34.A.hoped B.refused

C.broke away D.used

答案：C　句意是：在1922年，爱尔兰其他部分脱离英国统治， 成立了后来的北爱尔兰共和国。

35.A.feel B.touch

C.fight D.help

答案：D　从历史常识可知，爱尔兰共和国在二战中没对英国人给予帮助。lift a finger意思是“做出努力(帮忙)”。

Ⅲ.阅读理解(每小题2分，共40分)

阅读下面的短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中，选出最佳选项。

A

Language experts say that spoken English was almost the same in the American colonies and Britain two hundred years ago. Americans began to change the sound of their speech after the Revolutionary War in seventeen­seventy­six. They wanted to make it different to separate themselves from the British in language, in the same way they separated themselves from the British government.

Some American leaders proposed major changes in the language. Benjamin Franklin wanted a whole new system of spelling. His reforms were not accepted. But his ideas did influence others. One was Noah Webster.

Webster wrote language books for schools. He believed the United States should have a system of its own language as well as government. Webster published a dictionary of the American language in eighteen­twenty­eight. It established rules for speaking and spelling the words used in American English.

Webster wrote that all words should be said in the order of the letters that spell them. This is why Americans use the letters “e­r” to end many words instead of the British “r­e.” He spelled the word “center，” for example, “c­e­n­t­e­r，” instead of the British “c­e­n­t­r­e.”

Webster's rule for saying every part of a word made American English easier for foreign settlers to learn. They learned to say “waist­coat，” for example, the way it is spelled instead of the British “wes­kit.”

The different languages of many people who came to the United States also helped make American and British English different. Many of their foreign words and expressions became part of English As Americans speak them.

Sometimes Americans and British people do not understand each other because of different word meanings. For example, the word “jumper” in Britain means a sweater. In the United States, it is a dress. The British word “brolly” is an “umbrella” in America. And the British call potato chips “crisps”. All of these differences led British writer George Bernard Shaw to joke that Britain and America are two countries separated by the same language!

36.What does the underlined word “it” in the first paragraph refer to?

A.Separating themselves from the British in language.

B.Written English in America.

C.Spoken English in America.