Unit 1. Ancient Britain. Test. Choose the correct variant.
1. In the early 1000's B. C., people in England built large circular monuments with stones.
Scholars believe these monuments were ... structures.
a) religious b) educational c) political
2. The Celts worshiped nature gods through priests called ... .
a) Druids b) Romans c) Beakers
3. In A.D. 43, the Roman Emperor ... ordered Roman armies to invade Britannia, as the island was then called.
a) Hadrian b) Claudius c) Julius Caesar
4. The Romans saw their mission of ... the country.
a) protecting b) destroying c) civilizing
5. In the 400's, when the Romans left England, the Britons could not protect themselves against invasion by seafaring ... tribes, especially Angles, Saxons and Jutes.
a) Germanic b) Danish c) Picts
6. The name ... comes from the Anglo-Saxon words meaning the Angle folk.
a) Scotland b) Ireland c) England
7. In time the Anglo-Saxon tribal nations developed into seven main kingdoms called the ...
a) Witan b) Northumbria c) Heptarchy
8. No other king except ... has earned the title the "Great".
a) Alfred b) Edward the Confessor c) Harold
9. Alfred the Great defeated the ... and forced them to accept Christianity and to live in the north-eastern part of the country.
a) Scots b) Danes c) Saxons
10. The last great Anglo-Saxon king was Edward the Confessor who built the first church on the site of what is now ... in London.
a) the Tower of London b) St.Paul's Cathedral c) Westminster Abbey
11. What year was a crucial one for the Saxon kings and for the history of the English?
a) 1042 b) 1073 c) 1066
12. Who was crowned King of England on Christmas Day, 1066?
a) William the Conqueror b) Alfred the Great c) Bayeux Tapestry
Unit 2. Anglo-Norman Britain. Test. Choose the correct variant.
1. Who captured power and lands in Britain in the late 1100?
a) Normans b) Angles c) Danes
2. What changes were made concerning the Church?
a) Norman bishops were deposed b) Saxon bishops were replaced by Druids
c) Saxon bishops were replaced by Normans
3. When was the term "feudalism" first employed?
a) in the 12th century b) in the 13th century c) in the 14th century
4. What was a condition of tenure of land?
a) presents for the King b) family relations c) knightly service
5. The record of William I's survey became known as ... and is a rich source of information about medieval England.
a) the Revenue Book b) the Shield Book c) the Domesday Book
6. Who owned all land in the country? a) serfs b) the King c) barons
7. Who did barons parcel out their lands to? a) knights b) the King c) villains
8. King John Lackland replaced military service of his tenants-in-chief by ... .
a) payments b) knightly service c) presents
9. Henry II wanted to control the ... of England. This led to a bitter and famous conflict between Henry and Thomas Becket.
a) politics b) church c) education
10. Richard I the Lion-Heart spent most of his life ... .
a) in Crusades in the Holy Land b) in England c) in France
11. King John Lackland was the most ... king.
a) popular b) unpopular c) educated
12. The Magna Carta was sealed by John Lackland in ... .
a) 1066 b) 1215 c) 1266
13. The Magna Carta ... and limited his power. a) placed the King above the law
b) placed the King under the law c) expanded the prerogatives of the King
14. What aroused a new baronial riot in 1257?
a) Henry III demanded a third of all English property.
b) King John Lackland sealed the Magna Carta. c) Henry III summoned Parliament.
15. Earl Simon de Montfort led the army of ... .
a) villains b) free holders c) barons
16. Who rescued Henry III? a) Simon de Montfort b) Oxford Provisions c) Prince Edward
17. The Parliament of ... was called Model Parliament.
a) 1295 b) 1265 c) 1275
18. What was the King's main goal in summoning Parliament?
a) to raise money through taxes b) to give more power to "commons"
c) to demonstrate the growing importance of townsmen and knights
19. In the 13th century the country's wealth came from the exports of ... .
a) silk b) wool c) cotton
Unit 2. Later Middle Ages. Test. Choose the correct variant.
1. Edward I succeeded in imposing English rule on ... .
a) Scotland b) Wales c) Ireland
2. Since 1301 the eldest son of the English monarch has been given the title of ... .
a) the Black Prince b) the Hammer of Scots c) the Prince of Wales
3. ... was a failure of the hereditary principles of monarchy.
a) Edward II b) Edward III c) Wat Tyler
4. Edward III started ... .
a) the Hundred Years' War b) the outbreak of plague c) the Peasants' Revolt
5. As a result of the Hundred Years' War England ... .
a) gained more power and lands b) strengthened its economy and trade
c) lost most of its land on the European mainland
6. The demands of Wat Tyler during the Peasants' Revolt were ... feudalism.
a) unacceptable to b) acceptable to c) greeted by
7. What was the end of the Peasants' Revolt? a) the rebels were freed
b) the rebels were executed c) the King sealed the charter of liberties
8. Richard II was the last of the ... Kings. a) Plantagenet b) Lancaster c) York
9.The 13th century was described by historians as a Plantagenet spring after a grim ... winter.
a) Celtic b) Saxon c) Norman
10. In the 14th century ... wrote his "Canterbury Tales".
a) Thomas Becket b) Geoffrey Chaucer c) William Shakespeare
11. The Wars of the Roses began when in 1399 barons of the North supported the Lancaster who had ... in their crest.
a) a white rose b) a daffodil c) a red rose
12. The Wars of the Roses is a term which means ... .
a) a merciless annihilation of the old aristocracy with rights and claims to become rulers
b) a struggle for more beautiful flowers c) a bloody struggle for French territories
13. The Wars of the Roses ended in ... . a) losing the French possessions
b) Henry VII's deposition c) Henry Tudor's marriage to Elizabeth of York
14. William Caxton started ... in England.
a) shipbuilding b) book printing c) textile manufacturing
Unit 3. The Tudor Age. Test. Choose the correct variant.
1. What event symbolized the end of the Middle Ages?
a) the end of the Hundred Years' war
b) the end of the Wars of the Roses
c) defeating the Spanish Armada
2. Who shaped the English type of absolute monarchy?
a) Henry VII b) Henry VIII c) Elizabeth I
3. ... improved the contacts with Rome and strengthened the throne and the church position.
a) Henry VII b) Henry VIII c) Edward VI
4. Which characteristic feature is not correct? - Henry VIII was a ... monarch.
a) despotic b) wasteful c) intelligent d) economical e) cruel
5. The English type of Reformation was conducted by ... .
a) the bishops b) the King c) the people
6. Which wife gave a son and an heir to Henry VIII?
a) Catherine of Aragon b) Anne Boleyn c) Jane Seymour
7. What was Henry VIII's policy concerning monasteries?
a) supporting b) suppressing c) paying no attention
8. When was Wales united with England?
a) 1635 b) 1356 c) 1536
9. How did Henry VIII treat his daughters?
a) declared them his heiresses b) declared them illegitimate c) sent them abroad
10. Henry VIII destroyed the power of ... in England.
a) the Pope b) Parliament c) tenants-in-chief
11. What made the situation after Henry VIII's death highly unstable?
a) the Wars of the Roses began.
b) King Edward VI proclaimed Mary the Queen of England.
c) King Edward VI proclaimed Lady Jane Grey the Queen of England.
12. What was Queen Mary determined to do?
a) to restore Catholicism in England
b) to marry the French king c) to break up with the Holy See
13. What was Mary I's reign like?
a) great progress b) a great development c) a political and personal disaster
14. Who succeeded Bloody Mary on the English throne?
a) Edward VI b) Mary Queen of Scots c) Elizabeth I
15. For whom did Elizabeth still remain illegitimate?
a) true Catholics b) true Protestants c) true Presbyterians
16. What kind of policy did Elizabeth pursue in foreign affairs?
a) She disapproved of her sea captains attacking the Spanish fleet.
b) She maintained the balance of power in Europe.
c) She didn't allow Dutch Protestants to use English harbours.
17. The English fleet defeated the Spanish Armada in ... .
a) 1558 b) 1588 c) 1538
18. The Golden Age of Elizabeth is called so because ... .
a) it was the time of English Renaissance b) people got much money
c) a great deposit of gold was mined at that time
19. The English Renaissance reached its greatest height in ... .
a) science b) painting c) theatrical art
Unit 4. The Stuarts and the Struggle of the Parliament against the Crown. Test. Choose the correct variant.
1.On the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603 ... became the senior representative of the Tudor dynasty.
a) James VI King of Scots b) Guy Fawkes c) Charles I Stuart
2. What high opinion were the Stuart kings possessed of?
a) kings disapproved their absolute power b) kings were divinely ordained to rule
c) kings denied the supremacy of a man over religious faith
3. When was the famous Gunpowder plot perpetrated?
a) in 1605 b) in 1616 c) in 1666
4. What events led to the Civil War?
a) King Charles I tried to return his power which he had had to concede to Parliament earlier and refused to hand over to Parliament control of the Army.
b) King James I denied Church as an unnecessary institution.
c) King James II wanted to support the new class of bourgeoisie.
5. Who created the New Model Army?
a) King James I b) King Charles I c) Oliver Cromwell
6. Oliver Cromwell established a military dictatorship accepting the title of...
a) King of England b) Lord Protector c) Prime Minister
7. Parliament voted to recall ... and to restore the Monarchy.
a) Charles II b) Charles I c) James I
8. What calamity happened in 1666?
a) the Great Plague b) the Great Fire of London c) the earthquake
9. Which party did not belong to a two - party parliamentary system in Stuart times?
a) the Tories b) the Whigs c) the Democrats
10. Which party believed that the king should be more powerful than parliament?
a) the Tories b) the Whigs c) the Liberals
11. William of Orange was a militant ...
a) Catholic b) Protestant c) Calvinist
12. What events of 1688 were called "the Glorious Revolution"?
a) cultural b) economical c) political
13. In 1701 the Parliament passed the Act of Settlement that secured the ... succession to the throne of England and Ireland.
a) Catholic b) Presbyterian c) Protestant
14. The Parliament adopted the Bill of Rights. It meant that...
a) the powers of the king were restricted b) the Parliament was dissolved
c) the life of the poor improved
Unit 5. The Industrial Revolution. Test. Fill in the blanks with the proper words.
The Industrial (1) began in Britain in the 1700's. It made Britain the (2) richest country. The revolution started in the (3) industry and spread to mining, transportation, and other fields. Before the revolution, people had worked at home, spinning cotton into (4) and weaving the yarn into (5). Machines gradually replaced (6) labor, and the factory system developed. At first, water wheels and horses on treadmills powered the machines. By the late 1700's, (7) engines provided much of the power. Steam engines needed coal, and coal mining expanded to meet the demand. Coal was also needed to smelt iron ore. Factory towns sprang up around the coal fields. Better (8) was needed, and an era of road and canal building began. In the early 1800's, steam railways started operating.
The Industrial Revolution was one part of a general economic revolution that swept over Britain. (9) improved as small farms were combined into larger units and scientific farming methods were introduced. The industrial and agricultural improvements, in turn, stimulated trade. The need for larger amounts of cash led to the growth of banks and joint-stock companies, businesses owned in shares by stockholders.
The Napoleonic Wars. The French Revolution began in 1789. At first, many British (10) the revolution as a triumph of liberty for the French people. But they changed their mind after the revolution grew more (11). Then the new French government seized Belgium and threatened the Netherlands. Britain protested. In 1793, Britain and France again went to war.
Beginning in 1799, (12), a man of endless ambitions, led the French. At the height of his glory in 1812, Napoleon (13) most of Europe. In 1803, he began a plan to invade Britain. But in 1805, Admiral (14) of Britain won a great victory over the French and Spanish fleets at Trafalgar, off the southern coast of Spain. The Battle of Trafalgar crushed Napoleon's naval power and ended all his hopes of (15) Britain. Napoleon next tried to defeat Britain by striking at its dependence on trade. He ordered all countries under his control to close their (16) to Britain. Britain struck back with a naval blockade of France and its allies. But British interference with United States shipping brought on the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States. Napoleon was finally (17) in 1815 in the Battle of (18).
- a) hand j) defeated
- b) invading k) markets
- c) transportation l) Napoleon Bonaparte
- d) Waterloo m) yarn
- e) Revolution n) Horatio Nelson
- f) controlled o) cloth
- g) violent p) approved
- h) world's q) agriculture
- i) steam r) cotton textile
Unit 6. The 19th century. Test. Fill in the blanks with the proper words.
Social, economic, and political reform had been needed in Britain for many years. After the Napoleonic wars, the people's demands for ( 1 ) became so strong that Parliament had to act.
Britain's criminal laws badly needed reforming. People convicted of crimes were whipped or given other brutal public punishment. Dreadful conditions existed in prisons. About 200 offences - even stealing a rabbit - were punishable by ( 2 ). During the 1820's, many of these abuses were corrected. In 1833, Parliament passed the ( 3 ). This act provided that no child under 9 years of age could work in a factory, and no one under 18 could work more than 12 hours a day.
But the most burning issue was for Parliament to reform ( 4 ). Few citizens had the right to vote. Some members of Parliament represented districts that had few or no voters. On the other hand, many districts with large population had little or no ( 5 ). The Reform Act of 1832 redistributed the seats in the House of ( 6 ). Property qualifications to vote were lowered, so that most men of the middle class received the right to ( 7 ). Yet only about 15 percent of Britain's adult males could vote because the act ignored the working class.
In 1837, an 18-year-old woman named Victoria became Queen. During the Victorian Age, the British Empire reached its ( 8 ). It included about a quarter of the world's land and about a quarter of the world's people. Wealth poured into Britain from its ( 9 ). British industry continued to expand, and the country was called the ( 10 ). The Victorian Age began during hard times. Farmers had poor harvest and a depression swept across Britain. Many people blamed their troubles on the Corn Laws, which taxed imports of ( 11 ).
In 1841, Sir Robert Peel, a Tory, became Prime minister. Like many other government leaders, Peel came to believe that restrictions on trade hurt the economy. In 1846, R. Peel repealed the Corn Laws and split his party and ended his ( 12 ). But Britain prospered under ( 13 ) as never before. Tories who agreed with Peel's free trade policy were called Peelites. The Peelites joined the Whigs in forming a new party, the ( 14 ) Party. Meanwhile, the Tory Party became known as the ( 15 ) Party.
The outstanding statesman of the period was Viscount Palmerston. He led Britain in the (16) War against Russia. After Palmerston's death in 1865, a strong two-party system was born with the battle between two political giants - ( 17 ), a Liberal, and ( 18 ), a Conservative. Gladstone's first term, which lasted until 1874, brought some of the most liberal reforms of the 1800's - the Irish Church Act, the Education Act, tests for employment. In 1872, the secret ballot was introduced.
Britain ( 19 ) reached its height under Disraeli, who tried to extend Britain's control over its colonies and over other countries. In 1875, he bought a controlling interest in the Suez Canal from Egypt's ruler. In 1876, he declared Queen Victoria Empress of ( 20 ). British people of all classes watched proudly as Britain expanded its influence in China, the Middle East, and Africa.
a) the Factory Act h) itself o) vote
b) grain i) Crimean p) Liberal
c) Commons j) death q) Benjamin Disraeli
d) colonies k) free trade r) height
e) career l) representation s) workshop of the world
f) reform m) Conservative t) William Gladstone
g) imperialism n) India
Final test on history of Britain.
I. Put down the names of the inhabitants / invaders of the British Isles in the correct order.
a) Romans b) Normans c) Hunters d) Vikings e) Beaker people f) Celts g) Angles, Saxons, Jutes
II. Study the statements and decide whether they are true or false:
- The greatest material monument of the ancient population of Britain is the Stone of Destiny.
- The name England comes from the Anglo-Saxon words meaning the Angle folk.
- No other king except Edward the Confessor has earned the title the "Great".
- At the battle of Hastings the Saxon king Harold was defeated by William of Normandy.
- The record of William I's survey became known as the Revenue Book.
- The Magna Carta was sealed by John Lackland in 1066.
- Since 1301 the eldest son of the English monarch has been given the title of Prince of Wales.
- William Caxton brought a spinning machine to England.
- Henry VIII shaped the English type of absolute monarchy.
- Wales was united with England in 1536.
- The English Renaissance reached its greatest height in theatrical art.
- The New Model Army was created by Guy Fawkes.
- The adoption of the Bill of Rights in 1689 meant that the powers of the king were restricted.
- The first Prime minister of Great Britain was Robert Peel.
- The Industrial Revolution in Britain started in cotton textile industry.
- Queen Elizabeth I' 63-year reign was the longest in history.
III. Choose the correct variant.
1. The Brythonic dialect of the ... was imposed on the native population in England and Wales.
a) Scots b) Celts c) Picts d) Saxons
2. The Romans saw their mission of ... the country.
a) protecting b) destroying c) civilizing d) annihilating
3. The Anglo-Saxon tribal nations developed into seven main kingdoms called the ... .
a) Witan b) Northumbria c) Heptarchy d) Mercia
4. Alfred the Great defeated the ... and forced them to live in the north-eastern part of the country.
a) Scots b) Danes c) Saxons d) Jutes
5. What year was a crucial one for the Saxon kings and for the history of the English?
a) 1042 b) 1215 c) 1266 d) 1066
6. Who captured power and lands in Britain in the late 1100?
a) Normans b) Angles c) Danes d) Celts
7. The Magna Carta ... and limited his power.
) placed the king above the law
b) placed the king under the law c) expanded the king's prerogatives
d) placed the king above the church
8. Edward I succeeded in imposing English rule on ... .
a) Scotland b) Wales c) Normandy d) Ireland
9. As a result of the Hundred Years' War England ... .
a) gained more power and lands b) lost most of its land on the European mainland
c) became a great empire d) strengthened its economy
10. The Great Peasants' Revolt of 1381 was headed by ... .
a) John Wycliffe b) Wat Tyler c) Richard II d) Geoffrey Chaucer
11. The War of the Roses was ... .
a) fought for new lands in France
b) a war of two dynasties for their crests
c) a merciless annihilation of the old aristocracy with rights and claims to become rulers
d) fought by the Plantagenet and Tudor dynasties
12. The English type of Reformation was conducted by ... .
a) the bishops b) the people c) the Pope d) the King Henry VIII
13. What was Queen Mary I determined to do?
a) to restore Catholicism in England b) to marry the French king
c) to break up with the Holy See d) to restore Protestantism in England
14. The age of Elizabeth I is remembered as one of ... .
a) a great failure b) a great development c) a personal disaster d) a political disaster
15. What events led to the Civil War?
a) Charles I tried to return his power he had had to concede to Parliament earlier
b) Charles I was frightened by the Gunpowder Plot
c) James I denied Church as an unnecessary institution d) James I wanted to support the new class of bourgeoisie
16. What is the period between 1649, the year of Charles I's execution and 1660, the year of the Restoration of Monarchy, called?
a) the Dictatorship b) the Commonwealth c) the Interregnum d) the Puritanism
17. The "Glorious Revolution" of 1688 is recognized as ... . a) outstanding achievements in culture
b) a revolution in industry c) a historic turning point in the conception and practice of government
d) defeating France in the War of Spanish succession
18. In 1701 the Parliament passed the Act of Settlement that secured ... succession to the throne of England and Ireland, outlawing any ... pretenders.
a) Protestant ... Catholic
b) Catholic ... Protestant c) Diggers ... Levellers d) Presbyterian ... Protestant
19. When was the Act of Union with Scotland adopted? a) 1536 b) 1688 c) 1701 d) 1707
20. Which king declared himself a "Patriot King"?
a) Bonnie Prince Charlie b) George I c) George II d) George III
21. The Battle of Trafalgar crushed ...'s naval power and ended his hopes of invading Britain.
a) William the Conqueror b) Napoleon c) Admiral Nelson d) the "Invisible Armada"
22. Britain was called the "workshop of the world" during the reign of ... .
a) Alfred the Great b) Elizabeth II c) Queen Victoria d) Henry VIII Tudor
23. British imperialism reached its height under Prime Minister ... .
a) B. Disraeli b) R. Peel c) R. Walpole d) W. Gladstone