II. Read and choose.
Why do the English drive on the” wrong” side of the road?
Visitors to Britain often wonder (1) _______ the British are the only people who still drive their cars on the left-hand side of the road. Actually, the British are (2) _______ alone. Over two billion people (3) _______ over 70 countries still drive on the left. Some experts believe that in the Middle Ages most people in Europe drove (4) ______ carts and carriages and rode their horses on the left because it was safer. Staying on the left (5) _______ it easier for them to use their swords if robbers attacked them from the opposite direction. Recently, when archaeologists (6) _______ examining a Roman site in England, they discovered that even in ancient times people travelled on the left. So when did people in Europe decide to change sides? One suggestion is that during the 1800s Napoleon forced countries to change to the right. The countries (7) _______ did not take over continued to drive on the left. This (8) _______ why half of Europe drove on the right, while the other half drove on the left. Europe remained fairly equally divided until the 20th century, when (9) _______ countries changed to the right. The last country to change sides was Sweden on 3rd September 1967. Britain, Eire, Cyprus and Malta continue to drive on the left.