the questions:
     1. When was the Norman conquest?
     2. All the land was held in feudal service, wasn’t it?
     3. What were the elements of feudalism at that time in England?
     4. What was the state language?
     5. Who had fixed English as the literary language?

III. Read and translate the text about Geoffrey Chaucer, learn the
underlined words by heart.
     Geoffrey Chaucer was born in 1340 in London, soon after the
Hundred Years’ War broke out. His father was a wine merchant. But
they always lived only in rented houses and the poet didn’t inherit
any property. Many people, however, think he must have been educated
at Oxford or Cambridge but nothing is known about that.
     At 20, Chaucer was in France serving as an esquire and was then
taken prisoner by the French. All his friends helped to ransom him.
     On his return to England, Chaucer passed into attendance
of Duke of Lancaster, the fourth son of the king. At court he met
travellers and men of law who came to England from other
countries, and the realities of life had taught him more about the
world than did all the absurdities taught by churchmen at universities
of the Middle Ages when the printing of books had not yet been
invented.
     Chaucer’s earliest poems were written in imitation of the French
romances. Chaucer spoke French well and was fond of French poetry.
It had taught him rhyme and rhythm. He liked the metric princi ple
of French verse. He translated from the French a famous allegorical
poem of the XIIIth century, «The Romance of the Rose».




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