2008年大学英语四级篇章词汇阅读篇NO.14

导读：
Britain is not just one country and one people; even if some of its inhabitants think so. Britain is, in fact, a nation which can be divided into several D)separate parts, each part being an individual country with its own language, character and cultural K)traditions. Thus Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales do not claim to O)belong to "England" because their inhabitants are not J)strictly "English". They are Scottish, Irish or Welsh and many of them prefer to speak their own native tongue, which in turn is A)incomprehensible to the others.(the others = people in England。英国由四部分组成：England"英格兰"，Scotland“苏格兰”，the Northern Ireland“北爱尔兰”和Wales“威尔士”，其中英格兰的人口和面积最大，所以大家习惯上将四部分的人统称为English，但其他三部分并不乐意。)

These cultural minorities(少数民族) have been Britain's original inhabitants. In varying degrees they have managed to I)preserve their national characteristics, and their particular customs and way of life.（they = Britain's original inhabitants）This is probably even more ture of the C)remote areas where traditional ife has not been so affected by the M)growth of industrialism as the border areas have been. The Celtic races are said to be more emotional by nature than the English. An Irish temper is legendary. The Scots could rather F)forget about their reputation for excessive thrift and prefer to be remembered for their folk songs and dances, while the Welsh are famous for their singing. The Celtic H)temperament as a whole produces humorous writers and artists, such as the Irish Bernard Shaw, the Scottish Robert Burns, and the Welsh Dylan Thomas, to mention but a few.

全文翻译：
英国不只是一个国家和一个民族，即使是它的一些居民也都这样认为。事实上，英国作为一个国家说来又可以分成几个部分，每一部分都是一个单独的国家，有着自己的语言、个性和文化传统。这样一来，苏格兰、北爱尔兰和威尔士并不附属于“英格兰”，因为他们的居民不是严格意义上的英国人。他们是苏格兰人、爱尔兰人和威尔士人，其中很多人宁愿讲其他民族听不懂的本族语。

这些文化上的少数民族曾经是不列颠的最早的居民。在不同程度上他们保持了其民族特色、特定的风俗习惯和生活方式。在一些更为偏远的地区尤其如此，在那里，人们的传统生活不像边界地区受工业发展的影响那么大。据说凯尔特民族在天性上比英格兰人感情要丰富些。爱尔兰人的好脾气一直被人们传为佳话。苏格兰人宁愿忘记其过分节俭的名誉而让人铭记他们的民歌与舞蹈。凯尔特民族作为一个整体来说除了许多幽默的作家、艺术家，在这里仅举几个例子，比如说，爱尔兰人萧伯纳，苏格兰人罗伯特·彭斯，以及威尔士人戴伦·汤姆斯。