英美国家概况复习资料.doc

英美国家概况期末复习
考试题型说明：10个简答题和5个论述题。

一． 简答题
1. What is the full name of the U.K.?
The full name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

2. What are the two components of the British Parliament?
They are the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

3. Why did Britain cooperate closely with the United States after World War Ⅱ?
Because they were allied during the war and shared the same worries about the former Soviet Union.

4. What are the three functions of the House of Commons?
The three functions are : to draft laws, to scrutinize, criticize and restrain the activities of the government, and to influence future government policy.

5. In what ways do British universities enjoy complete academic freedom?
British universities enjoy complete academic freedom because they can appoint their own staff, decide which students to admit, provide their own courses and award their own degrees.

6. What are the three categories of Shakespeare’s plays and their representatives?
Shakespeare’s plays fall into three categories: comedy, tragedy and historical play. The representatives of his comedies include A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It and Twelfth Night. His major historical plays include Richard III, Henry IV and Antony and Cleopatra. His great tragedies are represented by Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet.

7. What were Nixon's well-known contributions during his presidency?
Nixon made three well-known contributions:
a) brought the Vietnam War to a close;
b) reestablishing U.S. relations with China;
c) negotiating the first Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty with the former Soviet Union.

8. What are the two characteristics of the U.S. Constitution?
One is "check and balances". The other is that the powers of the central government and the power of state governments are specified.

9. 说出三个英国的节日
Christmas, Easter and "Trooping the color"

二．论述题
1. What are the characteristics of English literature in the 20th century?
English literature in the 20th century can be roughly divided into two periods: Modernism and Postmodernism. Modernism prevailed before the Second World War, It can be viewed as a deliberate departure from tradition and is characterized by the use of innovative forms of expression. Modernist writing seems unorganized, hard to understand. It often portrays the action form the viewpoint of a single confused individual, rather than from the viewpoint of all-knowing, impersonal narrator .After World War II, postmodernism begins. Postmodernism differs in some ways from Modernism. Modernism, for example, tends to present a fragmented view of human subjectivity, but present that fragmentation as something tragic, something to be lamented as a loss. Postmodernism does not lament the idea of fragmentation but rather celebrates it .Modernists look for buried meaning below confusing surfaces, while postmodernists abandon that search, However, there are still many postwar writers who continue traditional themes.

2. Why is the United States regarded as a "melting pot" and a "salad"?
The United States "is not merely a nation but a nation of nations". The immigrants came in waves, including the Europeans, the Africans and the Asians. Therefore, America was described as a "melting pot" where various racial and ethnic groups were combined into one culture. Recently, Americans have been called a "salad" in that people of different races and ethnic groups mix harmoniously but at the same time keep their distinct culture and custom.

3. What was the cause of the American Civil War?(可能该题考简答)
The issue of slavery was the focus of American politics, economics and cultural life by the mid-19th century. The southern planters needed a large number of laborers to manage their plantations and they regarded the black slaves as their property. In the North, with the development of industry, there was a growing demand for free labor. What's more, the Northerners demanded a law protecting tariffs and asked the government to finance the building of railways and roads, but the Southerners were strongly against it and advocated free trade so that they could purchase cheaper goods from foreign countries. The accumulating conflicts led to the division of the North and the South and finally the Civil War.

4. How is a President voted into office in America? What are your ideas about the American election?
Each party holds its national convention every four years to choose a candidate for the presidency. To win a presidential election, a candidate has to spend millions of dollars, travel all over the country to make speeches, and debate on television with the rival. The general election is technically divided into two stages. During the first stage, presidential electors for each state will be chosen. In the second stage the electors meet and vote a President. Since the second stage is only a kind of formality, everyone knows who will be the next President as soon as the first stage is over.
I think the candidates spend too much money on the electoral campaign. However, the election can not solve the social and economic problems as some candidates do not keep their word after they become President.

5. How did the U.S. Constitution lay groundwork for America's economic development?
The U.S. Constitution, as an economic charter, established that the entire nation, was a unified or "common" market. There were no tariffs or taxes on inter-state commerce. It provided that the federal government could regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the states, establish uniform bankruptcy laws, create money and regulate its value, fix standards of weights and measures, establish post offices and roads, and fix rules governing patents and copyrights. The last mentioned clause was an early recognition of the importance of "intellectual property", a matter that began assuming great importance in trade negotiations since the late 20th century.

6. What are the characteristics of American writing during the Romantic period?
During the Romantic period, most of the American writings placed an increasing emphasis on the free expression of emotions, and they displayed an increasing attention to the psychic state of their characters, They celebrated America’s landscape with its virgin forests, meadows, endless prairies, streams and vast oceans. The Romantic writers had a strong tendency to exalt the individual and the common man.