Many foreigners who have not visited Britain call all the inhabitants English, for they ar

e used to thinking of the British Isles as England. (1)_____, the British Isles contain a variety of peoples, and only the people of England call themselves English. The others (2)_____ to themselves as Welsh, Scottish, or Irish, (3)_____ the case may be; they are often slightly annoyed (4)_____ being classified as "English".

Even in England there are many (5)_____ in regional character and speech. The chief (6)_____ is between southern England and northern England. South of a (7)_____ going from Bristol to London, people speak the type of English usually learnt by foreign students, (8)_____ there are local variations.

Further north regional speech is usually " (9)_____ " than that of southern Britain. Northerners are (10)_____ to claim that they work harder than Southerners, and are more (11)_____ They are open-hearted and hospitable; foreigners often find that they make friends with them (12)_____ Northerners generally have hearty (13)_____: the visitor to Lancashire or Yorkshire, for instance, may look forward to receiving generous (14)_____ at meal times.

In accent and character the people of the Midlands (15)_____ a gradual change from the southern to the northern type of Englishman.

In Scotland the sound (16)_____ by the letter "R" is generally a strong sound, and "R" is often pronounced in words in which it would be (17)_____ in southern English. The Scots are said to be a serious, cautious, thrifty people, (18)_____ inventive and somewhat mystical. All the Celtic peoples of Britain (the Welsh, the Irish, the Scots) are frequently (19)_____ as being more "fiery" than the English. They are (20)_____ a race that is quite distinct from the English. (289 words)

Notes: fiery 暴躁的，易怒的。

A．In consequence

B．In brief

C．In general

D．In fact