Elizabeth II - the Queen who almost wasn't

Queen Elizabeth II, who in 2015 became the longest-serving British monarch in history, was not born to be queen. In fact, as a child in pre-war Britain, she never expected to be queen. She – and everyone else – imagined that her uncle Edward, the King's eldest son, would follow normal tradition and become the next British monarch when his father, King George V, died; and that after him, the crown would pass to his son or daughter, assuming that he married and produced an heir.  Elizabeth was the daughter of King George V’s second son, Albert George. Albert, known in the family as Bertie, was a demure young man, much less popular and active than his older brother; he was shy and not very good at talking in public. Bertie’s shyness and his speech impediment were both magnificently portrayed in the 2010 movie The King’s Speech. Bertie, it was presumed, would remain the younger brother of the the next king, Edward VIII, and his two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, would spend their life as “minor royals”, neices of the king, or, when Edward VIII died, aunts of the next monarch, whether this was a king or a queen.  Yet as often happens, history did not go forward according to plan. In January 1936, King George V died at the age of 70, and the crown automatically passed to his elder son Edward, Prince of Wales, who immediately became King Edward VIII. The British government was alarmed; Edward was seen as a playboy, notorious for his affairs with married women. The government, of course, could not remove a king, but they made it plain to him that he had to change his ways. Edward did not change his ways; on the contrary, he announced on November 16th that he was going to marry his lover, Mrs. Wallace Simpson, a twice-divorced American. The British establishment was rocked to the core by this news: social traditions in those days were strict, and it was expected that the future King of England would marry a young lady from the British or European aristocracy, not a divorced commoner from the USA.

1. Picturesque phrases; choose the nearest equivalent of each of the following expressions: click down arrow and select the correct answer.

• Assuming that   a. unlessb. supposing that c. as soon as :
• Rocked to the core   a. very excitedb. very interestedc. very alarmed :
• Thrust into the limelight :   a. pushed out of the wayb. pushed into public viewc. forced to become serious
• It came as a bombshell :   a. it was a terrorist attackb. it was very unexpectedc. it was always predicted
• has had its ups and downs... : a. has been extremely popularb. has only been popular with a few peoplec. has had its good and bad moments

There are lots of potential ways in which to complete each of these sentences.  Compare the unfulfilled huypothetical "if" structure with the open conditional structure which is used in the final sentence or the article.

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