英语国家概况与答案

第Ⅰ卷（共40 分）

I. Choose the correct answer from the options given: （20 points, 1 point each）

1. Which of the following is NOT considered a characteristic of London ?

A. The cultural centre.

B. The business centre.

C. The financial centre.

D. The sports centre.

2. Which of the following is NOT true about the characteristics of Britain ?

A. Economic differences between north and south.

B. Differences of social systems between Scotland and Wales.

C. Class differences between a white-collar worker and a blue-collar worker.

D. Cultural differences between immigrants and the British.

3. In 1969, the first British soldiers were seen on Northern Ireland Street They came

first _______.

A. to maintain traffic order in Northern Ireland

B. to protect the Catholic people

C. to protect the Protestant people

D. to replace the Royal Ulster Constabulary since they were unable to keep social

Order

4. In the early 1970s, the IRA _________.

A. killed many Protestants and Catholics

B. burned down the houses of Catholics’

C. murdered individuals at random

D. carried out a series of bombing and shooting and attacked the security forces as

their main target

5. Why did the British government decide to replace the Power-Sharing policy with

“direct-rule” from London ?

A. The Power-Sharing policy was not accepted by the majority of Protestants.

B. The Northern Irish Parliament could not govern the province effectively.

C. The Power-Sharing policy couldn’t be carried out.

D. All the above.

6. Which group of people can NOT vote in the general election ?

A. Members in the House of Commons.

B. Lords in the House of Lords.

C. The major parties.

D. The UK resident citizens of the Irish Republic.

7. How many seats in the House of Commons should a party hold at least in order to

win the election ?

A. 651

B. 326

C. 626

D. 351

8. Which government lost a vote of no confidence and was forced to resign in 1979 ?

A. The Conservative government.

B. The Liberal government.

C. The Labour government.

D. The radical government.

9. Which of the following books is written by Geoffrey Chaucer ?

A. The Canterbury Tales.

B. Beowulf.

C. The Ulster Cycle.

D. Morte D’Arthur.

10. Among the following writers, who was NOT one of the great trio ?

A. Ben Johnson.

B. Geoffrey Chaucer.

C. William Shakespeare.

D. Christopher Marlowe.

11. Which of the following was the most famous Scottish novelist ?

A. D.H. Lawrence.

B. Charles Dickens.

C. Robert L. Stevenson.

D. Walter Scott.

12. Which of the following has nothing to do with Easter ?

A. Rabbits.

B. Haggis.

C. Chicks.

D. Eggs.

13. Which of the following is true about the Guy Fawkes Night ?

A. It is celebrated by Scottish people in November.

B. It is celebrated by English people in November.

C. It is celebrated by Scottish people in August.

D. It is celebrated by English people in August.

14. Which of the following is true about the Gunpowder Plot ?

A. It was planned to kill the Protestant king and replace him with a Catholic king.

B. It was planned to kill the Catholic king and replace him with a Protestant king.

C. It was planned to kill King Billy and replace him with King James II.

D. It was planned to kill King James II and replace him with King Billy.

15. Which of the following is true under Thatcher’s administration ?

A. The proportion of owner-occupation decreased.

B. Public housing became more important.

C. Many public houses were sold to the people.

D. The UK became more European-like in its housing arrangements.

16. Which of the following about class system in the UK is NOT true ?

A. People of different classes tend to read different kinds of newspaper.

B. Class-division is only decided by pe ople’s income.

C. Though social advancement is possible, class affects a person’s life-chances.

D. The way people speak identifies themselves to particular class.

17. The British media have many important functions. Which of the following is an

exception ?

A. They supply people with news, keeping them informed about what is happening in

the world.

B. They make huge profit by publishing advertisements.

C. They promote culture and education.

D. They provide entertainment.

18. A free press is considered very important to the functioning of parliamentary

democracy because _________.

A. it plays a watchdog function, keeping an eye on the government

B. it informs people about current affairs in the world

C. it provides people with subjective reports

D. it publishes short pamphlets for Parliament

19. The state that had the first British settlement is __________.

A. Queensland

B. New south Wales

C. Western Australia

D. Victoria

20. The federal government and the state governments are formed by ________.

A. the party chosen by the Governor-General

B. the party that has the most votes

C. the party that has the majority of the House of Representatives

D. the party that has the majority of the Senate

II. True or false: (20 points, 1 point each) (A = T; B = F)

21. London is not only the largest city in Britain, but also the largest in the world.

22. The Tower of London, a historical sight, located in the centre of London, was built

by King Harold.

23. Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland.

24. British government offers the Queen high political status and supreme power.

25. British government is both a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional

monarchy.

26. Britain has no written form of Constitution.

27. In 1215, King Egbert united England under his rule.

28. By the 1880s the British economy was dominant in the world.

29. The UK economy is thought of as one of decline because Britain is poorer and

producing less than it was in 1945.

30. In Britain, "Football hooligans" sometimes have violent clashes.

31. Attending the Grand National was an activity in Shakespeare's time.

32. Football was invented by Scottish people.

33. In Britain people can go to the open university without having any formal

educational qualifications.

34. The University of Edinburgh is a privately funded university in Britain.

35. The main government department such as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office also

involves in making Britain's foreign policy.

36. According to the author, Britain is a parliamentary democracy, so the government's

foreign policy in theory represents the desires of its electorate.

37. Australia is the world’s smallest continent a nd largest island.

38. Green and gold became the national colors formally in 1984.

39. The famous thermal region is on the North Island.

40. In 1975, the Waitangi Tribunal was set up to receive complaints from Maori

people and to address the mistakes made in the past by the European settlers.

英语国家概况（1）试题答案

第一卷

I. Choose the best answer: (20 分，每小题1 分)

1. (A)

2. (D)

3. (C)

4. (D)

5. (B)

6. (A)

7. (B)

8. (B)

9. (C) 10. (A)

11.(A) 12.(C) 13. (D) 14. (A) 15. (C) 16. (C) 17. (B) 18. (A) 19. (B) 20.

(A)

II. True or false: （20 分，每小题1 分）

21.(B) 22.(B) 23.(A) 24.(B) 25.(A) 26. (A) 27. (B) 28. (A) 29. (B) 30. (A)

31.(B) 32.(B) 33.(A) 34.(B) 35.(A) 36. (A) 37.(A) 38. (A) 39.(A) 40. (A)

第二卷

I. Fill in the blanks: （22 分，每空2 分）

1. (the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)

2. (overrule the parliament)

3. (Prime Minister)

4. (The National Health Service)

5. (Football Association Cup)

6. (Guy Fawkes Night)

7. (the UN Security Council)

8. (Reading news papers, listening to radio)

9. (God Save the Queen)

10. (the House of Representatives)

11. (New Zealanders having European ancestry)

II. Answer the following questions: （18 分，每题2 分）

1. The Normans under William of Normandy conquered England.

2. It consists of the Lords Spiritual and the Lords Temporal.

3. They are Conservative party, Labor party and the Liberal Democrats.

4. They are primary industries, secondary industries and tertiary industries.

5. Because they hope their children can receive better education so that they can get into

better universities or find a better job.

6. It is influenced by its imperial history, its geopolitical traits and its relationship with the

US.

7. It stands for the British Broadcasting Corporation.

8. Because Britain needed new places to transform its criminals.

9. They are Britain and other European countries and the US..

III. Explain the following in English: (20 分，每小题4 分)

1. They were two groups of Germanic peoples who settled down in England from the 5th

century. They were regarded as the ancestors of the English and the founders of

England.

2. It’s a statement put forward by an MP for the House of Commons to vote on saying that “This house no longer has confidence in the Government”. If the government loses a “vote of no confidence” it is forced to res ign and call a general election.

3. The Romantic Movement started at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the

19th century. The spirit of Romanism places emphasis on nature, originality, the

emotional and personal. The great poets then are Keats, Shelley and Wordsworth.

4. Comprehensive schools are the most popular secondary schools in Britain today. Such

schools admit children without reference to their academic abilities and provide a general education.

5. The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of states which is made up of mostly of

former British colonies. It was set up as a forum for continued cooperation and as a sort

of support network.