20111214英语国家社会与文化复习提纲

201112《英语国家社会与文化》复习提纲

Chapter1 Introduction

The flag of the United Kingdom, known as the Union Jack, is made up of three crosses.

The second Nordic Invasion at the end of the 8th century changed the history of Western Europe.

Britain is separated from the rest of Europe by the English Channel in the south and North Sea in the east.

invasion from the Roman Empire and its influences (Roman civilization was based on city life in hundreds of walled towns linked by military roads; The Romans introduced Christianity into Britain. )

the ancestors of the English and the founders of England: the Anglo-Saxons

the Norman Conquest and its influences (ppt):In 1066, Harold was defeated by William near Hastings.

On December 25, 1066, William was crowned William I at Westminster Abbey in London.

Influence：

1) the beginning of the centuries’ long struggle between the English king and the pope.

2) a strong central government which brought a new unified discipline and control of England

3) the conquerors intermarried with the ruling Saxon families 4) They made French the official language

5) They firmly established the feudal system

6) Contacts between England and France were greatly increased

The Tower of London (built by William the Conqueror)

Chapter 2 the Government of the UK

The UK today is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy.

The parliament: it was first used officially in 1236 to describe the gathering of feudal barons and representatives from counties and towns which the king occasionally summoned if he wanted to raise money.

The three institutions in the British parliament (the Queen, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons) are interdependent as they are all involved in the process of legislation.

The foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Defense and the Treasury are involved in making foreign policy.

The current British government is the first coalition government since World War II. The two major partiesThe Conservative party ，The Labour party

The Bill of Rights1) passed by the Parliament in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution

2) it laid down a number of things that future monarchs could not do. 3) it marked a sharp decline in powers of the Monarch.

4) it marked the beginning of the British Constitutional Monarchy

The English Civil War, also called the Puritan Revolution, is generally regarded as the beginning of modern world history.

It has been seen as a conflict between the parliament and the King, and a conflict between economic interests of the Crown.

The English Civil War not only overthrew feudal system in England but also shook the foundation of the feudal rule in Europe. It is generally

regarded as the beginning of modern world history. The Glorious Revolution

1) refers to the event of 1688 in the English Revolution, when the Catholic king James II was forced to flee with his baby son to France

2) The throne was offered to his Protestant daughter and her husband Dutch king William.

3)The bill of Rights was passed by Parliament to restrict the power of the Monarch.

4) this was the beginning of the Constitutional Monarchy in Britain.

Chapter 3 The UK Economy

Dominions and colonies

1. The growth of dominions自治领的兴起

English colonial expansion began with the colonization of Newfoundland in 1583.

The Industrial Revolution In a period loosely dated from the 1770s to the 1820s, Britain experienced an accelerated process of economic change that transformed a largely agrarian economy into the world's first industrial economy. This phenomenon is known as the "industrial revolution", since the changes were all embracing and permanent

Britain’s physical isolation has long been reduced by the development of airlines and more recently by the opening of Channel Tunnel, which links Britain to continental Europe.

Thatcherism referred to the policies put forward by Margaret Thatcher, the first woman prime minister in England in 1979. The main contents of her policies included the return to private ownership of state-owned industries, the use of monetarist policies to control inflation, the weakening of trade unions, the strengthening of the role of market forces in the economy, and an emphasis on law and order. To some extent her program was successful and she led to one of the most remarkable periods in the British economy

Chapter 4 British Education System

Red Brick Universities

new universities were constructed out of the everyday cheap material used throughout England: red brick.

Since Oxford and Cambridge had elegant stone buildings, the differences between the old and new were obvious.

They have no religious affiliations and often have professional specializations, such as in law, architecture, and civil engineering.

They are the true heirs of the Dissenting Academies.

The two oldest universities in Britain are Oxford (University) and Cambridge (University).

The 1944 Education Act of the UK (P105) made entry to secondary schools and universities “meritocratic”.

Chapter 5 British Foreign Relations

Institutions involved in making foreign policy

The Prime Minister

Cabinet

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The Ministry of Defence

The Treasure

.

the British Media

The world’s oldest national newspaper: the Observer (1791)

The UK’s oldest daily newspaper: the Times (1785)

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