英语国家概况名词解释英国篇

英国部分
Chapter1
Official name官方名称：The official name of the United Kingdom is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

British Empire大英帝国：About a hundred years ago, as a result of its imperialist expansion, Britain ruled an empire that had one fourth of the world’s people and one fourth of the world’s land area. However, the two world wars greatly weakened Britain. The British colonies became independent one after another. The British Empire gradually disappeared and it was replaced by the British Commonwealth in 1931.

Commonwealth of Nations/the British Commonwealth英联邦：It’s a free association of independent countries that were once colonies of Britain. It was established in 1931, replacing the former British Empire. Member nations are joined together economically and have certain trading arrangements. The Commonwealth has no special power. The decision to became a member of the Commonwealth is left to each nation .At present there are 50 member countries within the Commonwealth.


Chapter2
Heptarchy七王国：During the Anglo—Saxon’s time, Britain was divided into many kingdoms. These seven principal kingdoms of Kent, Essex, Sussex, Wessex, East Anglia, Mercia and Northumbria. They were given the name of Heptarchy.

Alfred the Great亚尔弗雷得大帝：Alfred was the King of Wessex, who was strong enough to defeat the invading Danes and reached a friendly agreement with them. He founded a strong fleet and is known as “the father of the British navy” .He reorganized the Saxon army, making it more efficient. He established schools and formulated a legal system. He translated books from Latin into English.

William the Conqueror征服者威廉：He was also known as William, Duke of Normandy. In 1066, he invaded England, defeated and killed Harold near Hastings in Sussex and conquered England. He confiscated almost all the land and gave it to his Norman followers. He replaced the weak Saxon rule with a strong Norman government. So the feudal system was completely established in England.


Chapter3
Domesday Book末日审判书：It’s a book compiled by a group of clerks under the sponsorship of King William the First in 1086.The book was in fact a property record. It was the result of a general survey of England. It recorded the extent, value, state of cultivation, and ownership of the land. It was one of the important measures adopted by William I to establish the full feudal system in England. Today, it’s kept in the Public Records Office in London.

The Great Charter[Magna Carta]大宪章：The Great Charter has been also known as Magan Carta which King John was forced to sign in 1215.The Great Charter has been regarded as the foundation of English liberties, a guarantee of the freedom of the Church and the spirit of it was the limitation of the powers of the King.

Joan of Arc圣女贞德：Joan of Arc was a national heroine in French hist

ory. She led and encouraged the French in driving the English out of France in the Hundred Year’s War.


Chapter4
The Wars of the Roses玫瑰战争：The name Wars of the Roses was refer to the battles between the House of Lancaster, symbolized by the white, from 1455 to 1485.Henry Tudor, descendant of Duke of Lancaster won victory at Bosworth Field in 1485 and put the country under the rule of the Tudors, From these wars, English feudalism received its death blow. The great medieval nobility was much weakened.

Bloody Mary血腥玛丽：It’s the nickname given to Mary I, the English Queen who succeeded to the throne after Henry Ⅷ.She was a devout Catholic and had so many Protestants burnt to death that shi is remembered less by her official title Mary I by her nickname Bloody Mary.

The English Renaissance英国文艺复兴：(1)Renaissance was a cultural movement in Europe from the 14th century to the 16th century.(2)It originated in Italy and began to come to England in the late 15th century.(3)The English Renaissance was largely literary, and achieved its finest expression in poetry, drama and prose.(4)The greatest literary writer of the English Renaissance was William Shakespeare.


Chapter5
The Reform Act of 1832改革法案：(1)It’s also known as the Greater Charter of 1832, it was passed by Parliament in 1832.(2)According to the Act, “rotten boroughs” were abolished, and parliament seats were redistributed more fairly among the growing industrial towns.(3)It also gave the vote to many householder and tenants who were required to have certain property.

Charles Darwin查尔斯-达文：(1)A famous British scientist in the 19th century.(2)He has been especially remembered for his important book “the Origins of Species” in which he developed his theory of evolution.(3)The theory of evolution caused evident reaction of the Victorians and contributed to the decay of Victorianism.

The Victorian Age维多利亚时期：(1)It refers to monarchy of Britain under Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901, the longest reign in British history.(2)The Victorian Age was an age of national development and national optimism.(3)The Victorians were very religious and conservative in family life. It was also, in its later stages, an age of imperialism.

The State of Westminster威斯敏斯特条例：(1)In 1931, the British Parliament passed a bill which later has been known as the Statute of Westminster, according to which, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Southern Ireland, New Foundland and South Africa turned into “Dominions”.(2)These self-government both internally and externally, although they still regarded the British monarch as their head of state .(3)This marked the disruption of the British Empire and the establishment of the British Commonwealth.

The Europe Economic Community欧共体：(1)Also known as the Common Market, it was established by the Treaty of Rome on January 1,1958.(2)Originally it was comp

osed of six Western Europe countries—France, West Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg.(3)Britain didn’t become a full member of the Community until 1973. Today, there are altogether 12 member in the Community.


Chapter7

The Constitutional monarchy君主立宪制：It’s a political system that has been practiced in Britain since the Glorious Revolution of 1688.According to this system; the Constitution is superior to the Monarch. In law, the Monarch has many supreme powers, but in practice, the real power of monarchy has been greatly reduced and today the Queen acts solely on the advice of her ministers. She reigns but doesn’t rule. The real power lies in the Parliament, or to be exact in the House of Commons.

The British Constitution英国宪法：It’s not written in any single document. It’s made up of Statute Law, common law and Conventions. It’s more flexible than the written constitution of other countries.

British Parliament英国议会：It includes three elements: the Sovereign, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. It’s the Supreme law-making authority in Britain. The real center of parliamentary power lies in the House of Commons. Its other functions include: to control and criticize the executive government; to control the raising and the spending of money.


Chapter9

The Church of England英格兰国教：(1)Also called the Anglican Church, it’s one of the many Protestant sects which broke away from Roman Catholic church during the Reformation tin the 16th century.(2)It’s an established church which means that it represents the official state religion.(3)Its religious leader is the Archbishop of Canterbury and its secular leader is the British Monarch.

Free Churches自由教会：(1)Also known as Non-Conformist Churches in England, Free churches are protestant sect that have separated from the established church of England.(2)These include the Methodist, the Congregational, the Baptist, an the Quakers, and many others.(3)All these sects agree on the essentials of Christianity, but have different forms of service and points of emphasis.

The Quakers贵格派：(1)Also known as the Religious Society of Friends. The Quakers are a Protestant group that originated in England in the 17th century, under George Fox.(2)They refuse to participate in the church of England services.(3)They advocate simple living and hard work and believe in complete equality and fraternity.


Chapter10

The eleven-plus十一岁附加考试：（1）Under the old selective system of secondary education in Britain, the “eleven-plus” is the examination taken by children in their last year at primary school.(2)The results of this examination determine the kind of secondary schooling each child will receive.(3)Those with the highest marks go to grammar school ;other children may go to technical schools or secondary modern schools.(4)In the 1960s and 70s, this examination was abolished

and has ever since gradually been replaced by comprehensive schools which take children of all abilities.

Grammar schools语法学校：(1)It’s a type of state secondary schools in Britain. It has been in existence since the 16th century.(2)These schools concentrate on academic subjects and expect many of their children to take higher examinations and go on to universities.(3)Now, its importance in the British educational system has been largely diminished due to the growth of comprehensive schools.

Public school公学：(1)It’s a kind of independent privately-owned secondary boarding schools in Britain.(2)These schools are financially supported by tuition fees and private funds.(3)Most of their students come from rich families and are very likely to go on to famous universities.(4)The word “public” is a traditional one with little meaning today since far from being public these schools are restricted to a comparatively small section of the population.

Prep schools准备学校：(1)Also called preparatory schools. They are private elementary schools in Britain, which prepare their students for public schools.(2)The prep school curriculum differs considerably from that of the state junior schools, and there is a distinctive emphasis on classical subjects.(3)At the age of thirteen, the pupils will take the “common entrance” examination for admission to a public school.

Open University开放大学：(1)As a new type of higher education, Open University only appeared in Britain in 1969.(2)It’s open to everybody, especially to people who have missed the opportunity for higher education.(3)It doesn’t demand the same formal qualification as the other universities.(4)It uses modern communications means such as television, radio or correspondence.(5)It’s non-residential although there is a network of study centers throughout the country for contact with tutors and fellow students.(6)After passing the examinations of all required course, students are awarded a university degree.

Comprehensive schools综合中学：Comprehensive schools take pupils without reference to ability or aptitude and provide a wide-ranging secondary education for all or most of the children in a district.

The Times泰晤士报：(1)It’s the most famous of all British national newspapers and is read by the most important British all over the world.(2)Politically it is independent, though it is traditionally inclined to be more sympathetic to the Conservative Party.(3)It’s not an organ of the British government and has a reputation for extreme caution is its attitude.

BBC英国广播公司：(1)It’s the abbreviation of British Broadcasting Corporation.(2)It has both radio and television services.(3)For radio broadcasting, it uses 39 languages and broadcasts to the whole world.(4)There is no advertisement on any BBC program.(5)It’s financed by payments which must be made by all people who own television sets.(6)It has a Board of Go

vernors, who are appointed by the Government.