英美概况英国.docx

英美概况英国.docx

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英美概况英国

LessonOne:

Theland

ThefullandofficialnameofthecountryistheUnitedKingdomofGreatBritainandNorthIreland,andusuallycalledtheUnitedKingdomorUK,GreatBritain,orsimplyBritainorEngland.

BritainislocatedinWesternEurope,wassurroundedbytheNorthSea,theStraitofDoverandtheEnglishChannel.Itisasmallcountrythatonlywith244,019squarekilometersintheworld,whichrankingaboutthe75thinsizeamongcountriesintheworld.Ontheotherhand,Britainwaseveroneoftheoldestandstrongestcolonialpowersintheworldandruledavastempirethathasplayedanimportantroleinshapingthemodernworld.

BritainhasfournationsthatincludeEngland,Scotland,WalesandNorthernIreland.Britainisdividedintothelowlandareaandthehighlandarea.

Englandhasatotalareaofmorethan130,000squarekilometersthatismadeupofthreelandformregions:

theeastandthesoutheastareplains,middleEnglandismountainswiththeaveragealtitudebetween200and500meters;thenorthandwestofEnglandarehilly.Scotlandhasanareaof78,760squarekilometerswithtwothirdsofthemiscoveredbythehighland.Waleshasanareaofabout20,700squarekilometers,whichisdividedintotheindustrialsouth,thecentralplateausandthelakesandthemountainousnorthofthefarmersandtourists.

TheriversinBritainareshortandswift,andonlyafewofthemarenavigable.TheThamesRiver,theSevernRiver,TheMerseyRiver,theHumberRiveraretheseveralmainlyimportantriversinBritain.

ThecoastofislandsBritainhasagreatlengthofcoastlineandisvaried.

TheclimateinBritainisatemperatemaritimeclimate,andithasthreefeatures,whichmakesBritaindampandwarmalltheyearround.

CoalandpetroleumarethemostimportantnaturalresourcesinBritain,naturalgas,ironore,limestone,clay,shale,chalkandtinarealsotakeagreatpartincountry’sresources.

LessonTwo:

ThePeople

ThetotalpopulationofBritainisover60.2million,withsome248personslivingineverysquarekilometer,whichisoneofthehighestpopulationdensitiesintheworld.

Thepopulationmainlydistributesinthesevenconurbations,whichareGreaterLondon,W.Midlands,SouthYorkshire,W.Yorkshire,GreaterManchester,Merseyside,andTyne&Wearwithnearlyathirdofthepopulation.

English,Scottish,WelshandIrisharethemainnationsinBritain;English,GaelicandWelsharethemajorlanguagespokeninBritain,whichEnglishistheofficiallanguageofthecountry.Ontheotherhand,theEnglishpeopleweredescendedfromAnglo-SaxonsthatcometoEnglandinthemiddleofthefifthcentury.AndEnglishisdescendedfromthelanguageoftheGermanicpeople-theAnglo-Saxons.TheEnglishhadundergonetherestagesthatevolutionfromOldEnglishtoMiddleEnglishtoModernEnglish,andnowtheModernEnglishwespeakbecomethemostpopularlanguageintheworld.

BritainisaChristiancountrythatwithhalfofthecitizensthereareChristianities,anditalsoisadiversityofreligioussects,whichtheChurchofEnglandistheestablishedchurchoftheEnglishnation.

MostofEnglishpeopleareconservatisms.Theyarefamiliarwiththeconservativeattitudeconsistsofanacceptanceofthings.

ThefournationspeopleinBritainareverydifferentthatwithregionaldifferentpolitically,economically,andeducationally,andamongdifferentclassesoftheBritainsociety.

ThepopulationinBritainismainlyurbanandsuburban,withthreequartersofthemarelivingincitiesandtowns.LondonisthecapitalofbothEnglandandtheUK;EdinburghisthecapitalofScotland;CardiffisthecapitalofWalesand

BelfastisthecapitalofNorthernIreland.Birmingham,Glasgow,Liverpool,Manchester，NewcastleuponType,Sheffield,Hull,Southampton,PlymoutharetheotherseveralbigcitiesinBritain.

LessonThree:

BritishEconomy

Bythe1880’s,theBritisheconomytakespartinthefirstplaceintheworld,butby1890’sthiswasnotthecaseanymore.FormtheendofWorldWar2untilnow,thehistoryoftheBritisheconomyisusualregardedasoneofdeclineasfollowreasons.First,BritishsufferedagreatlossinthetwoWorldWars;second,theeraoftheBritishEmpirewasover;third，Britishstillhadtoforcedtomaintainasubstantialandexperiencemilitarypresenceinmanyoverseaslocationsuntiltheendof1960’s;fourth,Britishindustrywasbadlydamagedbutsurvivedcomparativelyunaffectedduringthewar;fifth,thefailuretoinvestsufficientlyinindustryalsohaveinfluenceonthedecline.

Becauseofstagflation,theBritisheconomywentthroughaparticularlybadperiodinthe1970s.AndunderMargaretThatcher,thegovernmentsetupaseriesofreformtosolvetheproblem,andin1980’s,wesawthenewproblemofunemploymentontheinfluenceofThatcher’sreform.Whatever，westillsawthebrightfutureoftheBritisheconomyunderthereformthatdevelopedsteadyinthefollowyears.

ThenationaleconomiesofBritishcanbemainlymadeupofthreeareas,“primary”industries,“secondary”industries,and“tertiary”industries.TheBritishagricultureishighlyefficient,whichproduces1.4%ofthenationalwealth,withonly2%ofthelaborforcethatgrow58%ofthefoodneededbythenation.ThechiefagriculturalproductsinBritisharewheat,barley,oats,potatoesandsugarbeets.Britishhavealargeoceanfishingfleetthatthefishingindustryprovides55%oftheUKdemandforfish.EnergyproductionisanimportantroleintheBritisheconomy,owingtothe5%ofthenationalwealth.

Inthesecondarysectoroftheeconomy,manufacturingindustryproduces22%ofnationalwealth,whichisveryimportantinthecountry,andthecompanymainlystronginpharmaceuticals,chemicals,aerospaceandfoodanddrink.

Thefriaryindustries,whichtakeagreatpartintheeconomythat,produce65%ofnationalwealth,especiallyinservicesector.TradeisBritain’slifetime,whichmakescontributiontoBritain’sbalanceofpaymentproblems.

LessonFour：

PoliticalSystem:

ParliamentandGovernment

TheUnitedKingdomstillremainsanold-fashionablegovernmentestablishedonthebasisofconstitutionalmonarchywhichtheheadofthestateisakingoraqueen.Britishhavenowrittenconstitutionthatthequeenhasallthepowertheoretically;however,itistheministersthatcontrolthemainequalitiesofBritish,althoughthequeenhasaveryimportantroleonthewholesystem.

TheParliament，whichisthesupremelegislativeauthorityintherealm,consistsoftheSovereign,theHouseoftheLordsandtheHouseofCommons.Therein,thehouseofLordsismadeupofhereditaryandlifepeersandpeeresses,whiletheHouseofCommonconsistsof651memberswhoarefromtherepresentofcountry’s651constituencies.ThemainfunctionsofParliamentaredebating,makinglaws,superveningthegovernmentandfinancing.

UndertheformallyappointmentoftheQueenontheadviceofthePrimeMinister,theBritishgovernmentismadeupofthePrimeMinisterandotherministers.Therearemanygovernmentdepartmentsinparliament,whichsomeheadsofministriesareentitled”minister”or“secretary”andsomehaveotherspecialtitles.Italsohasalargestaffofprofessionalcivilservantsineachdepartment.TheCabinetisaninformalcommitteeofthePrivyCouncilthatiscomposedoftheheadsofthemostimportantdepartmentwithafewministerswithoutdepartments.ThePrivyCouncilincludesallpowertomakecertainexecutiveordersandproclamations,AndthePrimeMinisterastheheadofgovernment,whichcontrolstheCabinetandParliament.

ThefourpartoftheGreatBritainareseparatelydividedintodifferentcountriesandareas,andeachoftheadministratedareashasitsowncouncil,andthePrimeMinisterisareallypowerfulleaderinBritain,whichthearrangementsfortheelectionofthecouncilorsarerathercomplicated.

LessonFive:

PoliticalSystem:

PartyPoliticsandJudiciary

TheConservativePartyandtheLaborPartyandtheLiberalDemocratsarethethreemajornationalpartiesinBritain,andtheConservativepartyandLaborpartyaretwomainpoliticalpartiesthatdominatethepoliticalscene.TheConservativePartydevelopedoutoftheTonyParty,andfoundedin1679withabout2millionmembers.TheLaborPartywasfoundedin1900byaunionbetweentheTradeUnions,theIndependentLaborPartyandtheFabianSociety.TheLiberalDemocratsmakesthegovernmentmoredemocraticandaccountable.

ThegeneralelectioninBritainisheldeveryfiveyearsandmainlycontrolledbytheConservativePartyandtheLaborParty,whichfortheelection,thewholecountrywilldividedinto651evectionalareasorconstituenciesandeachpartywilluseallkindsofwaystopersuadethecandidatetovotehim.Thepeoplewhocanvotemustabove18yearsoldasnormalBritishcitizen.

EnglandandWaleshasasinglesystemoflawandcourtsandScotlandhadasystemofitsown,thereisnoMinistryofJusticeinBritainandthereisneithercivilcodenorcriminalcodeinBritain.Thelawasawholeconsistspartlyofstatutes,oractsofParliament,andpartlyofcommonlaw.ThecourtsinBritainaremadeupofthecentralcourtsandlocalcourts.Inthemeanwhile,thecentralcourtsincludetheHouseofLords,thePrivyCouncil,andtheHighCourtofJusticeandtheCourtofAppeal.AndtheHighCourtsofJusticehasseveraldivisions:

theChanceryDivision,theFamilyDivisionandQueen’sBenchDivision.ThelocalcourtsinEnglandarethemagistrate’scourtsandcountycourtsandothers.

Thedeathpenaltywasfirstabolishedforafive-yearperiodin1965.TheyoungoffencesweresenttoBrutalinstitutionsforunspecifiedperiods.

ThepolicearealllocalforcesoutsideLondon,whoemployeda