第1單元　杰弗里?喬叟

1How is the setting of the tales described? With such a setting, could you predict the general tone of the tales that are to follow?

Key: (1) Chaucer sets the tales in the spring, describing both the natural world and people—the natural world shows a kind of renewal and rebirth, and people begin to stir after the long sleep of winter. Chaucer’s description of the landscape is lively (歡快的) and fresh (清新的), since he speaks of budding flowers, growing crops and singing birds.

(2) According to such a setting, we can predict that the general tone of the tales will be light, sprightly (活潑的、愉快的) and humorous.

2In your own words, summarize the character of the Knight from the brief introduction in this excerpt.

Key: According to the excerpt, we can see that the Knight has followed chivalry—truth, honor, freedom and courtesy. He had fought many battles for the faith of people. He is a brave, wise, modest and “truly perfect gentle-knight”.

3Without comparison with the translated version, are there words still recognizable to you in the original Middle English version?

Key: Yes, there are many words can be recognized. Because many words only contain few different letters compared with the modern words. What’s more, sometimes, we can recognize the words by guess or by the sense-group.