英美概况lecture2

Lecture one: Geography and PeopleLocation :Situated in the central part of North America with Canada on the north ,Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico on the south ,the United States is on the east coast of Pacific and west coast of Atlantic.Territorial area:9.5million square kilometers50states and seat of government is Washington D.CLargest state---AlaskaLargest on the continent---TexasSmallest-----Rhode Island(罗德岛州)Newest---HawaiiThree geographical divisions（三大地形区）:Western ,central and eastern part .Land forms and region:Eastern part:Highlands formed by Appalachian rangeWestern part:High plateaus and mountains(Rockies are called as the back bone of the continent). Great central plain:A large plain between the eastern Appalachian and western RockiesMain geographical regions:New England(6,northeast, longest history featured with mountains ,valleys and rivers ,and cities and towns with historic sites ,top-ranking universities )The Mid-Atlantic StatesThe West (11,a wealth of forests and stream notable cities, high-tech industry predominant agricultural yielding,14% of GDP )The Mid-WestThe South(13,plenty of rainfall and mild climate are favorable for agriculture, fast growing industry and population recent years, great size with few large citiesThe SouthwestHawaii:Tourism is the largest source of incomeTropical climateRivers and Lakes:Mississippi River---largess and most important river in the system of GulfKnown as the river to American Indians.Hudson River:Flow through New York.The Great Lakes:Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario, Lake Huron and Lake Erie.The most important system of inland waterways in the world.Lake Michigan is wholly within the United StatesPart of the boundary runs through these lakesNiagara Fall is located on the U.S-Canada border between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Climate:Mainly temperate and some mild subtropical areas with only southern Florida and Hawaii being tropical.Natural resources:Abounds in mineral resourcesPopulation:The third most populous country in the worldUneven distribution :most densely populatedNation of Immigrants :White Anglo-Saxon protestantThe Black :The Civil Rights Movements:The Civil Rights Movements began when the black people spontaneously oppose the Segregation Law and establish organizations to make the protest successful.Martin Luther King:The political and religious leaders of non-violent civil rights movementNobel peace prize.Hispanics:Spanish-speaking AmericansMexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cuban-Americans(best economic achievements )MiamiAsian Immigrants :The Chinese were the first Asians to come to the U.S, ”model minority”.Racial Assimilation:America is a nation of many ethnic groups, making it a ”Melting Pot”and a Multi-Cultural SocietySpeak the same languageHave the same habits and manner.Lecture2:government and political systemAmerican constitution :Set down the basic framework of American government.Basic concept :Separation of power ,check and balances.Functions :Founding the American rule of law.Creating the federal system with a supreme national government.Having great flexibilityBuilding up the Republican form of government(共和制政体).Defining and limiting the power of the national government.Defining the relationship between national government and individual(个别)state governments.Guaranteeing the rights of the citizens of America.Supreme law, authority derived from people.Significance :Taking precedence over （为…开创先例）all state constitutions and law.First of its kind in the world, it has inspired dozens of other countries to seek for political reform.Federal system and government:The definition of Federalism(联邦制):The states are united into a federation.Federal government has the delegated power（委托权）.Both federal government and state government are Supreme power in their spheres of authority.Significance of federalism :Unify the states in their pursuit of common goals without completely deprive them of their independence.Federal government:Established by a federalism, there is a federal republic of 50 U.S states, District ofColombia and many other insular(岛屿的) areas.Branches of the government :Legislative ,executive and judicial branch.Separate but equally important ,checked and balanced by each other.The legislative branch :Congress :Briefing :Conference venue（会议场所）：The capitol(国会大厦)with Senate in the north wing and the house of representatives in the south wing.Law making and supreme legislative body.Monitor /supervise and influence aspects of the executive branch(congress’s responsibility :ensure ,comply with the law)Two chambers ----Senate（参议院）and the House of representatives（众议院）. Senate:Two members from each state as required by the Constitution with current membership 100.More important, consent to president’s proposal.The house of representatives:Each congressional district elect a representative.Each state is represented on the basis of population.More partisan that the Senate.The function:Pass the laws for the Union.The revenue bills must be originated in the house of representatives.The executive branch: comprises 14 branches and other independent agencies.Cabinet :formed by department’s heads ----secretaries.President:the chief of executive branch of the federal government. state and commander-in-chief of the military.Presidential residence: White House ,presidential term ：Serve one or two successive terms.Responsibility: taking care of the laws be faithfully executed.Executive Departments :Functions:The day-to-day enforcement and administration of federal laws.Head of the departments are chosen by president and approved by the Senate .Cabinet :A part of the executive branches of the U.S government and consists of the heads of the executive departments.Secretary of the state:Head of the Department of State, foreign affairs.Judicial branch:Definition:consist of a series of courts:supreme court (highest),court of appeal and district court.What it applies to ?In most criminal cases and some civil cases.Function:Finders of factDecide on whether the defendant committed the crime.Unanimous decision.Political partiesDemocratic party and Republican partyDonkey and ElephantThe Democratic Party(donkey):Liberal.Anti –federalists southwest cotton plantation ownersEmphasizing the governmental interference in economy.The Republican Party(GOP, elephant):Conservative (more assertive in international affairs)Difference and similarity:With regard to economy, the Democrats favor the governmental intervention while the Republicans stress the role of the market.On social issues, the Democrats support a strong social security system while the Republican oppose a large social security programs.Presidential election:Only the candidates nominated by the two Parties have the chance to win a Presidential election.Presidential election has 4 stages：The first stage: choosing the candidatesThe second stage: the campaigning stageThe third stage: votingThe forth stage: meeting the states capitalsLecture3:EconomyThe U.S economy is the current economic, industrial and technological giant.The largest developed country and the only superpower in the worldMixed economy:Emphasizing the private ownership(私有制).Federal government will regulate businesses.Private business produce the most goods and services.Economy system :free enterprise system.Type of business: Proprietorship(独资), cooperation and partnerships.History of American economy:The colonial period:Colonies are settled to escape religious persecutions and business ventures.After the settlement of the new England in1620,The English investors turn over colonial charter to the settlersSubsequently, the settlers established secondary industries formed a clear regional patterns of development.Since the America gained its independence:(词汇自己衔接)The constitution establish the nation as a unified market.Alexander Hamilton’s economic development strategyThe Industrial Revolution ：the boom of the cotton cloth production and textile industry(棉布生产和纺织业的繁荣)During that period of time, the south were dependant on the north for capital and manufactured goods.The Second Industrial Revolution gave birth to an explosion of new discoveries and inventions.In the 20 century :The U.S experienced a period of prosperity in the early of 20 century.Underwent Great Depression in the 1930s.President Roosevelt’s New Deal （massive intervention of the government ）saved itseconomy.略看：历届总统经济政策：Regan administration---new monetarist policiesGeorge Bush H.W----slow recession.Clinton----RecoveryAppearance of the new tycoonCurrent American economy:Agriculture：favorable natural condition.Successful agriculture mode （investment, labor method）and modern technology of farming .Remain to be the foundation of the economyManufacturing industry : America formed an industrial system with large productivity(northeastern is the lead region)Service industry:Financial services :banking, real estates and law servicesPublic welfare services:sheltering and retail servicesTop high-tech industryAdvanced space technology, information technology and computing.Lecture 4: Thirteen Colonies and the Independence War Pilgrim fathers:Columbus discovered the new world in1492.The discovery of new world epoch-making: people come to realise the world is round.Pilgrim Father(English separatists and other colonists) landed on north America on Dec 21th,1620 to escape religious persecutions. Forefather’s day Dec 21th(Mayflower).Thanksgiving day:For celebrating their first harvest of the forefathers.Fourth Thursday of November.Thirteen colonies:Those colonies were separately charted and governed by the Great Britain and finally became independent by signing the Declaration of Independence, which led the American Revolutionary War and the establishment of the U.SThe first colony was Virginia.The independence war:A series of armed conflict between the Great Britain and its 13 colonist for the colonists trying to gain their Independence and the uncontrollable contradictions. The shot of Lexington marked the beginning of the American Revolutionary WarThe Second Continental Congress:Held in Philadelphia ,May 10th , 1775Assume the functions of a national governmentFounding continental Army and NavyAppointed George Washington as the commander-in-chief of America forces. Printing paper money and open diplomatic relations.On fourth of the January,1776 approved the Declaration of IndependentThe Declaration :Consisting two parts：1.Justifing the rights for people to rebel against a government that denied theirnatural rights2.Indicting the King George for his cruel tyranny.Significance :Upholding the principle of equality and freedom of all manThe principle that people have the right to revolt.Independent DayJuly 4thThe course of the independence war:It dragged on for seven yearsThe victory of Saratoga became the turning point of the war.With the Assistance of French, Spain and Holland the war quickly ended.The Treaty of Paris put an end to the war and bring about the Independence of the 13states.Lecture 5:The American Constitution and Civil War.The American Constitution:The Constitutional Convention(制宪会议)Washington(elected as chairman), James Madison and other predominant figures discussed issues on federalism James Madison became “the father of the constitution”.Content :Representation : equal number of Senators, representatives based on population Structure of the government：a strong central government divided into 3 branches. Establishing federalism. (constitution day Sep17,1787)Causing disagreement between the federalist and the anti-federalist.Ten amendments were add to the constitution, known as “The Bill of Rights”.First general election: First President Washington.Significance of the US Constitution:Designed to unite all the people and prevent abuse of power by government officials Dividing the federal government into 3 separate but interdependent part: legislature, judiciary and executive.Becoming the first written constitution in modern sense upholding the principle that government should serve the people.Guaranteeing the unalienable human rights with the adoption of the Bill of Rights ,people’s supremacyupholding equality and political liberalism .The Era of Expansion:Louisiana Purchase became the first major event in American expansion.The Monroe doctrine: show “America for Americans “in foreign policy.Initiating Mexican American War annexed the entire southeast and CaliforniaThe civil war :The American civil war was fought in the united states between the Union and the Confederate States of the America from 1861 until 1865.The only war fight on America soil by Americans.Causes:Economic reason: contradictions between the two different existing economic systemsPolitical reason: the independence of the states.Immediate cause :The dispute over Negro slavery finally led to the session of the southern sates Abraham Lincoln:On Feb 4,1861,Abraham Lincoln took the office and insisted that slavery was evil and should be ultimately abolished.1862,he announced the Emancipation Proclamation, providing all slaves in the rebellion states freedom and setting the stage for the ultimate abolition to slavery. Gettysburg---turning point of the war.Lincoln deliver the famous Gettysburg Address, proposing the 3 principles of an ideal: government of the people, by the people and for the people.Assassinate , Lincoln memorialAftermath(result) :Victorious Union government sought to end the slavery and guarantee a permanently unbreakable union.The Confederate surrendered, the U.S stayed as a whole countrySlavery was totally abolished through the 13 and 14 amendment to the constitution, which swept the obstacles to the development of the U.S capital production.。

CHAPTER2 GEOGRAPHY OF THE UNITED KINGDOMDifferent Names for UK and its Parts1.Geographical names: the British Isles, Great Britain and England.British Isles: the main land, Britain; part of the Irish island; and a host of nearby smaller islands. Great Britain: England, Wales, and Scotland.England: one of several separated political entities.2. Official name: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.In political sense, UK also includes the many islands around Britain and the few remnants of the British Empire, such as the British Virgin Islands or the British region of Antarctica.3. Three political divisions on the main island of Great Britain: England, Scotland and Wales.(1) England is in the southern part of Great Britain. It is the largest, most populous section.(2) Scotland is in the north of Great Britain. It has three natural zones (the Highlands in the north; the Central lowlands; the south Uplands) Capital: Edinburgh(3) Wales is in the west of Great Britain. Capital: Cardiff(4) Northern Ireland is the fourth region of the UK. Capital: Belfast.4. The Commonwealth (of nations):It is a free association of independent countries that were once colonies of Britain. It was founded in 1931, and has 50 member countries until 1991.II. Geographical Features 英国的地理特征1.Geographical position of Britain:Britain is an island country surrounded by the sea. 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.2.The north and west of Britain are mainly highlands; and the east and southeast are mostly lowlands.III. Rivers and Lakes 河流与湖泊Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in Britain (1,343m).Severn River is the longest river in Britain (338km).Thames River is the second longest and most important river in Britain. (336km).Lough Neagh is the largest lake in Britain which is located in Northern Ireland. (396 square kilometres).River Clyde is the most important river in Scotland.Snowdonia is the highest mountain in Wales.（1,085m）IV. Climate 气候1. Britain's favorable climateBritain has a maritime climate: winters are not too cold and summers are not too hot. It has a steady reliable rainfall throughout the whole year. The temperature varies within a small range. 2.The factors influence the climate in Britain:1）The surrounding waters tend to balance the seasonal differences by heating up the land in winter and cooling it off in summer;差的作用；2)The prevailing south-west winds or the Westerlies blow over the country all the year roundbringing warm and wet air in winter and keeping the temperatures moderate;3）The North Atlantic Drift passes the western coast of the British Isles and warms them.3.RainfallBritain has a steady reliable rainfall throughout the whole year. The average annual rainfall in Britain is over 1,000mm. There is a water surplus in the north and west, and a water deficit in the south and east.V. The People1.population distributionBritain has a population of about 57 millions and it is very unevenly distributed. 90% of the population is urban and only 10% is rural. The population of Britain is made up mainly of the English (81.5%), the Scottish (9.6%), the Welsh (1.9%), the Irish (2.4%), the Northern Irish (1.8%) and other peoples (2.8%).2.The difference between the ancestors of the English and Scots, Welsh and Irish:The ancestors of the English are Anglo-Saxons; the Scots, Welsh and Irish are Celts.3.The difference in character The Welsh are emotional and cheerful people. They are music lovers and are proud of their past.The Scots are said to be a serious, cautious and thrifty people, and they are also hospitable, generous and friendly.The Irish are charm and vivacity.。

Chapter 2 NORTHERN IRELANDGeneral IntroductionTeaching Aims: Let the students get a general knowledge of Northern IrelandDifficult Points：population and physical features of Northern Irelandeconomy of Northern Irelandthe Home Rule Billthe Easter Rising of 1916the Sinn Fein Partythe religious conflicts between the Irish and the Britisha partition of Ireland in 1921a Civil Rights MovementMain Points:IRA's violence in the 1970sBloody Sundaythe collapse of the power-sharingcooperation between the British and Irish governmentsIRA's refusal to hand over their weaponsfuture for Northern Ireland still in doubtPeriods:Teaching Procedure：1.IntroductionNorthern Ireland (often called "Ulster” after an ancient Irish kingdom which once existed in that part of Ireland) is the smallest of the four nations, both in area and population. With only 1.5 million people, it is smaller than many Chinese cities. Its capital, Belfast, is a relatively small town of around 350 000 people, but is much the biggest city in the province. Though Northern Ireland is small it is significant because of the political troubles there.Physically, it is mostly rural, with low hills, a beautiful lake district in the south-west, and a rugged coastline, which includes its most famous landmark, the "Giant' s Causeway"~, a rocky promontory made up of black hexagonal columns formed by cooling lava millions of years ago. Legend has it that the giant Finn MaCool built it to cross the sea to Scotland. The nature of its link to Great Britain has been a key element in Northern Ireland's history, and remains an issue today.2.Detailed study of this partNorthern Ireland has an active cultural life with many theatres,restaurants, pubs and museums: its best known poet, Seamus Heaney,won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1995. Film-maker Neil Jordan won an Oscar for the "Best Original Screenplay” in 1992 with his film The Crying Game. Van Morrison is an internationally famous pop musician. Brian Friel4 is a playwright whose stageplays are acclaimed in London and Dublin as well as further afield.The Northern Ireland economy has its problems, partly as a result of the troubles discouraging investment, partly as a result of its peripherality in relation to the UK. Its wealth per head is the lowest of any UK region. Nevertheless living costs are also comparatively low, and a standard of living is possible for those of middle to upper incomes which many Londoners might envy. Industrial companies there include the aircraft manufacturers, Shorts, who build small commuter aircraft, as well as parts for other manufacturers such as Boeing, and the UK's largest shipbuilders, Harland and Woolf.This chapter will concentrate on the political problems of Northern Ireland, because unfortunately that is what is best knownHistoryabout it, though often not well understood. However, you should remember that it is a place where ordinary life continues, to which the troubles are an addition, rather than the main preoccupationof everyday life. Apart from the troubles, crime is very low, and even including political violence the murder-rate is much lower than in most American cities. Also the problems are mainly concentrated in particular areas, (where the troubles cannot be ignored for long, and where everyone would know a victim), but away from these places they might almost be forgotten, at least until the evening newspaper is delivered, or an armoured car drives by.However, there was a problem. The majority of Irish people were descendants of the original Celtic people who inhabited the British Isles before the Romans arrived 2 000 years ago. Ireland was not invaded by the Romans, or settled by the Anglo-Saxons who followed them into Britain, thus they were ethnically distinct from the majority of British people. Adding to this difference was religion: most Irish people remained Catholics, while most British people had become Protestants. But in one part of Ireland this was not, and is not, the case. In the seventeenth century, the English government, trying to increase its control of Ireland, encouraged people from Scotland and Northern England to emigrateto the troublesome north of Ireland. As a result the northeastern part of Ireland gained a population who saw themselves differently from the rest of the Irish people. They thought of themselves as British, and wished to remain a part of the British state. Also, they were Protestants. In 1921 the idea of being a part of an independent Irish State, where most people were Catholic, did notUntil 1921 the full name of the UK was "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland", not only "Northern Ireland", because the whole island of Ireland was politically integrated with Great Britain, and had been since 1801, while Britain's domination of the Irish dated back centuries even before that date. But Irish desires for an independent Irish state were never lost, and one of the key issues in late nineteenth century British politics was a campaign in parliament for what was called "home-rule" Irish political control of Irish affairs. The Home Rule Bill5 was finally passed in 1914, but the process was overtaken by the First World War and was suspended for the duration of the war.Along with the political campaign for home-rule there were groups who followed a more direct method of pursuing Irish independence, engaging in guerilla or terrorist activities against British institutions and the British military forces. During the first World War and immediately after, this activity increased, sometimes brutally suppressed by British forces. The Easter Rising of 1916' was the most spectacular event, in which the rebels took over Dublin's Post Office, forcing the British to retake it by military means. The leaders of the rebellion were executed. In 1919 a group calling itself the IRAs (Irish Republican Army) expanded the fighting. In the end the conflict became too great to ignore, and as the Sinn Fein ("Ourselves Alone") party9, who were supporters of the Irish terrorists (or freedom-fighters, depending on your point of view), gained most of the Irish seats in the British parliament, Irish independence became inevitable.appeal. On the other hand they could not "go home"-- Ireland wasThe Troublestheir home: they had been there 250 years or more. They had shown in 1913 that they would not accept union with Ireland by organising a show of force, and put 100000 armed men in the streets of Northern IrelandFaced with these conflicting demands the British government chose a compromise and organised a partition of Ireland. The southern 26 counties would form an independent "free state", while the 6 north-eastern counties would remain a part of the UK. This is what happened in 1921, bringing to an end 700 years of British rule in southern Ireland.Unlike the other nations in the UK, Northern Ireland was given its own Parliament to deal with Northern Irish internal affairs, based at Stormont, just outside Belfast. The problem was that just as Ireland had not been purely "Republican" (for an independent Irish Republic) so in the 6 northern counties the population was not purely "Loyalist”or "Unionist" (for union with Great Britain, loyal to the British Crown). Nearly 40% of the populations were Catholic Irish, many of whom resented the North's separation from the south. To worsen the situation, the Protestants, being the majority, controlled the local democratically elected parliament, and used that power to support their own economic and social dominance in the province. Catholics found it harder to get jobs, or to benefit from social programmes such as public housing. Understandably resentment grew, and the armed conflict known as the "troubles" developed.Following the example of Black Americans, in the 1960s Catholics in Northern Ireland began a Civil Rights Movement, campaigning for equality, often marching in the streets. Groups of Protestants began to organise counter-demonstrations, and e out. Protestant mobs attacked catholic areas. The police (The Royal Ulster Constabulary, RUC) were overwhelmed by the fighting, and the Northern Irish Prime Minister asked London for soldiers to help restore order. In 1969,the first British soldiers were see n on Northern Irish streets. They have been there ever since.They came first to protect the Catholic people, and news film of the time shows them being offered cups of tea by grateful Catholics, however, the longer they stayed, the more they were seen as the symbol of British rule in Northern Ireland. The IRA at this time split. The Official IRA thought enough progress had been made that they could concentrate on a political process, and run candidates for elections, but a strong faction felt that armed force was the only way to get the British out, and separated from the officials, calling themselves the "Provisional IRA". It is this group which has continued the conflict for the last 25 years, and it is them that are usually referred to by talk about the IRA.In the early 1970s the IRA carded out a campaign of bombing and shooting, usually targeting the security forces, but often bombing city centres. Usually they gave warnings, but not always. The British Security forces were strengthened, with up to 20 000 soldiers, and 10 000 armed police in the province. They were forced to patrol in bullet-proof armoured cars, and to fortify police-stations and barracks, always being under threat of the IRA's activities. The Protestants formed their own illegal "paramilitary" groups and took revenge on Catholics, often murdering individuals at random. Catholics in mainly Protestant areas, and Protestants in mainly Catholic areas were threatened, and sometimes their houses burned down, causing each to flee. The result is that now Northern Irish cities are "ghettoised" into exclusively Protestant and exclusively Catholic areasn. As their children also attend separate schools the two communities hardly mix at all. In 1971 the Northern Irish government took the desperate step of imprisoning terrorist suspects from both sides without trial, a policy known as "internmentm3. This suspension of civil fights caused anger on both sides, and, if anything, intensified the conflict~4 (The policy was ended in 1975, and is now seen as a major mistake in the handling of the crisis).In the following year, 1972, 468 people were killed in Northern Ireland, the worst year of the troubles. These included 13 Catholics who had been taking part in a peaceful (though banned) civil rights ma rch. They were shot dead by British soldiers. This was a key event in strengthening Catholic opposition to the British presence. This day has now been mythologised as "Bloody Sunday”s, an important symbol of British oppression.While attempting to maintain normality through a massive and increasingly effective security presence the government looked for political solutions to the troubles. In 1973, an agreement was reached between the main political parties in Northern Ireland, and importantly, the British and Irish governments. This led to a new form for the Northern Irish Parliament, with a Power-Sharing mechanism~6 to allow the minority Catholic population political influence. This, especially the Irish involvement, outraged the Protestant majority, leading to a massive and prolonged strike by the Protestant workforce, eventually leading to the collapse of the power-sharing group.At this point the British government decided that the Northern Irish parliament could not govern the province effectively, and suspended it, replacing it with "direct-rule" from London. This is still the situation today. The IRA's bombing campaign extended to the mainland of Great Britain, but even so the troubles settled down to a peculiar level of semi Britain, but even so the troubles settled down to a peculiar level of semi acceptability. People had got used to it. Both sides continued the conflict, but the British forces kept the scale down to a lower level than in While attempting to maintain normality through a massive and increasingly effective security presence the government looked for political solutions to the troubles. In 1973, an agreement was reached between the main political parties in Northern Ireland, and importantly, the British and Irish the early 1970s, and through the late 1970s and the 1980s the death rate averaged around 90 per year. It didn't get worse, but neither could anyone see an end to it. A visitor to Belfast from England in the 1980s found a city which looked very much like home, but then might be shocked by seeing a police patrol with two armed policemen (shocking in itself to the British, whose police do not carry guns) protected by perhaps ten heavily armed British soldiers walking on both sides of the street ahead of and behind the policemen,looking through their guns’ telescopic sights for any sign of danger. Meanwhile the people of Belfast would be walking amongst them, doing their shopping, taking their children to school, apparently hardly noticing the military force in their midst, the armoured car cruising by. Life went onTowards a Solution?The British government still felt that involving the Southern Irish in Northern Irish affairs was the right way to proceed despite the disaster of power-sharing in the 1970s. It should not be thought that the Irish government supports the IRA: they do not (following independence in 1921 a civil war was fought between the Irish government's forces and the IRA which the Irish government won, executing 3 times as many IRA men as the British ever had). The IRA is thus an illegal organization there too, and the British and Irish governments work together on a range of security matters. Nevertheless, the Irish do seek to protect the rights of Catholics in Northern Ireland, and it is still a part of the Irish constitutionthat they claim sovereignty over the 6 northern counties also, which makes the Protestants of the north suspicious of their intentions. However, in 1985 the Anglo-Irish agreement was signed between the two governments, giving the Irish a right to consultation on Northern Irish matters. Again, huge Protestant protest followed with the "Ulster says No" campaign. This time the government did not give in and the Anglo-Irish agreement is still in effect. A series of big bombs in London in the late 1980s and early 1990s increased pressure on the British government to come up with a solution.Through the actions of a constitutional Nationalist politician, John Hume, leader of the SDLP, and the leader of Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams, in August 1994, to most peoples' surprise, the IRA declared a ceasefire. Protestant paramilitary groups did the same. Everyone breathed a sighof relief, but the problem was not solved, though for the moment no one was being killed.The problem lay in the "commitment to peaceful methods" aspectof the possible talks. The British government felt that to make the Sinn Fein presence at the talks acceptable to the Unionist politicians, the IRA should hand over at least some of its weapons to show its seriousness. The IRA saw this as surrender, and refused. Time went on with various unsuccessful attempts to get over this hurdle. After 18 months of peace, the IRA's patience broke. They ended their ceasefire and set off two explosions in London, killing a number of people. At the moment of writing (April 1996) this is how the situation stands. Brit ain has offered Sinn Fein a place at talks planned to begin in June, if the IRA will declare another ceasefire. They have not done so. Province-wide elections are planned under a complex formula to ensure a wide rangeof representation on the body which will carry out these talks, in an attempt to give them legitimacy. Without the participation of Sinn Fein and the IRA it is hard to see them succeeding. Northern Ireland is poised on the brink--a new peaceful future, or a return to the violence that has claimed 3150 lives so far.3. exercises: do the exercises on page 27-30。