英语国家社会与文化入门(大学英语专业英美文化概况)u(1)

英语国家社会与文化入门（上）Unit 1 A Brief Introduction to the United Kingdom IThe full name of the country of UK is the Untied Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.UK includes 4 parts: the island of Great Britain is made up of England, Scotland and Wales, and Northern Ireland.Different people who belong to different class will tend to read different newspaper, watch different television programmes, speak with a different accent, do different things in their free-time, and have different expectations for their children.Before the 1st century AD Britain was made up of many tribal kingdoms of Celtic people.In 43 AD Britain was invaded by the Roman Empire and England and Wales became a part of the Roman Empire for nearly 400 years.After Roman time, Britain was under threat from outside, this time from Germanic peoples: the Angles, and the Saxon.In the 5th century AD it is said that a great leader appeared, united the British, and with his magical sword, Excalibur, drove the Saxons back. This is the story of King Arthur. According to legend Arthur gathered a company of knights to him and conflict between his knights led to Arthur creating the famous “round table” at which all would have equal precedence.Anglo-Saxon invaders were the forefathers of the English, the founders of “Angle-land” or “England” as it has become know.From the late 8th century on raiders from Scandinavia, the ferocious Vikings, threatened Britain’s shores.The next invaders were the Normans, from northern France, who were descendants of Vikings.Under William of Normandy they crossed the English Channel in 1066.William took the English throne, and became William the First of England.Robin Hood was a Saxon nobleman oppressed by the Normans, who became an outlaw, and with his band of “merry men” hid in the forest of Sherwood in the north midlands of England and they went out to rob from the rich to give to the poor.Charles the First’ attempt to overrule parliament in the 1640s led to a civil war in which parliamentary forces were victorious, and the king was executed. And then England was ruled by parliament’s leader, Oliver Cromwell.The largest city of Scotland is Glasgow and the capital city is Edinburgh.Scotland was not conquered either by the Romans or the Anglo-Saxons.Like England Scotland began to experience Viking raid in the 9th century.Under the leadership of Robert the Bruce, the Scots were victorious at the Battle of Bannockburn, leading to 300 years of full independence.In 1603, Queen Elizabeth the First of England died childless, and the next in line to the throne was James the Sixth of Scotland, so he also became James the First of England, uniting the two thrones.In 1707 by agreement of English and Scottish parliaments, Scotland joined the Union.The Scotland Act 1998 provided for the establishment of the Scottish Parliament and Executive.Scottish writes have given the world such well-known work as Walter Scott’s romances of highland Scotland and “Auld Lang Syne” (by Robert Burns)The capital city of Wales is Cardiff.Unit 2 A Brief Introduction to the United Kingdom IIThe capital city of Northern Ireland is Belfast.The most famous landmark of Northern Ireland is the “Giant’s causeway”, a rocky promontory made up of black hexagonal columns.From the time of Queen Elizabeth I the new settlers, loyal to the British crown and Protestant in religious persuasion, were granted land, position, and privileges which had been systematically take away from the indigenous, Roman Catholic population.“Great hatred, little room” was the way the modern poet W. B. Yeats described the situation. Until 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.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.In 1919 a group calling itself the IRA (Irish Republican Army) expanded the fighting.In the end the conflict became too great to ignore, and as the Sinn Fein party, who were supporters of the Irish terrorists, gained most of the Irish seats in the British parliament, Irish independence became inevitable.In 1921 the southern 26 counties formed an independent “free state”, while the 6 north-eastern counties remained a part the UK.In 1969, the first British soldiers were seen on Northern Irish streets.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”.In 1971 the Northern Irish government took the desperate step of imprisoning terrorist suspects from both sides without trial, a policy known as “internment”, which targeted primarily Catholic men in the North.In 1972 468 people were killed in Northern Ireland and that day has now been mythologiesed as “Bloody Sunday”, an important symbol of British oppression.In 1973, an agreement was reached between the main political parties in Northern Ireland, and importantly, the British and Irish governments, which led to a new form for the Northern Irish Parliament, with a Power-Sharing mechanism.The Sinn Fein party spoke of a twin campaign for union with Ireland, both political and military, which they called the policy of “The Bullet and the Ballot Box”.As a result of multi-party negotiations, aided this time by the intervention of the United States Senator George Mitchell, the Good Friday Agreement known also the Belfast Agreement, emerged on 10 April 1998.Unit 3 The Government of the United KingdomBritain is arguably the oldest representative democracy in the world, with roots that can be traced over a thousand years.The oldest institution of government is the Monarchy.The power of the monarchy was largely derived from the ancient doctrine of the “divine right of kings”The opposition was so powerful the king finally granted a gang of feudal barons and the Church a charter of liberty and political rights, still know by its medieval Latin name of Magna Carta, which is still regarded as Britain’s key expression of the rights of citizens against the Crown.The civil war which brought the Roundheads to power in the 17th century was rooted in a dispute over the power of the king vis-à-vis Parliament.In 1689 Parliament passed the Bill of Rights which ensured that the King would never be able to ignore Parliament.In 1832, when a system for choosing the House of Commons by popular election replaced the monarch’s job of appointing representatives, the modern political system was born.The party with the most supporters in the Commons forms the government, and by tradition, the leader of that party becomes Prime Minister.Britain is both a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy.British governance today is based upon the terms and conditions of the constitution.Israel and Britain are the only two countries without written constitutions of the sort which most countries have.The foundations of the British state are laid out in statute law, that is, laws passed by Parliament; the common laws, which are laws which have been established through common practice in the courts, not because Parliament has written them; and conventions, which are rules and practices which do not exist legally, but are nevertheless regarded as vital to the workings of government.Parliament is supreme in the British state because it alone has the power to change the terms of the Constitution.Strictly speaking, the Parliament today consists of the Queen, the House of Lords and the House of Commons.The role of the monarchy today is primarily to symbolize the tradition and unity of the British state.There are 724 Lords and 646 Members of Parliament in the House of Commons.Unit 4 Politics, Class and RaceIn 1928 it reached the current level of about 99% can vote (those excluded are Lords, certain categories of convicted criminals, the legally insane, and resident foreign citizens – except UK resident citizens of the Irish Republic)After a government has been in power for 5 years it has to resign and hold a “general election”, in which all British adults are given the chance to vote again for their constituency’s MP.Anyone who is eligible to vote can stand as an MP. It is necessary only to make a deposit of 500 pounds which is lost if the candidate does not receive at least 5% of the vote.There are three major national parties: The Conservative party and the Labour party are the two biggest, and any general election is really about which of those two is going to govern. But there is a third important party, the Liberal Democrats.The Labour party is the newest of these three, created by the growing trade union movementat the end of the nineteenth century.The Conservative party is the party that spend most time in power.The Liberal Democrats are the third biggest party, and to some extent may be seen as a party of the “middle”, occupying the ideological ground between the two main parties.Margaret Thatcher is the UK’s first woman Prime Minister.The car-worker probably reads a paper like The Sun: a newspaper with little heard news and more about TV soap operas, the Royal family, and sport. The university teacher might read The Guardian: a larger newspaper with longer stories, covering national and international news, “high” culture such as theatre and literature, and so on.Unit 5 The UK EconomyThe UK is now the world’s sixth largest economy.The UK is not only a member of the G7, G8, G20 major economies, but also a member of the World Trade Organization.Firstly, the country had gone heavily into debt in order to finance the war, selling many of its accumulated overseas assets, and borrowing large amounts from the United States and Canada.Secondly, the ear of empire was over. India, popularly known as “The Jewel in the Crown” of the British Empire, gained its independence in 1947.Thirdly, despite the relatively rapid and trouble-free process of decolonization, Britain has still forced to maintain a substantial and expensive military presence in many overseas locations until the process was completed.Fourthly, although Britain was quite badly damaged by German bombing during the war, its industry survived comparatively unaffected. This failure to invest sufficiently in industry also reflects a long-standing and continuing problem in the UK economy.National economies can be broken down into three main areas: “primary” industries, such as agriculture, fishing, and mining; “secondary” industries, which manufacture complex goods from those primary products; and tertiary industries, often described as services, such as banking, insurance, tourism, and the selling of goods.Britain’s agricultural sector is small but efficient, producing 58% of the UK’s food needs with only 2% of its workforce.Scottish ports land the majority of the fish caught.Three of the biggest ten companies in Britain are to be found in the energy sector: Shell, British Petroleum (BP), and British Gas.The World’s largest mining company, RTZ, is a UK company which operates mines all over the world.The British company Glaxo-Wellcome is the biggest drug company in the world.70% of the UK’s workforce are employed in the service sector.London is one of the top three financial centres in the world. It has the greatest concentration of foreign banks in the world, accounts for 20% of all international bank-loans, and is the world’s largest foreign exchange market. As well as banking, dealing in commodities and insurance are important processes in “The City”—the name given to the historic area at the centre of London where all this business is concentrated, at the heart of which is London Stock Exchange, one of the business share-dealing centres in the world.Aerospace is one of the UK’s highest value adding manufacturing sectors.Unit 6 British LiteratureThe major literature competition is the annual Booker Prize.Much early British writing was concerned with Christianity: Anglo-Saxons produced beautifully illustrated versions of the Bible: the most famous of these is the Book of Kells. One of the oldest of these early “Old English” litrary works is long poem from Anglo-Saxon times called Beowulf.One work from Norman Conquest times often studied today by middle school and college students is The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, who was the first court poet to write in English.There was a general flowering of cultural and intellectual life in Europe during the 15th and 16th century which is known as “The Renaissance”.Christopher Marlowe’s most famous play is The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, the story of a man who sold his soul to the devil in return for power.William Shakespeare is probably the best-known literary figure in the world.The tragedies include Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth.Among the comedies are The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, and The Tempest.A permanent monument of English literature style commemorates James’s name. He ordered the translation of the Holy Scriptures known as the King James Bible(1611).The Essays of Frances Bacon made popular in English a literary form widely practiced afterward.The literary giant of the 17th century, John Milton was much bound up in Puritan Revolution. The most famous pamphlets is Areopagitica. During his retirement from public life he produced his masterpieces: Paradise Lost, its sequel, Paradise Regained, and the poetic tragedy Samson Agonistes.Johnthan Swift’s name is linked with the fanciful account of four voyages known to us as Guliver’s Travels.Scotland produced a much-loved poet, Robert Burns, who wrote in Scottish dialect.Daniel Defoe ‘s first and greatest novel appeared in 1719, which was Robinson Crusoe, the most famous tale of shipwreck and solitary survival in all literature.Two poets offered what had been called romantic poetry’s “Declaration of Independence.” This was a volume of poems called Lyrical Ballads, written by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.George Gordon, Lord Byron’s large body of work includes the partly autobiographical Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Don Juan owed its title.John Keats’s art is nowhere greater than in the two pomes “Ode on a Grecian Urn” and ”Ode to a Nightingale.”Percy Bysshe Shelley’s writing has a wide range. The lovely musical quality of his work appears in the fine verses of “Ode to the West Wind” and “To a Skylark”The spirit of Romanticism also occurred in the novel, notably in Mary Shelley’s (the poet Shelly’s wife) Frankenstein, the story of science gone wrong through the disastrous consequences of an arrogant scientist’s attempts to create life.Most of Sir Walter Scott’s themes came from medieval and Scottish history and he wrote a number of romantic novels.Jane Austen, who excelled at this form of writing, is indeed one of the greatest of all Englishnovelists. A delightful, almost flawless stylist, she has devoted admirers of her Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Emma, among other works.Perhaps the most famous literary family in British history are the Bronte sisters, and they too were influenced by the Romantic movement. Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and Emily’s Wuthering Heights are the most successful.Charles Dickens produced Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, David Copperfield and Great Expectations.Later in the 19th century Robert Louis Stevenson also wrote Scottish historical romances, The Adventures in Treasure Island and Kidnapped thrill readers young and old. His most famous short novel was The strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.Among Thomas Hardy’s better-known novels are The Return of the Native, Tess of the D’urbervilles, and Jude the Obscure.20th century literature can be broadly divided into two stylistic periods: Modernism, and Postmodernism.One of the most famous of English modernist writers is Joseph Conrad, whose most famous novel is The Heart of Darkness.Virginia Woolf is another writer associated with Modernism, and one of the most famous writers of the century. Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, and Orlando are among her best-known books.D.H. Lawrence wrote Sons and Lovers.Unit 7 British Education SystemMany people think school is just about teaching children what are often called “the three Rs” – “reading, riting and rithmetic”. But the purpose of the British education system is also to socialize children.The school (or college) tie is a clear marker of social class.Education in the UK is compulsory. Children are legally obliged to attend school from the age of 5 (4 in Northern Ireland) to 16.State schools are funded by local and central government. The government also sometimes assists schools established by religious groups.In the private sector there are independent schools which are commonly, but confusingly, called public schools. Independent schools receive their funding through the private sector and through tuition rates, with some government assistance.Between the ages of 5 to 11, pupils mainly attend state sector primary schools.From the age of 11 up to around the age of 19, students attend secondary schools.General Certificate of Secondary Education are the main means of assessing pupils’ progress in their final 2 years of compulsory education.Other pupils who decide not to go to university may choose to take vocational training.So far, the UK has only one privately funded university, the University of Buckingham. Oxford and Cambridge date from the 12th and 13 centuries.The Open University offers a non-traditional route for people to take university level courses and receive a university degree.Unit 8 British Foreign RelationsBritain was active in setting up the United Nations and, in recognition of its continuingimportance to world politics it was awarded a seat on the UN Security Council.The contemporary foreign policy of the UK is greatly influenced by its imperial history and also by its geopolitical traits.The Prime Minister and Cabinet decide on the general direction of Britain’s foreign policy. The main government department involved is of course the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.The Ministry of Defence, although it is considered less important than the FCO, is an important play.The Department of Trade and Industry is concerned with formulating international trade policy and managing British commercial relations with other countries.A less obvious, but extremely influential play in Britain’s foreign poly is the Treasury. Britain is one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, along with Russia, China, the US and France.In 1973 the United Kingdom joined the European Economic Community, now EU.Through its involvement in NATO, Britain was committed to European defence cooperation Britain is also a member of the Commonwealth, a voluntary association of states which is made up mostly of former British colonies.The keystone of British defence policy is its participation in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, more commonly known as NATO.Unit 9 The British MediaThe observer, which is still published every Sunday, first appeared in 1791, making it the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper, while The Times, which began publishing in 1785, is the United Kingdom’s oldest daily newspaper.This watchdog function, keeping an eye on the government, is one of the reasons why a free press is considered so important to the functioning of parliamentary democracy.The British media all must follow the Advertising Code which ensure that advertisements are legal, decent, honest and truthful; have a sense of responsibility for consumer and society; and respect the principles of fair competition.Until the 1980s, almost all the national newspapers had their headquarters on or around Fleet Street in London, and sometimes you will hear newspaper culture referred to still as “Fleet Street”, or even, sometimes, the Street of Shame, reflecting the birth of scandals which take place.While officially speaking the British press is “free” from government control and censorship and can print what it likes, there are limits to what will appear in the daily paper.The oldest and most popular soap, which began in the 1960s, is Coronation Street.The British Broadcasting Corporation – more familiarly known as the BBC or even “the Beeb” – us Britain’s main public service broadcaster.The BBC is funded by licence fees and viewers must buy a licence each year for their TV set. Unit 10 Sports, Holidays and Festivals in Britain“Football hooligans”, supporters of rival teams, sometimes clash before, during and after matches and occasionally run riot through the town, breaking windows and beating each other up.Wimbledon, actually a London suburb, is where the world’s best players gather to compete ongrass courts. It is one of the major events of the British sporting calendar and probably the most famous tennis event in the world.Cricket was one of the very first team sports in Britain to have organized rules and to be played according to the same rules nationally.The game of golf was invented by the Scottish.The true sport of British Kings and Queens is not skiing or golfing, but horse racing.There are two kinds of horse racing: flat racing, where horses and riders compete on a flat, oval track; and steeplechasing, which is racing either across the countryside, or around a course designed to represent the obstacles you might encounter in the countryside. Christmas, December 25th, is the biggest and best loved British holiday.There are three Christmas traditions which are particularly British: one is the Christmas Pantomime, a comical musical play.Another British Christmas tradition is to hear the Queen give her Christmas message to her realm over the television and radio.A third British tradition, which is also celebrated in countries with British heritages, is Boxing Day, which falls on the day after Christmas.For church goers it is Easter, not Christmas, which is the most important Christian festival. One of Britain’s most impressive and colourful festival happens on the second Saturday in June when the Queen’s Birthday is officially celebrated by “Trooping the Colour” around Buckingham Palace in London.The UK, unlike most countries, does not have a “national day”.One truly English holiday is Bonfire Night – sometimes called Guy Fawkes Night – celebrated in the early autumn.The Twelfth is the high point of what is known as the Marching Season, when Protestant “Orangemen” take to the streets wearing their traditional unifors of bowler hats, black suits and orange sashes, marching through the streets sing, banging durms and playing in marching bands.Northern Irish Catholics celebrate the birthday of the patron saint of Ireland, St Patrick, on March 17 each year.How Hogmanay is celebrated varies throughout Scotland, but one widely practiced is “first footing”.Each year Scottish people all over the world celebrate their most beloved national poet, Robert Burns, by holding a Burns Supper on the evening of his birthday.Halloween is a Scottish festival that comes from the great feast of the pagan Celts which marked the arrival of the winter half of the year.Wales has some of the oldest and richest literary, musical and poetic traditions in Europe. Unit 11 Land, People and HistorySeen from the air, the visitor’s first impression of Ireland is an intense green or rather mixture of greens, which changes little between summer and winter.Emigration did take place before the Great Famine, mostly from the northern part of Ireland, known as the province of Ulster.The event that triggered the Great Famine was a blight on the potato crop.The stereotype of the Irish in the British popular press of this period is of a people who were, at best, lazy, impractical, and dreamy; at worse, dirty, untrustworthy, and close to animals.Thus the Great Famine became a watershed in Irish history.And yet Ireland’s history has been one of invasions of vastly different peoples – Celts, Christians, Vikings, Normans, English – each of which has made a distinctive contribution to its present population.But for all the legacies of the Celts, it is their language that has proved the most lasting.With the language, the Celts brought an instrument of social and cultural unity to the island, which transcended political and social divisions.Along with their language, the Celts also brought a legal system.From around 800 onwards Viking marauders attacked Ireland, as well as England.During the course of the 13th century, the Normans were the first to attempt to impose on Ireland a centralized administration which mimicked the parliament and legal system and administrative practices of their native England.Following its slogans of “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,” the Society of the United Irishmen was founded in 1791 to press for radical reform.After the defeat of the 1798 rebellion, the London government took drastic action to curtain any notions of Irish independence.The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB; later known as the Irish Republican Army of IRA) was founded in 1858 to promote, by violence if necessary, Irish independence from Great Britain.To counter just such bloody and futile rebellions, a constitutional movement seeking Home Rule was instituted up by Issac Butt.The Home Rule bill was finally passed in 1914, but its implementation was shelved upon the outbreak of World War I.In 1916 the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army staged another, and final, rebellion against British rule, which is called The Easter Rising.In December, 1921 the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed, with the result that 26 counties gained independence as the new Irish Free State.Unit 12 Politics and EconomyIn structure, like most former colonies of Great Britain, the Irish Republic has a Prime Minister or Taoiseach and a Deputy Prime Minister or Tanaiste.Once elected, it is the Taoiseach who appoints a cabinet to execute the daily business of government.The Parliament or Dail frames and enacts all legislation for the country.Finally, the laws are enforced by an unarmed police force, called the Garda Siochana.Being a republic, rather than a monarchy, the government is headed by a President, who is elected directly by the people.Every citizen of 35 years of age or over usually is eligible to run for President.The President’s term of office is seven years. A President can be reelected once only.The executive powers of the State are exercised by, or on the authority of, the Government. The Government consists of the Taoiseach and the ministers that he or she appoints to the cabinet.The Parliament of Ireland is comprised of two houses: the Dail and the Seanad or the Senate. The elected system used in Ireland is called “proportional representation”.The civil service is divided into sixteen Government Departments, each headed by a Ministerappointed by the Taoiseach.The legal courts in Ireland are arranged in a hierarchy, while the District Court is at the bottom of the ladder, and then Circuit Court, the High Court and the Supreme Court is the court of final appeal.Ireland’s entrance into the EU in 1973 has transformed labour practice and given Ireland access to the Single Market.Mimicking the boom in Asia, the media called Ireland’s sudden wealth “The Celtic Tiger” economy.Unit 13 Irish Culture: How the Irish Live NowOn the one hand, the English political domination of Ireland has left the Republic with a secure and workable administrative, educational, and judicial system.On the other hand, the Irish are proud they do not have a monarchy: they think of themselves as citizens, not as subjects.In Ireland, the Catholic Church also exercised a firm hold over educational structure, over hospitals, over the media, and over the way people thought about themselves and their lives. What has changed dramatically in the last forty years has been the structure of Irish family life.The primary agent in effecting change in traditional family life has been the movement for women’s liberation.The communal facility in both city and countryside that is most widely patronized is the public house or “pub”.One of the reasons why these informal work practices are congenial is that there is little division in an Irish person’s life between his work and his social life.In Ireland, trade unions are an important part of job security.Traditionally, Irish education was undertaken by various religious orders, mostly Roman Catholic, with the result that forty years ago, almost three quarters of existing schools were “denominational” — that is, associated with one religious denomination or another.In 1996-1997 the Irish government extended free education to cover all public universities, as is common in most of European countries.In Ireland, education is compulsory for children aged six to fifteen years.The vast majority of children receive their primary education in “national schools”; i.e., state-aided schools.Most secondary schools are privately owned, many by Catholic religious communities — and are hence sectarian or denominational.Like the Chinese gao kao, the Leaving Certificate exams set by the Department of Education which are uniform for all Irish students.There are five public universities in the State.The University of Dublin comprises one college, Trinity College. This is the oldest university in the State, founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I for the education of Protestants.Unit 14 Irish Culture: Language, Literature and ArtsThe language that is spoken universally in the Republic of Ireland is a version of standard。

美国UNIT 3 l.What is an American? He is either a European, or the descendant of a European, hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country. He is an American, who leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new go ver nment he obeys, and the new rank he holds.... Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labors and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world. ... The American is a new man, who acts new principles; he must therefore en tertai n new ideas, and form new opinions. 4 .In what way did Puritanism influe nee America n culture?A. Today, Puritans are no Ion ger in existence. But their legacies are still felt in American society and culture. For example, the Puritans hoped to build "a city upon hill" an ideal comm unity. Since that time, America ns have viewed their country as a great experiment, a worthy model for other nations. This sense of mission has been very strong in the minds of many Americans.B. The Puritans also have left rich cultural heritage to future America ns. The America n values such as in dividualism, hard work, respect of educatio n owe very much to the Puritan beliefs.UNIT 4 1 Why did the Articles of Confederation fail? Was it necessary to change the Articles of Confederation and write a new constitution for the new nation of the United States at the time? The Articles of Confedera廿on failed because the states did not cooperate with the Congress or with each other. When the Congress needed money to pay the national army or to pay debts owed to Fra nee and other nati ons, some states refused to con tribute. The Con gress had bee n given no authority to force any state to do anything. It could not tax any citizen. Only the state in which a citizen lived could do that. 2. What is a federal system? What are some of the major differences between a federal system and a confederation? The Constitution set up a federal system with a strong cen tral go ver nment. A federal system is one in which power is shared between a central authority and its constituent parts, with some rights reserved to each. The Con stituti on also called for the electi on of a nati on al leader, or preside nt. It provided that federal laws would be made only by a Congress made up of representatives elected by the people. It also provided for a national court system headed by a Supreme Court. 3. What are some of the major powers of each of the three bra nches of the U.S. go ver nment? How are the three bra nches supposed to check and bala nee each other? If Con gress proposes a law that the preside nt thinks is un wise, the preside nt can veto it. That means the proposal does not become law. Con gress can en act the law despite the preside nt's views only if two-thirds of the members of both houses vote in favor of it. If Congress passes a law which is then challenged in the courts as unconstitutional, the Supreme Court has the power to declare the law unconst:itutional and therefore no Ion ger in effect. The preside nt has the power to make treaties with other nations and to make all appointments to federal positions, including the position of Supreme Court justice. The Sen ate, however; must approve all treaties and con firm all appoi ntme nts before they become official. In this way the Con gress can preve nt the preside nt from maki ng un wise appointments 4. What is the Bill of Rights? Do you think that it was necessary to write the Bill of Rights explicitly into the U.S. Constitution? The Bill of Rights: the first 10 amendments, collectively known as the Bill of Rights, were added within two years of the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. These amendments remain intact today, as they were written two centuries ago. The first guarantees freedom of worship, speech and press, the right of peaceful assembly, and the right to petition the government to correct wrongs. The Bill of Rights and subsequent con stituti onal ame ndme nts guara ntee the America n people the fullest possible opport unity to enjoy fundamental human rights. 5 What are the two political parties in the United States? Do you think they are fun dame ntally different? The Un ited States has two major political parties. One is the Democratic Party, which evolved out of Thomas」efferson's party, formed before 1800. The symbol of the party is the donkey. The other is theRepublican Party, which was formed in the 1850s, by people in the states of the North and West, such as Abraham Lin coin, who wan ted the go ver nment to preve nt the expa nsion of slavery into new states the n being admitted to the union. The symbol of the Republican Party is the elephant.UNIT 6 1. In what way do you think that religious freedom was a historical necessity in the United States? 1. By the middle of the 18th century, many different kinds of Protestants lived in America. 2. The Great Awakening of the 1740s, a "revivamovement that sought to breathe new feeling and st re ngth into religi on, cut across the lines of Protesta nt religious groups, or denominations. 3. A few America ns were so in flue need by the new scie nee and new ideas of the En lighte nment in Europe that they became deists, believing that reason teaches that God exists but leaves man free to settle his own affairs. 4. The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States forbade the new federal go ver nment to give special favors to any religio n or to hin der the free practice, or exercise, of religion. 3 What promotes the diversity in American religion? 1. The United States has always been a fertile ground for the growth of new religious movements. Fron tier America provided plenty of room to set up a new church or found a new comm unity. 2. Many religious communities and secular utopias, or experiments in new forms of social living, were foun ded in 18th and 19th century America. 3. America ns with differe nt religions live together under the same law. 4. The religious beliefs of Americans continue to be strong with social progress. 5. In the United States every church is a completely independent organization, and concerned with its own finance and its own building. 6. Continuous immigration.UNIT 8 1. What is the goal of education in the United States? Discuss the similarities and differences in Great Britain, the United States and China concerning the goals of education. 答：The goal is一and has been since the early decades of the republic一to achieve universal literacy and to provide individuals with the knowledge and skills necessary to promote both their own individual welfare as well as that of the general public. Though this goal has not yet been fully achieved, it remains an ideal toward which the American educational system is directed. The progress which has bee n made is no table both for its scope and for the educati onal methods which have been developed in the process of achieving it. 2. How did American education begin to develop? In 1634, they ope ned a zz latee n grammar" school, a school for those who wan ted to prepare for college. In 1636, Harvard College was founded for the training of religious ministers. In 1634 and 1638, the Puritans passed laws declaring that all property could be taxed for the comm on good, which in eluded the support of school. I n 1642 and 1647, the Bay Colony passed laws requiring all parents to provide reading educating for their children. At the end of the 18th century, elementary education throughout the United States was in local hands. 3. What are the major characteristics of education in America? (l)Different education laws for different states.(2)Several levels of schooli ng： Eleme ntary Schooli ng, Sec on dary Schooli ng and High Schooli ng.(3)curricula for students: there is no national curriculum in the United States. (3)Compulsory education for all students. (4)Equal education opportunities for minority groups. (5)Strong dema nd for higher educati on. (6)The complex system of higher educati on. Some states play a strong role in the selection of learning material for their students. Schools were asked not only to teach this new information, but to help students ask their own questions about it. The "inquiry" method of learning, focusing on solving problems rather than memorizing facts, became popular. 或者3.What do you think some of the characteristics of education in America? 1. About 85% of American students attend public schools (schools supported by American taxpayers). The other 15% attend private schools, for which their families choose to pay special attendance fees. Four out of five private schools in theUnited States are run by churches, synagogues or other religious groups. In such schools, religious teachings are a part of the curriculum. 2. Each of the 50 states in the United States has its own laws regulating education. From state to state, some laws are similar; others are not. Education in the United States was to remain in the hands of state and local go ver nmen ts. 3. America ns have a str ong tendency to educate their childre n about major public concerns—problems such as environmentai pollution, nuclear issues, neighborhood crime and drugs.Unit9 1, what were the major social movement of the 1960s? And what was the historical background of the social movements of that decade? 一(1) the Civil Rights Movement, the Youth Movement, the Anti-War Movement, Free Speech Movement, Counter Culture, Women's Liberation Movement. (2) 1. During World War Two, many American Negroes had a taste of life outside the South. They knew that life in the segregated South, where Negroes were prevented from working at good jobs and getting good education, was not the American way of life. 2. Women earned less money and had fewer opportunities to advanee than men working in the same jobs, or they became housewives, isolated at home with their children. 3. Many young people resented traditional white male values in US society. 4. When the US army began to fight in Vietnam, many people thought the war was wrong. They did not understand why US troops were fighting in Asia.。

英语专业本科教案英语国家社会与文化授课教案Unit OneIntroduction& Unit 1The Society and Culture of Major English-Speaking Countries本课内容：The Society and Culture of Major English-Speaking Countries课程名称：英语国家社会与文化授课时间：90分钟教学目的:通过本节课的教学，使学生了解英语国家社会与文化课程的主要内容与要求，了解文化的概念；同时对英国有一个总体上的了解。

教学意义:帮助学生了解主要英语国家的社会与文化概貌，如地理、历史、政治、经济、社会生活和文化传统等方面的基本知识。

教学重点:文化的概念；英国基本情况。

教学难点:英国概况教学方式：以电子课件为主，辅以少量板书的课堂讲授。

教学内容: (详见下页）1.什么是文化？2．英国国土与人民英国的不同名称及其区域3. 伦敦概况教学方法：采取教师教授为主，结合学生课堂讨论。

时间分配: What is culture? (10 分钟.);What’s the relation between Culture and society? (10 分钟);Why should we learn culture (10 分钟);UK- a complicated country with a complicated name(40 分钟)A Brief Idea about London. (20 分钟)课堂板书:1. Culture-the foundation of communication2. The four parts of UK3. Main cities of EnglandLondonBirmingham-second largest city of England.Liverpool-second largest port of EnglandManchester- industrial and commercial centre.课后作业: Exercises in Unit 1Unit OnePart One1.What is culture?Culture-the foundation of communicationCulture is very abstract and complicated. Concretely speaking, it refers to all the aspects of social life, such as, the values, the practices of a society and social conventions, education, politics, art or literature,language,ideas,etc.文化即是人们所思,所言(言语和非言语),所为,所觉的总和.文化是无处不在的,具体说来,包括社会生活的一切方面,如:价值观念,生活行为方式,社会规范等,乃至艺术,政治,经济, 教育,修养,文学,语言,思想等.2. What’s the relation between Culture and society?1)Culture is a separate idea from society, although culture and society are interrelated andcannot exist without each other.2)Culture is a system of values (or beliefs) and norms (or behaviour). A society is a system ofinterrelationships which connect or bind individuals together.3. Why should we learn culture?1)Requirement of communication2) Language and culture are inseparable3)Culture acquisition is important for the study of literature.Part TwoUK- a complicated country with a complicated nameⅠStatus in the worldEffects of its Imperial Past--“an empire in which the sun never set”（日不落帝国）:1.one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, a founding member ofNATO, and of the Commonwealth,2. Member of European Union and the Group of seven3.The make-up of the British population (Immigration has produced a population of which 1 in 20 are of non-European ethnicity.)II. The effects of its imperial past* The days of empire ended after World War II1.The effects were mainly encountered in the close relationships which exist with the 50 or more colonies of that empire, and which maintain links through Commonwealth of Nations. But more important international relation is its membership in the European Union since 1973.2.The makeup of the British population--- immigration from India, Pakistan, or Caribbean (西印度群岛与中南美洲海域) countries in the 1950s and1960s. 1/20 are non-European ethnicity.III.The features of British society:1.a multiracial societyRacial, gender, class, regional and economic differences in the societya multi-racial society: most are Christians and because of immigration, many are Muslims; gender difference: male and female live different livesclass difference: the class structure of UK society is relatively obvious (A white-collar worker’s lives are very different from a blue-collar worker’s.)economic and regional difference within each of the 4 countries:-- difference between highland and lowland Scots-- difference between north and south England (South is on average more wealthy than the north)2. a society with class-structure3. a society with difference of region difference: highland and lowland Scots，north and southEngland，the capital and provinces.Part ThreeMain cities of England1. London2. Birmingham-second largest city of England.3. Liverpool-second largest port of England4. Manchester- industrial and commercial centre.London--cultural,bussness,and financial centre1. One of the most famous cities of the world, London is England's capital and a favourite for tourists from all over the world who flock there in their millions. It has a history stretching back almost 2000 years, A population of 7.5 million people, and some of the most famous tourist attractions in the world.2.London Attractions:Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.The Tower of London,Tower Bridge,St Paul's Cathedralthe River ThamesCountless fascinating museums, art galleries and famous theatres.The English Royal Family reside in London at Buckingham Palace whereyou can see the famous 'Changing of the Guard' and much more.3. A significant role of LondonWhen a man is tired of London, you are tired of life for there is in London all that life can afford.—Samuel Johnson London is dominant in UK in all sorts of ways.1)It is the largest city in the country with about one seventh of the nation’s population.2)It is seat of government.3)It is the cultural centre.4)It is the business centre.5)It is the financial centre of the nation.6)London is a huge weight in Britain’s economic and cultural life, and to some extent the restof the country lives in its shadow.For reference英国历代国王与王后Geographical features1.Geographical positionThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) is situated north-west of the European continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. It has a total land area of 244,100 square kilometres, of which nearly 99% is land and the remainder inland water. From north to south it is about 1,000 kilometres long.(1) Northwest of Europe(2) North Atlantic Ocean(3) Separated from the rest of Europe by the English Channel2.Geographical features(1) An island country, surrounded by sea(2) Highlands in the north and west(3) Lowlands in the east and southeastA. Part of the great European PlainB. Level land and fertile soilC. farming(4) 3 natural zones in ScotlandA. the highlands in the northB. the central lowlandsC. the southern uplands. Rivers and LakesImportant role of rivers in the country’s economy1.Important Rivers(1)the Severn RiverA.the longest in the countryB.only 338 kilos long(2)the Thames RiverA.the 2nd longestB.the most important riverC.336 kilos longD.Oxford and London are on the river(3)River ClydeA.the most important in ScotlandB.important commercial waterway2.the Lake District(1)in northwest England and North Wales(2)popular tourist attractions(3)the home of the Lake PoetsA.William WordsworthB.Samuel Taylor ColeridgeC.Robert SoutheyClimate1.Typical feature of Britain’s climate“Other countries have a climate; in England we have weather.”The statement is often made by Englishmen to describe the peculiar meteorological conditions of their country.A maritime type of climate(1)rainy---abundant rainfallThe uncertainty about the weather tends to make the Englishmen cautious.“A foreigner may laugh when he sees the Englishman setting forth on a brilliantlysunny morning wearing a raincoat and carrying an umbrella, but he may well regret hislaughter later in the day!”(2)changeable and unpredictable, no clear cut of 4 seasons“In no country other than England, it has been said, can one experience four seasons in the course of a single day! Day may break as a balmy spring morning; an hour or solater black clouds may have appeared from nowhere and the rain may be pouring down.At midday conditions may be really wintry with the temperature down by about eightdegrees or more centigrade. And then, in the late afternoon the sky will clear, the sunwill begin to shine, and for an hour or two befo re darkness falls, it will be summer.”(3)Mild: no extremesIn England one can experience almost every kind of weather except the most extreme.temperature: 4-6℃ in winter, 12-17℃ in summer2.Factors influencing the climate(1)the surrounding waters(2)the prevailing south-west winds(3)the North Atlantic Drift (warm current)3.Rainfall(1) a steady reliable rainfall throughout the year(2)uneven distribution of rainA. a water surplus in the north and westB. a water deficit in the south and eastUnit TwoThe History of England课程名称：英语国家社会与文化本课内容：The Society and Culture of Major English-Speaking Countries授课时间：90分钟教学目的:通过本节课的教学，使学生了解英国历史，尤其是英格兰的历史；掌握主要历史事件及人物。

英语国家社会与文化入门高清上册(1)英语国家社会与文化入门高清上册是一本介绍英语国家社会和文化的教材。

本书主要讲述了英语国家的国情、社会风俗、文化习惯等方面的内容。

以下是我对本书的学习感悟和思考。

首先，在学习本书的过程中，深刻体会到了不同文化之间的差异性。

比如，英美国家的销售和营销方式与中国存在很大的差异。

英美国家的销售和营销方式更注重个人和自我表达，多使用口头和书面语言来向客户传达信息。

而在中国，我们更注重团队合作，而一些行业在进行销售和营销时更加注重面对面的沟通交流。

因此，学习不同的文化背景及其差异性，可以更好地为未来的国际交往和合作做准备。

其次，本书让我进一步认识到英语国家社会和文化的多样性。

不同国家和地区的人们存在着不同的社会规范、文化传统和历史传承。

比如，本书中讲到了英国和美国的社交礼仪和文化习惯，在细节方面有很多不同之处。

这种差异性的存在，对于我们来说，提醒我们在交往和合作中特别需要把握当地文化的规范和特点，了解独特的文化价值和经验，并避免意识形态的冲突。

最后，在学习本书的过程中，也进一步了解了英语国家的历史与现状。

比如，在本书的第一章中，对英美国家的历史、政治、经济状况进行了详细介绍。

在这个信息交流日益快速的时代，了解英语国家在历史和现状方面的知识，可以更好地加深我们对文化背景和历史传承的认识，同时也有利于我们更好地了解「一带一路」倡议中的国际环境和背景。

综上所述，英语国家社会与文化入门高清上册是一本很有价值的书籍。

它让我深刻认识到英语国家的文化和习惯与中国有很大差异，同时也让我意识到多元文化的存在，还让我进一步了解了英语国家的历史和现状。

对于未来的国际交往与合作来说，这些知识都有很大的帮助和意义。