Question

in the mid - fifth century a.d., three seafaring tribes - the angles, the jutes, and the saxons - saw their chance to fill the void left by departing roman soldiers and launched their own assault on the southern and eastern coasts of england (or “the land of the angles”). the language they carried with them across the cold and stormy north sea developed into old english, then middle english, and finally modern english. the english language, now spoken by about half a billion people worldwide, was actually brought to england by invaders from northern germany.
how does the author unfold her ideas in the first paragraph?
a by describing the environment in which the english language was created
b by stating statistical information on how many people speak english
c by listing ethnic groups that speak english
d by describing the history of the english language in random order

Explanation:

The first paragraph talks about the English language's origin (invaders from northern Germany, Roman soldiers, Angles, Saxons), its spread (across the cold and stormy North Sea, into Old English, then Middle English, and finally Modern English), and mentions elements like the language's complexity (horribly difficult for nonnative speakers), its vocabulary (a mix of Germanic, French, etc., words), and how it has evolved over time (with examples like spelling changes, adoption of words from different languages). This is a description of the environment (in a broad sense - the historical, cultural, and linguistic context) in which the English language was created.

Answer:

A. by describing the environment in which the English language was created