Lecture2 British Family

deserve. • 10. Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanness in body, clothes or habitation. • 11. Chastity: Rarely use venery but for health or offspring; Never to dullness, weakness,
➢ “Father of American Poetry” ➢ “Pioneer of the New
Romanticism” ➢ “A gifted and versatile lyric
poet”
1. Works
《美洲光辉的兴起》
• “The Rising Glory of America” (1772) • “The House of Night” (1779, 1786) • “The British Prison Ship” (1781) • “To the Memory of the Brave Americans” (1781) • “The Wild Honey Suckle” (1786) • “The Indian Burying Ground” (1788) • “The Dying Indian: Tomo Chequi”
• Philip Freneau: “The Wild Honey Suckle”
1. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
1. Works
《自传》
• The Autobiography • Poor Richard’s Almanack
《格言历书》
2. Life
Benjamin Franklin came from a Calvinist background. He was born into a poor candle-maker’s family. He had very little education. He learned in school only for two years, but he was a voracious reader. At 12, he was apprenticed to his elder half-brother, a printer. At 16, he began to publish essays under the pseudonym “Silence Do good” . At 17, he ran away to Philadelphia to make his own fortune. He set himself up as an independent printer and publisher. In 1727 he founded the Junto club.

英美文化课后答案2Lecture 2 HistoryTell wheher each of the following statements is true or false1-10: FTTFT/TFTFF 11-20: FTTTF/FTTFFFill in the blanks with the correct information.1. Celt2. Romans3.5th4. Viking; 10665. Hundred Years’ War6. York7. divorce8.11 9. Elizabeth I; Queen Victoria 10. America 11. 1492 12. Virginia; 1607 13. Thanksgiving Day 14. 13 15. Declaration of Independence 16. 4th of July 17. Uncle Tom’s Cabin 18. 1865 19. World War I 20. World War II 21. Puritans, religious, Mayflower 22. Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence, National Day 23. Monroe Doctrine, colonize, interfere 24. agrarian, industrial, Andrew Jackson 25. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, slavery 26. 1932, recovery, New DealChoose the correct answer on the basis of what is stated in text.1-10: ABDCD/CBDAB 11-20: CBDCB/DCADD 21-30: BDABA/DCBCBExplain the following terms.1. The Anglo-SaxonsIn the 5th century, the tribes called the Angles and Saxons invaded Britain, coming from northern Europe. By the end of the 5th century, the Anglo-Saxons ruled most of Britain. Their language was called Old English. From them comes the name of “England” and “English”; England came from “Angle-land” meaning the land of the Anglo-Saxons.2. Norman ConquestAfter King Edward died, Duke William of Normandy, from northern France, declared that Edward had promised to let him become the king. On October 14, 1066, William and his army invaded England and defeated the English army. He was made king and crowned in Westminster Abby on Christmas Day, 1066. William is often referred to as William the Conqueror in English history.3. Robin HoodEngland's best-loved legend of Robin Hood is an outlawed Saxon nobleman oppressed by the Normans. He hid i n the forest near Sherwood with his band of followers, called “merry men”. From this secret wood, they went out to rob from the rich to give to the poor with their longbows. Robin Hood has been a popular subject of numerous films, television series, books, comics and plays.4. The Hundred Years’ WarAt the beginning of the 14th century, England developed into a stronger state in Europe. Consequently, the rich wanted to control more markets and the nobles wanted to regain their lost land. When King Edward III of England declared that he should become the French king, the French rejected his claim so he declared war on France in 1337. The war lasted intermittently for116 years, hence being known as the Hundred Years’ War.5. The Civil WarIn January 1642 the Civil War broke out between the Roundheads (supporters of Parliament) and the Cavaliers (supporters of the King). The Civil War ended with the Parliamentary victory and it led to the execution of Charles I, and his son Charles II was driven out of the country in 1649. In addition to that, Oliver Cromwell, the leader of the Roundheads,formed republican England, known as the Commonwealth of England and the English monarchy was abolished.6. American IndiansThe American Indians were the descendants of t he Mongoloid. The name “Indians” was given by Columbus when he mistook them for the people of India. It is believed that about 25,000 years ago the Indians crossed the Bering Strait land bridge to Alaska. The American Indians developed the brilliant civilizations of the Aztecs, the Incas and the Mayas.7. Columbus’ “discovery ” of AmericaIn 1492, Columbus persuaded the king and queen of Spain to finance his voyage. He believed that by sailing west from Europe, he could reach India. Columbus failed to reach India but landed at one of the Caribbean islands instead. He mistook these islands for part of India and called the local people Indians.8. The MayflowerThe Mayflower has a famous position in American history as a symbol of early European colonization. With their religion oppressed by the Church of England, in the autumn of 1620, 102 people sailed to the New World in a ship named the “Mayflower”. Late in December, the Mayflower finally landed in what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts.9. Declaration of IndependenceOn July 2, 1776, the Congress finally determined that these United Colonies ought to be free and independent states. Thomas Jefferson, assisted by Benjamin Franklin, drafted the Declaration of Independence, which the Congress adopted on July 4, 1776. It announced the independence of 13 North American colonies and the birth of a new nation.10. Abraham LincolnIn March 1861 Abraham Lincoln took the office of president. He realized that by making the war a battle against slavery, he could win support for the Union at home and abroad. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which granted freedom to all slaves.11. William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare (1564-1616): English playwright and poet, whose body of works is considered as the greatest in English literature. His plays, many of which were performed at the Globe Theater in London, include historical works, comedies and tragedies. He also composed 154 sonnets and 36 plays.12. Sir Francis BaconSir Francis Bacon (1561-1626): English philosopher, essayist, courtier, jurist, and statesman. His writings include The Advancement of Learning (1605) and The Novum Organum (1620), in which he proposed a theory of scientific knowledge based on observation and experimentation that came to be known as the inductive method.13. Gunpowder PlotGunpowder Plot: Conspiracy of a group of English Catholics to blow up the Houses of parliament where King James I was present on 5 November, 1605. The plan was discovered and Guy Fawkes was caught and burnt alive. In England, 5 November is celebrated with bonfires, fireworks and the burning of the effigies.14. Great Fire of LondonGreat Fire of London (2-5 September, 1666): Worst fire in London’s history. It destroyed a large part of the city, including most of the civic buildings, St. Paul’s Cathedral, 87 parish churches, and about 13,000 houses. It began accidentally at the house of the king’s baker in Pudding Lane near London Bridge.15. Suez Canal CrisisSuez Canal Crisis: A major international incident that arose in 1956 from the decision by Gamal A. Nasser, President of Egypt, to nationalize the Suez Canal, which long had been controlled by Great Britain. After Nasser took over the canal, Britain and France induced Israel to provoke a conflict with Egypt that would serve as a pretext for an Anglo-French invasion of Egypt. The United States, which had been excluded from the planned invasion, denounced it. The incident severely damaged Anglo-American relations.16. John MajorJohn Major (1943- ): British banker and conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister from 1990 to 1997. during this administration, he advocated privatization, anti-inflationary budget discipline, and negotiations for peace in Northern Ireland.17. the First Continental CongressIn September 1774, 55 representatives from all the colonies except Georgia held a meeting in Philadelphia to talk about their troubles with their mother country. The meeting was called the First Continental Congress. At the meeting the majority of representatives still thought they could settle their quarrel with the British by peaceful means. They agreed to refuse to buy British goods, hoping in this way to force the British Government to give in to their demands. They also agreed to raise a volunteer army to protect the colonies if Britain used force to break the boycott.18. Louisiana PurchaseThe most glorious achievement of Jefferson as President was the Louisiana Purchase. The Louisiana Purchase, in 1803, gave Western farmer use of the important Mississippi River waterway, removed the French presence from the western border of US, provided US farmers with vast expanses of land, and furthered American leaders’ vision of creating a “Great Nation”.19. US-Spanish WarThe US-Spanish War broke out in April, 1898, lasted for only 70 days and ended with US as the victor. A peace treaty was signed in December 1898 in Paris. As a result of the war, Spain was forced to cede her former colonies Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines to US; US agreed to pay 20 million dollars for them in an attempt to put a good face on its foreign expansion. Cuba remained a US “protectorate”for some years, while the Philippines were not granted its independence until after the end of WW I. US seized Hawaii from Spain after the US-Spanish War. The US-Spanish War was the first imperialist war for re-dividing the world. It marked a new stage in which US transformed into an imperialist power. From that time the US began its modern history.20. roaring twentiesThe expression of “roaring twenties” is often used to describe the period of American life. The roaring twenties ushered in an exciting time of social change and economic prosperity, as the recession at the end of WW II was quickly replaced by an unprecedented period of financial growth. The stock market soared to unimaginable heights because of the so-called Second Industrial Revolution at the turn of the 20th century, which saw the development of new inventions and machines that changed American society drastically.21. Wathergate ScandalIn the presidential election year 1972, five men of the Committee for the Reelection of the President broke into the Democratic national headquarters at the Water Hotel, Washington, D.C., where they planted bugs in order to get information for the Committee. But unfortunately they were arrested. Although it was never approved that Nixon planned the Watergate break-in or that he ever knew about it beforehand, he was eventually forced out of office because he was found guilty for his effort to avoid the investigation and disclosures.。

Chapter 4 Family in the United StatesA hundred years ago, one heard the same kinds of comments about the American family that one hears today – in short, that the American family is disintegrating. Proof of this disintegration at the end of the nineteenth century included three points: the declining birth rate, a rising divorce rate, and evidence that women were not completely content with their domestic role. It’s a little surprising to me that the same claim about the family is being made today – that it is disintegrating. And often the same points are mentioned as proof: declining birth rates, increasing divorce rates, and discontent of women with domestic roles. Now, in no way do I mean to imply that cultural, demographic, and economic conditions are the same now as they were 100 years ago. On the contrary, the very nature of the family has changed drastically in the last 50 years, not to mention the last 100 years. But I don’t think the average person’s concept of the family has changed very much over the years. A lot of people have one fixed idea of the family: a married couple where Mother stays home to care for the children and Father works. But this idea is challenged by what we see every day in the U.S. society. To be sure, the family is a very sensitive barometer for what is happening in the society, the culture, and the economy of the United States. To make this point clearer, we’ll take a look at how the American family has changed in the last 50 years by looking at three different time periods: there are the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s; the mid-60 to the mid-80s; and finally the present. Sociologist Barbara Dafoe Whitehead labels theses three periods the period of traditional familism, the period of individualism, and the period of the new familism.I will try for each period to show how economic, demographic, and cultural elements interact and, in turn, affect the family.一百年前，一听到关于美国家庭的意见相同种类的人听到今天–总之，美国家庭的解体。

Mini-lecture 1Cultural UnderstandingLike learning a language，developing cultural understanding occurs step by step over time.Here are five stages of cultural understanding veduchina.Stage one：No understanding.一involves no awareness of the new culture：know nobody and few(1)Stage two：Sup erficial understanding.--awareness of (2) aspects of the foreign culture and stereotypes veduchina--stereotytres are(3)Stage three：Growing understanding and possible(4)--awareness of more subtle，less visible traits in foreign culture--unnecessarily bring acceptance veduchina.For anyone，the home culture is(5)Stage four：Greater(6)————understanding.一still(7) have little empathy veduchina一the(8) level is higherStage five：True empathy，and cultural (9)————.—to live in the foreign culture：the amount of time depends Oil(10)Mini-lecture 2 British Educational System1.Primary and secondary educationin Britain1)Children at the age of(1)________go to primary school.2)Students attend secondaryschool until age sixteen.3)Students enter higher education at age eighteen.2.Higher education in Britain1) In England and Wales：—Application for universities：through the UCCA；一Courses：“course”refers to a(2)_______ program，structured with a fixed program of classes；—Classes：a.classes are offered in the UK on a(3)________basis veduchina；b.more emphasi s i s placed on(4)________study；c.students write more essays and take fewer objective tests；d.classes often take the following forms：(5)______，tutorials，seminars.2) In Scotland：—A variety of tertiary level options are available：a.The colleges of further education provide vocational and (6)____education；b.Central institutions don’t directly validate degrees,but many have close ties to(7) .c.Teachers colleges veduchina；d.The standard university degree is a four—year(8)__________；parison between the US and the UK higher education1)Grading：一In the UK，(9)__________are the most common form of study assessment—The US professors grade less strictly than the UK professors veduchina2)Course levels：—Basic courses are not(10)____________at UK universities.Mini-lecture 3 Mass Media in AmericaMass media specifi cally refer to those publications and programs that attempt to serve most or all of the people in a given market.Three groups of mass media in America are briefly introduced.I. N ewspapersA.Reading newspaper is different from watching TV.—for one thing1.detailed(1)_______ of news items2.substantial treatment of news events3.interesting and stimulating opinions4.analysis over important events at home and abroac—for anotheras for the reading places, no(2)_______B.Newspapers are still a big business.—fact one: the large circulation of a number of important newspapers—fact two: the great (3)_______ of newspapers availableII. MagazinesA.great varietyB.wide range of topi csC.different target readers:the well-educated,well-informed,and(4)_____ peopleD.the top three:(5)_______ TV Guide and The Conde Nast SelectIII. Radio and TelevisionA.Radio:a first-class entertainment medium for most Americans一The future of the radio is still(6)___________B.Television--become popular after the invention of(7)_____ and videotape recorders—profound impact on society1.the socialization effect2.a(8)_________ a molder of new of new cultural trends and a molder of attitudes towards these new trends3.revolutionized the marketing of goods4.the enormous cultural impact of TV violent programs5.the impact of TV on(9)_______________To sum up，the mass media in Ameri ca has，to a great extent，changed and will still keep on changing Americans’(10)_________Mini-lecture 4 Government in Britain and the USThe focus of this lecture is different government systems in Britain and the US.Government in Britain:1. National government:the center of government in Britain iS Parliament.一Location of parliament:(1)__________.—Parliament includes the House of Common，the House of lords and the monarch.—the passage of bills:firstly brought to the House of Commons for discussion，then the house of Lords，finally(2)_________2. Local government in Britain，also known as(3)_________一make small laws,only applied in local area—got payment from(4)from national government--elected by people within each town,city or country areaGovernment in the US:1.The federal government—(5)________is the central law-making body in the US.1)the House of Representatives2)the Senate: the higher but less (6)________of the two houses of Congress.—The President has the power of (7)________a bill.—The Supreme Court: the final Court of Appeal in the US.2.The state government—Each state has its own written(8)________—The highest elected official of each state is the Governor.3.The local government—No law of local government can be(9)________with the United Constitution.To sum up，the government in each country is a (n) (10)________of its historicaland modern factors.参考答案：Mini-lecture1 (1)basi c facts (2)negative (3)offensive (4)conflict (5)much better(6)intellectual (7)emotionally (8)comfort (9)respect (10)the individualCulture understanding文化差异Today I will focus on the i ssue of culture understanding. With increasing globalization, the world becomes really small nowadays. As a member of the global, we get more chances to contact foreign cultures. And what if we want to understand foreign culture very well, what should we do? What kinds of process will we experience before we achieve that goal. The answer is not very difficult to imagine. Just like learning a language, developing culture understanding occurs steps by steps over time. Development of culture consciousness is a process that starts the stage no understanding and moves, in the best case, to the stage of true empathy移情作用,[心]神入and culture respect. So an order to make it a clearer explanation about the process, the five stages of culture understanding is presented here.Stage 1 no und erstanding This level involves no awareness of new culture. The point is quite easy to see. For a person who has few chances to get contact with other cultures, a new one sometimes might as well be like something from an unknown planet in outer space. The person does not know anyone from the culture, and has encountered few, if any, basi c facts about the culture; so naturally, the person certainly has no way to understand that culture at all.Stage 2 superficial understanding This level involves awareness of very superficial aspects of foreign culture, frequentl y negative aspects. At this stage of culture awareness, the person knows a few basic facts of new culture. These facts stand out and often serve as the basis of stereotypes 陈规,老套. However, the stereotypes are offensive because they imply that al l people from a certain culture have the same characteristi cs. At this stage of culture awareness, when stereotypes are keenly felt, the person is highly ethnocentric种族[民族]中心主义的,种族[民族, 集团]优越感的that means the person is just focused on his or her own culture as the norm of what is right and comparing the new culture with the better culture back home. Stage 3 growing und erstanding and possible conflict In this stage the learner begins to be aware of more subtle sometimes less visible traits in the foreign culture. I will give you an example here to illustrate this point. A student learned that a given culture focuses on family far more getting things accomplished. As a result, he or she begin to appreciate the huge importance of family value in this culture, so we can see thi s understanding helps the person to see why things operate the w ay they do. But such awareness doesn’t al ways bring acceptance. In this stage the person is still ethnocentri c home culture-oriented, comparing that culture that i s new to his/her old home culture and usually feel his/her home culture is much better. I think some of you, as English majors, may have the exactly same experiences when you come to be familiar with your foreign t eachers or friends. You do appreciate some of their cultures but you just can’t accept them from the bottom of your heart.Stage 4 great intellectual culture und erstanding At this stage the learner begins to comprehend intellectually the peopl e in the foreign culture yet they are still a little emotional empathy. The person can not feel what it is like to be a member of that culture, the learner thus starts to see things intellectually through the eye of culture bearers at the least part of the time, but they just can’t really feel the same way the members of foreign culture feel. The learner begins to shed ethnocentrism a little bi t and starts to understand new culture more deeply. The person knows why thing are done in the way they are done and accept these things with less irritation. So you can see now the learner obviously comprehend the briefs and actions of people in the culture, the comfort level is higher, and the person does not complain the extensively about the culture differences. That makes a big sense in the process of culture understanding.Stage 5 true empathy and culture resp ect This level is the highest one of culture awareness. To attain this level, the learner must actually live in the foreign culture for some time. As for how long the learner must live in such a culture so that they can reach stage five. The amount of time is variable, greatly depending on the individual. At the fifth stage, unlike the previous stages the learner does not just see things intellectually from the viewpoint of the culture some or most of the time, instead he/she actually feel the part of culture, respects the culture fully and emphasizes emotionally with those who have lived all their life in that culture. By doing so, the person, in real sense, achieves a true culture understanding.In summary, today’s lecture is centered on the stages and growth of culture consciousness. Altogether there are five. 1 no understanding means one does not know anyone from that culture knows few, if any, facts. 2 superficial understanding means one knows some superficial facts and stereotypes. 3 growing understanding and possible conflict means one is aware of moresubtle traits but may experience culture conflicts probably believes one’s own culture is superior. 4 great inte llectual culture understanding means one understands the culture intellectually but not emotionally. 5 true empathy and culture respect means one understands the culture both intellectually and emotionally, can feel what the people in the culture feel. Hope the lecture will be helpful in your nurturing of your culture awareness. Thanks for your patience.Mini-lecture2(1)five (2)degree (3)modular (4)independent/self-directed (5)lectures (6)technical(7)local businesses (8)Honors degree (9)written examinations (10) commonBritish Educational SystemToday I’ll talk about the British educational system, including the primary and secondary education and the higher education in Britain. Meanwhile, I’ll try to make a comparison between the US an d the UK higher education.First, I’ll briefly introduce the primary and secondary education in Britain. In England and Wales, students study in primary schools from age five until eleven. They attend secondary school until age sixteen. Before graduating, students usually take seven comprehensive exams, called the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) exams. After passing the GCSE exams, students choose to study two to four subjects intensely for the GCE Advanced Level exams, called "A levels." At eighteen, they enter higher education to focus on a parti cular subject, called a "course."Now let’s move on to the higher education in Britain. First I’ll talk about the general practi ces in England and Wales, and then the general practices in Scotland.In England and Wales, prospective university students apply for places through the Universities Central Council on Admissions (UCCA). Students do not apply directly to the universities themselves. Successful candidates are admitted directly into a specific degree "course." A degree course normally takes three or four years to complete. At most universities students study only one major subject. Each course i s structured with a fixed program of classes for the entire three years. Increasingly, universities in the United Kingdom are offering classes on a modular(课程教学)以单元为基础的basis, whi ch allows students to broaden their studies creating a more interdisciplinary program. This modularization, however, has not replaced the traditional British degree course with the American concept of credit accumulation. In addition, there is generally a sharp distinction between the arts and sciences and there is seldom any cross-over between the two.At a British university, more emphasis i s placed on independent, self-directed study than in the United States. Required texts and definite reading assignments are less common. More typi cally, an extensive reading list covering all topi cs to be discussed is di stributed at the start of the course to be used for independent research. British students typically consult a large number of sources from the library rather than intensively studying a few books purchased by everyone taking a course. In addition, students are required to write more essays and take fewer objective tests than at U.S. institutions. Classes often take the following forms: lectures, which are sometimes completely optional; tutorials, in whi ch a small number of students meet with the lecturer; and seminars, larger discussion classes often based upon seminar essays. Unlike the U.S. system of regular testing in a course, British students sit for final examinations that cover the full year's work and determine the grades for the class. With the growth of modularization, however, there has al so been an increase in the number and variety of modules offered on a semester basi s.In Scotland, there are a variety of tertiary第三的,第三位的level options available for students, the most important of whi ch are the colleges of further education, the central institutions, teachers colleges and the universities. The colleges of further education provide vocational and technical education, and enroll more students than all other tertiary institutions combined. Central institutions provide courses leading to the Higher National Diploma (HND), bachelor's degrees and some specialized master's degrees. These institutions do not have the authority to directly validate degrees and tend to offer a narrower range of subjects than the universities. Many have close ties to local businesses, offering cooperative work experiences that provide students a period of practical training.Scottish universities are quite di stinct from their British counterparts. In fact, they more closely resemble European or American universities. The standard Scottish university degree is a four-year Honors degree (BA Hons). Students are rarelyadmitted directly to a degree "course." Usually they are admitted to a faculty or simply admitted to the university as a whole. Scottish university students begin with a broad-based program during the first year and choose a specialization专门[业]化after the second or even the third year. Students may also elect to complete a three-year Ordinary degree. This i s a broad-based degree that (unlike in England) does not represent a "failed" Honors degree.Next, let’s compare the US and the UK highe r education from two aspects,]namely, grading and course levels.First, about the Grading. In the UK, assessment methods vary by institution and tend to reflect the UK teaching method and style. Written examinations, whi ch are held at the end of a year or, in some cases, in the final undergraduate year only, are the most common form of study assessment. There i s no official method of equating British and American educational qualifications. The educational systems are very different and attempts to compare them must be done on a strictly provisional basis. Many U.S. institutions have already developed systems of assessing their study abroad students or equating British grades to U.S. grades.Professors at UK institutions grade more stri ctly than their counterparts in the United States. As a result, American students studying in the UK often perceive that they have performed poorly in their classes, when they have not. Grades are given as percentages rather than letter grades. Forty percent is the minimum passing grade and high percentages are rarely awarded. A grade of seventy percent or higher is considered "with distinction."In general, percentages increase from forty rather than decrease from 100 percent, as they do in the United States.Second, about the Course Levels. A typi cal British course load will vary from 3 to 6 modules or classes per term. Most students take 4 to 5 modules per term. The number of hours in class per week will vary by institution. Students should note that general education or basi c courses are not as common at UK universities because they have already been covered at the GCSE level. Many faculties assume that a student has a basi c understanding of the concepts that will be addressed in the course. For this reason, it is common for third-year American students to take first-year and second-year courses at a UK university.With thi s, we’re coming to the end of today’s lecture. Next time, we’ll talk about university degrees.Mini-lecture3 (1)coverage (2) limitation/confinement (3) variety(4)public—conscious(5) Reader’s Digest (6) promising/bright (7)portable cameras (8) transmitter (9) religion (10)lifeMass Media in America美国媒体Good morning, everyone,today my topic i s mass media in America. By media, we refer to the variety of means by which technology transmits information and entertainment to us. Thus, in its broadest sense, the term media includes newspaper, television, movies, radio, books, and magazines. Mass media specifi cally refer to those publications and programs that attempt to serve most or all of the people in a given market. Here I would like to introduce the mass media in America by dividing them into three groups: newspaper; magazines; radio and television.First, let’s have a look at newspapers. For a long time, newspapers have been the chief means by whi ch people get themselves informed. While television has replaced newspapers as the primary source of news for most Americans, and while computer network is increasingly becoming a faster and easier way of obtaining news for many Americans, newspapers still remain as one of the most powerful means of communications in the United States. For one thing, reading newspapers i s different from watching TV. It gives detailed coverage报道范围of news items, and tends to provide substantial treatment of news events. And, sometimes it offers interesting and stimulating opinions as well as analysis over important events at home and abroad. For another, unlike watching TV, reading newspapers does not require one to be confined to his sitting-room. He can do it virtually anywhere he likes: in his car, at the breakfast table, sitting in the sun, waiting at the subway station, and believe it or not, in the restroom. So, for these and many other reasons, newspapers in the United States are still a big bus iness. And, this is borne out by two facts: (1) the large circulation of a number of important newspapers such as USA Today《今日美国》and The Wall Street Journal《华尔街日报》; (2) the great variety of newspapers available in the United States, big and small, local and national, special and general, radical and conservative, and so on. The top 3 daily newspapers in the United States are: Wall Street Journal, USA Today and New York Times《纽约时报》.Second, we’ll move to magazines. According to a statisti cal record in 1990, there were over 12,205 magazines being published in the United States. More than 4,000 of them appear monthly, and over 1,300 are published each week. They cover all topics and interests, from art and architecture to sports, from aviation航空学,飞机制造业and gardening to computers and book reviews, from fashion design and cooking to homemaking. Quite a few have international editors, are translated into other languages, or have “daughter” editions in foreign countries. Among the many internationals are National Geographic《国家地理》杂志, Reader’s Digest《读者文摘》杂志,Cosmopolitan《大都会》,Vogue《时尚》杂志,Time《时代》,Newsweek 《新闻周刊》, Scientific American and Psychology Today. The weekly newsmagazines —the best known are Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report《美国新闻与世界报道》—serve as a type of national press. Unlike newspapers, however, weekly newsmagazines tend to give extensive coverage and provide detailed, and sometimes in-depth, analysis. Also unlike newspapers, whi ch usually have the lowest common denominator in their appeal to the general reading public, weekly newsmagazines normally target at the well-educated, well-informed, and public-conscious people of the society. Many weekly newsmagazines also have considerable international impact, particularly Time and Newsweek. The top three magazines in America are: (1) Reader’s Digest; (2) TV Guide《电视导读》; (3) The Conde Nast Select.Third, I’ll say something about radio and television. In more than two generations, the two powerful mass media transformed much of American life.Radio, emerging at the same period when the Great Depression pervaded蔓延, 在…中盛行in America, provided free entertainment in the comforts of the home. Families that could no longer afford to go out for entertainment gathered together in their living rooms to escape reality by laughing, fantasizing梦想,幻想and dreaming of happier times. From then on, radio became a first-class entertainment medium for most Ameri cans. Up until now, in view of the popularity of radio programs in the United States, the future of radio as a form of medium continues to look bright.Then, with the rapid development of science and technology, TV came into being in 1920s. It primarily serves as a medium of entertainment, and then also has a big role to play as a news broadcasting agency. Networks began experimenting with news at locally owned stations as early as January 1940. But, early-day television news could not begin to compare with radio news. Only after the invention of portable cameras and videotape recorders had television been made a much more credible news medium because viewers saw pictures of the news events on the day they occurred. Consequently, access to news is made much easier, and the general public is getting better informed.Gradually, television’s impact on American society has been more and more profound. It has changed the life-styles of most Americans and become a major influence on American culture. It can be seen from 5 aspects.First and foremost is the socialization effect. Many studies have shown that TV’s dominance as household activi ty often reduces the level of communi cation among family members and, as a result, much of the culture being distributed to youngsters today in the United States comes from the tube rather than the family.Secondly, television programming has played an important role in shaping and reflecting for the masses the cultural changes that have been occurring in American Society. TV functions both as a transmitter传送[递]者of new cultural trends and as a molder造型者,模塑者of new attitudes towards these new trends.Thirdly, television has revolutionized the marketing of goods in the Ameri can economy. With TV marketing, people become vulnerable to the products, or in other words, to the commercials.Fourthly, the cultural impact of violent TV programs has been quite enormous. Needless to say, the question of violence on TV has been around nearly as long as the medium. Many critics claim that TV violence increases violence in American society.Fifthly, the impact of TV on religion has al so been an issue of great concern to many Americans. So far now, it is still an issue full of di sputes.To sum up, the mass media in Ameri ca includes so many different forms, and each of them plays a vital role in American people’s life not only in the past, but also at present and in the future. To know much about America, one must have a good knowledge about its mass media.Mini-lecture4 (1)Westminster (2)signed (3)Councils (4)local taxes (5)Congress (6)powerful(7)veto (8)Constitution (9)in di sagreement (10)embodimentGovernment in Britain and the US英美政府Today we will focus on the Government in Britain and the United States. Let’s have a look at them one after the other.Government in Britain can be divided into National government and Local government.The center of government in Britain is Parliament, which makes all the important laws for the country about crimes and punishment, taxation课税, etc. Parliament i s made up of the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the monarch. The Houses of Parliament are in Westminster in London and sometimes “Westminster” itself i s used to mean Parliament.The House of commons, or the Commons, is the lower but more powerful of the two Houses. It has 650 elected members, called Members of Parliament or MPs, each representing people in a parti cular area or constituency(议员所代表的)(全体)选民;选(举)区. The House of Lords上议院, or the Lords, is the higher but less powerful of the two Houses. It has over 1,000 members, none of whom is elected. These members include: people who have titles like Lord or Viscount子爵whi ch have been passed down to them on the death of their father; people who are given titles as a reward for their long servi ce in public life, but whose children do not inherit their title; and some important leaders of the Church of England, such as Archbishops and Bishops.The government brings bills to the House of Commons下议院, whi ch are discussed by MPs. The bills then go to the House of Lords to be di scussed. The House of Lords can suggest changes to a bill, but does not have the power to reject it. When bills come back to the Commons, MPs vote on them and if they are passed they are signed by the monarch and become Acts of Parliament.At present England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are all governed by Parliament in Westminster. In Northern Ireland the political parties are different but their MPs still go to the House of Commons. In Scotland there is a lot of di scussion about whether Scotland should have some separate or partly separate form of government. The same is true in Wales. The Local government in Britain, also known as Councils, can make small laws, that i s bylaws, whi ch only apply in their area, but these are usually about small, local matters. For instance, they may be about fines that will be made for people who park in certain streets.Councils are paid for by local taxes and also by an amount of money given to them each year by the national government. Their main job is the organizing and providing of local services, e.g. hospitals, schools, libraries, public transport, street-cleaning, etc. They are also responsible for setting the amount of local tax that people must pay and for collecting thi s tax.Local councils are elected by people within each town, city, or county area. The people who are elected, known as councilors, usually represent one of the national political parties, but are often elected because of their policies on local issues rather than the national policies of their party.Now let’s move to the topi c of Government in the US. All levels of government in the US, including federal, state, and local, are elected by the people of the country.First, we’ll talk about the federal government. The constitution of the US specifi cally limits the power of the federal, or national, government mainly to defense, foreign affairs, printing money, controlling trade and relations between the states, and protecting human rights. The federal government is made up of the Congress , the President, and the Supreme Court. Congress, the central law-making body in the US, i s made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives is the lower but more important of the two houses of Congress. It has 435 members, called Representatives or Congressmen. The number of Representatives for each state depends on the size of the population of the state, with each state having at least one Representative. The Senate i s the higher but less powerful of the two houses of Congress. It has 100 members, called Senators, elected by their state. Each state has two Senators. Congress decides whether a BILL becomes law. If the Senate and the House of Representatives both agree to a bill, the President i s asked to agree. The President can veto the bill, but Congress can still make it a law if 2/3 of the members of each house agree to it.Second, we’ll learn something about the state government. The state government has the greatest influence in people’s daily lives. Each state has its own written Constitution, and among the states there are sometimes great differences in law on matters such as property, crime, health and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor. Each state also has one。