单选题 Strange things have been happening to England. Still (1) from the dissolution of the empire in the years (2) World War Ⅱ, now the English find they are not even British. As the cherished "United Kingdom" breaks into its (3) parts, Scots are clearly (4) and the Welsh, Welsh. But who exactly are the English? What's left of them, with everything but the (5) half of their island taken away?
Going back in time to (6) roots doesn't help. First came the Celts, then the Romans, then Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Danes. Invasion after invasion, until the Norman Conquest. English national identity only seemed to find its (7) later, on the shifting sands of expansionism, from Elizabethan times onwards. The empire seemed to seal it. But now there's just England, (8) of a green island in the northern seas, lashed by rain, scarred by two (9) of vicious industrialization fallen (10) dereliction, ruined, as D．H. Lawrence thought, by "the tragedy of ugliness," its abominable architecture.
Of all English institutions, the one to (11) on would surely be the pub. Shelter to Chaucer's pilgrims, home to Falstaff and Hal, throne of felicity to Dr. Johnson, the pub- that smoky, yeasty den of jollity-is the womb of (12) , if anywhere is. Yet in the midst of this national (13) crisis, the pub, the mainstay of English life, a staff driven (14) into the sump of history, (15) as the Saxons, is suddenly dying and evolving at (16) rates. Closing at something like a rate of more than three a day, pubs have become (17) enough that for the first time since the Domesday Book, more than half the villages in England no longer have one. It's a rare pub that still (18) , or even limps on, by being what it was (19) to be: a drinking establishment. The old (20) of a pub as a place for a "session," a lengthy, restful, increasingly tipsy evening of swigging, is all but defunct.

单选题 [A] reeling [B] struggling [C] running [D] passing
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】从本句后面的“now the English find they are not even British”切入，加上“the dissolution of the empire”，可以知道句意是说英国现在仍沉浸在自己的帝国迷梦中，A项和B项比较切合，但是B与介词from不搭配，故选A。
单选题 [A] before [B] followed [C] following [D] with
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】根据前面给出的本句句意，可以知道大英帝国的没落是从二战后开始的，故排除A和D；B和C中应当选following，因为该句已经有谓语“find”，故排除B。
单选题 [A] comprising [B] constituent [C] form [D] ingredient
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】根据前一句大英帝国没落的句意，再加上后面的Scottish和Welsh，可以判断出是说联合王国分解为其组成部分，故选B。form应为forming parts方为正确。comprise不用于此类表述。
单选题 [A] Scotland [B] Scotch [C] Scottish [D] Irish
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】结合本句句意，根据后半部分的“Welsh，Welsh”，可以判断Scots应对应Scottish。
单选题 [A] northern [B] western [C] eastern [D] southern
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】前一句说English，那么考虑英伦三岛的地理分布，“英格兰人还有什么呢，除了那个岛的______部分，全都被拿走了?”。英格兰位于南部，故是southern。
单选题 [A] look [B] trace [C] search [D] hunt
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】本句后面几句均在讲述历史，故可以推断出这一句是说“去历史中寻根究底无济于事”。因此trace和search比较合适，look需要与for搭配方满足语法要求，而trace更有追溯的意味，故选B。
单选题 [A] feet [B] resources [C] core [D] reflection
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】前文说到“英格兰人到底是谁?”，是说英格兰对自己的身份认同有疑惑之处，历史之前都是各外来民族的侵略，只有到了伊丽莎白时代，“English national identity”才得以确立，故应该是那时出现的根源，feet。resource做“资源”讲，意思不符；core为“核心”，若选择core则说明在伊丽莎白时代之前已确立，与句意不符；reflection为“反映”，这显然不是说只有在那个时候才有，而是一直反映在英国人的日常生活当中。
单选题 [A] full [B] little [C] half [D] all
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】和第五题类似。英格兰是在大不列颠岛的南部，占据大约一半的面积，故选择half。
单选题 [A] years [B] decades [C] centuries [D] periods
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】关键点在于industrialization，工业化，工业革命。英国的工业革命从18世纪后半叶开始，到现在200多年了，应该是two centuries。decade是十年，时间上不符合。
单选题 [A] from [B] out [C] away [D] into
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】前述industrialization，后述dereliction和ruined，从这些词判断是一个衰败没落的过程，也和前文意思契合，故应当是fallen into，进入某种状态。fall away，有“消失、离开”的意思；fall out做“发生”讲，fall from无此搭配。
单选题 [A] remember [B] count [C] raise [D] differentiate
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】count on是指依靠、依赖和信赖。其他三个动词与on均不能搭配。
单选题 [A] Englishness [B] Britishness [C] Scottishness [D] Welshness
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】“这是个孕育的地方”。根据前文所述英格兰身份认同的问题，再加上乔叟、福斯塔夫等英国文学作品中人物的出现，故可以判断为Englishness。
单选题 [A] identity [B] financial [C] economic [D] political
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】同样根据前文判断，英格兰身份认同的问题，又有“English national identity only seemed to find its feet later”，故可以判断为national identity crisis。故答案为A。后面三个选项在文中未有提及。
单选题 [A] up [B] down [C] right [D] left
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】“一根插进历史污水坑的杖”。关键点在于sump，意为“污水坑；聚水坑”，那么和选项中的介词搭配，只能是下，而非上和左右。故答案为B。
单选题 [A] historical [B] barbarian [C] old [D] remote
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】这里的“______as Saxons”是修饰“Sump of history”的，意当为久远，remote和old应该都可以，但是remote完全不带感情色彩，仅仅强调时间上的距离，而old有强调传承的意思，故old更佳。
单选题 [A] equal [B] different [C] unprecedented [D] fast
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】本句前面的dying和evolving是两个意思相反的动词，一个是消亡，另一个是进化，故在此强调二者步调一致地进行，因此选equal。
单选题 [A] enough [B] scarce [C] cheap [D] popular
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】本句前面说大约每天关闭三家，那么说明酒吧数量越来越少，因此应该是scarce。
单选题 [A] thrives [B] closes [C] stands [D] exists
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】本题关键点在于“even limps on”。limp是跛行的意思，故limps on在这里应作“勉强开下去”解，那么此之前空就应该作“生意红火”解，故选thrives。stands和exists仅表示酒吧存在，没有“红火”的感情色彩。
单选题 [A] asked [B] born [C] meant [D] required
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】冒号后面的a drinking establishment是为酒吧的本意，故应该是it was meant to be，而不是被要求。It was born to be也有相近的意思，但是born更有强调本身意愿的意思，因此meant为佳。
单选题 [A] belief [B] idea [C] reflection [D] circumstance
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】本句后面解释的是酒吧本来应该用来做什么，故是人们对于酒吧的理解，那么idea为最佳。至于belief，酒吧的地位还未到这一地步。