英语国家概况名词解释

1.the Anglo-Saxons They were two groups of Germanic people who settled down in England from the 5th century.They were regarded as the ancestors of the English and the founders of England,

2.Sinn Fein Sinn Fein is a legal political party in Northern Ireland which supports the IRA to fight for the union of Ireland.The leaders of Sinn Fein prefer union with Ireland by a twin campaign,both military and political which they call the policy of"the Bulllet and the Ballot Box".It believes that without the participation of Sinn Fein the political problem of Northern Ireland cannot be thoroughly solved.

3.The Good Friday Agreement= ent As a result of muti-party negotiations,The Good Friday Agreement was approved on 10 April 1998.This agreement assures the loyalist community that Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom and it won't change its political status unless the majority of the people of Northern Ireland agree.Under the terms of the agreement,Northern Ireland should be governed by three separate jurisdictions:that of the Republic of Ireland,that of Great Britain and that of its own elected executive government of ten ministers.

4.The Constitution Britain has no written Constitution.The foundation of the British state are laid out in statute law,which are laws passed by Parliament;the common laws;which are laws established through common practice in the courts;and conventions.

5.The functions of Parliament The functions of Parliament are: to pass laws,to vote for taxation,to scrutinise government policy,administration and expenditure and to debate the major issues of the day.

6.Main sectors of the UK economy The UK national economy can be divided into three main areas:primary industries,such as agriculture,fishing and mining;secondary industries which manufacture complex goods from those primary products;and tertiary industries such as banking,insurance,tourism and the retailing.

7.Modernism Modernism refers to a form of literature mainly written before WW11.It is characterized by a high degree of experimentation.It can be seen as a reaction against the 19th century forms of Realism.Modernist writers express the difficulty they see in understanding and commuicating how the world works.Often,Modernist writing seems disorganize,hard to understand.It often portrays the action from the viewpoint of a single confused individual,rather than from the viewpoint of an all-knowing impersonal narrator outside the action.One of the most famous English Modernist writers is Virginia Woolf.

8.The Commonwealth In the author's opinion,the The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of states which is made up of Britain and mostly of former British colonies.There are 54 members of the The Commonwealth including one currently suspended member:many of these are developing countries like India and Cypris;other are developed nations like Australia,Canada and New Zealand.The The Commonwealth was set up as a forum for continued cooperation and as a sort of support network.

9.Wimbledon Wimbledon is the name of a London suburb.In Wimbledon the world's best players gather to compete on grass courts.It is one of the major events of the British sporting calendar and probably the most famous tennis event in the world.Besides actually watching the tennis matched,other activities closely associated with the "Wimbledon fortnight"are eating strawberries and cream,drinking champagne and hoping that it doesn't rain.

10.Saint Patrick Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland.He helped to spread the Christian religion in Ireland.His mission was accomplished so peacefully that there is

no record of a single martyr.

11.Checks and balances The Irish system of government is based on the American principle of "checks and balances":that is ,the power of the executive branch of government can be checked by the legislature and by the judiciary,through courts which interpret the law.Enforcement is also part of the role of the courts of law,and is actually carried out by the policy force.Both the legal system and the policy force are conceived of as independent of political influence.

12.The Irish Parliament The Parliament of Ireland is comprised of two houses:the Parliament and the https://www.360docs.net/doc/725829938.html,ernment policy and administration may be examined and criticized in both Houses;but under the Constitution the Government is reponsible to the Parliament alone.

13.The law of primogeniture The law of primogeniture is the traditional law in Ireland that favors the first born male,that is only the first son in the famliy has the right to inherit the properties,be it land or house ,of the famliy when the farther dies. 14.The oral culture of Ireland Ireland is a culture which operates most obviously on an oral level.Almost inevitably ,an Irish person will take an opportunity to talk even if pressed for time.The basis for this is in the original peasant culture,which makes the transfer from an oral to a written culture only slowly in the late 19th century.But even among the most literate classes,great value is extended to the ability to talk spontaneously and with grace and force.

15.Terra Nullius Terra Nullius is from Latin.It means a land that is owned by no one.The British declared the Australian continent Terra Nullius to justify their invasion of the indigenous people's land.It served to legitimize their taking possession of the land and devalue the indigenous people as uncivilized and not fully human.

16.Difference between the Dreaming and Protestantism The Dreaming is about a people being at one with the country which means that people do not own the land,but the land owns the people who have responsibility of guardianship towards it.After 1788,Protestantism became the dominant form of religion,and a cental concept of Protestantism is that individual people own,and are obliged to use and exploit the land for the greater glory of their God.

17.Wakefield Scheme Wakefield Scheme was devised by Edward Wakefield,a convict and theorist on colonization,to solve the problem of labour shortage in colonial Australia.His proposal on the development of colonial Australia was that land should not be freely and cheaply available.It should be sold at sufficient price to ensure that only men of capital could afford it.The money earned from selling land should be used to assist selected free migrants to Australia.

18.The “Washminster” form of polity The “Washminster” form of polity is adopted by the Australian government.It is a mixture of the US Washington system of government and the British Westminster system.This means that the political structure of the government is based on a Federation of States with a threetier system of government.However,the chief executive is a Prime Minister,instead of a President as in the US system.

19.APEC APEC was established from an Australian initiative in 1989,when Canberra hosted the first informal dialogue with 12 members.Since the the forum has grown to include 21 member economies and has become one of significant world economic bodies:the 21APEC Member Economies represent over 40 percent of the world's population,56 percent of global GDP,and around 48 percent of world trade. APEC’s mission is to pro mote regional stability and

to address global issues including counter-terrorism, non-proliferation and health. 19.The White Australia Policy The White Australia Policy was officially adopted by the Commonwealth of Australian in 1901, in the Immigration Restriction Act. It was made to stop Chinese and other non-British migrants form entering and setting down in Australia. This was mainly achieved through a diction test in a European language. The White Australia Policy was officially abolished in 1973.

20.The Kiwi The kiwi is the name of one of the native birds in New Zealand. It is flightless. In colloquial English, the Kiwi, capitalized, is also used to refer to a New Zealander.

20.Maoritanga Maoritanga is the Maori word for “Maori culture.” It refers to all the elements of the rich culture heritage of the indigenous people in New Zealand, including their language, customs and traditions.

21.The New Zealand Parliament Since 1950 Parliament has had a single chamber, the House of Representatives. Its functions include passing laws, supervising the government’s administration and receiving petitions from citizens with grievances. Currently there are 120 Members of Parliament, all elected by voters.

22.The Ombudsman The ombudsman is appointed by Parliament. His respon sibilities are to investigate people’s complaints against government departments and local authorities and to make sure that appropriate official information is freely available in accordance to the Official Information Act. There are the Chief Ombudsman and specialist ombudsmen in various fields.

23.The first English settlement in North America The first English permanent settlement was organized in 1607 by the London Company with a charter form the English King. The colonists settled in Virginia and survived by imposing strict discipline on themselves and by transplanting tobacco into the colony of Virginia. In 1619, the settlers elected their delegates and set up the House of Burgesses, and the same time they bought and enslaved black servants. These two events greatly influenced the political and social development of the United States later.

24.he Articles of Confederation After the War of Independence was won, the new nation of the United States was organized under the agreement of the Article of Confederation with a weak national government called the Congress. Each state had its own government, made its own law and handled its internal affairs. The states did not cooperate with the Congress and with each other. The Congress had no power to force any state to contribute money to the national government and the Congress could not tax any citizen either. As a result, the Article of Confederation failed.

25.Agribusiness Because American agriculture is big business, people coined the term “agribusiness” to re flect the large-scale nature of agricultural enterprises in the modern US economy. The term covers the entire complex of farm-related businesses, from the individual farmer to the multinational maker of farm chemicals. It also includes farmer cooperatives, rural banks, shippers of farm products, commodity dealers, firms that manufacture farm equipment, food-processing industries, grocery chains and many other businesses.

26.Three Faiths in the US By the 1950s, the three faiths model of American religion had developed. Americans were considered to come in three basic varieties: Protestant,

Catholic and Jewish. In term of numbers, the Protestants are the strongest, the Catholics are next to the Protestants and Jewish are the smallest among the three groups.

27.The abuse of power by corporations The abuse of power by corporations is shown in the fact that these corporations are concerned with their own profits than with social responsibility, the quality or price of their products, or the truth of their advertising. They have professional lobbyists in Washington to influence public officials behind the scenes. They argue for legislation to serve their own ends, influence the appointment of officials, block reforms they consider undesirable, and often seem to have more say in the councils of government than the ordinary voters. Many Americans believe that “big business has taken the reins of government away from Congress and the Administration,” and that “government is run by a few interest groups looking after themselves.

28.The USA as a kaleidoscope This is a metaphor for national self-definition. The metaphor emerged in the late 20th century. As a metaphor for national self-definition, a “kaleidoscope” overcame the big problem with the never-changing mosaic image, which reflected the many different groups that have gone into making up the American population. But the ease with which the kaleidoscopic patterns changed was problematic. Finally this image as well lost its credibility as a national self-definition --- leaving now a vacuum in term of a metaphor that comprehends the real nature of American society.

29.NBA NBA stands for National Basketball Association. Founded in 1950, it is the association of professional teams in the United States. It has two divisions: the Eastern Division and Western Division. NBA is very popular not only in the US but all over the world. The best NBA star in NBA history is Michael Jordan.

30.Canadian identity It is sometimes very hard to define what true Canadian identity is. But in general, it refers to something which is distinctively Canadian, which is different from other countries, and which is the very reason for making Canada so special. For example, two official languages of English and French can be considered as part of the Canadian identity.

31.Structures of government Canada’s system of government is based on the British system of parliamentary democracy. Like Britain, Canada is a monarchy. The official head of state is the Queen, but she is represented by an official called a Governor General as she doesn’t live in Canada. Canada is a federation with ten provinces and three territories. The government of the country is referred to as “the federal government”, to distinguish it from the lower level government of each provinc e. The Canadian parliament is divided into the House of Commons and the Senate. The members of the House of Commons are elected, whereas the senators are appointed by the Governor General, who acts upon the recommendation of the Prime Minister. The cabinet, chosen by the Prime Minister, is made up of senior MPs from the governing party.

32.The Canadian Mosaic Canada is a nation of immigrants. When Canada is described as a mosaic, it means that the immigrant groups do not have to throw off their old customs, languages and traditions. There is no particular concept of an

overwhelming Canadian identity. This resembles a mosaic of different cultures which overlap but do not overwhelm each other.

33. Three factors that influence Canadian economy First of all, Canadian economy is influenced by Canada’s physical geography, which is rich in natural resources; but the huge size and small population of the country has made extracting and transporting goods to markets difficult. The second influence is its neighbor, the United States, which has a much more powerful economy and a larger market. This means that trade has quite naturally developed north to south, across the Can-Am border, rather than east-west, between provinces and regions. The third influence is federal government’s intervention in the economy: the federal government has constantly intervened in the development of the country’s resources and infrastructure, rather than allowing market force to play a full role.

34.Canada-Us relations The Canada-US relationship is unique in many ways: First, they are two of the most open and interconnected societies in the world. The sovereignty of the two counties is less formal and concrete. Second, they share a long, undefended border. And they participated in the same military alliance, most notably, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Third, they also share long term interests in their economy. And to facilitate economic integration, the two countries established the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). However, in Canadian-US relationship, there are points where differences of opinion occur. Canadian-American relations have often been rocky because of disagreements over foreign policy.