The ed Kingdom is that3 of the British isles ruled over by the Queen. It is made up of Scotland, Wales and England, that is, the4 of Britain, and also about onesixth of Ireland, the Northern part. The5 of Ireland is selfgoverning. The6 name of the ed Kingdom is7 “The ed Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”.
8 is larger and richer than Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and has the most9 of the ed Kingdom, so people often use the10 “England” and “English” when they11 “Britain” and “British”. This sometimes makes the Scots and the Welsh a little12 . The Scots in particular are very13 of their separate nationality. The Welsh too do not regard14 as English, and have a culture and even a15 of their own.
Ireland became part of the ed Kingdom in 1801, but for forty years the “Irish16 ” was the greatest headache of the ed Kingdom.17 , Ireland is divided into two: Northern Ireland still18 to the ed Kingdom, and in 1922 the rest of Ireland19 to found an Irish Free State, later called Eire and now the Republic of Ireland.
The Republic of Ireland does not regard itself as part of Britain②, and is not now even a supporter of the Commonwealth of Nations (英联邦). Unlike the major Commonwealth countries it did not lift a finger to20 British in the Second World War and now wants the whole of Ireland to be a republic.
译注
① The British isles is made up of two large islands.
不列颠群岛是由两个大岛组成的。
② The Republic of Ireland does not regard itself as British.
爱尔兰共和国不把自己看作是英国人。
根据文章内容,回答下面的问题:
1. A. Wales
B. Britain
C. England
D. Scotland
2. A. divided
B. cut
C. broken
D. separated
3. A. piece
B. island
C. country
D. part
4. A. south
B. north
C. part
D. whole
5. A. smaller
B. larger
C. rest
D. island
6. A. correct
B. true
C. full
D. complete
7. A. also
B. therefore
C. likely
D. perhaps
8. A. The UK
B. The British isles
C. Great Britain
D. England
9. A. colleges
B. officials
C. cities
D. population
10. A. words
B. names
C. spellings
D. pronunciations
11. A. call
B. forget
C. speak
D.write
12. A. angry
B. difficult
C. tired
D. lonely
13. A. proud
B. fond
C. full
D. kind
14. A. it
B. Wales
C.them
D. themselves
15. A. capital
B. language
C. history
D. programmes
16. A. Country
B. Question
C. Disease
D. Republic
17. A. At last
B. So
C. Meanwhile
D. Also
18. A. returns
B. belongs
C. gets
D. speaks
19. A. hoped
B. refused
C. broke away
D. used
20. A. feel
B. touch
C. fight
D. help
答案
Passage A
本文主要向读者介绍有关英国的几个英语名称所包括的范围,让读者清楚它们之间的不同之处。
1.A. 本题为推理判断题。由第一段可知,the Untied Kingdom, Great Britain, England 的含义是不同的,可排除B,C和D。也可根据第二段第二句“Great Britain, or Britain, refers to the larger of the two main islands.”得出答案A。
2.B. 本题为细节考查题。由第二段第一句“The British isles refer to the main islands and several thousand small ones as well, which you can see on the map.”可得出正确答案。
3.D. 本题为排序题。由全文可知,the British isles包括英国地图上所有的岛屿,Britain是指其中的一个岛屿,而England是指Britain岛屿上的一个国家。
4.B. 本题为常识题。众所周知,Scotland是英国的一部分,再根据本文有关英国的知识和写地址按照由小到大的顺序,可得出答案B。
Passage B
本文讲述了几百年前,在苏格兰人民抵御罗马军队的入侵的战斗中,一种叫蓟的植物在关键时刻帮助苏格兰人击败了罗马军队,拯救了苏格兰。
1.B. 本题为细节考查题。由第一段第一句“...a Roman army came north from England to make war on Scotland.”,可以知道罗马军队来自北方,并经过England来入侵苏格兰。
2.C. 本题为句意理解题。本题的考查实际上是针对短文第四段第九句“In a minute they were on their feet and ready for a battle.”进行的,该句的意思是:他们立刻就起来,并准备战斗了。因此答案为C。
3.D. 本题为细节考查题。由第四段最后一句“The Scots wiped out the Romans and saved Scotland.”可以得出答案D。
4.D. 本题为推理判断题。正是因为thistle在关键时刻帮助了苏格兰人拯救了自己的国家,苏格兰人才喜爱它,并把它定为国花。
Passage C
本文讲述了英国的利兹市由于汽车数目众多,造成了交通高峰期的交通拥挤,为此城市鼓励市民共用车辆,以解决此问题。