英语国家社会与文化入门.docx

英语国家社会与文化入门.docx

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英语国家社会与文化入门

英语国家社会与文化入门（上）

Unit1ABriefIntroductiontotheUnitedKingdomI

ThefullnameofthecountryofUKistheUntiedKingdomofGreatBritainandNorthernIreland.

UKincludes4parts:

theislandofGreatBritainismadeupofEngland,ScotlandandWales,andNorthernIreland.

Differentpeoplewhobelongtodifferentclasswilltendtoreaddifferentnewspaper,watchdifferenttelevisionprogrammes,speakwithadifferentaccent,dodifferentthingsintheirfree-time,andhavedifferentexpectationsfortheirchildren.

Beforethe1stcenturyADBritainwasmadeupofmanytribalkingdomsofCelticpeople.

In43ADBritainwasinvadedbytheRomanEmpireandEnglandandWalesbecameapartoftheRomanEmpirefornearly400years.

AfterRomantime,Britainwasunderthreatfromoutside,thistimefromGermanicpeoples:

theAngles,andtheSaxon.

Inthe5thcenturyADitissaidthatagreatleaderappeared,unitedtheBritish,andwithhismagicalsword,Excalibur,drovetheSaxonsback.ThisisthestoryofKingArthur.

AccordingtolegendArthurgatheredacompanyofknightstohimandconflictbetweenhisknightsledtoArthurcreatingthefamous“roundtable”atwhichallwouldhaveequalprecedence.

Anglo-SaxoninvadersweretheforefathersoftheEnglish,thefoundersof“Angle-land”or“England”asithasbecomeknow.

Fromthelate8thcenturyonraidersfromScandinavia,theferociousVikings,threatenedBritain’sshores.

ThenextinvadersweretheNormans,fromnorthernFrance,whoweredescendantsofVikings.

UnderWilliamofNormandytheycrossedtheEnglishChannelin1066.

WilliamtooktheEnglishthrone,andbecameWilliamtheFirstofEngland.

RobinHoodwasaSaxonnoblemanoppressedbytheNormans,whobecameanoutlaw,andwithhisbandof“merrymen”hidintheforestofSherwoodinthenorthmidlandsofEnglandandtheywentouttorobfromtherichtogivetothepoor.

CharlestheFirst’attempttooverruleparliamentinthe1640sledtoacivilwarinwhichparliamentaryforceswerevictorious,andthekingwasexecuted.AndthenEnglandwasruledbyparliament’sleader,OliverCromwell.

ThelargestcityofScotlandisGlasgowandthecapitalcityisEdinburgh.

ScotlandwasnotconqueredeitherbytheRomansortheAnglo-Saxons.

LikeEnglandScotlandbegantoexperienceVikingraidinthe9thcentury.

UndertheleadershipofRoberttheBruce,theScotswerevictoriousattheBattleofBannockburn,leadingto300yearsoffullindependence.

In1603,QueenElizabeththeFirstofEnglanddiedchildless,andthenextinlinetothethronewasJamestheSixthofScotland,sohealsobecameJamestheFirstofEngland,unitingthetwothrones.

In1707byagreementofEnglishandScottishparliaments,ScotlandjoinedtheUnion.

TheScotlandAct1998providedfortheestablishmentoftheScottishParliamentandExecutive.

Scottishwriteshavegiventheworldsuchwell-knownworkasWalterScott’sromancesofhighlandScotlandand“AuldLangSyne”（byRobertBurns）

ThecapitalcityofWalesisCardiff.

Unit2ABriefIntroductiontotheUnitedKingdomII

ThecapitalcityofNorthernIrelandisBelfast.

ThemostfamouslandmarkofNorthernIrelandisthe“Giant’scauseway”,arockypromontorymadeupofblackhexagonalcolumns.

FromthetimeofQueenElizabethIthenewsettlers,loyaltotheBritishcrownandProtestantinreligiouspersuasion,weregrantedland,position,andprivilegeswhichhadbeensystematicallytakeawayfromtheindigenous,RomanCatholicpopulation.

“Greathatred,littleroom”wasthewaythemodernpoetW.B.Yeatsdescribedthesituation.

Until1921thefullnameoftheUKwas“TheUnitedKingdomofGreatBritainandIreland”,notonly“NorthernIreland”,becausethewholeislandofIrelandwaspoliticallyintegratedwithGreatBritain.

TheEasterRisingof1916wasthemostspectacularevent,inwhichtherebelstookoverDublin’sPostOffice,forcingtheBritishtoretakeitbymilitarymeans.

In1919agroupcallingitselftheIRA（IrishRepublicanArmy）expandedthefighting.

Intheendtheconflictbecametoogreattoignore,andastheSinnFeinparty,whoweresupportersoftheIrishterrorists,gainedmostoftheIrishseatsintheBritishparliament,Irishindependencebecameinevitable.

In1921thesouthern26countiesformedanindependent“freestate”,whilethe6north-easterncountiesremainedaparttheUK.

In1969,thefirstBritishsoldierswereseenonNorthernIrishstreets.

TheofficialIRAthoughtenoughprogresshadbeenmadethattheycouldconcentrateonapoliticalprocess,andruncandidatesforelections,butastrongfactionfeltthatarmedforcewastheonlywaytogettheBritishout,andseparatedfromtheofficials,callingthemselvesthe“ProvisionalIRA”.

In1971theNorthernIrishgovernmenttookthedesperatestepofimprisoningterroristsuspectsfrombothsideswithouttrial,apolicyknownas“internment”,whichtargetedprimarilyCatholicmenintheNorth.

In1972468peoplewerekilledinNorthernIrelandandthatdayhasnowbeenmythologiesedas“BloodySunday”,animportantsymbolofBritishoppression.

In1973,anagreementwasreachedbetweenthemainpoliticalpartiesinNorthernIreland,andimportantly,theBritishandIrishgovernments,whichledtoanewformfortheNorthernIrishParliament,withaPower-Sharingmechanism.

TheSinnFeinpartyspokeofatwincampaignforunionwithIreland,bothpoliticalandmilitary,whichtheycalledthepolicyof“TheBulletandtheBallotBox”.

Asaresultofmulti-partynegotiations,aidedthistimebytheinterventionoftheUnitedStatesSenatorGeorgeMitchell,theGoodFridayAgreementknownalsotheBelfastAgreement,emergedon10April1998.

Unit3TheGovernmentoftheUnitedKingdom

Britainisarguablytheoldestrepresentativedemocracyintheworld,withrootsthatcanbetracedoverathousandyears.

TheoldestinstitutionofgovernmentistheMonarchy.

Thepowerofthemonarchywaslargelyderivedfromtheancientdoctrineofthe“divinerightofkings”

TheoppositionwassopowerfulthekingfinallygrantedagangoffeudalbaronsandtheChurchacharteroflibertyandpoliticalrights,stillknowbyitsmedievalLatinnameofMagnaCarta,whichisstillregardedasBritain’skeyexpressionoftherightsofcitizensagainsttheCrown.

ThecivilwarwhichbroughttheRoundheadstopowerinthe17thcenturywasrootedinadisputeoverthepowerofthekingvis-à-visParliament.

In1689ParliamentpassedtheBillofRightswhichensuredthattheKingwouldneverbeabletoignoreParliament.

In1832,whenasystemforchoosingtheHouseofCommonsbypopularelectionreplacedthemonarch’sjobofappointingrepresentatives,themodernpoliticalsystemwasborn.

ThepartywiththemostsupportersintheCommonsformsthegovernment,andbytradition,theleaderofthatpartybecomesPrimeMinister.

Britainisbothaparliamentarydemocracyandaconstitutionalmonarchy.

Britishgovernancetodayisbaseduponthetermsandconditionsoftheconstitution.

IsraelandBritainaretheonlytwocountrieswithoutwrittenconstitutionsofthesortwhichmostcountrieshave.

ThefoundationsoftheBritishstatearelaidoutinstatutelaw,thatis,lawspassedbyParliament;thecommonlaws,whicharelawswhichhavebeenestablishedthroughcommonpracticeinthecourts,notbecauseParliamenthaswrittenthem;andconventions,whicharerulesandpracticeswhichdonotexistlegally,butareneverthelessregardedasvitaltotheworkingsofgovernment.

ParliamentissupremeintheBritishstatebecauseitalonehasthepowertochangethetermsoftheConstitution.

Strictlyspeaking,theParliamenttodayconsistsoftheQueen,theHouseofLordsandtheHouseofCommons.

TheroleofthemonarchytodayisprimarilytosymbolizethetraditionandunityoftheBritishstate.

Thereare724Lordsand646MembersofParliamentintheHouseofCommons.

Unit4Politics,ClassandRace

In1928itreachedthecurrentlevelofabout99%canvote（thoseexcludedareLords,certaincategoriesofconvictedcriminals,thelegallyinsane,andresidentforeigncitizens–exceptUKresidentcitizensoftheIrishRepublic）

Afteragovernmenthasbeeninpowerfor5yearsithastoresignandholda“generalelection”,inwhichallBritishadultsaregiventhechancetovoteagainfortheirconstituency’sMP.

AnyonewhoiseligibletovotecanstandasanMP.Itisnecessaryonlytomakeadepositof500poundswhichislostifthecandidatedoesnotreceiveatleast5%ofthevote.

Therearethreemajornationalparties:

TheConservativepartyandtheLabourpartyarethetwobiggest,andanygeneralelectionisreallyaboutwhichofthosetwoisgoingtogovern.Butthereisathirdimportantparty,theLiberalDemocrats.

TheLabourpartyisthenewestofthesethree,createdbythegrowingtradeunionmovementattheendofthenineteenthcentury.

TheConservativepartyisthepartythatspendmosttimeinpower.

TheLiberalDemocratsarethethirdbiggestparty,andtosomeextentmaybeseenasapartyofthe“middle”,occupyingtheideologicalgroundbetweenthetwomainparties.

MargaretThatcheristheUK’sfirstwomanPrimeMinister.

Thecar-workerprobablyreadsapaperlikeTheSun:

anewspaperwithlittleheardnewsandmoreaboutTVsoapoperas,theRoyalfamily,andsport.TheuniversityteachermightreadTheGuardian:

alargernewspaperwithlongerstories,coveringnationalandinternationalnews,“high”culturesuchastheatreandliterature,andsoon.

Unit5TheUKEconomy

TheUKisnowtheworld’ssixthlargesteconomy.

TheUKisnotonlyamemberoftheG7,G8,G20majoreconomies,butalsoamemberoftheWorldTradeOrganization.

Firstly,thecountryhadgoneheavilyintodebtin