英美概况简答辨析题

1.What is the geographical position of the UK?

Britain is an island country, situated in the northwest of Europe and surrounded by the sea. It lies to the north of France and the west of the Netherlands and Denmark. It lies in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north coast of Europe. It is separated from the rest of Europe by the English Channel in the south and the North Sea in the east. Its only land border with another nation is Northern Ireland and Ireland on the Island of Ireland.

2.What is the United Kingdom geographical and politically composed of?

Geographically, it is a union made up of four constituent countries: England , Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. While, politically, plus several overseas territories.

3.Why can’t the term “English” be used to address all the people of the U.K?

This is because the United Kingdom includes regions of England, Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland .English refers to the people of England, which is only part of the United Kingdom.

4.What is the historical relationsh ip between “Northern Ireland” and “Ireland”?

For over a century since 1801, Ireland had been part of the United Kingdom .But in 1922, the Irish Free State declared its independence, leaving only six northern countries inside the Union to be called Northern Ireland.

5.英国历史上的几次侵略：

The earliest people settled in Britain were nomads from mainland Europe in the Old Stone Age, founded by Neolithic Iberians and the Beaker Fork in the Bronze Age. Between 600BC and 43AD, a wave of Celtic tribes from Europe settled in Britain , bringing in an Iron Age civilization and two languages that became the later Gaelic and Welsh. Romans invaded Britain in 55BC.Between the 5th and the 7th centuries, Germanic people from Europe—the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes —arrived in massive numbers, who have come to constitute Britain’s present predominant stock. Their language became the foundation of basic, short, everyday words in modern English. During the 8th and 9th centuries, Vikings settled in Britain and Ireland ,but were eventually subdued and integrated by the Anglo-Saxon civilization. In 1066,French Normans conquered England. It was the last invasion in Britain’s history.

6. the significance of Normandy invade

The Normans ,allied with the English royal family only by marriage and not by blood ,were the l ast invaders in history to conquer the British Isles.

7.①How did the English Civil War break out ? ②what is the consequence of the war ?③what is the significance of the Civil War ?

答①：Charles I, son of James I ,succeed to the throne in 1625 .He inherited from his father a complete and un shakable belief in Divine Right Kingship and demanded outright loyalty in return for just rule .And his nation was involved in wars with foreign countries (Spain, France),needing large amount of money to fund the war ,so Charles I imposed heavy tax on people ,But parliament fought to limit the power of the prerogative and to guarantee the civil liberties through the Petition of Right .This led to a serious break between the two ,and eventually to a war known as the English Civil War .The war included a series of armed conflicts and political machinations which took place between Parliamentarians and Royalist from 1642 to 1651.The Civil War had lasted about 9years .

②：The Civil War culminated in the trial and beheading of Charles I, the exile of his son Charles II，and the replacement of the English monarchy with the Commonwealth of England

③:1:politically speaking ,the English Civil War was a constitutional issue between a king who claimed to rule by divine right and represented the feudal nobility ,and a parliament representing the new gentry ,merchants and landholding peasants who claimed real sovereignty .

2:Religiously speaking , it was a conflicting division within the one protestant religion : between the Anglican belief and the anti-royal puritan ideology.

8．what’s the Queen’s role as monarch?(角色、权利)

The current Queen’s title in the United Kingdom is “Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her Other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith”. Her Majesty is not only the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, but also the Head of State of 15 other realms and Head of the Commonwealth. In theory, the monarch has enormous powers but, in reality, given the nature of the constitutional monarchy, she just reigned but not ruled. The Crown mainly performs ceremonial duties whose work consists largely of signing papers.

9. 英国的政治构成（political institution）:

The UK Parliament institution consists of two main parts ——the crown and the parliament, and the parliament comprises two elements :the non-elected House of Lords ,and the elected House of commons ,of which the latter is the source of real political power in the United Kingdom .The House of Commons is the assembly chamber for the 651 Members of Parliament who are elected by people of their constituencies . The leader of the party becomes the prime minister , head of the government .The House of lords is more a place of discussion than one of substantial power. It forms only a very moderate check in legislation on the House of Commons.

10. 美国的地理位置：

American is a federal republic with 50 states .The forty-sight contiguous states lie between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans , Canada and Mexico .The two states that share no boundaries with the rest of the country , Alaska and Hawaii are located in the far northwest corner of the continent and middle of the Pacific ocean,respectively.

12. Why is the United States called "a nation of immigrants"

The country was settled by the British who came over here looking for "religious freedom" from England. But in the late 1700's straight through to the late 18's and the turn of the century, it grew because of the multi-skills and hard work of immigrants who came here in droves, from all over Europe. They, too, were seeking their freedom, mostly from economic oppression in their countries. America offered them opportunity, and their contribution to our growth and culture is immeasurable. The U.S. has been referred to as a "melting pot," a blend of various cultures, nationalities and religions. To define an "American" is only possible with regard to someone born in this country, or someone who chooses to become a citizen of this country, because in both cases, each can most certainly trace their roots to other countries and cultures.