自考英语国家概况汇总版-.doc

Chapter 1Land and PeopleI.Strictly speaking, the British Isles, Great Britain and England are all geographical names.1. The British Isles are made up of two large irelands and hundreds of small islands. （see map of UK） The two large irelands are Great Britain and Ireland. Great Britain is the larger of these two islands. 2. The official name of the United Kingdom is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. But it is too much of a mouthful to say such a long name for a country, so people just say Britain, the United Kingdom or simply U.K. （UK） capital: LondonThe Republic of Ireland爱尔兰共和国 has been an independent republic since 1949 and its capital is Dublin.3. There are three political divisions on the island of Great Britain: England, Scotland, and Wales. England is the largest, most populous and richest, so people tend to use “England” and “English” when they mean “Britain” and “British”. (选择题)4.Strictly speaking,”the British Isles”refers to Great Britain and Ireland (选) 5.The capital of Britain is London 6.The British Empire大英帝国: one fourth of the worlds people and one fourth of the worlds land area. 7.Britain is separated from the rest of Europe by the English channel in the north and the North sea in the east.(简答)6. The British Empire gradually disappeared and it was replaced by the British Commonwealth or the Commonwealth of Nations in 1931. The Commonwealth is a free association of independent countries that were once colonies of Britain. Member nations are joined together economically and have certain trading arrangements. The Commonwealth has no special powers. The decision to become a member of the Commonwealth is left to each nation.英联邦是一个自由联合体，由曾是英国殖民地而现已独立的国家构成，成员国之间实行经济合作，有一定的贸易协议。英联邦没有特别的权利，是否参加英联邦有个成员国自己决定，现在(1991年)，英联邦有50个成员国。（二）OthersGeographical Features1. The United Kingdom is separated from the rest of Europe by the English Channel in the south and the North Sea in the east. The English Channel lies between Britain and France. （p.4）2. “Chunnel”: channel + tunnel, opened to traffic in 1994. （p.5）3. The highest mountain in Britain Ben Nevis, 1,343m in Scotland. （p.6）The longest river: the Severn River （338 km）The second largest and most important river: the Thames River （336 km） （p.7） 4. 90% of the population is urban and only 10% is rural. （p.11）5. The English are Anglo-Saxons 盎格鲁撒克逊人, but the Scots, Welsh and Irish are Celts凯尔特人. （p.12）Chapter 2The Origins of a Nation （5000 BC AD 1066）I.Early setters(5000BC-55BC)1 The Iberians伊比利亚人 The first known settlers of Britain were the Iberians.At about 3000BC During the New Stone Age新石器时代 2.The Beaker Folk民间烧杯 At about 2000 BC the Beaker Folk arrived from the areas now known as Holland and the Rhineland. 3.The Celts凯尔特人 1. began to arrive about 700 BC2. The Celts were practised farmers.3. The Celtic tribes are ancestors of Highland Scots, the Irish and the Welsh, and their languages are the basis of both Welsh and Gaelic. The celts religion was Druidism德鲁伊德教选择题4.The Belgae were the most industrious and vigorous勤奋和精力旺盛 of the Celtic trices.II.Roman Britain(500BC-AD410)罗马人统治时期的英国(公元前55年-公元410年)1. British recorded history begins with the Roman invasion. 罗马人有记载的历史开始于罗马人的入侵 For nearly 400 years Britain was under the Roman occupation. But it was never a total occupation for two reasons.First,some parts of the country resistd,Secondly,Roman troops were often withdrawn from Britain to fight in other parts of the Roman Empire.The Roman capital was London （Londinium）英国被罗马人占领近400年，但这并非完全占领。原因有两个:一些地区进行抵抗。其次，罗马军队经常撤离不列颠，到罗马其他帝国作战 2.Julius Ceasar凯撒,the great Roman general,invated Britain for the first time in 55BC公元前55年，罗马将军儒略.凯撒第一次入侵英国 3.The successful invasion成功入侵不列颠 did not take place until nearly a century latter,inAD 43,headedbn by the Emperor Claudius克劳迪4.They withdrew from the north in the second century and build two great walls to keep the Picts,so called because of their “painted faces”,out of the area they had conquered.These were the Hadrians Wall running from Carlisle to Newcastle,and the Antonine Wall linking the estuaries of the Fourth and the Clyde.公元前2世纪，罗马人从北部撤兵，并修筑两条长城，把皮克特人-因其在脸上涂绘而得名-挡在已征服地区之外。一条是从卡莱尔到纽卡斯尔的哈德利安长城，另一条是链接福斯河口和克莱德河口的安东尼长城5.The Roman capital was London.York had been created as a northern stronghold and Bath rapidly developed because of its waters.罗马人的首都是伦敦。约克被建为北方要塞，而巴斯城因其水域而发展迅速。5.The Roman also brought the new religion,Christianity,to Britian,the first Christian Emperor,Constantine君士坦丁大帝III. the Anglo-Saxons安格鲁撒克逊(446-871)选择题1.The Anglo-saxons were ferocious people安格鲁撒克逊是凶猛的民族2. mid-5th century, three Teutonic tribes: Jutes朱特人 （from southern Denmark）, Saxons, and Angles （both from northern Germany）; Angles were to give their name to the English people五世纪中叶，朱特人、萨克逊人和安格鲁人开始入侵不列颠。这个是日耳曼部落。3.By the end of the eighth century Offa欧发,the King of Mercia麦西亚，who built the great earthwork as offas Dyke along his western borders to keep out the welsh.4. The Anglo-saxons brought their own Teautonic 日耳曼宗教religion to Britain.5.St. Augustine奥古斯丁 the first Archbishop of Canterbury.坎特伯雷大教主6.Anglo-Saxons laid the foundations of the English state: divide the country into shires（郡）, later counties; the narrow-strip, three-field farming system（三田轮作）; manorial庄园 system; Witan（议会） （council or meeting of the wisemen, 贤人会议）, the basis of the Privy Council枢密院 which still exists today. IV.The Viking and Danish invasions北欧海盗和丹麦人入侵1. from the end of 8th century, Norwegian Vikings and Danes from Denmark attacked varous parts of England挪威海盗和丹麦人2. The Danes gained the “Danelaw”（丹麦法区）, the north and east of England. 3. The Witan chose Canute, the Danish Leader, as king in 1016. Canute made England part of a Scandinavian empire 4. Alfred阿尔弗雷德, King of Wessex （871-899）was strong enough to defeat the Danes and came to a relatively friendly agreement with them in 879. （抗击北欧海盗入侵的国家英雄） his contributions: “the father of the British navy”;英国海军之父 reorganized the fyrd英国民兵 （the Saxon army）; translated into English Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People; established schools and formulated a legal system. “Alfred the Great”阿尔弗雷德大帝 5. king Ethelred 埃塞雷德the Unread不准备好大帝IV.The Norman Conquest and its consequences(1066)诺尔曼人的征服 1. King Edward爱德华, known as “the Confessor忏悔者”, was far more Norman than Saxon，the building of Westminster Abbey than with affairs of state威斯敏斯特大教堂的修建.选择题2. When Edward died, the Witan chose Harold as king.Harold was kill,shot through the right eye by an arrow.Anglo-saxon哈尔德战死，他的右眼被箭刺死3.The Norman Conquest of 1066 is perhaps the best-known event in English history.William the Conqueror 征服者威廉confiscated almost all the land and gave it to his Norman followers.4. William the Conqueror: the best-known event in English history; the feudal system was completely established.William the conqueror征服者法国诺曼第人征服后,威廉成为英国国王,成为英语历史最著明的事件,并且完本建立了封建制度.Chapter 3 the shaping of the nation1066-1381I.Norman Rule诺曼统治（1066-1381)1. willias rule(1066-1087)威廉一世的统治选择题Under Willian,the feudal system in England was completely established.在威廉的统治下，英国封建制度得以完全确立According to this sysrem,the king owned all the land personally.At the bottom of the fedual scale处在封建制度底层 were the villeins奴隶or serfs,unfree peasants who were little better than slaves. 2.one peculiar feature of the feudal systerm of England,and one which restrained the growth of the power of the barons.Not only to their immediate lord,but also to the king.英国封建独特特点，不仅要效忠直接领袖，还要效忠国王选择题3.William replace the Witan 议会with the Grand Council (贤人会议)Domesday Book末日审判书 In order to have a reliable record of all his lands,Willian sent his clerks to compile a property record known as Domesday Byook.为了记录可靠，威廉派官员编了一本财产清册，称为 This book,completed in 1086,was the result of a general survey of England made in 1086.这本财产清册完成于1086年Domesday Book内容: record of lands土地范围, tenants人口, and their possessions耕种情况, for taxes所有权. Not unlike the Book of Doom. (末日审判书) From the Domesday Book,it appeared that in 1086 about half the cultivated land in the country was in the hands of 170 tenants-in-chief,only two of whom were English barons;abouta fifth was held personally by the King and most of the rest by bishops and abbots and other heads of religious houses.从这本清册上看，1086年，农村约有一半的耕地掌握在170个承租人手里，这之中只有两个是英国贵族，约五分之一土地归国王本人所有 3.Willian took a deep interest in the development of the church in England.His policy towards the church was to keeo it completely under his control,but at the same time to uphold its power.威廉对教会的政策是完全控制，同时赞成它拥有权力。 He encouraged Lanfrant to bring a characteristic Nor-man efficiency into the administration of church affair and to take the English church closer to Rome.The monasteries formed the new culture centres.他鼓励兰佛兰克用诺曼特色的高效率来管理教会事务，并进一步密切英国教会与罗马的关系，但有小心维护自己的独立性。修道院成了新的文化中心 4.William Rufus(William II)红脸威廉was killed by an arrow when he was hunting in the New Forest in August 1100.His younger brother,Henry,had himself crowned immediately in Westminster Abbey.在新森林打猎时被暗箭射死。他的弟弟亨利立刻在威斯敏斯特教堂自己加冕当上了国王。2.Henry IIs Reforms亨利二世的改革1. Henry II was the first king of the House of Plantagenet金雀花王朝II.The Great Charter and the Beginning of Parliament大宪章议会的开端 Two aspects of the Norman legacy were to contribute to great domestic unrest in the 12th and 13th centuries.One was Englands possession of territory in France英国在法国境内拥有土地.The other was Norman adherence 依附to Roman Catholicism.The result was confrontation between king John and his barons in1215.引发约翰国王与贵族们之间的战争。 2.The king was forced to put his seal to the Charter on june 19.1215.国王在印章盖章 3.Magna carta大宪章 had altogether 63 clauses,of which the most important matters were these: (1)no tax should be made without the approval of the Grand Council.没有大议会批准不准征税 (2)no freeman should should be arrested,imprisonted,or deprived of his property except by the law of the land; （3）the Church should possess all its rights,together with freedom of elections; (4)London and other towns should retain their ancient rights and privileges,and there should be the same weights and mesures thoughout the country.意义：The spirit of Magna Carta was the limitation of the powers of the king,keeping them within the bounds of the feudal law of the land.国王和贵族之间的封建关系，大宪章的精神是限制王权，置王权于封建法律的约束了。 4.The Great Council developed later into the Lords上议院and the Commons下议院 known as a parliament.5.At this point Parliament only met by royal invitation.Its role was to offer advice,not to make decisions.There were still no elections,no parties,and the most important part of Paliament was the House of Lords.This remained so until recent times.III.The Hundred YearsWar with France（1337-1453）英法百年战争 1.The name is given to the intermittent war between France and England that lasted from 1337-1453.The causes were partly territorial 领土的冲突and partly econamic.经济的冲突IV.The Black Death(1348-1349)and the Peasant Uprising(1381)黑死病和农民起义 1.Black Death was the modern name given to the deadly bubonic plague,an epidemic disease spread by rat fleas.黑死病是指老鼠身上的跳虱传播的致命的淋巴腺鼠疫引起的传染性疾病It spread through Europe in the 14th century,particularly in 1347-1350.It killed between one half and one third of the population of England夺取三分之一到一半的英国人性命.Followed by lesser epidemics during the next fifty years,it had reduced Englands population from four million to two million by the end of the 14th century. The peasant Uprising农民起义 1.The Lollards went about preaching the equality of men before God,the mosr famous one being John Ball.A popular balled expressed the responses of the masses:劳拉派穷教士四处讲道，宣扬上帝面前人人平等，最著名就是约翰*布尔，流行的民谣表达了民众的心声When Adam delved,and Eve span,Who was then a gentleman?当亚当耕地，夏娃织布时，究竟谁是绅士？, 2.On June14,the fourteen-year-old king Richard II met the rebels at Mile End6月14，查理二世被迫在迈尔恩德接见起义农民.The next day june 15,Later many hundreds of rebels were put to death by Richard as he passed triumphantly with an army of 4000 men through kent and Essex.15日，血洗肯特郡和埃塞克斯郡，处死几百名起义者。选择题3.Although the Peasant Uprising of 1381 was brutally suppressed,it had far-reaching significance in English history虽然1382年的农民起义被血腥镇压，但却在英国历史上留下深远的影响.The uprising dealt a telling blow to villeinage,and a whole new class of yeomen farmers emerged,paving the way for the development of capitalism.这个起义沉重地打击了封建农奴制度，产生全新的自耕农阶级，为资本主义发展铺平了道路。 Chapter 4 Transition to the Modern Age (1455-1688)向现代过渡I.Transition to the Modern Age(1455-1485)向现代过渡1.Although the Plantagenet金雀花王朝 kings the 14th and 15th centurys were fairly successful in some way(in their relation with scotland, and their tight control of wales).The name Wars of the roses was,in fact,coined by the great 19th cetury novelist Sir Walter Scott瓦尔特 司考特,but it has become the accepted way of referring to these battles between the great House of Lancaster 兰开斯特家族symbolized by the red rose,and that of York约克,symbolized by the white.2.On August 22,1485 at Bosworth Field 博斯沃思原野in Leicestershire 莱切斯特郡the last battle of wars of the Roses was fought between Richard III and another claimant to the throne,Henry Tudor亨利.都铎,part-Welsh granson of Owen Tudor and descendant of john of Gaunt,Duke of Lancaster.Henry Tudor married Elizabeth of York,thus uniting the House of Lancaster and York and putting the country under the rule of the Tudors.影响:(1)Although the Wars the Roses were waged intermittently for thirty years,ordinary people were little affected and went about their business as usual.民众所受影响少，照常从事各种营生(2) From these wars feudalism received its death blow.No less than 80 nobles of royal blood were killed in the wars.封建制度遭受致命打击 (3)The great medieval nobility was much weakened and discredited.The kings power now became supreme.贵族势力削弱，国王权利变得至高无上3. Henry Tudor became Henry VII he gave England very firm rule.亨利*都铎成为亨利七世，强有力的统治了英国He gave England peace at home and abroad which meant that he was able to build up Englands navy and foreign trade.他使英国得到国内外的和平，这使他能建立英国海军和进行对外贸易。II.The England reformation英国改革 1.Henry VIII,son of Henry VII,is usually remembered as the English king who had six wives one after another.But Henry VIII is regard as great king.He took his fathers work in rebuilding the monarchstages further.He tightened Englands control over its remove border areas and over Ireland;重建军权，加紧对遥远地区和爱尔兰的控制。 2.Henry VIII was above all responsible for the religious reform of the church.There were 3 main causes:(1)a desire for change and reform in the church had been growing for many years and now,encouraged by the sucess of Martin Luther,many people believed its time had come;期望教会改革多年，受马丁的鼓舞，许多人认为时机已到(2)the privilege and wealth of the clergy were also resented;人民痛恨教职人员的特权和财富 (3)and Henry needed money.亨利需要钱 3.The reform began as a struggle for