Iv. choose the statements, which are true.
1 the latin language was heard in britain in the sixth century. 2 at first the anglo-saxons came to plunder the cattle and corn. 3 anglo-saxons were the descendants of celtic peoples. 4 in the 7th-9th centuries rich landowners were given great power. 5 the process of conquering the country by anglo saxons took 450 years. 6 anglo-saxons didn’t like towns. 7 the anglo-saxons kingdoms lived in peace. 8 christianity taught the peasants to obey their landowners. 9 the roman monks helped to spread roman culture in britain. 10 at first anglo-saxons were pagans.
текст:
after the roman legions left britain the celts remained independent but not for long. from the middle of the 5 th
century they had to defend the country against the attacks of germanic tribes from the continent.
these tribes, the anglo-saxons, were the descendants of three different germanic peoples — the angles,
saxons, and jutes — who originally migrated from northern germany.
first the jutes and then other germanic tribes – the saxons and the angles began to migrate to britain. at first
they only came to plunder the cattle and corn. but after some time they returned again and again in larger numbers,
and began to conquer the country. it took 150 years. many of the celts were killed, some of them settled in wales
and in scotland. the celts of ireland remained independent too.
the new settlers disliked towns preferring to live in small villages. the needs of the villagers were few and
simple. food, clothing and shelter were their basic needs. there was very little trading at that time. they were
pagans, that is they believed in many gods. they destroyed the roman towns and villas.
in the 7th-9th centuries feudalism was slowly taking root. peasants were losing their land and freedom. rich
landowners were given great power over the peasants. the religion that was to serve the interests of the rich anglo-
saxons was christianity (597). it taught the poor people to obey their masters. besides, the spread of christianity
was of great importance for the growth of culture in britain. the roman monks who were converting the anglo-
saxons to christianity helped to spread roman culture in the country again. the latin language was again heard in
britain.
as time went on the two peoples – the angles and the saxons – grew into one and were called anglo-saxons.
they called their speech english, and their country england – that is, the land of the english. the anglo-saxons
formed many kingdoms – kent, essex, wessex, sussex and others, which are now counties of great britain. these
kingdoms were at war with one another. the stronger kings took the land from the smaller kingdoms.
