The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Chapter 1 Geography, People and Language
1.The full name: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland .
It is made up of many islands collectively known as the British Isles. Great Britain and Ireland are two main islands of the British Isles.
2.The River Thames(cond longest and most important), originates in southwestern England -----North Sea.
3.Scotland ( Edinburgh ) important river:Clyde River kilts
4.Wales(Cardiff ). The Severn River is the longest river of Britain------flow through western England.
5.Northern Ireland (Belfast) Lough Neagh----the largest lake in the British Isles.
6.Climate: temperate, with warm summers, cool winters and plentiful precipitation(降雨量) Three major features: winter fog, rainy day, instability
7.London---Buckingham Palace, Guildhall (市政厅), St. Paul’s Cathedral, The Tower Bridge of London
8.The majority people of te population is descendants of the Anglo-Saxons, a Germanic people from Europe.
Most people in Wales and Scotland are descendants of the Celtic people, including the Irish people
9.English belongs to the Indo-European family of languages. English is in the Germanic group.
10.Germanic group: East Germanic, North Germanic, West Germanic. English evolved from the West Germanic group.杉树寄生的功效与主治
11.①Old English: influenced by Old Nor spoken by the Vikings and was related to the German and Dutch languages and ended with the Norman Conquest, when the language was influence by the French-speaking Normans.八的倍数
②Middle English: William the Conqueror invaded and conquered and the Anglo-Saxons (Numerous French words came into the English vocabulary)
③Modern English(15 century):William Caxton brought standardization to English, and spelling and grammar became fixed. The first dictionary published in 1604. Samuel Johnson: A Dictionary of the English Language was influential in a standard form of spelling.
12.Standard English is bad on the speech of the upper class of southeastern England. It is also called “the Queen’s English” or “BBC English”. A third of world’s population u English.
Chapter 2 History
1. Recorded history in Britain began in the year 55BC, when Julius Caesar and his Roman troops invaded the island. In 410, Germanic barbarian attack Rome, ending the Roman occupation.
2.Celtic→Spain and France Anglo-Saxon→Germanic Tribes
3. It is believed hat the Norman Conquest of England marked the establishment of feudalism
4. Henry II began the rule of the Hou of Anjou(安茹王朝) in England, also known as the Hou of
Plantagenet(金雀花王朝). He improved the courts of justice, introduce the jury system and institutionalized common law.
5. The Magna Carta is regarded as the foundation of the British constitutionalism
6. Henry III wages wars. The outraged nobles, led by Simon de Montfort, drafted the Provision of Oxford(牛津条约) to limit the King’s power by calling regular meetings of 15-member Privy Council(枢密院). Simon de Montfort facilitated the modern idea of a reprentative parliament.
7.The Wars of the Ros: the Hou of York( white ro) and the Hou of Lancaster( red ro)→winner. Henry Tudor became King Henry VII and started the rule of the Hou of Tudor.
8. In 1584, King Henry VIII issued the Act of Supremacy 《至尊法案》. In 1651, Cromwell destroyed Charles II’s army, which marked the end of the Civil Wars. In 1660 Parliament decided to restore Charles II to the throne which put an end to the Commonwealth.
9. In 1688, Glorious Revolution happened. In 1689, parliament pasd the Bill of Rights.
10.19世纪中期，工业革命完成。
苹果和安卓的区别
11.The British Empire began with the colonization of Newfoundland in 1583. By the end of 19th century, the British Empire included about 1/4 of the global population and the world’s landmass.
12.South African is the fourth lf-government dominion of the British Empire after Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
13.The Central Powers: mainly Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey
The Allies: mainly France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy
14.The process of decolonization transformed the British Empire into the British Commonwealth of Nations.
15.Tony Blair refud to adopt the European currency, the euro.
Chapter 3 Government and the Commonwealth
1.Britain is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy. Of all the countries in the world, only Israel and New Zealand are comparable to Britain in having no single constitutional document.
2.The British Constitution is made up of
① Statutory law 成文法，制定法（the most important）→ pasd by parliament
②Common law 判例法，普通法→customs or legal precedents
③Conventions 习惯法，衡平法→not legally exist, but still vital
3.Parliament:
❖The law-making body ❖One of the oldest reprentative
asmblies in the word ❖Consist of the King or Queen, the Hou of
Lords and the Hou of
Commons.
The King or
Queen’s role is
ceremonial,
恪守本分unpolitical and
symbolic
4.
5.The Hou of commons performs three major functions. ①The most important is drafting new laws. ②to scrutinize, criticize and restrain the actions of the government ③to influence the future government policy
6. The parliament: a two-party system
7. Three main parties: The Conrvative Party, The Labor Party, The Liberal Democrats. The party which wins over half of the constituencies is the majority in the Hou of Commons.
8. The Queen of Britain is considered the head of the Commonwealth. The headquarters are all located in London.
Chapter 4 Economy
1.By the 19th century, the British economy had produced 1/3 of the world’s manufactured goods.
2.In order to parate politics and economic policy, Tony Blair made the Bank of England independent. His government was successful in limiting government spending, keeping inflation under control and reducing unemployment.
3.Important crops are wheat, barley, sugar beet and potatoes. The major fishing areas are the North Sea, the English Channel, the waters off the Irish coast and the a area between Britain and Iceland.
4.Major source of energy: coal mining, oil industry (relatively new), nuclear power
5.Three principal financial centers: London, Tokyo, New York
6.Tourism: Stonehenge, Windsor Castle. Britain is one of the world’s largest centers for international conference.
7.Export partners: Germany, the United Stated, the Netherland, France
Import partner: Germany, the United Stated, the Netherland, China
Chapter 5 Education, Media and Holidays
1.Before 1870, education was voluntary and schools were t by the church.
20th century later on, government take responsibility for education
2.Four stages: ①primary: 5---11
②condary: 11---16
③further education---16 two more years in preparation for higher education
④higher education---18
3.Two parallel school system
❖State system 93% →free to all children between 5---16 years old
❖Independent system →7%independent tuition fees and curriculum
4.Further Education
●At 16: National examination →GCSE(Certificate of Secondary Education) to leave or
人生品味
continue
●Sixth form (2 years): 3 or 4 subjects
●A-level( General Certificate of Education---Advanced)→for universities
admittances(academic)
●GNVQ( General National V ocational Qualification)→for vocational training
5.Recruitment bad on: Grades of A-levels, school refences, interview
8.The Obrver→the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper
The Times→one of Britain’s oldest and influential newspaper
THREE BIG: The Times, The guardian, The Daily Telegraph
9.BBC: The British Broadcasting Corporation, excel in documentaries
BSkyB: Britain’s top pay-television provider
10. Three Christmas traditions: ①Christmas pantomime ②Queen’s Christmas message ③Boxing Day (falls on the day after Christmas)
11. Trooping the Color (in June), known as the Queen’s Birthday Parade
Chapter 6 Literature
1.The old English: the epic Beowulf : folk legend of Anglo-Saxons
Middle English: Geoffrey Chaucer, the first court poet The Canterbury Tales
2.Renaissance
Hamlet is a milestone in Shakespeare’s dramatic development
Alexander Pope, the greatest English poet of the classical school
3. Jonathan Swift →Gulliver’s Travels
Daniel Defoe →Robinson Crusoe
4.William Wordsworth, passive Romanticism →Lake poets
Second generation of Romanticism →George Gordon Byron
5. It was in the Victorian Era that the novel became the leading form of literature
Chapter 8 Geography and People
1.The United States consist of 48 contiguous states in North America, plus Alaska, and Hawaii. Alaska: largest area Rhode: smallest area Texas: the largest state on the mainland
2.New England is the Europeans’first ttlement, including Harvard, Yale and Massachutts Institute of Technology (MIT)
3.Climate: temperate, with some mild subtropical zones
4.Major Cities:
师生情深New York →the commercial, financial and entertainment center. ( the biggest city)
San Francisco →a center of oil-refining, chemicals, commerce, finance and shipping industry Los Angeles→cond largest city, where Hollywood is located
Chicago→“the Windy City”, is the nation’s third largest city
5.The longest river: Mississippi River, the longest in the world
The Great Lakes: from west to east
Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, & Lake Ontario
Lake Michigan belongs to USA. The other 4 belong to both USA & Canada
甜酒曲的制作方法Chapter 9 History
1.It is traditionally believed that the first Americans were Indians, descendants of the Mongoloid people in Asia.
2.In 1781, the United States of America won its independence
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which granted freedom to all slaves. Turning point: Gettysburg
3.Franklin D. Roovelt 1933
Truman Truman Doctrine mark the beginning of the Cold War
红彤彤的苹果
Constitution
Constitution—basic instrument law
In Philadelphia
Drawn up in 1787,
Came into effect in 1789.
✧paration of powers, check and balances;
✧the federal government had the only powers specified in the constitution;
✧The constitution goes first;
✧All men are equal.
Qualifications for being a nator:
❖over 30 years old;
❖ a US citizen for at least 9 years;
❖resident in the state from which he is elected.
Qualifications for being a reprentative:
❖at least 25 years old;
❖ a US citizen for no less than 7 years;
