英美概况英国.docx

1、英美概况英国Lesson One: The landThe full and official name of the country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and North Ireland, and usually called the United Kingdom or UK, Great Britain, or simply Britain or England.Britain is located in Western Europe, was surrounded by the North Sea, the Strait of

2、Dover and the English Channel. It is a small country that only with 244,019square kilometers in the world, which ranking about the 75th in size among countries in the world. On the other hand, Britain was ever one of the oldest and strongest colonial powers in the world and ruled a vast empire that

3、has played an important role in shaping the modern world.Britain has four nations that include England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Britain is divided into the lowland area and the highland area.England has a total area of more than 130,000square kilometers that is made up of three landfor

4、m regions: the east and the southeast are plains, middle England is mountains with the average altitude between 200 and 500 meters; the north and west of England are hilly. Scotland has an area of 78,760 square kilometers with two thirds of them is covered by the highland. Wales has an area of about

5、 20,700 square kilometers, which is divided into the industrial south, the central plateaus and the lakes and the mountainous north of the farmers and tourists.The rivers in Britain are short and swift, and only a few of them are navigable. The Thames River, the Severn River, The Mersey River, the H

6、umber River are the several mainly important rivers in Britain.The coast of islands Britain has a great length of coastline and is varied.The climate in Britain is a temperate maritime climate, and it has three features, which makes Britain damp and warm all the year round.Coal and petroleum are the

7、 most important natural resources in Britain, natural gas, iron ore, limestone, clay, shale, chalk and tin are also take a great part in countrys resources.Lesson Two: The PeopleThe total population of Britain is over 60.2 million, with some 248 persons living in every square kilometer, which is one

8、 of the highest population densities in the world.The population mainly distributes in the seven conurbations, which are Greater London, W. Midlands, South Yorkshire, W. Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, and Tyne &Wear with nearly a third of the population.English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish

9、 are the main nations in Britain; English, Gaelic and Welsh are the major language spoken in Britain, which English is the official language of the country. On the other hand, the English people were descended from Anglo-Saxons that come to England in the middle of the fifth century. And English is

10、descended from the language of the Germanic people-the Anglo-Saxons. The English had undergone there stages that evolution from Old English to Middle English to Modern English, and now the Modern English we speak become the most popular language in the world.Britain is a Christian country that with

11、half of the citizens there are Christianities, and it also is a diversity of religious sects, which the Church of England is the established church of the English nation.Most of English people are conservatisms. They are familiar with the conservative attitude consists of an acceptance of things.The

12、 four nations people in Britain are very different that with regional different politically, economically, and educationally, and among different classes of the Britain society.The population in Britain is mainly urban and suburban, with three quarters of them are living in cities and towns. London

13、is the capital of both England and the UK; Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland; Cardiff is the capital of Wales andBelfast is the capital of Northern Ireland. Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester，Newcastle upon Type, Sheffield, Hull, Southampton, Plymouth are the other several big cities in B

14、ritain.Lesson Three: British EconomyBy the 1880s, the British economy takes part in the first place in the world, but by 1890s this was not the case anymore. Form the end of World War 2 until now, the history of the British economy is usual regarded as one of decline as follow reasons. First, Britis

15、h suffered a great loss in the two World Wars; second, the era of the British Empire was over; third，British still had to forced to maintain a substantial and experience military presence in many overseas locations until the end of 1960s; fourth, British industry was badly damaged but survived compa

16、ratively unaffected during the war; fifth, the failure to invest sufficiently in industry also have influence on the decline.Because of stagflation, the British economy went through a particularly bad period in the 1970s.And under Margaret Thatcher, the government set up a series of reform to solve

17、the problem, and in 1980s, we saw the new problem of unemployment on the influence of Thatchers reform. Whatever，we still saw the bright future of the British economy under the reform that developed steady in the follow years.The national economies of British can be mainly made up of three areas, “p

18、rimary” industries, “secondary” industries, and “tertiary” industries. The British agriculture is highly efficient, which produces 1.4% of the national wealth, with only 2% of the labor force that grow 58% of the food needed by the nation. The chief agricultural products in British are wheat, barley

19、, oats, potatoes and sugar beets. British have a large ocean fishing fleet that the fishing industry provides 55% of the UK demand for fish. Energy production is an important role in the British economy, owing to the 5% of the national wealth.In the secondary sector of the economy, manufacturing ind

20、ustry produces 22% of national wealth, which is very important in the country, and the company mainly strong in pharmaceuticals, chemicals, aerospace and food and drink.The friary industries, which take a great part in the economy that, produce 65% of national wealth, especially in service sector. T

21、rade is Britains lifetime, which makes contribution to Britains balance of payment problems.Lesson Four：Political System: Parliament and GovernmentThe United Kingdom still remains an old-fashionable government established on the basis of constitutional monarchy which the head of the state is a king

22、or a queen. British have no written constitution that the queen has all the power theoretically; however, it is the ministers that control the main equalities of British, although the queen has a very important role on the whole system.The Parliament，which is the supreme legislative authority in the

23、 realm, consists of the Sovereign, the House of the Lords and the House of Commons. Therein, the house of Lords is made up of hereditary and life peers and peeresses, while the House of Common consists of 651members who are from the represent of countrys 651 constituencies. The main functions of Par

24、liament are debating, making laws, supervening the government and financing.Under the formally appointment of the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister, the British government is made up of the Prime Minister and other ministers. There are many government departments in parliament, which some he

25、ads of ministries are entitled” minister” or “secretary” and some have other special titles. It also has a large staff of professional civil servants in each department. The Cabinet is an informal committee of the Privy Council that is composed of the heads of the most important department with a fe

26、w ministers without departments. The Privy Council includes all power to make certain executive orders and proclamations, And the Prime Minister as the head of government, which controls the Cabinet and Parliament.The four part of the Great Britain are separately divided into different countries and

27、 areas, and each of the administrated areas has its own council, and the Prime Minister is a really powerful leader in Britain, which the arrangements for the election of the councilors are rather complicated.Lesson Five: Political System: Party Politics and JudiciaryThe Conservative Party and the L

28、abor Party and the Liberal Democrats are the three major national parties in Britain, and the Conservative party and Labor party are two main political parties that dominate the political scene. The Conservative Party developed out of the Tony Party, and founded in 1679 with about 2 million members.

29、 The Labor Party was founded in 1900 by a union between the Trade Unions, the Independent Labor Party and the Fabian Society. The Liberal Democrats makes the government more democratic and accountable.The general election in Britain is held every five years and mainly controlled by the Conservative

30、Party and the Labor Party, which for the election, the whole country will divided into 651 evectional areas or constituencies and each party will use all kinds of ways to persuade the candidate to vote him. The people who can vote must above 18 years old as normal British citizen.England and Wales h

31、as a single system of law and courts and Scotland had a system of its own, there is no Ministry of Justice in Britain and there is neither civil code nor criminal code in Britain. The law as a whole consists partly of statutes, or acts of Parliament, and partly of common law. The courts in Britain a

32、re made up of the central courts and local courts. In the meanwhile, the central courts include the House of Lords, the Privy Council, and the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal. And the High Courts of Justice has several divisions: the Chancery Division, the Family Division and Queens Be

33、nch Division. The local courts in England are the magistrates courts and county courts and others.The death penalty was first abolished for a five-year period in 1965. The young offences were sent to Brutal institutions for unspecified periods. The police are all local forces outside London, who employed a