Breaking News English

Britain says it will send ten warships to Gibraltar on Monday. The ships will make a [stop / start] on their [way / why] to the Middle East. Many people think the stopover is bad [timing / times] because relations between Britain and Spain have become bad [recent / recently] . Spain got angry after Gibraltar's government put concrete [block / blocks] on the seabed. It said this was to let sea life [grow / growth] and to stop Spanish boats fishing [nearby / nearly] . Spain then said it might start [charging / changing] 50 euros (about $67) for people to travel across the border between Gibraltar and Spain. Tensions increased again when Spain started [search / searching] people entering Spain as security against terrorism. Motorists had to wait for [up / down] to six hours at the border.

Spain gave Gibraltar to Britain in 1713 [under / over] the Treaty of Utrecht. It became an important [basic / base] for Britain's Royal Navy. Gibraltar is a small area of land [measured / measuring] just 6.8 square kilometers, south [of / at] Cadiz. The 430-meter-tall Rock of Gibraltar stands in the center. The population is around 30,000 and [most / much] of them are very [pro-British / pre-British] . Many parts of Gibraltar look like a [piece / peace] of mainland [Britain / British] . Spain has argued for decades that Gibraltar should be returned to Spain. Britain's government said that could only [happening / happen] if the people of Gibraltar vote for it. The British prime minister told his Spanish counterpart: "This [issue / tissue] should not damage our bilateral relations. However there was a real risk of this happening."