Passage 1
The UK is made up of four countries-England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland-which have widely differing cultures and languages.
Wales was the first country to fall under English control, in the late 16thcentury. The Welsh were never actually defeated by the English. Instead, they realized that unity with their bigger neighbor was the only way to end the almost continuous state of war that existed between the two countries. Since unity, England and Wales have had the same systems of law, education and government.
The situation between Scotland and England was very different. They fought fierce wars for centuries, each invading each other, whenever the situation seemed in their favour. This came to an end in the 17th-century when King James VI of Scotland inherited the throne (王位) of England, after Queen Elizabeth I died without children. In 1707, Scotland and England were brought together in an Act of Union. This took away much of the Scots' control of their own affairs, but they kept their own systems of law and education.
For the three countries, union resulted in peace. But England's occupation of Ireland has always been characterized by violence. Ireland was slowly brought under English control in the 16th and 17th centuries. But it retained its own government until 1801, when it was brought together with the Parliament at Westminster.
However, most of its people spoke Gaelic rather than English and they remained faithful Catholics, while the established religion in England was Protestantism. By 1920, Britain was under pressure to leave Ireland by 1920. In 1921, an agreement was signed whereby a separate Irish Free State (today called the Irish Republic) was created. This did not, however, include the six countries of Northern Ireland, which remain part of the united Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The main topic of this passage is about ________.
本文主要描述了英格兰是如何占领苏格兰、威尔士以及北爱尔兰并组成英国的，选项C最能概括文章主旨大意，因此答案选C。
Which of the following is NOT part of UK?
根据文章第一段，我们可知英国包括英格兰、苏格兰、威尔士和北爱尔兰，故只有爱尔兰共和国非英国领土，答案选D。
Who kept their own systems of law and education in spite of losing much of the control of their own affairs?
文章第三段明确指出“This took away much of the Scots' control of their own affairs, but they kept their own systems of law and education”， 苏格兰人保留了自己的司法和教育系统，所以正确答案选B。
It can be inferred from paragraph 4 that ________.
文章第四段提到“But England's occupation of Ireland has always been characterized by violence”，但是英格兰对爱尔兰的占领一直以来都是以暴力为特征。由此可知英国对爱尔兰的占领十分艰难，B选项符合原文表达，因此本题答案选B。
Which of the following statements in NOT true?
文章第五段提到“In 1921, an agreement was signed whereby a separate Irish Free State (today called the Irish Republic) was created”， 1921年，英爱签署协议，除北爱六郡外，爱尔兰脱离英国政府成为自由邦(后改为爱尔兰共和国)，D选项“英国已完全占领爱尔兰”与原文事实不符，故答案选D。