If you look closely at certain words in a language, you can often understand a little of the history of the people who speak that language. 1, consider this list of some familiar English words: cow, sheep, and pig. Now, 2 them with the following: beef, mutton, and pork. While the words in the first group 3 living animals, those in the second indicate the meat taken from these animals. But there is yet another 4 between the two sets of 5. Every word in the first 6 is Anglo-Saxon in origin, that is, Old English. On the other hand, those in the second group have their 7 in French.

    Such differences teach us about one of the most important 8 in English history: the Norman Conquest of England. The Normans were the people who 9  the Duchy of Normandy, the area in the north of modern-day France. In 1066, they invaded(侵略) and conquered England. 10, French-speaking Norman kings, nobles, and religious leaders 11 the English ruling class. And most of the native English population was 12 to work on lands owned by the Normans. English farmers also 13 animals such as cows, sheep, and pigs which were named in English, their native tongue. But the 14 they produced went to the wealthy land-owning Normans who used French words for what they 15.

    The Normans lost control of England in 1204, 16 their influence on the English 17 lives on to this day. In the high-status fields of law, government, military leadership, most of the 18 English vocabulary has its roots in French. And even in words, like beef, pork, and mutton, we can still 19 effects of the powerful position the Normans 20 enjoyed.

—Of course not. He wants to get some extra pay.

—Me too. She always does it as if she (be) your mother.

    Why does night fall but never break and day break but never fall？Why are people who ride motorcycles called bikers and people who ride bikes called cyclists？In what other language do people drive in a parkway and park in a driveway？In what other language do they call the third hand on the clock the second hand？

    Let's face it: English is a crazy language. There is no egg in an eggplant, neither pine nor apple in a pineapple and no ham in a hamburger. Sweet-meats are candy, while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.

    We take English for granted. But when we explore its paradoxes(悖论), we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, public bathrooms have no baths in them.

    And why is it that a writer writes, but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce, and hammers don't ham？If the plural of tooth is teeth, shouldn't the plural of booth be beeth? One goose, two geese—so one moose, two meese？

    How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while quite a lot and quite a few are alike? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell the next？

    English was invented by people, not computers, and it shows the creativity of human beings. That's why, when stars are out, they are visible; but when the lights are out, they are invisible. And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it; but when I wind up this essay, I end it.