The British isles is made up of two large islands: One is called Ireland and the other __1__. Britain, or Great Britain, is the larger of these two islands, and it is __2__ into three parts: Scotland, Wales and England.

The United Kingdom is that __3__ of the British isles ruled over by the Queen. It is made up of Scotland, Wales and England, that is, the __4__ of Britain, and also about one sixth of Ireland, the Northern part. The __5__ of Ireland is self governing(治理). The __6__ name of the United Kingdom is __7__ “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”．

__8__ is larger and richer than Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and has the most __9__ of the United Kingdom, so people often use the __10__ “England” and “English” when they __11__ “Britain” and “British”. This sometimes makes the Scots and the Welsh a little __12__. The Scots in particular are very __13__ of their separate nationality(民族). The Welsh too do not regard __14__ as English, and have a culture and even a __15__ of their own.

Ireland became part of the United Kingdom in 1801, but for forty years the “Irish __16__ ” was the greatest headache of the United Kingdom. __17__， Ireland is divided into two: Northern Ireland still __18__ to the United Kingdom, and in 1922 the rest of Ireland __19__ to found an Irish Free State, later called Eire and now the Republic of Ireland.

The Republic of Ireland does not regard itself as part of Britain, and is not now even a supporter of the Commonwealth of Nations(英联邦). Unlike the major Commonwealth countries it did not lift a finger to __20__ British in the Second World War and now wants the whole of Ireland to be a republic.

1. A. Wales　　B. Britain　　C. England　　D. Scotland

2. A. divided    B. cut      C. broken    D. separated

3. A. piece     B. island    C. country   D. part

4. A. south     B. north    C. part      D. whole

5. A. smaller   B. larger    C. rest      D. island

6. A. correct     B. true    C. full     D. complete

7. A. also      B. therefore  C. likely  D. perhaps

8. A. The UK       B. The British isles

C. Great Britain   D. England

9. A. colleges    B. officials      C. cities      D. population

10. A. words        B. names

C. spellings       D. pronunciations

11. A. call        B. forget       C. speak       D. write

12. A. angry      B. difficult      C. tired        D. lonely

13. A. proud      B. fond         C. full         D. kind

14. A. it         B. Wales        C. them       D. themselves

15. A. capital     B. language     C. history       D. programmes

16. A. Country    B. Question       C. Disease          D. Republic

17. A. At last     B. So             C. Meanwhile        D. Also

18. A. returns    B. belongs        C. gets             D. speaks

19. A. hoped      B. refused        C. broke away       D. used

20. A. feel       B. touch          C. fight            D. help

You're busy filling out the application form for a position you really need. Let's assume you once actually completed a couple of years of college work or even that you completed your degree. Isn't it appealing to lie just a little, to claim on the form that your diploma represents a Harvard degree? Or that you finished an extra couple of years back at State University? More and more people are turning to cheat like this to land their job or to move ahead in their careers, for personnel officers, like most Americans, value degrees from famous schools. A job applicant may have a good education anyway, but he or she assumes that chances of being hired are better with a diploma from a well-known university.

Registrars（登记员） at most well-known colleges say they deal with deceitful claims like these at the rate of about one per week. Personnel officers do check up on degrees listed on application forms, then. If it turns out that an applicant is lying, most colleges are unwilling to accuse the applicant directly. One Ivy League school calls them "cheats"; another refers to them as "special cases". One well-known West Coast school, in perhaps the most delicate phrase of all, says that these claims are made by "no such people". To avoid outright(彻底的) lies, some job-seekers claim that they "attending" means being dismissed after one semester. It may be that "being associated with" a college means that the job-seeker visited his younger brother for a football weekend. One school that keeps records of false claims says that the practice dates back at least to the turn of the century—that's when they began keeping records, anyhow. If you don't want to lie or even stretch the truth, there are companies that will sell you a false diploma.

　　One company, with offices in New York and on the West Coast, will put your name on a diploma from any number of nonexistent colleges. The price begins at around twenty dollars for a diploma from "Smoot State University". The prices increase rapidly for a degree from the "University of Purdue". As there is no Smoot State and the real school in Indiana is properly called Purdue University, the prices seem rather high for one sheet of paper.

The main idea of this passage is that ______.

　　A. employers are checking more closely on applicants now

　　B. lying about college degrees has become a widespread problem

　　C. college degrees can now be purchased easily

　　D. employers are no longer interested in college degrees

According to the passage, "special cases" refers to cases that ______.

　　A. students attend a school only part-time

　　B. students never attended a school they listed on their application

　　C. students purchase false degrees from commercial firms

　　D. students attended a famous school

We can infer from the passage that _______.

　　A. performance is a better judge of ability than a college degree

　　B. experience is the best teacher

　　C. past work histories influence personnel officers more than degrees do

　　D. a degree from a famous school enables an applicant to gain advantage over others in job competition

This passage implies that ______.

　　A. buying a false degree is not moral

　　B. personnel officers only consider applicants from famous schools

　　C. most people lie on applications because they were dismissed from school

D. society should be greatly responsible for lying on applications

Britain and Ireland
　　The British Isles is made up of two large islands: One is called Ireland and the other __16  . Britain, or Great Britain, is the larger of these two islands, and it is17  into three parts: Scotland, Wales and England.
　　The United Kingdom is that 18  of the British Isles ruled over by the Queen. It is made up of Scotland, Wales and England, that is, the 19  of Britain, and also about one sixth of Ireland, the Northern part. The  20  of Ireland is self-governing. The 21  name of the United Kingdom is  22  “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”.
　23 is larger and richer than Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and has the largest  24   of the United Kingdom, so people often use the 25 “England” and “English” when they  26  “Britain” and “British”. This sometimes makes the Scots and the Welsh a little 27 . The Scots in particular are very  28 of their separate nationality. The Welsh too do not regard   29  as English, and have a culture and even a   30 of their own.
　　Ireland became part of the United Kingdom in 1801, but for forty years the “Irish  31  ” was the greatest headache of the United Kingdom.  32 , Ireland is divided into two: Northern Ireland still  33 to the United Kingdom, and in 1922 the rest of Ireland   34  to found an Irish Free State, later called Eire and now the Republic of Ireland.
　　The Republic of Ireland does not regard itself as part of Britain, and is not now even a supporter of the Commonwealth of Nations (英联邦). Unlike the major Commonwealth countries it did not lift a finger to   35 British in the Second World War and now wants the whole of Ireland to be a republic.

Britain and Ireland

　　The British Isles is made up of two large islands: One is called Ireland and the other __16  . Britain, or Great Britain, is the larger of these two islands, and it is17  into three parts: Scotland, Wales and England.

　　The United Kingdom is that 18   of the British Isles ruled over by the Queen. It is made up of Scotland, Wales and England, that is, the  19   of Britain, and also about one sixth of Ireland, the Northern part. The  20  of Ireland is self-governing. The  21  name of the United Kingdom is  22   “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”.

　23  is larger and richer than Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and has the largest  24   of the United Kingdom, so people often use the 25  “England” and “English” when they  26   “Britain” and “British”. This sometimes makes the Scots and the Welsh a little 27  . The Scots in particular are very  28  of their separate nationality. The Welsh too do not regard   29  as English, and have a culture and even a   30 of their own.

　　Ireland became part of the United Kingdom in 1801, but for forty years the “Irish  31   ” was the greatest headache of the United Kingdom.  32  , Ireland is divided into two: Northern Ireland still  33 to the United Kingdom, and in 1922 the rest of Ireland   34   to found an Irish Free State, later called Eire and now the Republic of Ireland.

　　The Republic of Ireland does not regard itself as part of Britain, and is not now even a supporter of the Commonwealth of Nations (英联邦). Unlike the major Commonwealth countries it did not lift a finger to   35 British in the Second World War and now wants the whole of Ireland to be a republic.

1.A. Wales       B. Britain         C. England        D. Scotland

2.A. divided      B. cut            C. broken          D. separated

3.A. piece        B. island          C. country         D. part

4.A. south        B. north          C. part            D. whole

5.A. smaller      B. larger          C. rest             D. island

6.A. correct      B. true            C. full             D. complete

7.A. also         B. therefore       C. likely           D. perhaps

8.A. The UK      B. The British isles  C. Great Britain    D. England

9.A. colleges      B. officials         C. cities           D. population

10.A. words       B. names           C. spellings        D. pronunciations

11.A. call         B. forget           C. speak           D. write

12.A. angry       B. difficult          C. tired           D. lonely

13.A. proud       B. fond            C. full             D. kind

14. A. it           B. Wales           C. them            D. themselves

15.A. capital      B. language         C. history          D. programs

16.A. Country     B. Question         C. Disease          D. Republic

17.A. At last      B. So              C. Meanwhile       D. Also

18.A. returns      B. belongs          C. gets             D. speaks

19.A. hoped       B. refused          C. broke away       D. used

20.A. feel         B. touch            C. fight             D. help

The British isles is made up of two large islands①: One is called Ireland and the other 1 . Britain, or Great Britain, is the larger of these two islands, and it is 2 into three parts: Scotland , Wales and England.

The United Kingdom is that 3 of the British isles ruled over by the Queen. It is made up of Scotland, Wales and England, that is, the 4 of Britain, and also about one sixth of Ireland, the Northern part. The 5 of Ireland is self-governing. The 6 name of the United Kingdom is 7 “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”.

8 is larger and richer than Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and has the most 9 of the United Kingdom, so people often use the 10 “England” and “English” when they 11 “Britain” and “British”. This sometimes makes the Scots and the Welsh a little 12 . The Scots in particular are very 13 of their separate nationality. The Welsh too do not regard 14 as English, and have a culture and even a 15 of their own.

Ireland became part of the United Kingdom in 1801, but for forty years the “Irish 16 ” was the greatest headache of the United Kingdom. 17 , Ireland is divided into two: Northern Ireland still 18 to the United Kingdom, and in 1922 the rest of Ireland 19 to found an Irish Free State, later called Eire and now the Republic of Ireland.

　　The Republic of Ireland does not regard itself as part of Britain②, and is not now even a supporter of the Commonwealth of Nations (英联邦). Unlike the major Commonwealth countries it did not lift a finger to 20 British in the Second World War and now wants the whole of Ireland to be a republic.