英国概况  
练习题：  
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 Thatcher 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 forerunners 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 Opposition.
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 Watt 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。