Question

The British royal family is about to be slimmed down. The queen plans to reduce the number of real royals, as was recently announced. However, there seems little sign of the monarchy (君主) disappearing completely．

Up till the 17th century, the British king or queen was believed to rule by “divine (神的) right”, which was the idea that God chose the king or queen to rule and that he or she was therefore above the law. However, this idea ended with the English Revolution, in which King Charles I was imprisoned and then killed in 1649．

So what role does the British royal family have today?

Well, the Queen has important formal duties: as Head of State, the Queen represents the UK on visits abroad and invites other world leaders to visit the UK. As Head of the Armed Forces, only the Queen can declare when the UK is at war or when war is over. The Queen also has constitutional duties: She has to sign many government and Commonwealth documents every day.

In addition, the royal family spends a great deal of its time traveling up and down the country in support of different charity projects. But the public in Britain do not believe there should be a royal family. Sometimes, the press and media criticize the royal family as well. One criticism is that British people should not have to pay for the royal family through their taxes．

Today, the royal family works hard to be relevant in the modern world. The queen’s speech on TV is less formal every Christmas, and is now available as a podcast (播客). In 2005, after graduation from university, Prince William spent time teaching English in Uruguay, the sort of work many young British people do at some time in their lives．

1.What can be concluded from the first two paragraphs?

A. The British king or queen is no longer believed to rule by divine right．

B. The British king or queen is about to become common people．

C. The English Revolution put an end to the British royal family in 1649．

D. The royal family’s role was most important in Britain in the 17th century．

2.Which of the following is NOT among formal duties of the Queen?

A. Declaring when the UK is at war．

B. Travelling around the world for charity projects.

C. Inviting other world leaders to visit the UK．

D. Signing Commonwealth documents every day．

3.Prince William is mentioned in the passage to show that ________．

A. he is popular in the UK

B. many young British people do voluntary work

C. he has tried to win young people’s admiration

D. the royal family is trying to change their image

4.We can infer from the passage that ________．

A. British people are all in favor of the royal family

B. the British royal family are facing surviving challenges

C. the public are encouraged to oppose the royal family

D. British youths are required to teach English in Uruguay in their lives

Answer 1

1.A

2.B

3.D

4.B

【解析】

试题分析：本文介绍了英国皇室的有关信息以及现在皇室正在努力的融入现代社会的努力。

1. 细节理解题。本文第一段The queen plans to reduce the number of real royals和第二段“divine (神的) right”, which was the idea that God chose the king or queen to rule and that he or she was therefore above the law. However, this idea ended with the English Revolution,可以得出神权统治和君权神授已经随着英国大革命结束了，故选A。

2. other world leaders to visit the UK.”、“ Queen can declare when the UK is at war or when war is over”. The Queen also has constitutional duties: She has to“ sign many government and Commonwealth documents every day”......宣布战争，邀请其他领导人访问中国，签署政府文件。都可以找到相关答案。从文章第四段就可以找到剩下的选项。故选B。

3. William spent time teaching English in Uruguay, the sort of work many young British people do at some time in their lives．最后一句话可以推断出他们正在试图改变自己的形象，通过不同的工作。故选D。

4. royal family spends a great deal of its time traveling up and down the country in support of different charity projects. But the public in Britain do not believe there should be a royal family. Sometimes, the press and media criticize the royal family as well皇室正努力投入慈善事业和别的不同的行业，但遭到了公众的质疑和批评，因此，皇室面临着很大的压力和媒体舆论。这是对于皇室而言的巨大的挑战。.通读全文理解，皇室正在面对这挑战。故选B。

考点：社会知识类阅读。