Scottish Independence IELTS Reading Practice 3

Scottish Independence

The majority of people in Scotland are in favour breaking away from the rest of the UK and becoming independent, according to a poll taken just before the 300th anniversary of the Act of Union, which united Scotland and England.

A pair of Acts of Parliament, passed in 1706 and 1707 that came into effect on May 1, 1707, created Great Britain. The parliaments of both countries were dissolved, and replaced by a new Parliament of Great Britain in Westminster, London.

The poll showed support for independence for Scotland is running at 51%. This is the first time since 1998 that support for separation has passed 50%, and the first time since devolution gave power to the country in 1999. Six months before elections for the Scottish Parliament, these poll results come as good news to the Scottish Nationalist Party, who are hoping to make progress against Labour and further the cause of an independent Scotland.

Many people have become disillusioned with devolution, and believe that the Scottish Parliament has failed to deliver what they had hoped it would; only a tenth have no opinion. In fact, only 39% of those polled want to keep things as they are.

Questions
Q1 - Scotland and England
 have always been united.
 want to break up the union.
 have been united for a long time.
 were united by war.

Q2 - Great Britain
 was formed by an Act of Parliament in 1706.
 was formed by two Acts of Parliament in 1707.
 was formed by an Act of Parliament that came into effect on May 1st 1707.
 was formed by Acts of Parliament that came into effect on May 1st 1707.

Q3 - People who want indepence for Scotland
 are the vast majority.
 are in the minority.
 are the slight majority.
 have decreased in number since devolution.

Q4 - The majority of people wanted independence for the first time
 before devolution.
 in 1999.
 after devolution.
 before and after independence.

Q5 - The results of the poll are good news
 for Labour.
 for both parties.
 for the Scottish Nationalist Party.
 for devolution.

Q6 - Most people's opinions of devolution
 have gone up.
 have gone down.
 are the same.
 make progress against Labour.

Q7 - The number of people who want to keep things as they are
 is greater than those that don't know.
 is smaller than those that don't know.
 is increasing.
 is the majority.

Scroll down for answers

1. c
2. d
3. c
4. a
5. c
6. b
7. a