英美文化背景知识.docx

英美文化背景知识.docx

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英美文化背景知识

英美文化背景知识（全英文：

重要）

英美文化背景知识

EducationinBritainandTheUS

InBritainallchildrenhavetogotoschoolbetweentheagesof5and16.IntheUSchildrenmustgotoschoolfromtheageof6tobetweentheagesof14and16,dependingonthestatetheylivein.

Subject

InEnglandandWalesthesubjectstaughtinschoolsarelaiddownbytheNationalCurriculum（课程）,whichwasintroducedin1988andsetsout（制定）indetailthesubjectsthatchildrenshouldstudyandthelevelsofachievementtheyshouldreachbytheagesof7,11,14and16,whentheyaretested.TheNationalCurriculumdoesnotapplyinScotland,whereeachschooldecideswhatsubjectsitwillteach.

IntheUSthesubjectstaughtaredecidedbynationalandlocalgovernments.WhereasBritishschoolsusuallyhaveprayers（祈祷）andreligious（宗教的）instruction,Americanschoolsarenotallowedtoincludeprayersortoteachparticularreligiousbeliefs（信仰）.

Examinations

At16studentsinEnglandandWalestakeGCSEexaminations.Theseexaminationsaretakenbystudentsofalllevelsofabilityinanyofarangeofsubjectsandmayinvolveafinalexamination,anassessment（评价）ofworkdoneduringthetwoyearcourse,orbothofthesethings.At18somestudentstakenA-levelexaminations,usuallyinnotmorethan3subjects.ItisnecessarytohaveA-levelsinordertogotoauniversityorpolytechnic（综合技术大学）.

InScotlandstudentstaketheSCEexaminations.Ayearlater,theycantakeexaminationscalledHIGHS,afterwhichtheycaneithergostraighttoauniversity

orspendafurtheryearatschoolandtaketheCertificate（证书）ofSixthYearStudies.InScotlandtheuniversitysystemisdifferenttothatinEnglandandWales.Coursesusuallylastfouryearsratherthanthreeandstudentsstudyalargernumberofsubjectsaspartoftheirdegree.

IntheUSschoolexaminationsarenotasimportantastheyareinBritain.StudentsinHighSchoolsdohaveexamsattheendoftheirlasttwoyears,butthesefinalexamsareconsideredalongwiththeworkthatthestudentshavedoneduringtheschoolyears.

SocialEventsandCeremonies（仪式）

InAmericanhighschoolsthereisaformalceremonyforGraduation（=completionofhighschool）.Studentswearaspecialcapandgownandreceiveadiploma（文凭）fromtheheadoftheschool.Studentsoftenbuyaclassringtoear,andayearbook,containingpicturesoftheirfriendsandteachers.TherearealsospecialsocialeventsatAmericanschools.Sportseventsarepopular,andcheerleadersleadtheschoolinsupportingtheschoolteamandsingingtheschoolsong.Attheendoftheirjunioryear,atage17or18,studentsheldintheevening.ThegirlswearlongeveningdressesandtheboyswearTUXEDOS.

InBritain,therearenoformaldancesorsocialoccasions（场合）associated（和...有关）withschoollife.SomeschoolshaveSPEECHDAYattheendoftheschoolyearwhenprizesaregiventothebeststudentsandspeechesaremadebytheheadteacherandsometimesaninvitedguest.However,inmanyBritishschoolsstudentsandteachersorganize（组织）informaldancesfortheolderstudents.

GovernmentinBritainandtheUS

GovernmentinBritain

Nationalgovernment

ThecenterofgovernmentinBritainisPARLIAMENT（国会）,whichmakesalltheimportantlawsforthecountryaboutcrimesandpunishment,taxation（犯罪）,etc.ParliamentismadeupoftheHouseofCommons,theHouseofLordsandthemonarch（贵族）.TheHousesofParliamentareinWestminsterinLondonandsometimes“Westminster”itselfisusedtomeanParliament.

TheHouseofcommons（ortheCommons）isthelowerbutmorepowerfulofthetwoHouses.Ithas650electedmembers,calledMembersofParliamentorMPs,eachrepresentingpeopleinaparticularareaorconstituency.TheHouseofLords（theLords）isthehigherbutlesspowerfulofthetwoHouses.Ithasover1,000members,noneofwhomiselected.Thesemembersinclude:

peoplewhohavetitleslikeLordorViscount（子爵）whichhavebeenpasseddowntothemonthedeathoftheirfather（hereditarypeers（世袭贵族））;peoplewhoaregiventitlesasarewardfortheirlongserviceinpubliclife,butwhosechildrendonotINHERIT（继承）theirtitle（lifepeers）;andsomeimportantleadersoftheChurchofEngland（Archbishops（大主教）andBishops（主教））.

ThegovernmentbringsBILL（=suggestedlaws）totheHouseofCommons,whicharediscussedbyMPs.ThebillsthengototheHouseofLordstobediscussed.TheHouseofLordscansuggestchangestoabill,butdoesnothavethepowertorejectit（=refusepermissionforittobepassed）.WhenbillscomebacktotheCommons,MPsvoteonthemandiftheyarepassedtheyaresignedbythemonarchandbecomeActsofParliament

AtpresentEngland,Scotland,Wales,andNIrelandareallgovernedbyParliamentinWestminster.InNIrelandthepoliticalpartiesaredifferentbuttheirMPsstillgototheHouseofCommons.InScotlandthereisalotofdiscussionaboutwhetherScotlandshouldhavesomeseparateorpartlyseparateformofgovernment.ThesameistrueinWales

Localgovernment

LocalgovernmentisBritain,alsoknownasCouncils,canmakesmalllaws（bylaws）whichonlyapplyintheirarea,buttheseareusuallyaboutsmall,localmatters.Forinstance,theymaybeaboutfinesthatwillbemadeforpeoplewhoparkincertainstreets.

Councilsarepaidforbylocaltaxesandalsobyanamountofmoneygiventothemeachyearbythenationalgovernment.Theirmainjobistheorganizingandprovidingoflocalservices,e.g.hospitals,school,libraries,publictransport,street-cleaning,etc.Theyarealsoresponsibleforsettingtheamountoflocaltaxthatpeoplemustpayandforcollectingthistax.

Localcouncils（议会）areelectedbypeoplewithineachtown,city,orcountryarea.Thepeoplewhoareelected,knownascouncilors,usuallyrepresentoneofthenationalpoliticalparties,butareoftenelectedbecauseoftheirpoliciesonlocalissues（问题）ratherthanthenationalpoliciesoftheirparty.

GovernmentintheUS

AlllevelsofgovernmentintheUS（federal（联邦）,state,andlocal）areelectedbythepeopleofthecountry.

Federalgovernment

TheconstitutionoftheUSspecificallylimitsthepowerofthefederal（=national）governmentmainlytodefence（国防）,foreignaffairs,printingmoney,controllingtradeandrelationsbetweenthestates,andprotectinghumanrights.ThefederalgovernmentismakeupoftheCONGRESS（国会）,thePresident,andtheSupremeCount（最高法院）.

Congress

Congress,thecentrallaw-makingbodyintheUS,ismadeupoftheHouseofRepresentativesandtheSenate.TheHouseofRepresentativesisthelowerbutmoreimportantofthetwohousesofCongress.Ithas435members,calledRepresentativesorCongressmen/Congresswomenelectedbytheirstate.ThememberofRepresentative（代表）foreachstatedependsonthesizeofthepopulationofthestate,witheachstatehavingatleastoneRepresentative.TheSenateisthehigherbutlesspowerfulofthetwohousesofCongress.Ithas100members,calledSenators（参议院）,electedbytheirstate.EachstatehastwoSenators.

CongressdecideswhetheraBILL（suggestedlaw）becomeslaw.IftheSenateandtheHouseofRepresentativebothagreetoabill,thePresidentisaskedtoagree.

ThePresidentcanveto（=saynoto）thebill（议案）,butCongresscanstillmakeitalawif2/3ofthemembersofeachhouseagreetoit.

Stategovernment

Stategovernmenthasthegreatestinfluenceinpeople’sdailylives.EachstatehasitsownwrittenConstitution（宪法）（setoffixedlaw）,andamongthestatetherearesometimesgreatdifferencesinlawonmatterssuchasproperty,crime,health,andeducation.ThehighestelectedofficialofeachstateistheGovernor.Eachstatealsohasoneortwoelectedlawmakingbodies（stateLegislature）whosemembersrepresentthevariouspartsofthestate.

Localgovernment

Localgovernmentconcernslawsmadeatthetown,cityorcountylevel.Theselawsareusuallylimitedtoasmallareaandconcernsuchthingastraffic,whereandwhenalcoholicdrinkscanbesold,orkeepinganimals.ThehighestelectedofficialofatownorcityCouncil.

Everylawateverylevelofgovernmentmustbeinagreementwith（一致）theUnitedStatesconstitution.AnycitizenwhothinksheorshehasnotbeengiventheirrightsunderthelawmayarguetheircasethroughallthecourtsuptotheSupremeCourt（thefinalCourtofAppealintheUS）ifnecessary,andanylawwhichisfoundnotinagreementwiththeconstitution（unconstitutional）cannotbekeptinforce.

NewspapersinBritainandtheUS

NewspapersinBritain

Nationalandlocalpapers

InBritainthereare11nationaldailynewspapersandmostpeoplereadoneofthemeveryday.Therearetwokindsofnewspaper.Oneislargeinsizeandhasmanydetailedarticlesaboutnationalandinternationalevents.Thesenewspapersarecalledtheseriouspapersorthequalitypapers.Theotherkind,calledthetabloidsissmallerinsize,havemorepictures,oftenincolour,andshorterarticles,oftenaboutlessimportanteventsorabouttheprivatelivesofwell-knowpeople.Althoughsomepeopledisapprove（反对）ofthetabloids（小报）,morepeoplebuythemthanbuytheseriousnewspaper.TheSun,forexample,whichisatabloid,isthebiggest-sellingnewspaperinBritain.PeoplewhodisapproveofthetabloidsverystronglysometimescallthemtheGutterPress.

TherearedailyorweeklynewspapersinallpartsofBritainwhichcoverlocalnewsaswellassomenationalandinternationalstories.Localpapersgiveinformationaboutfilms,concerts,andotherthingsthatarehappeninginthelocalneighborhood,

including,forexample,informationaboutlocalpeoplewhohavebeenmarriedordiedrecently.Nationalpapersgenerallygiveinformationaboutfilm,concertsandothereventshappeninginLondon,InScotland,manype