The British Isles is made up of two large islands: One is called Ireland and the other Britain. Britain, or Great Britain, is the larger of these two islands and it is divided into three parts: Scotland, Wales and England.
The United Kingdom (UK) is short for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is made up of Scotland, Wales, and England (i.e. the whole of Britain), and also about one-sixth of Ireland, the Northern part. The rest of Ireland is self-governing(自治的).
England is the largest, most populous (人口众多的), and generally speaking, the richest section. English people often use the words “England” and “English” when they mean “Britain” and “British”. This sometimes makes the Scots and the Welsh angry. The Scots are very proud of their separate nationality. The Welsh too do not consider themselves as England, and have a culture and even a language of their own. Ireland became part of the United Kingdom in 1801, but is soon grew discontented (不满的), and for forty years the “Irish Question” was the greatest headache of British Parliament(国会). At last, Ireland divided itself into two: Northern Ireland remained loyal(忠诚于) to the Crown(英国王室), and in 1922 the rest of the country broke away to form Irish Free State, now the Republic of Ireland.
小题1:Which is the largest in area?
A．The British Iles
B．Great Britain
C．England
D．The United Kingdom小题2: Which is the largest island of the British Isles?.
A．Ireland
B．Britain
C．England
D．Northern Ireland小题3:The United Kingdom is mainly made up of .
A．3 parts: Scotland, Wales, and England
B．4 parts: Scotland, Wales, England and Ireland
C．2 parts: the whole of Britain and Ireland
D．2 parts: the whole of Britain and Northern Ireland小题4: Strictly speaking(严格地说), which is wrong?
A．“English” refers(指) to people of England.
B．“The Scots” refers to people of Scotland.
C．“England” refers to all the people to the UK.
D．Only one-sixth of Ireland belongs to the UK.小题5:Who will be happy if we use “England” when we mean Britain?
A．The British
B．People of England
C．People of the Republic of Ireland
D．The welsh
