Unit1
Ⅰ
Britainisnolongeranimperialcountry.
TheCommonwealthofNationsincludesallEuropeancountries.英联邦国家包括英国及其前殖民地
1in10oftheBritishpopulationareofnon-Europeanethnicity.1in20
ThestereotypeofEnglishgentlemenneverappliedtothemajorityoftheBritishpeople.
WhenpeopleoutsidetheUKtalkaboutEngland,theymistakeitasBritishsometimes.
TheScotsandWelshhaveastrongsenseofbeingBritish.Theweakestsense
ScotlandwasneverconqueredbytheRomans.
MostpeopleinScotlandspeaktheoldCelticlanguage,Gaelic.Lessthan19%ofthepopulationinWales
ScotlandwasunifiedwithEnglandthroughpeacefulmeans.
Walesisrichincoaldeposits.(Andsteel)
Cardiff,thecapitalofWales,isalargecity.Small
ThetitleofPrinceofWalesisheldbyaWelshaccordingtotradition.theEnglishking–EdwardtheFirst
Ⅱ
WhichofthefollowingisNOTconsideredacharacteristicofLondon?
D.Thesportscenter
WhichofthefollowingisNOTtrueaboutthecharacteristicsofBritain?
B.DifferencesofsocialsystemsbetweenScotlandandWales.
WhichofthefollowingisNOTtrueaboutBritain?
D.Itusedtobeoneofthesuperpowersintheworld.
ThreeofthefollowingarecharacteristicsofLondon.Whichofthefouristheexception?
C.LondonisnotonlythelargestcityintheBritain,butalsothelargestintheworld.
TheTowerofLondon,ahistoricalsight,locatedinthecenterofLondon,wasbuiltby_____.
D.WilliamtheConqueror
WhoweretheancestorsoftheEnglishandthefoundersofEngland?
A.TheAnglo-Saxons
WhichofthelargestcityinScotland?
C.Glasgow(Endinburgh-capitalofScotland)
WhydidtheScottishkingsdecidetoformanindependentsingularScottishstateinthe9thcentury?
A.TheyneededaunifiedindependentnationtofightagainstVikingraids.
WheredothemajorityofpeopleinScotlandlive?
B.Inthelowlands.
WhichofthefollowingstatementsisNOTtrue?
B.WaleswasoccupiedbytheAnglo-Saxons.
WhichofthefollowingpartiesinScotlandstillwantsanindependentScotland?
C.TheScottishNationalistParty苏格兰民族党
WhendidScotlandjointheUnionbyagreementoftheEnglishanScottishparliaments?
D.In1707
LlywelynapGruffuddisnotasimplehistoricalfigurefortheWelsh.HeisalmostconsideredthelegendaryheroofWelshnationalismbecause____________.
D.HeunifiedWalesasanindependentnation.
Ⅲ
1.WhatwastheBritishEmpire?Whatdoyouknowaboutit?Inwhatwayisthe“Empire”stillfeltinBritainandintheinternationalfield?
TheBritishEmpirewasestablishedfromthecolonialageandreachedculminatedintheVictorianAge.ItconsistedoftheGreatBritainanditscoloniesworldwide---India,Americancontinent,southAsia,Iranandsoon.Theempirewassupportedbytheunmatchedseapower无与伦比的ofthiscountryandresourcefromthecolonieshelpedsustainthekeepingandgrowthoftheempire.
TheremnantsoftheempirecanbefeltintheCommonwealthofNationswhichisaverylooseorganizationbetweenwhatusedtobeBritishcolonies(Canada,Australia,India....).TheethnicandreligiousdiversityofBritainformedbythemassmigrationofresidentsfromCommonwealthcountries.Thehugesumofoverseasinvestmentisalsoacontinuationofthebusinesspatternofimperialtime.
NotpossibletosumupBritishpeople
First,theBritishpeoplearemadeofdifferentelements.Secondly,UKnowisamultiracialsociety,andtherecentgroupsofimmigrantshavebroughtaspectsoftheirownculturewiththemwhichsitsidebysidewithmoretraditionallyBritishwayoflife.Thirdly,Britainisdividedeconomically;it’sasocietywithaclass-structure.Andtheregiondifferenceisveryobvious,forexample,thesouthiswealthierthanthenorth.Andthereisalsothedifferencebetweenthecapitalandotherprovinces.SoEnglishpeoplediffersinmanywaysandit’simpossibletosumuptheminafewwords.
Ahistoryofinvasion
Inthe43ADBritainwasinvadedbytheRomanEmpireandEnglandandWalesbecamepartoftheRomanEmpirefornearly400years.
Influence:oneofthebestknownEnglishlegend,thestoryofKingArthur,derivesfromthistimeandhasbeenembellishedbysingers,poets,novelistsandevenfilmmakerseversince.
Inthelate8thcentury,raidersfromScandinavia,theferociousVikings,threatenedtheBritainshores.LargeareasofnorthernandeasternEnglandwereundertheircontrol.
Influence:Untiltoday,thereisstillcertainculturaldividebetweennorthernersandsoutherners.Therichersouthernerstendtothinknorthernersaslesssophisticatedthanthemselves,whilenorthernersthinksouthernersarrogantandunfriendly.Theyalsohavedifferentaccent.
In1066,thedescendantsofVikingscrossedtheEnglishChannelunderWilliamofNormandy.ThismarksthelasttimethatanarmyfromtheoutsidetheBritishIslessucceededininvading.
Influence:theTowerofLondonbuiltbyWilliam.Importedrulingclass.Thenext30yearsmaybethoughtofasaNormanaristocracyrulingalargelySaxonandEnglish-speakingpopulation.
4.WhataresomegeneralcharacteristicsofScotland?HowdidScotlandbecomepartofGreatBritain?
ScotlandisthesecondlargestofthefournationsofGreatBritain.ItwasthemostruggedpartoftheUKwithscarcelypopulatedmountainsinthenorthandsouth.Mostpeopleliveinthelowland.Ithasaverystrongsenseofregionalidentityandtheuniqueculture.SpeakinginhistoryitwasnotconqueredbyRomeorAnglo-Saxonsandwasunifiedbyitself.
ThereexistedawiderangeofmarriagebetweenaristocratsandevenroyalfamiliesbetweenEnglandandScotland.In1603,whenQueenElizabeththeFirstdiedchildless,JamestheSixthofScotlandbecameinheritedthethroneandbecameJamestheFirstofEngland,thusthetwocountrieswasunitedunderthesamekingship.In1707bytheagreementoftheEnglishandScottishparliament,ScotlandjoinedtheUnion.Severalrebellionswerequelled平息；镇压bytheEnglishandinthisway,clancultureofScotlandwasdestroyed.InScotlandActin1998,theScottsweregrantedrightstoestablishtheirowngovernmentwhileitremainstobepartofBritain.
DescribecharacteristicsofWalesandWales’unificationwithGreatBritain.
SmallestamongthethreenationsontheBritishmainland,largerthanNI.HillierandmoreruggedthanadjacentpartsofEngland.DominatedbyEnglandforlongerthanothernationsoftheUnion.Despitethenearnessandlong-standingpoliticalintegration,itremainsapowerfulsenseofitsdifferencefromEngland.Retainsitsownlanguage—Welsh.Richcoaldeposit,andcoal-miningisakeyindustryfortheWelsh.Successfulinattractinginvestmentfromabroad—particularlyJapanandtheUnitedStates.
WaleswasconqueredbytheRomans.Aftertheyleft,itdividedintoseparateKingdomsbutdidn’tfalltotheAnglo-Saxoninvadersofthe5thcentury.ButWaleswasalwaysunderpressurefromitsEnglishneighbor,sotherewasaneedtounifyWalestosuccessfullyresisttheEnglish.ThePrinceofWalesforcedtheEnglishtoacknowledgehimin1267.Afterhedied,EdwardtheFirstsetaboutconqueringWales.Thelastattempttoresisttheprocessfailedin15thcentury.In1536,Waleswasbroughtlegally,administrativelyandpoliticallyintotheUKbyanactofBritishParliament.
ArethereanydifferencesbetweenEngland,ScotlandandWalesintermsofculturaltradition?
Inhistory,thecultureofEnglishisdominantinmainstreamBritishdiscourse论述andwasinanaggressivepositiontowardcultureofotherparts.ItwentthroughtheinfluenceofRome,Anglo-Saxons,raidsformVikingandtheRomanConquest.Aftertheconquest,thehighclassculturewasimportedfromFranceanddevelopeditsuniquecharacterinlateryearsofdevelopment.Liketheairofgentlemen,somewhatconservativemindsetandcultureofdistinctclasses.
WhileenjoyingacommonculturalbackgroundofGreatBritain,ScotlandhasitsuniqueculturalidentitythatcannotbeabsorbedbytheEnglish.Becauseitwasneverfullyconqueredbyexternalinvaders,despitethefactthatpartoftheclanculturewasdestroyedbytheEnglishinthequell,muchofitsoriginalhighlandculturepersiststilltoday.TherealsoexistsadistinctionbetweenitslowlandandhighlandcultureinScotland.AndScotlandalsocontributedmanygreatmindsofscienceandphilosophy,likeAdamSmith.ThisgaveScottsthesenseofidentityunderthesurfaceofintegration.
WalesismoreintegratedthanScotland,itwasconqueredbytheRomeArmy.ThetimeofWalebeingunitedbyitselfwasveryshortandwassoonintegratedintoBritain.OneimportantculturaliconofWalesisitslanguage,aCeltictonguetotallydifferentfromEnglishandwasspokenby19percentofitspopulations.SincemostwelshspeakersareinthenorthpartofWales,theculturedivisionbetweenthemorepopulated,industrySouthandruralNorthcanbefelt.
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