State school pupils have won more places to study at Cambridge than since records【C1】_____, taking two thirds of spots at the university’s colleges for the first time. More people from the most deprived areas will also be【C2】__the university next month, the admissions department said, up from just over 12％ to 14％ of freshmen and further reducing the places【C3】_____to private fee-paying schools.

It means the 2019-20 student body will have 68％ from state schools in a progression that Cambridge【C4】________ as “deeply encouraging”.【C5】_____it remains unrepresentative of entrants to university courses more widely. For the last five years, close to 90％ of students【C6】_____in higher education have come from state schools.

“We have been【C7】_____different ways to identify talented students who will thrive on our courses and help to make our student population truly【C8】__,” said Sam Lucy, director of admissions for the 29 Cambridge undergraduate colleges. “This has included challenging false perceptions that put off applicants. It is deeply【C9】_____to see that our actions to provide educational opportunity for all those who have the potential to study here are paying off.”

Private schools have pointed out that some of their applicants are on scholarships and grants,【C10】_____they are not necessarily from socially or【C11】__advantaged backgrounds, but Cambridge, along with other leading institutions【C12】_____Oxford University, have faced increasing pressure to diversify their student populations.

Cambridge has pledged to admit a third of its intake from the most underrepresented and disadvantaged groups by 2035 and wants UK state educated pupils to【C13】________69.1％ of its intake by 2024-25.

“There is still a long way to go in improving representation,【C14】_____that about 93％ of pupils are taught in state schools in England compared with the 68％ admitted this year by Cambridge” said Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders. “【C15】__school pupils are also under-represented at some other high-tariff universities. These【C16】__are increasingly recognising that exam grades are a【C17】__instrument and can serve to entrench educational disadvantage【C18】__they are understood in their context,” added Barton. “They are heading in the right【C19】__in trying to address this situation and we appreciate that it is a complex process but it is【C20】_____slow.”

Many foreigners who have not visited Britain call all the inhabitants English, for they are used to thinking of the British Isles as England.【C1】_____, the British Isles contain a variety of peoples, and only the people of England call themselves English. The others【C2】__to themselves as Welsh, Scottish, or Irish, 【C3】__the case may be; they are often slightly annoyed【C4】_____being classified as “English”.

Even in England there are many【C5】_____in regional character and speech. The chief【C6】__is between southern England and northern England. South of a【C7】__going from Bristol to London, people speak the type of English usually learnt by foreign students,【C8】_____there are local variations.

Further north regional speech is usually “【C9】_____” than that of southern Britain. Northerners are【C10】__to claim that they work harder than Southerners, and are more【C11】__. They are open-hearted and hospitable; foreigners often find that they make friends with them【C12】__. Northerners generally have hearty【C13】__: the visitor to Lancashire or Yorkshire, for instance, may look forward to receiving generous【C14】_____at meal times.

In accent and character the people of the Midlands【C15】________a gradual change from the southern to the northern type of Englishman.

In Scotland the sound【C16】_____by the letter “R” is generally a strong sound, and “R” is often pronounced in words in which it would be【C17】__in southern English. The Scots are said to be a serious, cautious, thrifty people,【C18】__inventive and somewhat mystical. All the Celtic peoples of Britain (the Welsh, the Irish, the Scots) are frequently【C19】__as being more “fiery” than the English. They are【C20】_____a race that is quite distinct from the English.