Major Terms
The United States of America
1.The Mississippi -----It is the most important and longest reiver in the US. It flows about 6400
km from its northwestern source in the Rockies to the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi and its tributariies drain one of the richest farm areas in the world.
2.The melting pot-----It means that the US is composed of immigrants from different nations all
over the world.
3.W ASPs-----It stands for White Anglo-Saxon Protestants. They are the mainstream of
Americans who are the descentdents of the early English settlers.
4.Jamestown-----The first permanent colony established by the English in 1607.
5.Declaration of Independence-----The United States Declaration of Independence is a
statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies should be free and independent states. It was drafted by Thomas Jefferson.
6.Bill of Rights-----The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to
the United States Constitution. The Bill of Rights is a series of limitations on the power of the United States federal government, protecting the natural rights of liberty and property including freedom of religion, freedom of speech, a free press, free assembly, and free association, as well as the right to keep and bear arms. In federal criminal cases, it requires indictment by a grand jury for any capital or "infamous crime", guarantees a speedy, public trial with an impartial jury composed of members of the state or judicial district in which the crime occurred, and prohibits double jeopardy. In addition, the Bill of Rights reserves for the people any rights not specifically mentioned in the Constitution and reserves all powers not specifically granted to the federal government to the people or the States.
7.The Louisiana Purchase-----The acquisition by the United States of America of 2,147,000
km2France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S. paid $11,250,000 plus cancellation of debts worth $3,750,000, for a total sum of 15 million dollars for the Louisiana territory ($219 million in 2010 dollars).
8.Gettysburg Address-----A speech by Lincoln on Nov. 19,1863 after the northern victory at
Gettysburg. The speech was considered unimportant at the time, but has come to be viewed by the Americans as one of the most significant expressions of American democracy.
9.Emancipation Proclamation-----An executive order issued by United States President
Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War under his war powers.
It proclaimed the freedom of 3.1 million of the nation's 4 million slaves, and immediately freed 50,000 of them, with the rest freed as Union armies advanced.
10.Ku Klux Klan-----Racist terrorist organization in the U.S. organized by veterans of the
Confederate army, first as a social club and then as a secret means of resisting Reconstruction and restoring white domination over newly enfranchised blacks.
11.The Gilded Age-----A term refering to substantial growth in population in the United States
and extravagant displays of wealth and excess of America's upper-class during the post-Civil
War and post-Reconstruction era, in the late 19th century (1865-1901). Modern America’s formative period, when an agrarian society of small producers was transformed into an urban society dominated by industrial corporations.
12.Open door policy-----It is a statement of U.S. foreign policy toward China. Issued by U.S.
secretary of state John Hay (1899), the statement reaffirmed the principle that all imperialist powers should have equal access to any Chinese port open to trade.
13.Big Stick Policy-----A form of hegemony and was the slogan describing U.S. President
Theodore Roosevelt’s corollary推论to the Monroe Doctrine. The term originated from the African proverb "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far." The idea of negotiating peacefully, simultaneously threatening with the "big stick", or the military.
14.V eto power-----The power of the US President to unilaterally stop an official action,
especially enactment of a piece of legislation.
15.Party platform-----A party platform, also known as a manifesto, is a list of the actions which
a political party supports in order to appeal to the general public for the purpose of having
said party's candidates voted into office. This often takes the form of a list of support for, or opposition to, controversial topics. Individual topics are often called planks of the platform. 16.Federalism-----Federalism means the division of powers by a constitution between the central
government and state government. It operates only on two levels, the national and the state.
Units of government within a state enjoy no independent existence.
17.The black death-----It was a disease or plague spread by rat fleas in 14th century. It spread
through Europe in the middle of the 14th century and reached England in the summer of 1348.
Many people died and the population of England shrank. It caused labor shortage and other social problems.
18.The Hundred Years’ War-----It refers to the war between France and England that lasted for
more than 100 years (1337-1467). The causes were partly territorial and partly economic.
After three stages of the war, the English were driven out of France with only Calais in hand.
The ending of war is regarded as a blessing for both countries.
19.Thanksgiving Day-----it is an annul one-day holiday to give thanks at the conclusion of the
harvest season. The United States celebrates Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November.
20.Townshend Acts of 1767-----The Townshend Acts were a series of acts passed beginning in
1767 by the Parliament of Great Britain relating to the British colonies in North America. The acts are named for Charles Townshend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who proposed the program.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
21.The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle-----The first official history of England started by Alfred the
Great.
22.The Domesday Book-----A detailed record (1086) of all the wealth of England including all
land and property, every mill and cottage, every cow and pig. It also records the rights and duties of every landowner and every court.
23.The Westminster Abby-----An abby built by Edward the Confessor and later most of the
British kings and queens have been crown here and many of them have been buries here.
There is also a poets’ corner where many British men of letters are buried.
https://www.doczj.com/doc/8e13202565.html,mon Law-----(also known as case law or precedent), is law developed by judges
through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action. A "common law system" is a legal system that gives great precedential weight to common law, on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different occasions.
25.Magna Carta-----A feudal charter of liberties issued at Runnymede by King John under
the coercion of the barons and a group of church men under Langton. The charter attempted to protect the rights of the barony against encroachment by the royal prerogative.
26.Utopia-----A political and philosophical treatise by Sir Thomas More, in the form of an
account of an imaginary, newly discovered country.
27.Renaissance-----The word was first used by Italian scholars in mid-16th C to express the
rediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek culture, which was now studied for its own sake and not used merely to enhance the authority of the Church.
28.Puritan-----A member of a Protestant Movement in England in 16th and 17th
Centuries, which sought to purify worship in the Church of England by excluding everything for which authority could not be found in the Bible.
29.Glorious Revolution------also called the Revolution of 1688, was the overthrow of King
James II of England by a union of Parliamentarians with an invading army led by William of Orange who, as a result, ascended the English throne as William III of England. The resultant Bill of Right (1689) marked the ascendancy of parliamentary authority over the divine right that had been claimed by the Stuarts. This marked the real beginning of the constitutional monarchy in England.
30.Renaissance-----cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century,
beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. As a cultural movement, it encompassed a resurgence of learning based on classical sources, the development of linear perspective in painting, and gradual but widespread educational reform.
Traditionally, this intellectual transformation has resulted in the Renaissance being viewed as
a bridge between the Middle Ages and the Modern era.
《英语国家概况》课程习题集西南科技大学成人、网络教育学院版权所有 习题 【说明】：本课程《英语国家概况》（编号为12010）共有单选题,名词解释题,简答题,填空题2等多种试题类型，其中，本习题集中有[简答题]等试题类型未进入。 一、单选题 1. Celts were different groups of ancient people who came originally from________ A. France B. Denmark C. Ireland D. Germany 2. Who invaded and conquered Britain for the first time in 55 BC? A. Emperor Claudius B. Julius Caesar C. King Alfred D. King Ethelred 3. Who is the author of Murder in the Cathedral? A. Christopher Marlowe B. T. S. Eliot C. Ben Johnson D. Thomas Becket 4.When Oliver Cromwell died in 1658, and was succeeded by his son, ______, the regime began immediately to collapse. A. Henry B. Hamilton C. Richard D. Charles 5. The 18th century saw selective breeding of cattle, sheep and houses by _________. A. Jethro Tull B. Thomas Coke C. George III D. Robert Bakewell 6. Which of the following is not one of the members of the Lords Temporal? A. all hereditary peers and peeresses of the England, Scotland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom (but not peers of Ireland) B. lire peers created to assist the House in its judicial duties C. senior bishops of the Church of England D. all other life peers 7. Two years after the ending of the Hundred Years’ War with France, England was thrown into another series of civil wars, ________. A. the War of the Celts
The bill of rights The bill of rights consists of the first 10 amendments which were added to the Constitution in 1791 .the bill of rights was passed to guarantee freedom and individual rights such as freedom of speech , the rights to assemble in public places , the rights to own weapons and so on . The great depression The Great Depression was the worst economic slump ever in U.S. history, and one which spread to virtually all of the industrialized world. The depression began in late 1929 and lasted for about a decade. WASP It stands for the white Anglo-Saxon Protestant. it is the dominant group in the US controlling economic assets and political power The civil rights movement The American civil rights movement (1955-1968)refers to the reform movements in the united states aimed at abolishing racial discrimination against African American and restoring suffrage in southern states The westward movement American Westward Movement, movement of people from the settled regions of the United States to lands farther west. Between the early 17th and late 19th centuries, Anglo-American peoples and their societies expanded from the Atlantic Coast to the Pacific Coast. George Washington George Washington was one of the founding fathers of the America republic , he was the commander-in –chief of the Continental Army in the war of Independence against the British colonial rule and the first president of the the United States Industrial Revolution in American After independence ,America was principally an agricultural country ,the industrial revolution in England brought many to American industry between 1776 and 1860 , one key development was the introduction of the factory system , A second development was the application of new technologies to industrial tasks ,A fourth development was the emergence of new forms of business organization-the bank and the corporation Three faiths in the US By the 1950s ,the three faiths model of American religion had developed , American were considered to come in three basic varieties : protestant , catholic and Jewish ,in terms of numbers ,the protestants and Jewish are the smallest among the groups Boards of education Boards of education refer to groups of people who make policies for schools at the state and district level ,they also make decision about the school curriculum , teachers standards and certification ,and the overall measurement of student progress Consumer economy an economy driven by consumer spending as a percent of its gross domestic product, as opposed to the other major components of GDP
英语国家概况名词解释 1、The Constitution:Britain has no written foundations of the British state are laid out in statute law,which are laws passed by Parliament; the common laws, which are laws established through commom practice in courts;and conventions. 2、The house of Common: It’s the real center of British political life because it is the place where about 650 elected representatives(Members of Parliament) make and debate policy,These MPs are elected in the General Elections and should represent the interests of the people who vote for them. 3、The electoral campaign:Before a general election,the political parties would start their electoral campaigns in order to make their ideologies and policies known to the campaign involves advertisements in newspapers, door-to-door campaigning,postal deliveries of leaflets and ‘party electoral broadcasts” on the parties also try to attack and critisise the opponents’,these campaigns sometimes can be quite aggressive and critical. 4、Class system in British society:The class system does exist in British of British population would claim themselves to be either of middle-class or working-class,though some people would actually belong to the upper middle-class or lower divisions are not simply economic,they are cultural as of different classes may defferent may differ in the kind of newspaper they read,in the way they speak and in the kind of education they of the distinctive features about the British class system is that aristocratic titles can still be inherited. 5、Relative decline of the UK economy:The UK has experienced an economic decline since this is a relative decline rather than an absolute is wealthier and more productive than it was in 1945,but since other countries developed more rapidly,it has slid from being the second largest economy to being the six. 6、Comprehensive schools:are the most popular secondary schools in Britain schools admit children without reference to their academic abilities and provide a general can study everything from academic subjects like literature to more practical subjects like cooking 7、Grammar school s:it’s a type of secondary schools in schools select children at the age 11,through an examination called “the 11-plus”.Those children with the highest marks go to grammar schools lay emphasis on advanced academic subjects rather than the more general curriculum of the comprehensive schools and expect many of their pupils to go on to universities. 8、Independent schools:are commonly called public schools which are actually private schools that receive their funding through the private sector and tuition rates,with some government schools are not part of national education system,but the quality of instruction and standards are maintained through visits from Her Majesty’s Inspectors of schools are restricted to the students whose parents are comparatively rich. 9、the first English settle in North America:The first English permanent settlement was organized in 1607 by the London Company with a charter from the English colonists settled in Virginia and survived by imposing strict discipline on themselves and by transplanting tobacco into the colony of 1619,the settlers elected their delegates and set up the House of Burgesses,and the same time they bought and enslaved
名词解释： 1.Great Britain: shortened as Britain ,it can be a geographical term ,referring to the island on which England ,Wales and Scotland are situated ,together with numerous smaller islands . 2.The Union Flag :also known as the Union Jack ,it is the national flag of the United Kingdom . 3.God Save the King /Queen : the national anthem of the United Kingdom. https://www.doczj.com/doc/8e13202565.html,ke Poets: English poets at the turn of the 19th century who lived in the Lake District of England and were inspired by it to create romantic works . 5.Domesday Book(土地财产清册)：The written record of a census and survey of English landowners and their property made by order of William the Conqueror in 1085-1086 . 6.Black Death (黑死病)：also known as the Black Plague ,it was a devastating pandemic(流行 的) that first struck European in the mid-14th century . 7.Gunpowder Plot(火药阴谋)：conspiracy of a group of English Catholics to blow up the House of Parliament where King James I was present on 5 November ,1605.The plan was discovered and Guy Frank was caught and burnt alive .In England ,5 November is celebrated with bonfire ,fireworks and the burning of the effigies.(肖像)。 8.The Petition of Right （权利请愿书）：a document produced by the English Parliament in the run-up to the English Civil War .It was addressed to Charles I of England in 1628. 9.T he Hundred Years' War: The Hundred Years’ War refers to the war between Englan d and Franc e that lasted intermittently from 1337 to 1453. The causes o f the war wer e partly territorial and partly economic. ①The territorial causes were related with the possession by the English kings of the large duchy of Aquitaine in France, as the F rench kings grew stronger, the y increasingly coveted this large slice. ②The economic causes were connected with cloth manufacturing towns in Flanders, which were the importer of English wool, but they were loyal to the French king politically. Besides, England's desire to ③s top France from giving aid to Scots and ④a growing sense of nationalism were the other causes.一。 The English's being driven out of France is ①regarded as a blessing for both countrie s. If the English had remained in France, the superior size and wealth of France would h ave ②hindered the development of a separate English national identity, ③while France was hindered so long as a foreign power occupied so much French territory. 10.Constitutional monarchy (君主立宪制):The United Kingdom ,as the name implies, rem ains a monarchy, but one with limited power 11.Social Security (社会保障):The Social Security system is designed to secure a basic st andard of living for people in financial need “from the cradle to the grave”. 12.The church of England :The Church of England ,also called the Anglican Church(英 国国教),is the established or national church in England . 13.Westminster Abbey :a famous church located in London ,where English monarchs are crowded and distinguished English subjects are buried .The Poets’Corner contains th e graves o f great English writer ,includin g Geoffrey Chaucer and Robert Browning.
1. The civil rights movement It is one of the most important of all social movements in the 1960s in America. Rosa Parks’ spontaneous action in 1955 was believed to the true beginning of the civil rights movement. The black students’ sit-in at a department lunch counter in North Carolina touched off the nationwide civil rights movement. During the first half of the decade, civil rights organizations like the SNCC,CORE,and SCLC struggled for racial intergration by providing leaderships,network and the people. In the latter half of the decade, some black organizations changed their nonviolent tactics, and emphasized on more radical means to end discrimination and raised the self-image of the blacks. The civil rights movement produced such great leaders as Martin Luther King. Jr, and Malcolm X, who inspired a generation of both blacks and whites to devote their lives to fighting for racial equality in th US. 2.A federal system【联邦制】 It is one in which power is shared between a central authority and its constiuent parts, with some rights reserved to each. 3.King Arthur It is said that he was the King of England in the 5th century and united the British and drove the Saxons back with his magica sword,Excalibur. His real existence is in doubt. He is the central figure of many legends. 4. The Anglo-Saxons They were two groups of Germanic peoples who settled down in England from the 5th century. They were regarded as the ancestors of the English and the founders of England. 5. Riverdance[大河舞] It is a very popular form of dancing based on Ireland’s intricate[错综复杂的]folk dances which are rearranged and modernized and adapted onto current stage performance. Dancing is traditionally part of Irish culture. It is usually accompanied by the Irish pipe and fiddle. The music usually sounds fast and furious. Most of the action
The industrial revolution refers to the mechanization of industry and the consequent changes in social and economic organization in Britain in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Britain was the first country to industrialize. The industrial revolution A period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, production, and transportation had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions in Britain. The Industrial Revolution, was a period of unprecedented technological, economic and social change that completely transformed British culture from a largely rural, static society with limited production and division of labour into the world's first modern industrial society. the Black Death It was the deadly bubonic plague who spread through Europe in the 14th century. It swept through England without warning and any cure, and sparing no victims. It killed between half and one-third of the population of England. Thus, much land was left untended and labor was short. It caused far-reaching economic consequences. The Black Death----It was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. It is widely thought to have been an outbreak of bubonic plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestisis and have started in Central Asia. It came without warning, and without any cue.The Black Death is estimated to have killed30% to 60% of Europe's population and had profound effects on the course of European history. In England, it killed almost half of the total population, causing far-reaching economic consequences. the Progressive Movement The Progressive Movement is a movement demanding government regulation of the economy and social conditions. It spread quickly with the support of large numbers of people across the country. It was not an organized campaign with clearly defined goals.(Rather, it was a number of diverse efforts at political, social, and economic reforms. In spite of limitations of the movement, it brought about changes and improvement in many fields.) Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and about 410. Britannia already had cultural and economic links with Continental Europe, but the invaders introduced new developments in agriculture, urbanisation, industry and architecture, leaving a legacy that is still apparent today. The first Romans to campaign extensively in Britain were
题型：选择，判断，名词解释，填空 名词解释重点整理如下： 英国经济的相对衰落：英国已经历了经济的下降，因为1945.But这是一个相对而不 是绝对的下降。英国是富裕和更富有成效的，比它在1945年，但由于其他国家的发展更为迅速，从第二大经济体，第六下滑。 私有化在1908s：英国经济在20世纪70年代经历了一个特别恶劣的时期，高通胀率和英镑贬值，因此，在20世纪80年代，当根据撒切尔夫人的保守党执政时期，一个广泛的方案。进行了私有化。许多国有企业（如钢铁，电信，天然气，航空航天）到了私人公司的私有化是在控制通货膨胀取得了成功，但同时失业率迅速上升。 英国经济的主要部门：主要行业，如农业，渔业和采矿，制造这些初级产品的复杂商品的第二产业;和大专（或服务）的产业，如：英国国家经济可以划分成三个主要领域银行，保险，旅游业和零售业。 综合学校：综合学校是在英国最流行的中学，这些学校承认不参考他们的学术能力的儿童提供普通教育的学生可以学习一切从喜欢文学，喜欢烹饪的实用科目的学科。 文法学校。文法学校在英国中学的类型选择通过一个名为“11 - PULS”考试在11 岁以下的儿童，这些儿童与最高分去文法学校，这些学校打好重点上先进的学科，而不是更普遍的综合学校的课程，并期望他们的学生去上大学。 俗称独立学校：独立学校是公立学校，这实际上是私人学校接收他们通过私营部门和学费率的资金，与一些政府援助的独立学校是不是国民教育体系的一部分，但教学的质量和标准。通过参观女王陛下的学校督察保持这些学校限制学生的父母都比较丰富。公开大学：。开放大学是在英国成立的1960年为人们谁可能不会得到经济和社会原因高等教育机会的它是对所有人开放，并并没有要求在同一个正式的其他大学教育资格大学其次通过电视，广播，通信，视频和Q研究中心的净工作课程，公开大学学业结束。成功的学生将被授予大学学位。 邦联条：独立战争胜利后，美国新的国家是一个虚弱的国民政府组织联合会章程协议下的所谓国会，每个国家都有自己的政府，其自身的规律。和处理其内部事务。国家没有与美国国会和相互合作。大会没有权力强迫任何国家出钱国家的政府和国会不能任何公民征税。因此，文章邦联失败。 一个联邦制度：一个联邦制度是其中的电源之间共享一个中央机关及其组成部分，保留给每个前来的权利，。 美国宪法的制定：联邦章程失败，大会决定举行制宪会议修改联合会章程12States （罗德岛州拒绝参加）的代表聚集在费城在1787and在写一个新的结束。宪法和联 邦制度与一个强大的中央政府。宪法规定，总统选举将被称为，联邦法律将只能由国会众议院众议院和参议院和S最高法院将成立，终于批准了新宪法，大多数市民在 9of 13States是在1787年正式生效。 。执行：行政长官是谁当选一个四年任期的总统根据在1951.The总统通过了一项修 正案，只有两个词可以选出一位总统可以向国会提出立法建议，他可以否决任何法案国会通过。否决权，可以通过在两院三分之二多数票覆盖。总统可以任命联邦法官空缺出现，他是军队的首席指挥官。布什总统在政府运作等广泛当局部门和处理外交关系。 人权：人权法案条例草案，其中在1791年宪法第10修正案，权利的条例草案获得 通过，以保证自由和个人权利，如言论自由，集会权在公共场所自己的武器等的权利。
英美概况名词解释刘春艳 Glorious Revolution：After the Restoration of the Stuart, the King adopted some measures to protect the interests of the bourgeoisie, but took revenge on the revolutionaries. Under the reign of James Ⅱ, expansion of the king’s power soon clashed with the interests of the bourgeoisie and in 1688, the two bourgeois political parties, the Tories and the Whigs, united together and staged a bloodless coup d’état and put William of Orange on the throne. They formed an alliance with the landowners. This was spoken of by Englishmen as the “Glorious Revolution”. Lake District: Lake District is a region in Northwest of England, which is very famous for its many beautiful lakes and Lake Poets who were once born and lived there. Redbrick: Redbrick is a name for a group of universities founded between 1850 and 1930, aimed at providing higher education for local inhabitants who could not afford the cost of going away from home for their studies. Oxbridge:Oxbridge refers to the two must famous higher education institutions in England: Oxford and Cambridge. Included in this group are four other universities founded in Scotland in the 15th and 16th centuries. Gold Rush: Gold Rush was one of the greatest mass movements in modern history, in which thousands of people came to California from all over the world to seek their fortunes in the rocks when gold was discovered in San Francisco in 1848. As a result of Gold Rush, the whole continent of North America was settled within 19th century. Melting Pot：Melting Pot is metaphorically used to refer to the United States because it is a country of many ethnic groups from different parts of the world, who came to the New World to seek for freedom in politics or religion. They have been dissipating their different ethnic cultures toward some “standard” by living and working together in the “melting pot”of the United States and gradually forming a new nation. WASP: The word “WASPs” is the abbreviation of White Anglo-Saxon Protestants. They were early settlers on North America from England, Northern and Western Europe. At present, they constitute the largest and dominant ethnic group in the United States. Yellow Dog:“Yellow dog” contracts. In the late of 19th century, along the development of workers’ unions, capitalists in America forced workers to sign contracts pledging not to join unions so as to sabotage the unions. Such contracts are called “yellow dog” contracts. The Renaissance: T he Renaissance was a cultural movement by progressive thinkers who represented the interests of the rising bourgeoisie and worked for freedom and enlightenment. Higher Education:Higher education in America includes undergraduate study and graduate study. The former lasts for four years while the latter varies with different fields of study. Blacklists: During the 1880s’, and 1890s’ workers in America began to form unions on a large scale. The capitalists tried to sabotage the unions by enlisting the union workers on “blacklist”, which would be sent to other companies in the industry with a warning not to hire them.