高英一背景资料.docx

高英一背景资料.docx

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高英一背景资料

TheMiddleEast（theNearEast）:

→ItliesatthejunctureofEurasiaandAfricaandoftheMediterraneanSeaandtheIndianOcean.

→It’shometonumerousethicgroups.

→ItisthebirthplaceandspiritualcenteroftheChristianity,Islam,Judaism,andotherminorreligions.

→Ithasbeendiscoveredtocontainsometwothird（thesignificantstocksofcrudeoilgivestheregionnewstrategicandeconomicimportance.）

→Throughoutthehistory,ithasbeenamajorcenterofworldaffairsandastrategically,economically,political-ly,culturally,andreligiouslysensitivearea.Forexamples:

ItwasatheaterofideologicalstrugglebetweentheU.Sandthe

s/60%oftheworld’scrudeoil.

U.S.S.R.duringthecoldwar（1947-1990）.

From1940sto1980sfivelarge-scaleIsraeli-PalestinianWars（i.e.theMiddleEastWars）

1980.9-1988.8Iraq–IranWar

1990.8-1991.2（Persion）GulfWar

2003.3-2010.8theU.SIraqWarandAfghanistanWar

aseriesofriotsinthe

region（2010.12Tunisiariot;

2011.1Egyptriot;2011.2Libyariot—currentLibyawar;2011.4-Syriariot;YemenandBahrain）

→Throughoutthe20thandintothe21stcentury,theregionhasexperiencedperiodsofconflictandwar.

Geographicalrange:

aregionthatencompassessouthwesternAsiaandEgypt.Inbroadsense,thetermhasrecentlybeenexpandedinusagetoincludetheCaucasusandCentralAsia,andNorthAfrica.（seethefollowingmapandnamethecountriesinthisarea）

Itspeoples:

includeArabs,Turks,Persians,Somalis,Jews,Kurds,Assyrians/Syriacs（Chaldo-Assyrians）,EgyptianCopts,Maronites（Phoenicians）,Armenians,Arameans,Azeris,Maltese,Circassians,Greeks,Turcomans,Shabaks,Yazidis,Mandeans,Georgians,Roma,Gagauz,Berbers,MhallamiandSamaritans.

Itsreligions:

Islaminitsmanyformsisbyfarthelargestreligion

intheMiddleEast,butotherfaiths,suchasJudaismandChristianity,arealsowellrepresented.TherearealsoimportantminorityreligionslikeZoroastrianism,Mandeanism,Druze,Yarsan,YazidismandShabakism.

→Islamliterallymeans“submission（toGod）”andisastrictlymonotheisticreligionarticulatedbytheQur’an.

→MuslimsbelievethatGod（MuhammadAllah）isoneandincomparableandthatthepurposeoflifeistoworshipGod.

About13%ofMuslimsliveinIndonesia,thelargestMuslimcountry,31%intheIndianSubcontinent,20%intheMiddleEastand15%inSub-saharanAfrica.

→Mosque（literallymeans“aplaceofprostration-anactofbowingorlyingfacedownwardstoshowsubmissionorhumility”）istheplaceforMuslimstopray/worshipaswellasacenterforinformation,education,anddisputesettlement.（seethepictures）

Itslanguages:

→Thethreetoplanguages,intermsofnumbersofspeakers,areArabic,PersianandTurkish.

→ArabicisthemostwidelyspokenlanguageintheMiddleEast,beingofficialinalltheArabcountries.

→Thesecond-mostwidelyspokenlanguageisPersian,whichisconfinedtoIran,oneoftheregion’slargestandmostpopulous.

→Englishiscommonlyspokenasasecondlanguage,especiallyamongthemiddleandupperclasses;FrenchisspokeninAlgeria,Egypt,Israel,Lebanon,Morocco,Syria,andTunisia.

Itseconomy:

→MiddleEasterneconomiesrangefrombeingverypoor（suchasGazaandYemen）toextremelywealthynations（suchasQatar,UAEandSaudiArabia

AccordingtotheWorldBank'sWorldDevelopmentIndicatorsdatabasepublishedonJuly1,2009,thethreelargestMiddleEasterneconomiesin2008wereTurkey（$794,228,000,000）,SaudiArabia（$467,601,000,000）andIran（$385,143,000,000）intermsofNominalGDP.InregardstonominalGDPpercapita,thehighestrankingcountriesareQatar（$93,204）,theUAE（$55,028）,Kuwait（$45,920）andCyprus（$32,745）.）.

→Thelowest-rankingcountryintheMiddleEast,intermsofpercapitaincome（PPP）,istheautonomousPalestinianAuthorityofGazaandtheWestBank（$1,100）.

→TheeconomicstructureofMiddleEasternnationsaredifferentinthesensethatwhilesomenationsareheavilydependentonexportofonlyoilandoil-relatedproducts（suchasSaudiArabia,theUAEandKuwait）,othershaveahighlydiverseeconomicbase（suchasCyprus,Israel,TurkeyandEgypt）.

→WiththeexceptionofCyprus,Turkey,Egypt,LebanonandIsrael,tourismhasbeenarelativelyundevelopedareaoftheeconomy.

→UnemploymentisnotablyhighintheMiddleEastandNorthAfricaregion,particularlyamongyoungpeopleaged15–29.

Itsbazaar:

→amarketorstreetofshopsandstandsintheorientalcountries

→thetypicalmarketsinthebazaar:

clothmarket,copper-smith’smarket,carpetmarket,foodmarket,dyemarket,potterymarketandcarpenter’smarket,etc.

→theeconomythesemarketsrepresent:

thebackwardfeudaleconomy/handicrafteconomy

2.WorldlyFamousBuildingStyles:

theGothic:

→thestyleofarchitecture,originatedinthenorthofFranceinthe12thcenturyandflourishedduringthehighandlatemedievalperiod.ItevolvedfromRomanesquearchitectureandwassucceededbyRenaissancearchitecture.

→It’scharacterizedbypointedarches,ribbedvaulting,steep,highroofs,etc.SuchstyleiswellembodiedintheCatholicchurches（suchastheAbbeyortheWeminsterAbbeyinLondon.Thesefeaturescreateanairofstoneskeletonandconveyatheologicalmessage:

thegreatgloryofGod.（tobesupplemented）seethepictures

TheByzantine:

→thearchitectureoftheByzantineEmpire（AD395）,whichevolvedfromtheRomanesquearchitecture.

→Thefeaturesofthestyle:

1）vaulted/domeroof;2）thecentreofthewholestructureishighlightedandtheroofofthemainpartisroundvaultedandtheotherpartssurroundthecentre;3）there’sfourpointedcolomnssurroundingit;4）thecolourofthebuildinghasmuchvarietyandthecolourinsideandoutsideofthebuildingisunitedharmoniously.

SuchstylehasgreatinfluenceonthechurchesoftheSovietUnionandtheMosqueintheMuslim.ThetypicalofthestyleistheHagiaSophiaCathedralinIstanbul.seethepictures

theBaroque:

→originatedinItalyintheperiodoftheRenaissanceinthelate16thandearly17th.

→features:

1）stressesthebeautyofdynamic;2）characterizedbytheextravagantorluxuriousmosaicandcarvings;3）thecolouritusesisalwaysveryshiningorgorgeousorbrightordazzling.

→itpursuesthemannerorairofromance,freedomandnaturalness.（Manbecomesinsignificant,justlikepatternsorfigures.）seethepictures

GeographyofJapan

→anislandnationinEastAsia;LocatedinthePacificOcean,itliestotheeastoftheSeaofJapan,People'sRepublicofChina,NorthKorea,SouthKoreaandRussia.

→Fourmainislands:

（southtonorth）

Kyushu,Shikoku,HonshuandHokkaido

→theworld'sthird-largesteconomybynominalGDPandalsotheworld'sfourthlargestexporterandfourthlargestimporter.

→AccordingtobothUNandWHOestimates,Japanhasthelongestlifeexpectancyofanycountryintheworld.AccordingtotheUN,ithasthethirdlowestinfantmortalityrate.

BriefaccountofWWII

→Sept.1,1939HitlerinvadedPoland.

→Sep.3,1939BritainandFrancedeclaredwaronGermany,officiallybeginningWWII.

→Later,S.U.InvadedPoland.

→Apr.1940GermanyinvadedDenmarkandNorway（tosecureshipmentsofironorefromSweden）

→May.10,1940,GermanyinvadedHolland,Belgium,andLuxembourg.

→June,1940,GermanyinvadedFrance.

→July,1940,Germanyblitz-attackedBritain.

→June,1941,heinvadedU.S.S.R.And6monthslater,invadedPearlHarbour.

→Sep.1943,Italysurrendered.

→May,1945,Germanysurrendered.

→Aug.15,1945.Japansurrendered.

→Sep.2,1945,WWIIendedwiththesignmentofInstrumentofsurrendered.

ThewarendedwiththetotalvictoryoftheAlliesoverGermanyandJapanin1945,withthe50milliontoover70millionfatalities.

WorldWarIIalteredthepoliticalalignmentandsocialstructureoftheworld.

TheUnitedNations（UN）wasestablishedtofosterinternationalcooperationandpreventfutureconflicts.

SovietUnionandtheUnitedStatesemergedasrivalsuperpowers,settingthestagefortheColdWar,whichlastedforthenext46years.

Meanwhile,theinfluenceofEuropeangreatpowersstartedtodecline,whilethedecolonisationofAsiaandAfricabegan.

Mostcountrieswhoseindustrieshadbeendamagedmovedtowardseconomicrecovery.

Mostcountrieswhoseindustrieshadbeendamagedmovedtowardseconomicrecovery.

Hiroshima

→onthedeltaattheheadofHiroshimaBay,andthecapitalandthechiefindustrialandpopulationcenterofHiroshimaprefecture

→Itbeganasasettlementaroundacastlebuiltin1593andtookthenameHiroshima（BroadIsland）fromitslocation.

→Itgotarapiddevelopmentin1889owingtoitsspecialposition.Inthatyear,themajorportfacilitieswerecompletedandfiveyearslaterthecitywaslinkedwithKobeandShiwonosekibyrail.

→CoalfromnorthernKyushuandfromforeignsourcessuppliedHiroshima’sironandsteelindustry,whoseproductsinturnwereutilizedinagrowingengineeringindustry,notablyinshipbuildingandthemanufactureofcarsandtrucks.

→BythebeginningoftheWorldWarTwo,Hiroshimawasthe7thlargestcityinJapan,withapopulationof350,000.

→Atthetimeofbombing,itwasacityofsomeindustrialandmilitarysignificance:

A.animportantsupplyandlogisticsbasefortheJapanesemilitary（i.e.Amajorrailcenterandproducerofwarmaterials,esp.weapons.）

B.acommunicationscenter,astoragepoint,anassemblyareafortroops（aregionalarmyheadquarters）

→OnAugust6,1945,thefirstatomicbombwasexplodeddroppedbytheU.S.airforcenearthecentreofHiroshima.（seethefollowingpictures）

→Theatomicbombdestroyedalmosteverythingwithinaradiusof6,000to8,000feet.

→Thedamagebeyondthisare