The Mother Goose Stories, so well known to children all over the word, are co
mmonly said to have been written by a little old woman for her grandchildren. According to some people, she lived in Boston, and her real name was Elizabeth Vergoose. Her son-in-law, a printer named Thomas Fleet, was supposed to have published the famous stories and poems for small children in 1719. However, no copy of this book has ever been found, and most scholars doubt the truth of this story—and doubt, moreover, that Mother Goose was ever a real person. They point out that the name is a direct translation of the French “Mere I’ Oye.” In 1697 the Frenchman Charles Perrault published the first book in which this name was used. The collection contains eight tales, including “Sleeping Beauty,”“Cinderella,” and “Puss in Boots.” But Perrault did not originate these stories; they were already quite popular in his day, and he only collected them.
In 1729 there appeared an English translation of Perrault’s collection,Robert Samber’s Histories or Tales of Past times, Told by MotherGoose(London,1729), which introduced “Sleeping Beauty”, “Little Red-hood”, “Puss in Boots”,”Cinderella” and other Perrault’s tales to English-speaking audiences. These were fairy tales(童话)。 John Newbery published a book of English rhymes，Mother Goose’s Melody, or Sonnets for the Cradle( London, undated,1765), which switched the focus from fairy tale to nursery rhymes, and in English this was until recently the primary meaning for Mother Goose.A book of poems for children entitled Mother Goose’s Melody was published in England in1781, and the name “Mother Goose” has been associated with children’s poetry ever since.
小题1:What is supposed to have happened in 1719?
A．Elizabeth Vergoose wrote the first Mother Goose Stories.
B．The Mo
ther Goose Stories were translated into French.
C．Thomas Fleet published the Mother Goose Stories.
D．Charles Perrault published the first Mother Goose Stories.小题2: Most scholars consider Mother Goose to be _________.
A．a real person
B．a translation from French
C．a collection by Elizabeth Vergoose
D．a book written by a little old woman小题3:When Perrault published the first book in 1679, _______.
A．no story of the book had been known to people
B．some stories of the book were already well known
C．few people were interested in the stories of the book
D．stories like “Sleeping Beauty” and “Cinderella” became popular小题4:The name used in the first book published in 1679 is supposed to have been _______.
A．Mother Goose
B．Charles Perrault
C．Elizabeth Vergoose
D．Mere I’ Oye小题5:When people talk about Mother Goo
se, they refer to,___________
A．a printer of Boston
B．a kind of animal
C． children’s poetry
D．the French “Mere L’oye
