大学英语第一章

Chapter 1 A Brief Introduction to the United Kingdom

I.Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F).

1.Great Britain includes 3 constituent countries: England, Scotland, and Wales.

2.When people outside the UK talk about England, they mistake it as Britain

sometimes.

3.Most people in Scotland speak the old Celtic language, called “Gaelic”.

4.The stereotype of the English gentleman never applied the majority of the British

people.

5.The title of Prince of Wales is held by a Welsh according to tradition.

6.“Ulster”, referring to Northern Ireland, was once an ancient Irish Kingdom.

7.The majority of Irish people were descendants of the original Celtic people

inhabited British Isles before the Romans arrived 2000 years ago.

8.Most British people are Protestants while most Irish people are Catholics.

9.Sinn Fein is a legal political party in Northern Ireland.

10.The Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985 guaranteed the loyalist Protestant

community their right to decide their future in Northern Ireland.

II.Fill in the blanks.

1.Britain is now a ______ society which produces a population of which 1 in 20 are

of ______ ethnicity.

2.Britain is a country with a history of invasions. In 43 AD Britain was invaded by

______ in the late 8th century they experienced raids from Scandinavia and in the 11th century they suffered invasions from ______.

3.Charles the First, king of Britain, was executed, because he attempted to

overthrow ______ in the English Revolution.

two Scottish cities which have ancient and internationally respected

universities: ______ and ______.

5.Although Wales is the smallest of the three nations on the mainland, it’s good at

getting ______ from abroad, particularly Japan and ______.

6.To pursue Irish independence, the most spectacular event in the Irish history was

______ of 1916, in which the rebels occupied Dublin’s ______ and forced the British to take it back by military means.

7.Threatened by the IRA in early 1970s, the Protestants formed their own illegal

______ groups and took revenge on ______.

8.1972 was the worst year of the troubles and 468 people were killed that which

included 13 Catholics who had been taking part in a peaceful ______. They were shot dead by British soldiers. This day has now been mythologized as ______. 9.Sinn Fein, the legal ______ party, supports the IRA’s right to fight. Its leaders

spoke of a twin campaign for union with Ireland, both political and military, which is known as the policy of ______.

10.The Good Friday Agreement, known also as ______, emerged on 10 April 1998.

III.Tell what you know about the following in your own words.

1.The Easter Rising

2.Sinn Fein

3.The Good Friday Agreement

IV. Discuss the following questions.

Who is William the Conqueror? What are the consequences of the Norman Conquest?