A
As you are students of English,it’s very possible that you’ll be interested in England.That’s where the language was first spoken.But England is often called by other names.This often confuses people and I wonder if you know what these names mean.So,now I would like to tell you about this matter of names.I believe that you have heard people use the names—England,Britain or Great Britain.Let’s see what each of these names means.
If you look at a map of Europe,you’ll see a group of islands—one larger island off the northwest coast,one smaller and many tiny ones.These make up what is called the British Isles.The largest island of the British Isles is Britain.It is also called Great Britain.The smaller island is Ireland.
Britain is divided into three parts:Scotland,Wales and England.But sometimes the word “England” is used instead of “Britain”.Why so?
In ancient times,what is Britain now used to be three different countries.People in these different countries spoke different languages.Over many years the three countries became one.England is the largest and richest of the three and it has the most people.So the English people take it for granted that their own name stands for the whole island.
There’s another thing that confuses people:sometimes you may hear people say “the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”.That is the official name of the country.Northern Ireland is only one sixth of the island of Ireland.The rest of the island is an independent state,called the Republic of Ireland.So we have the names of “England”,“Britain”,“Great Britain”,and “the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”.Now do you know what each of them means?
21.English was first spoken in .
A.Britain B.England
C.Great Britain D.Ireland
答案:B
解析:细节理解题。由第一段第一、二句可知最早讲英语的地方是England。
22.According to the passage,which of the following statements is TRUE?
A.Wales is the richest of the three.
B.Scotland is the largest of the three.
C.Sometimes England is used instead of Britain.
D.Britain is the only name of the largest island of British Isles.
答案:C
解析:细节理解题。由第三段第二句可知,人们有时用England来代替Britain(称呼英国)。
23.The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is .
A.part of Britain
B.part of British Isles
C.the official name of the whole country
D.the largest country of all mentioned in the passage
答案:C
解析:细节理解题。由最后一段第一、二句可以得知,theUnitedKingdomofGreatBritainandNorthernIreland是英国的官方名称。
24.Which of the following is the best title?
A.Students of English
B.Different Names of England
C.Different Languages Spoken in England
D.The Republic of Ireland
答案:B
解析:主旨大意题。本文从头至尾都在讲述英国的名称,因此最佳标题应用DifferentNamesofEngland。
