Question

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?

1.English was first spoken in ____.

A．Britain            B．England           C．Great Britain       D．Ireland

2.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.

3.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

4.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

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.B

2.C

3.C

4.B

【解析】

試題分析：本文主要介紹了與英國有關的名稱的話題。

1.B 細節題。根據第一段1,2行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.說明B正確。

2.C 細節題。根據文章第三段Britain is divided into three parts: Scotland, Wales and England. But sometimes the word “England” is used instead of “Britain”說明C正確。

3.C 細節題。根據文章最后一段1,2行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.說明C正確。

4.B 主旨大意題。根據文章主題段第一段的后三行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.說明本文主要介紹與英國有關的名稱的話題，故B正確。

考點：考查文化類短文閱讀

點評：本文細節題居多，答題時在文章找到對應的地方，用筆進行標記，這有利于后期有時間檢查時可以立刻找到答案的位置。仔細理解作者所講的意思，再結合選項，通過排除法和自己對全文的把握，選出正確答案。