England was probably the first country in Europe 17 ordinary people used umbrellas 18 the rain.
答案：(D) where
先行詞 country 是地方名詞，關係副詞應選 where，表示「在那個國家」。what 不能當關係代名詞修飾先行詞，when 用於時間先行詞，which 後面通常接不完整子句而此處是完整子句。
本題大考中心未公布逐題答對率，以下不談數據，只談觀念。
四個選項都是 wh- 詞，而 which 是你最熟的關係代名詞，看到前面有名詞就想用它。這一格要先數子句的成分，再決定用關係代名詞還是關係副詞。
先看空格前面：England was probably the first country in Europe ___。先行詞是 country，是一個地方。再數空格後面那個子句：ordinary people used umbrellas against the rain——主詞是 ordinary people、動詞是 used、受詞是 umbrellas，成分一個都不缺。既然不缺，which 就進不來：關係代名詞一定要在子句裡占一個位置（當主詞或受詞），這裡沒有位置給它。剩下能用的是關係副詞 where——它本身不占句子成分，只代替一個表地方的介系詞片語。還原一次就清楚了：the first country in Europe, and in that country ordinary people used umbrellas（歐洲第一個國家，而在那個國家裡一般人使用雨傘），把 in that country 換成 where。同判準的題目題庫裡有好幾題：89 年第 25 題、92 年第 25 題、98 年第 23 題，都是先行詞是地方、子句成分已滿，答案就是 where。
which：關係代名詞，成分已滿塞不進去。when：也是關係副詞，但要配時間的先行詞（the day when、the time when），而 country 是地方。what：不能當關係代名詞，它前面不能有先行詞。
the country where …（……的那個國家）、the place where …（……的地方）、the reason why …（……的原因）、the time when …（……的時候）、ordinary people（一般人）、a rainy climate（多雨的氣候）。
The umbrella is not a new invention. The Chinese 11 umbrellas in the eleventh century B.C. 12 China they traveled to India, Persia, and Egypt. But in Greece and Rome, men 13 use them. They believed umbrellas were 14 for women. When the Spanish explorers went to Mexico, they saw the Aztec kings 15 umbrellas. English explorers found out that Indian princes also carried umbrellas on the east coast of North America. It 16 that people in different parts of the world invented umbrellas at different times.
England was probably the first country in Europe 17 ordinary people used umbrellas 18 the rain. England has a rainy climate, and umbrellas are very useful there. The umbrella is now a very ordinary 19 . Everybody uses it today. It keeps the rain and the sun off people. Some umbrellas fold up, 20 it is easy to carry them.