1. How many members are there in the House of Commons?

 

A. 650 B. 524 C. 72 D. 651

 

2. Which of the following people didn’t use to be the British Prime Minister?

 

A. Margaret Thatcher¹ B. Winston Churchill C. Horatio Nelson D. John Major

 

3. By tradition, the leader of the majority party is appointed _____ by the Sovereign in the United Kingdom.

 

A. Prime Minister B. Member of Parliament

 

C. Lord of appeal D. Speaker of the House

 

4. The Tories were the forerunners² of _____, which still bears this nickname today.

 

A. the Labour Party B. the Conservative Party

 

C. the Liberal Party D. the Social Democratic Party

 

5. In the United Kingdom, the party which wins the ____ number of seats in the House of Commons becomes the official Opposition³.

 

A. largest B. second largest C. third largest D. fourth largest

 

6. The term "British disease" is now often used to characterize Britain’s _____ decline.

 

A political B educational C military D economic

 

7. The 1980s was remembered as the decade of _____.

 

A. globalization B. nationalization C. privatization D. competition

 

8. Today, in Britain, ______ is called a "sick" industry.

 

A. coal mining B. iron and steel C. textiles D. shipbuilding

 

9. The first steam engine was devised by Thomas Newcomer at the end of the 17th century, and the Scottish inventor ____ modified and improved the design in 1765.

 

A.　Abraham Darby B. James Watt⁴ C. John Kay D. Richard Arkwrightthe

 

10. _____ created the industrial working class, the proletariat, and it later led to trade unionism.

 

A. The Chartist Movement B. The Industrial Revolution

 

C. The French Revolution D. The Glorious Revolution

 

练习题答案及题解:

 

1. D, 下议院共有651名议员。

 

2. C, 撒切尔夫人，丘吉尔和梅杰都曾经做过英国首相；而纳尔逊（1758-1805），英国海军统帅，因作战负伤，右眼失明，失去右臂。后任地中海舰队司令，在特法尔加角海战中大败西班牙联合舰队，本人受重伤阵亡，号称 Viscount Nelson。

 

3. A, 在英国，按照传统，多数党的领导人由君主任命为首相，首相从本党内部挑选一些领导人担任各部部长职位。

 

4. B, 托利党是英国保守党的前身。

 

5. B, 在英国，在下议院中赢得第二席位的政党为反对党，它也有它自己的领导和影子内阁（shadow cabinet）。

 

6. D, 现在“英国病”这一术语经常用来指英国经济上的衰退。

 

7. C, 正如20世纪40年代被看作是国有化的时代一样，20世纪80年代被看作是私有化的时代。包括英国石油、航空、钢铁、电讯在内的几乎40% 的国有公司实现了私有化。

 

8. A, 英国煤矿业被称为生病工业。英国的煤产量在一战前达到顶点，如今的英国的煤矿业衰退，从而导致矿工的数量、煤矿的总产量大大下降。

 

9. B, 第一台蒸汽机是 Thomas Newcomer 在17世纪末设计的，后来苏格兰发明家瓦特在1765年对原有的设计进行了改进提高，生产出了第一台高效的蒸汽机并应用到纺织和其他机械业中。

 

10. B, 工业革命产生了工人阶级，即无产阶级。后来形成了工会制度。

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