1 . The British Isles consist of two large islands. One is called Ireland and ___ Britain. Britain, or Great Britain, is the larger one of these two islands, and it is ___ into three parts: Scotland, Wales and England.

The United Kingdom is that part of the British Isles ___ by the Queen. It is made up of Scotland, Wales and England, that is, the ___ of Britain, and also about one sixth of Ireland, the northern part. The ___ of Ireland is self-governing. The ___ name of the United Kingdom is ___ “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”.

England is____ and richer than Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland，and has the most ___ of the United Kingdom, so people often use the ____ “England” and “English” when they ____ “Britain” and “British”. This sometimes makes the Scots and the Welsh a little ____. The Scots in particular are very ____ of their separate nationality. The Welsh too do not ____ themselves as the English, and have a culture and ____ a language of their own.

Ireland became part of the United Kingdom in 1801, but for forty years the “Irish ____ “was the greatest headache of the United Kingdom. ____, Ireland was divided into two: Northern Ireland still ____ to the United Kingdom, and in 1922 the rest of Ireland ____ 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. Unlike the major Commonwealth countries, it did not lift a finger to ____ British in the Second World War and now wants the whole of Ireland to be a republic.