专八人文知识吐血整理版.概要

人文知识讲义2004年2月全国英语考试专业教学指导委员会修订专八考试大纲，2005年正式实施，开始新增人文知识的内容。

主要包括：英语国家概括、英语语言文学知识、和英语语言学知识。

测试要求：1 英语国家地理、历史、文化、教育等等。

4题。

主要考察英国、美国必有（地理、历史、文化和政治），加拿大、澳大利亚和新西兰概括，爱尔兰没有出现，2 英语文学知识。

3题。

文学部分英美文学作家作品，流派、文学贡献也会出现，及格律3 英语语言学知识。

3题。

语言学基本概念，及其代表理论、代表著作注意：人文一般不会考很偏的知识第一章英语国家概况第一节美国地理：东南西北地理位置、人口3亿（人口最多的是加州、德州、纽约州、佛罗里达州等，主要为印第安人，首先移民到此是英国人和荷兰人）、星条旗为国旗（13和50）、国徽白头鹰、国歌《星条旗永不落》（1931年通过）、首都华盛顿哥伦比亚特区，属于中央政府管理。

50州，最大阿拉斯加，最小罗得岛州，美国本土最大德克萨斯州。

美国又称为Uncle Sam（1961年美国国会正式承认），国花为玫瑰Rose。

美国本土共分为6大地区：New England：6州，最重要为马萨诸塞州（波士顿）、罗德岛州（普罗维登斯）和新罕布什尔（康科德）。

总统大选初选开始于新罕布什尔。

1 美国诞生地和独立战争的主要战场。

2 波士顿美国最古老的城市，有麻省理工学院和哈佛。

波士顿的龙虾很有名3 新英格兰人又称为yankees.the Middle Atlantic States: 7州、最重要的为纽约州、宾州、新泽西州和马里兰州。

1 白宫和国会山在华盛顿特区。

2 纽约是美国最大的城市，联合国大厦等等著名建筑在此。

共有5个区：分别是曼哈顿、皇后、布鲁克林、布朗克斯和斯塔滕岛。

有帝国大厦和自由女神像。

哥伦比亚大学和康奈尔大学。

纽约称为big apple。

3 尼亚加拉大瀑布在纽约州的水牛城。

4 葛底斯堡位于宾州，林肯曾在此发表过演讲。

Part 1 英语国家概况第一章英国第一节概述1 英国四部分首都英格兰(England)首都London，苏格兰（Scotland）首都爱丁堡（Edinburgh），威尔士（Wales）首都加的夫（Cardiff）北爱尔兰（Northern Ireland）首都贝尔法斯特（Belfast）2 英格兰占地面积为整个岛屿的60%（13万平方公里）3 南面的（south）的英吉利海峡（English channel）与东面的（east）的北海（North sea）将英国与欧洲其他部分隔开。

4 爱尔兰的官方语言（official language）是Irish，第二语言是English5 Scotland 位于北部（northernmost part）6 主要作物是大麦（wheat）和小麦（barley）7 最佳农业区是英格兰的东南部（northeast）8 70%的劳动力集中在服务业（service）9 农民仅占人口2%，管理70%的土地。

10 运输业，家庭取暖系统（domestic heating system），食品供应（food supply）很大程度上依赖于石油（oil ）11 在19世纪造船业（shipbuilding）中世界领先12 England 的人口最多第二节地理1 本尼维斯山（Ben Nevis）是英国最高的山（highest mountain）2 斯克菲尔峰（Scafell）是英格兰最高峰（highest peak）3 塞文河（Severn River）是英国最长的河（longest river）4 泰晤士河（Thames River）是英国第二大河和最重要的河流（second and most important river）5 内伊湖（Lough Neagh）是英国最大的湖（largest lake），位于北爱尔兰6 英吉利海峡（The English Channel）是分隔England和France的狭窄海道，连接大西洋（Atlantic ocean）与北海（North Sea）7 英国是海洋性气候（the maritime type），由于受墨西哥湾流（the Gulf Stream）的影响，比同纬度其他地方温度高（warmer），温和适中，冬天温和，夏天凉爽，天气多变（changeable），有时会在一天经历四季变化。

专八人文知识总结人文知识广泛涵盖了人类文化、历史、艺术、哲学等领域的知识内容，是对人类智慧和精神创造的总结与归纳。

在专八考试中，人文知识是一个重要的考察点，下面将对人文知识进行总结与梳理。

一、文化艺术1. 中国传统文化：中国悠久的历史和深厚的文化底蕴是中华民族的瑰宝，包括中国儒家思想、道家思想、佛教文化、中国古代文学、绘画、书法以及传统音乐、舞蹈等。

这些都是中国文化的精髓，也是中国人民的精神支柱。

2. 西方文化：西方文化源远流长，包括希腊罗马文化、基督教文化、文艺复兴运动、启蒙运动、现代主义艺术等。

西方文化对世界文化的发展和影响不可忽视，它形成了独特的西方审美观和艺术风格。

3. 艺术形式与艺术家：艺术是人类精神的表达和创造，包括音乐、绘画、雕塑、建筑、文学等艺术形式。

世界上有很多伟大的艺术家，如达·芬奇、米开朗基罗、莎士比亚、贝多芬等，他们的作品影响了世界，并成为人类文化的瑰宝。

二、历史1. 世界古代史：古代文明的兴衰是人类社会发展的缩影，从埃及、希腊、罗马到中国、印度等，每个古代文明都有其独特的历史背景和文化特点。

了解这些古代文明对于理解人类文明发展的脉络和演变具有重要意义。

2. 中国近现代史：中国的近现代史经历了清朝的衰落、封建社会的瓦解、列强入侵、辛亥革命、抗日战争、解放战争和新中国的建立等重大事件。

深入了解中国近现代史，可以理解中国社会的变革和现代化进程。

3. 世界现代史：20世纪是世界历史上变革最为剧烈的时期，包括两次世界大战、冷战、殖民地解放、科技革命等重大事件。

掌握世界现代史的知识，可以理解世界格局的演变和国际关系的发展。

三、哲学思想1. 中国哲学思想：中国哲学思想独具特色，包括儒家思想、道家思想、墨家思想、法家思想、名家思想等。

这些思想体系对中国社会和人民的思维方式和行为准则产生了深远影响。

2. 西方哲学思想：西方哲学思想源远流长，包括柏拉图主义、亚里士多德主义、康德哲学、黑格尔哲学、存在主义等。

英语专业八级考试人文知识点(1)__1__ Who was the first to apply the telescope to the study of the skies?A KeplerB CopernicusC GalileoD Newton__2__ Whose discovery of the law of the universal gravitation is the most important of all his achievement in ph ysics?A KeplerB Issac NewtonC GalileoD Copernicus__3__The three biggest newspapers are of the following except ___.A New York TimesB Washington PostC Los Angeles TimesD Reader’s Digest__4__Metropolitan Museum is in__.A Washington D.C.B BostonC New YorkD Philadelphia__5__The New Frontier was put forward by __.A KennedyB JohnsonC NixonD Benjamin Franklin__6__Who resigned because of Watergate Scandal, the first president to do so in American history?A KennedyB JohnsonC Richard NixonD Truman__7__Empire State Building is in___.A ChicagoB New YorkC Washington D.C.D Detroit__8__ “Knowledge is power.” Was said by__.A Francis BaconB ShakespeareC Thomas HobbesD John Locke__9__Which of the following philosophers believed that man is selfish by nature?A John LockeB DescartesC Pierre GassendiD Thomas Hobbes__10__Jazz, a great contribution to the world popular music, was originated from the music of __.A IndiansB SpanishC NegroesD Portuguese答案解析：1选C。

第一章美国概况1.概述American Anthem (国歌)：The star-spangled banner星光灿烂的旗帜American Flag（国旗）: 星条旗美国地理著名山脉河流The Appalachian Mountains (阿巴拉契亚山脉)The Great Centeral plain(中部大平原)：落基山和阿巴拉契亚山脉之间的平原。

The Rocky Mountains(洛基山脉)：“the backbone of the continent”, 6,187 meter high, in the middle of the Alaska.其被称为北美大陆的脊梁，大陆分水岭。

The Cordillera Range (西部科迪勒拉山区)：洛基山脉等。

The Mississippi River (密西西比河)：美国最长、最重要的河流。

世界上第三长的大陆河流（第一长：非洲尼罗河；第二长：南美洲的亚马逊河。

）Missouri river是其最长的分支。

其被称作：“Father of Waters”“Old Man River)五大湖：从西到东：都位于美国东北部。

其是世界上最大的淡水湖群，有“美洲大陆地中海”之称。

Lake Superior(苏必利尔湖，为世界最大淡水湖)，Lake Michigan(密执安胡，五大湖中唯一完全位于美国境内)，Lake Huron(休伦湖)，Lake Erie (伊利湖)，Lake Ontario（安大略湖）The Niagara Falls(尼亚加拉瀑布)：在伊利湖和安大略湖之间。

Yellowstone National Park(黄石国家公园)Statue of Liberty (自由女神像)位于纽约湾美国主要行政区和它们的首府和主要城市：地区概述：“美国”的表达有五种：The United States of American/ American /The states/the U.S.A./Uncle Sam美国全国分为50个州和一个特区（哥伦比亚特区，即首都华盛顿所在地）本土有48个州，另外的两个海外州是：阿拉斯加（首府：Juneau朱诺）和夏威夷（Hawaii，主产：甘蔗和菠萝，最重要产业：旅游业，首府：Honolulu火奴鲁鲁。

Unit One English Literature and American LiteratureSection One English Literature1. The Renaissance is actually a movement stimulated by a series of historical events, such as the rediscovery of ancient Rome and Greek culture, new discovery in geography and astrology and the religious reformation and the economic expansion.2. The Pilgrim’s Progress（天路历程）is regarded as the most successful religious allegory in the English language.3. Among the representatives of the Enlightenment, Alexander Pope （蒲柏）was the first to introduce rationalism to England.4. Generally speaking, the Renaissance refers to the period between the 14th and mid-17th centuries, its essence is humanism.5. In “So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”(Shakespeare, Sonnets 18), “this” refers to poetry.6. About Renaissance, a) humanism is the essence; b) Attitudes and feelings which had been characteristic of the 14th and 15th centuries persisted well down into the era of Humanism and Reformation; c) The Elizabethan drama, in its totality, is the real stream of the English Renaissance.7. It is Geoffrey Chaucer （杰弗里﹒乔叟）alone who, for the first time in English Literature, presented to us a comprehensive realistic picture of the English society of his time and created a whole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life.8. The sentence “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” is the beginning line of one of Shakespeare’s sonnets.9. The reasons for that Edmund Spenser （斯宾塞）is famous for “the poets’poet” are Spenser’s idealism, his love of beauty and his exquisite melody.10. Marlowe （马洛）gave new vigor to blank verse with his “mighty lines”.11. In Shelly’s “To a Skylark”, （雪莱，《云雀颂》）the bird, suspended between reality and poetic image, pours forth an exultant song which suggests to the poet both celestial rapture and human limitation.12. “Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless?…and if God had gifted me with some beauty, and much wealth, I should have made it As hard for you to leave, as it is now for me to leave you.” The above quoted passage is most probably taken from Jane Eyre.13. The sentences “and now he stared at her so earnestly that I thought the very intensity of his gaze would bring tears into his eyes; but they burned with anguish, they did not melt” are found in Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.14. The most eminent dramatists in the Renaissance England are Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson（琼森）.15. Descriptions about the Neoclassical Period: a) The Neoclassical Period is prior to the Romantic Period; b) Henry Fielding （菲尔丁）is one of the representatives of the Neoclassical period; c) The modern English novel came into being in the Neoclassical period.16. “O prince, O chief of my throned powers, / That led th’ embattled separation to war / Under thy conduct, and in dreadful deeds / Fearless, endangered Heaven’s perpetual king’. In the third line of the above passage quoted from Milton’s Paradise Lost, the phrase “thy conduct’refers to Satan’s conduct.17. Comments on William Blake（布莱克）: a) Childhood is central to Blake’s concern in the Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience; b) Blake’s Marriage of Heaven and Hell marks his entry into maturity; c) Symbolism in wide range is a distinctive feature of his poetry.18. It is generally regarded that Keat’s （济慈）most important and mature poems are in the form of ode.19. Daniel Defoe’s （笛福《鲁宾逊漂流记》）novels mainly focus on the struggle of the shipwrecked persons for security.20. In the Shepherds Calendar, Edmund Spenser tried to express his laments over the loss of Rosalind.21. In Beowulf, （《贝尔武甫》）Beowulf fought against the monster Grendel and a five breathing dragon.22. In Spenser’s masterpiece The Faerie Queen, （《仙后》）he speaks of 12 virtues of the private gentleman.23. Francis Bacon is best known for his essays which greatly influenced the development of this literary form.24. The literary form of The Faerie Queen is allegorical poem.25. The characteristics of Spenser’s poetry are a perfect melody, a rare sense of beauty and a splendid imagination.26. Most of Thomas Hardy’s novels are set in Wessex（威塞克斯）, a fictional primitive region.27. We can perhaps describe the west wind in Shelly’s poem Ode to the West Wind as swift, proud and wild.28. “Blindness”, “Partiality”, “Prejudice” and “Absurdity” in the novel Pride and Prejudice are most likely the characteristics of Elizabeth.29. The modern English novel came into being in the middle of the 18th century.30. In terms of Pride and Prejudice, a) it is the most popular of Jane Austen’s novel; b) it is originally drafted as “First Impressions’; c) In it, the author explores the relationship between great love and realistic benefits.31. Chronologically the Victorian Period refers to 1836-1901.32. Dickens’ first child hero is Oliver Twist.33. R. B. Sheridanh （谢里丹）was the only important English dramatist of the 18th century. His plays especially The Rivals（《情敌》）and The School for Scandal are generally regarded as important links between the masterpieces of Shakespeare and those of Bernald Shaw.34. Middlemarch（《弥德玛契》）is considered to the George Eliot’s （艾略特）greatest novel, owing to a) it vividly depicts English country life; b) it provides a panoramic view of life; c) it reveals women’s true feelings.35. As the most gifted of the “University Wits”, Marlowe co mposed six plays within his short life, and among which there are Tamburlaine（《帖木儿大帝》）, Dr. Faustus（《浮士德》）and The Jew of Malta.36. The Romantic Period is an age of poetry. Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelly and Keats are the major poets. They started a rebellion against the neoclassical literature, which was later regarded as the poetic revolution.37. The author of the writing The Return of the Native（《还乡》）is Thomas Hardy.38. The Major figures of modernist movement are Eliot, Joyce and Dickens.39. “At last she spoke to me. When she addressed the first words to me I was so confused that I did not know what to answer. She asked me was I going to Araby. I forgot whether I answered yes or no. It would be a splendid bazaar, she said; she would love to go.” The passage is taken from James Joyce’s Dubliners.40. Tess of the D’Urbervilles, one of Thomas Hardy’s best known novels, portrays man as having no control over his own fate.41. The author of the writing Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage（《恰尔德﹒哈罗德游记》）is Byron.42. Pilgrimage（《游记》）, Ulysses and Mrs. Dalloway are stream-of-consciousness novels.43. The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling brings Henry Feilding the name of the “Prose Homer”. Of all the 18th century novelists, he was the first to set out, both in theory and practice, to write specifically a “comic epic in prose”, and the first to give the modern novel its structure and style.44. In the Robert Browning’s works, The Ring and the Book established his position as one of the greatest English poets.45. The major concern of D. H. Law rence’s fiction lies in the tracing of the psychological development of his characters and in his energetic criticism of the dehumanizing effect of the capitalist industrialization on human nature.46. George Bernard Shaw is considered to be the best-known English dramatist since Shakespeare.47. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southy (骚塞)and William Wordsworth are regarded as “Lake Poets’.48. Generally, English Romanticism refers to the period of 1836-1901.49. The protagonist of Thomas Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge（《卡斯特桥市长》）is a man of self-sufficience.50. The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan is often said to be concerned with the search for spiritual salvation.51. The lines “Death, be not proud, though some have called thee / Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;” are found in John Donne’s （多恩、邓恩）writings.52. Contrary to the traditional romance of aristocrats, the modern English novel gives a realistic presentation of life of the common English people.53. In Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard（《墓园挽歌》）, Thomas Gray reveals his sympathy for the poor and the unknown, but mocks the great ones who despite them and bring havoc on them.54. Although writing from different points of view and with different techniques, writers in the Victorian Period shared one thing in common, that is, they were all concerned about the fate of the common people. 55. Thomas Hardy not only continued to expose and criticize all sorts of social iniquities, but finally came to question and attack the Victorian conventions and morals.56. The protagonist of the poem Love Song of T. Alfred Prufrock（《J﹒阿尔弗雷德﹒普鲁弗洛克的情歌》艾略特）is a kind of figure caught in a sense of deafened idealism and tortured by satisfied desires. He is neurotic, self-important and illogical.57. The sentence “Read not to contradict and confuse, nor to believe and take for granted, n or to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider” is from the essay Of Study by Francis Bacon.58. Women in Love is considered to be a better-structured novel of D. H. Lawrence’s.It is regarded to be a more profoundly ordered novel than any other writing by him.59. In the first part of Gulliver’s Travels, Gulliver told his experience in Lilliput.60. In the theatrical world of the neoclassical period, Richard Brinsley Sheridan was the leading figure among the host of playwrights.61. Francis Bacon lays the foundation for modern science with his insistence on scientific way of thinking and fresh observation rather than authority as a basis for obtaining knowledge.62. Alexander Pope strongly advocated neoclassicism, emphasized that literary works should be judged by classical rules of order, reason, logic, restrained emotion, good taste and decorum.63. Dickens’ works are characterized by a mingling of humor and pathos.64. James Joyce is regarded as the most prominent stream-of-consciousness novel, and his novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man（《一个青年艺术家的肖像》）is a naturalistic account of the hero’s bitter experiences and his final artistic and spiritual liberation. Ulysses has become a prime example of modernism in literature and it could hardly be termed as a traditional novel, because there is no story, no plot and no action inside65. Don Juan’s （《唐璜》拜伦）writings can be regarded as typically belonging to the school of Romantic literary.66. Byronic hero can be described as proud, mysterious and progressive.67. In Daniel Defoe’s novels, his sympathy for the downtrodden, unfortunate poor is shown. Robinson Crusoe is his first novel and is universally considered his masterpiece.68. In the history of literature, Romanticism is generally regarded as the thought that designates a literary and philosophical theory which tends to see the individual as the very center of all life and all experience. 69. After reading the first chapter of Pride and Prejudice, we may come to know that Mrs. Bennet is a woman of simple character and poor understanding.70. According to D. H. Lawrence, George Eliot was the first novelist that “started putting all the actions inside”.71. The poetic form which Browning attached to maturity and perfection is dramatic monologue.72. The term “metaphysical poetry” is commonly used to name the work of the 17th century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne.73. “The V anity Fair”（名利场）is a well-known part in The Pilgrim’s Progress.74. In The Songs and Sonnets（《歌与十四行诗》）, for which Donne is probably best known, love is the basic theme.75. Bitter Satire is a typical feature of Swift’s （斯威夫特）writings.76. The period of Old English literature refers to about the year 450-the year of 1066.77. The middle of the 18th century was predominated by a newly literary form, that is the modern English novel, which gives a realistic presentation of life of the common English people.78. The protagonist of Marlowe’s Tamburlaine is a man of cruelty and ambition.79. In Oliver Twist（《雾都孤儿》）, Charles criticizes dehumanizing of workhouse system.80. Henry IV by Shakespeare is history play.81. William Wordsworth is regarded as a “worshipper of nature”.82. Charles’ works include A Tale of Two Cities, Hard Times and Oliver Twist.83. Richard Brinsley Sheridan was the only important English dramatist of the eighteenth century. In his plays, morality is the constant theme. The School for Scandal is his masterpiece.84. The sentences, “This fair is no new-erected business, but a thing of ancient standing; I will show you the original of it”, are taken from The V anity Fair.85. Charles Dickens’serious intention is to expose and criticize all the poverty, injustice, hypocrisy and corruptness he sees all around him. The later works such as A Tale of Two Cities, show his development towards a highly conscious artist of the modern type.86. In his novel Robinson Crusoe, Defoe eulogizes the hero of the hard-working people.87. The 18th century England is known as the Enlightenment in the history.88. George Bernard Shaw’s career as a dramatist began in 1892, when his first play Widowers’Houses（《鳏夫的房产》）was put on by the Independent Theater Society. He began his literary career by writing novels soon after his settling down in London. His plays can be termed as problem plays.89. In Hardy’s “Wessex” novels, there is an apparent nostalgic touch in his description of the simple and beautiful though primitive rural life.90. In Leda and the Swan by William Butler Yeats we can find the allusion to Helen and the Trojan Way.91. The Waste Land（《荒原》）by T. S. Eliot （艾略特）is hailed as a landmark and a model of the 20th century English poetry.Section Two American Literature1. In American literature, the eighteenth century was the age of the Enlightenment. Rationalism was the dominant spirit.2. “God help them that help themselves” is found in Franklin’s work.3. Franklin was a scientist and a master of diplomacy. He instructed his countrymen as a printer.4. Declaration of Independence stirred the world and helped form the American republic.5. Common Sense, The American Crisis and The Rights of Man are connected with Thomas Paine.6. “These are the times that try men’s souls”, these words were once read to Washington’s troops and did much to spur excitement to further action with hope and confidence. Their author is Thomas Paine.7. Philip Freneau （弗雷诺）was a satirist, a pamphleteer and a poet. He wrote The Wild Honey Suckle（《野金银花》）. He was considered as the “Poet of American Revolution”.8. At the Reason and Revolution Period, Americans were influenced by the European movement called the Enlightenment Movement.9. Hawthorne （霍桑）is a great allegorist and a master of symbolism. One source of evil that he is concerned mostis over-reaching intellect.10. In Walt Whitman’s There was a Child Went Forth（《有一个孩子向前走去》）, the child refers to the young America.11. In Moby-Dick（《白鲸》、《莫比敌》）, the voyage symbolizes a search for truth. The giant Moby Dick may symbolize mystery of the universe, power of the Great Nature and evil of the world. It is regarded as the first American prose epic. For Melville, as well as for the reader and Ishmael, the narrator, Moby Dick is still a mystery, an ultimate mystery of the Universe.12. Thoreau was often alone in the woods or by the pond, lost in spiritual communication with nature.13. The Transcendentalist （先验论、超验主义）group includes two of the most significant writers America has produced so far, Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. As a philosophical and literary movement, transcendentalism flourished in New England from the 1830s to the Civil War.14. The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne tells a simple but very moving story in which four people living in a puritan community are involved in and affected by the sin of adultery in different ways. In this writing, “A”may stand for “Adultery”, “Angel” and “Amiable”.15. The Romantic Period of American literature started with the publication of Washington Irving（欧文）’s The Sketch Book（《见闻札记》）and ended with Whitman’s Leaves of Grass（《草叶集》）. And The Sketch Book signs the beginning of the American literature.16. Washington Irving’s social conservation and literary for the past is revealed, to some extent,in his famous story Rip V an Winkle（《瑞普﹒凡﹒温克尔》）. The convention of the desire for an escape from society and a return to nature in American literature is particularly evident in this writing. His fame mainly rested on his Tales about America.17. Poe’s （艾伦﹒坡）first collection of short stories is Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque（《怪诞奇异故事集》）.18. Characters which appear in the novel The Scarlet Letter include Hester Prynne, Atthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth and Pearl.19. Typee（《泰比》）was a romanticized account of Melville’s （麦尔维尔）stay among the Polynesians. The success of the book soon made Melville become known as the “man who lived among cannibals”.20. The period before the American Civil War is generally referred to as the Romantic Period.21. Works by Nathaniel Hawthorne include The House of the Seven Gables（《有七个尖角阁的房子》）, The Marble Faun （《玉石雕像》）and The Blithedale Romance（《福谷传奇》）.22. The main theme of Emily Dickinson is religion, love and marriage, and life and death. Emily Dickinson’s poetic idiom is noted for brevity, directness and plainest.23.The thought “There is evil in every human heart, which may remain latent, perhaps, through the whole life; but circumstances may rouse it to activity” is reflected in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown（《小伙子布朗》、《好人布朗》、《古德曼》）. He is the most ambivalent writer in the American literary history.24. Washington Irving’s Rip V an Winkle is famous for Rip’s 20-year sleep.25. The publication of Nature established Emerson as the most eloquent spokesman of New England Transcendentalism.26. In the history of literature, Romanticism is regarded as the thought that designates a literary and philosophical theory which tends to see the individual as the very center of all life and all experience.27. Typee, Omoo（《奥穆》）and Mardi（《玛地》）drew from Melville’s adventures among the people of the South Pacific islands.28. In the poem Song of Myself, Whitman sets forth the principle beliefs of the theory of university and singularity and equality of all beings in value.29. Most of the poems in Whitman’s Leaves of Grass sing of the “en-mass” and the self as well.30. Emily Dickinson’s poems (441) “This is my letter to the World” expresses the poet’s anxiety about hercommunication with the outside world.31. Poems by Walt Whitman are characterized by free-flowing, simple and rather crude, conversational and casual.32. Writings finished by Ralph Waldo Emerson include Nature（《论自然》）, Essays（《散文集》）and The Over-Soul（《论超灵》）.33. In I heard a Fly buzz-when I died（《我在死时听到苍蝇的嗡嗡声》）, Emily Dickinson describes the moment of death peacefully.34. Books written by Emerson include Representative Men（《代表人物》）, English Traits（《英国人的特征》）and Nature.35. The Age of Realism in the literary history of the United States refers to the period from 1865 to 1914.36. Henry James, William Dean Howells and Mark Twain are the representativ e writers in the Age of Realism in the literary history of the United States.37. Innocents Abroad（《傻子出国记》）explores the scrupulous individualism in a world of fantastic speculation and unstable values, and gives its name to the get-rich-quick years of the post Civil War era.38. An American Tragedy is considered to be Theodore Dreiser’s greatest work.39. Daisy Miller is a novella about a young American girl who gets “killed” by the winter in Rome, and it brought Henry James international fame for the first.40. Stylistically. Henry James’ fiction is characterized by highly refined language.41. Huckleberry Finn（《哈克贝里芬历险记》）is described by Mark Twain as a boy with “a sound heart and a deformed conscience.”42. The Wings of the Dove, The Ambassadors and The Golden Bowl are novels by Henry James dealing with the international theme.43. Darwin exerts the single most important influence on literary naturalism, of which Theodore Dreiser and Jack London are among the best representative writers.44. Mark Twain, one of the greatest 19th century American writers, is well known for his local color.45. In Henry James’Daisy Miller, the author tries to portray the young woman as an embodiment of the free spirit of the New World.46. The literary characters of the American type in the early 19th century are generally characterized by the features that they speak local dialects, that they are simple and crude farmers, and that they are noble savages (red and white) untainted by society.47. With Howells, James, and Mark Twain active on the literary scene, realism became the major trend in American literature in the seventies and eighties of 19th century.48. Generally speaking, all those writers with a naturalistic approach to human reality tend to be pessimists.49. Henry James experimented with many different themes in his literary career, the most influential one being international theme.50. Theodore Dreiser is generally regarded as one of America’s naturalists.51. Dreiser’s Trilogy of Desire（《欲望三部曲》）includes three novels. They are T he Financier（《金融家》）, The Titan（《巨人》）and The Stoic（《斯多葛》）.52. The book from which “all modern American literature comes” refers to The Adventures of huckleberry Finn.53. The impact of Darwin’s evolutionary theory on the American thought and the influence of the nineteenth-century French literature on the American men of letters gave rise to yet another school of realism: American naturalism.54. Mark Twain had led an active life in the very center of the American experience. He had been a printer, pilot, soldier, silver-minor, gold-washer, lecturer, traveler, businessman, novelist and autobiographer.55. While embracing the socialism of Marx, London also believed in the triumph of the strongest individuals. This contradiction is most vividly projected in the patently autobiographical novel Martin Eden.56. In 1900, London published his first collection of short stories, named The Son of the Wolf（《狼孩》）.57. Stephen Crane’s best short stories include Open Boat（《小划子》）, An Experiment and The Blue Hotel, all reinforcing the basic Crane motif environment and heredity overwhelming man.58. Dreiser was left-oriented in his views. He visited Russia and wrote Dreiser Looks at Russia and Tragic America to express his new faith, and shortly before his death, he joined the Communist Party.59. In Death in the Afternoon, Hemingway presents his philosophy about life and death through the depiction of the bull-fight as a kind of microcosmic tragedy.60. F. Scott Fitzgerald （费兹杰拉特）is often acclaimed literary spokesman of the Jazz Age. His fictional world is the best embodiment of the spirit of the Jazz Period.61. The Sun Also Rises is Hemingway’s first true love novel in which he depicts a vivid portrait of “The Lost Generat ion”.62. Ezra Pound（庞德）, William Carlos Williams and Robert Frost belong to “The Lost Generation”.63. In a tragic sense, The Old Man and the Sea is a representation of life as a struggle against unconquerable forces in which only a partial victory is possible.64. Faulkner once said that The Sound and the Fury（《喧哗与骚动》）is a story of “lost innocence”, which proves itself to be an intensification of the theme of imprisonment in the past.65. Robert Frost combined traditional verse forms—the sonnets, rhyming couplets, blank verse—with a clear American local speech rhythm, the speech of New England farmers with its idiosyncratic diction and syntax. 66. Ezra Pound, one of the most important poets in his time, is a leading spokesman of the“Imagist Movement”.67. Sinclair Lewis’Babbitt（《巴比特》）presents a documentary picture of the narrow and limited middle-class mind.68. Y ank’s sense of belonging nowhere, hence homeless and rootless. The Hairy Ape（《毛猿》）is thus a play that concerns the problem of modern man’s identity.69. American fiction in the 1960s and 1970s proves to be different from its predecessors. It is always referred to as “new fiction”.70. As an autobiographical play, O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night（《长夜漫漫路迢迢》）(1951) has gained its status as a world classic and simultaneously marks the climax of his literary career and the coming of age of American drama.71. Tender Is the Night is a novel by Fitzgerald.72. The leading playwright of the modern period in American literature, if not the most successful in all his experiments, is Eugene O’Neill.73. From Eugene O’Neill’s works, we can see he is a man of pessimism.74. Eugene O’Neill a dramatist who holds the central position in American drama of the modernistic period.75. Absalom, Absalom is said to be a “historical novel” by Faulkner.76. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening（《雪夜林边小驻》）stems from the ambiguity of the speaker’s choice between safety and the unknown.77. Hemingway’s writing style, together with his theme and the hero, is greatly and permanetly influenced by his experiences in the war.78. William Faulkner, John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway were awarded Nobel Prize for literature.79. The Great God Brown（《大神布朗》）fuses symbolism, poetry, and the affirmation of a pagan idealism to show how materialistic civilization denies the life-giving impulses and destroys the genuine artist.80. Most of Eugene O’Neill’s plays are tragedies, dealing with human existence and predicament.81. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner are considered to be the masters in the field of American fiction in the modernistic period.82. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both…” In the above two lines of Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken, the poet, by implication, was referring to one’s course of life.83. The American “Thirties”, lasted from the Crash, through the ensuing Great Depression, until the outbreak of the Second World War 1939. This was a period of poverty, bleakness, important social movements and a new social consciousness.84. Ezra Pound showed great interest in Chinese literature and translated the poetry of Li Po into English, and was influenced by Confucian ideas.85. Ezra Pound’s long poem The Cantos（《诗章》）contained more than one hundred poems loosely connected.86. Wallace Stevens’ poetry is primarily motivated by the belief that true ideas correspond with an innate order in nature. Many of his good poems derive their emotional power from reasoned revelation. This philosophical intention is supported by the titles Stevens gave to his volumes such as Harmonium（《风琴》）, Ideas of Order（《关于秩序的思想》）and Parts of a World.87. The Fitzgeralds lived so extravagantly that they frequently spent more money than Fitzgerald earned for parties, liquor, entertaining their friends and travelling. It was this living style that nicknamed the decade of the 1920s as The Roaring Twenties, The Jazz Age and The Dollar Decade.88. In 1954, Ernest Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature for his “mastery of the art of modern narration”.89. Faulkner wrote about the society in the south by inventing families which represented different social forces: the old decaying upper class; the rising, ambitious, unscrupulous class of the “poor Whites”; and the Negroes who labored for both of them.90. In Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury, he used a technique called stream of consciousness in which the whole story was told through the thoughts of one character.91. Most of the writers in the modern period were able to probe into the inner world of human reality on the base of William James’“stream of consciousness”, Carl Jung’s “collective unconscious” and “archetypal symbol” and Sigmund Freud’s “interpretation of dreams”.92. Writers of the first postwar era self-consciously acknowledged that they were a Lost Generation.93. John Steinbeck is the author of the work The Grapes of Wrath.94. In 1920 Sinclair Lewis published his memorable denunciation of American small-town provincialism in Main Stree（《大街》）t.Unit Two LinguisticsSection One The Nature of Language1. Language is a system. It is symbolic. It is arbitrary（任意性）.2. The design features of language （语言的普遍特征）are dual（双层性）, productive （多产性）and arbitrary.3. The dual structures （双层结构）of language are sounds and meaning.4. Displacement（移位性）, one of the unique properties of language, means that we can use language to refer to something not present.5. The most important function of language is informative.6. One of the core branches of linguistics is phonology（音位学）.7. Morphology（形态学）, one of the branches of linguistics, takes the inner structure of word as its main object of study.8. The prescriptive（规定性）mode of study emphasizes on the “standards” of language.9. Saussure put forward the distinction between Lange and Parole（《语言与言语》）.10. The distinction between competence （语言能力）and performance （语言运用）is proposed by Chomsky.。

——参考范本——
【资格考试】2019最新整理-
大学英语专业八级人文知识小总结
______年______月______日____________________部门
在研究完专八历年试卷的人文知识部分后，我总结出以下几点：
1、英语国家地理概况 4分
2、英美文学部分 3分
3、词汇部分 3分
这十分分值虽然相对较小，但覆盖面挺大，比如地理概况就包括
六个英语国家的基本知识，复习起来似乎有点力不从心，其实不然。

I、先拿第一个来说，地理概况无非是注重英美两国方面，在复习
其他四个国家时不用那么深入，只要知其一二即可（首都/首府总得记吧？），而英美方面的知识对于我们英语专业的学生来说应该有所了解，只是没有系统地去整理，如果在整理一遍之后，我想会柳暗花明！当然如果你本身一直以来对各个国家都相当了解，那我说你已吃定这4分。

II、英美文学方面就有点头疼了，特别对于那些在平时对它忽略
不计的朋友们此时根本不知道从何下手，不用慌，你慌也没用，只有
拿起课本，将一个个作家对应他们最有名的著作（最简单的复习方式）列在一起，进行归类，即可。

如果想全部拿下这3分就要再关注一些
他们的写作特点，作品中的主人公等。

III、这部分在我看来是最容易拿分的，复习的时候只要将sytax, semantics, pragmatics,等概念弄清楚，把Chomski和另外有名的语
言学家对应的理论记一下就可。

当然这是对那些平时不鸟语言学的朋
友说的。

对于平时认真听讲也想稳拿这3分的还要系统的总结一下，
做到疏而不漏。

希望对赴考途中的朋友们有所帮助！。

英语专业⼋级⼈⽂知识（总结）⼈⽂知识英语国家社会与⽂化考题回顾：1999 年:1. The Observer2. The geographical location of North America3. The old universities in U.K.4. Westminster Palace2000年:1.The titles of English nobility2.The features of Irish landscape3.The longest river in Britain4.The legislative branch in U.K.5.The Hundred Years’ War2001年:1.The founding of Harvard2.The settlement of Anglo-Saxons3.The official name of U.K.4.The economic activity of Canada2002年:1.Wall Street—the financial center2.Big Ben, Benjamin Hall3.The compulsory education in U.K.4.Three branches of U.S.A. government2003年:1.The location of California2.British news agency3.The founding fathers of U.S.A.4.The geography of Canada2004年:1.1920s in U.S.A.2.The largest river in U.S.A.3.The discovery of the New World4.The first settlement in America2005年:1.The capital city of Canada2.How long the U.S. President serves3.The important cities in U.S.A.4.The state church in England2006年:1.The President in the Civil War2. The capital city of New Zealand3. The natives of Australia4. The Prime Minister in Britain is head of the Cabinet2007年:1. The origin of the current British population2. The Head of State of Canada is represented by the Governor-general3. The author of the Declaration of Independence4. The original inhabitants of Australia2008年:1.The largest city in Canada.2.The legislative branch of the U.S. government3.The oldest sport in U.S.A.4.The head of the executive branch in New Zealand2009年:1.The Head of State of New Zealand2.The capital of Scotland3.The author of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. president4.The cities located on the eastern coast of Australia.2010年1. The British Constitution2. The first city in Canada3. The founding of Australian Federation4. The Emancipation ProclamationThe United Kingdom地理、⼈⼝及基本事实:1. Official name: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Geographical Names: British Isles, Great Britain and England2. Geographical position: the English Channel3. Four political divisions: England (London), Scotland (Edinburgh), Wales (Cardiff), Northern Ireland (Belfast)4. The Commonwealth: a free association of independent countries, from 1931 to 1991, 50 member nations4. Rivers and Lakes: the longest—the Severn; Thames—the second longest and the most important; River Clyde—the most important in Scotland; Lough Neagh—the largest lake5. Mountains: Ben Nevis (the highest); Scafell (the highest in England); Snowdonia (the highest in Wales)6. The People: English (Anglo-Saxons); (the Celts) Welsh; Scottish; Irish.7. Eisteddfodau—the annual festival for Welsh poetry, music, singing and art历史备考点:The Origins of a Nation1. The first known settlers—Iberians2. The Celts (700 B.C.): three waves—Gaels; Brythons; Belgae3. Romans:Julius Caesar; Claudius (43AD, successful invasion); Christianity4. The Anglo-Saxons: Three Germanic tribes (Jutes, Anglos, Saxons)The foundation of the English state—shires; narrow-strip, three-field farming system; the manorial system; the Witan (贤⼈会议)5. The Viking and Danes:Alfred the Great—“the father of the British navy”; translate into English Ecclesiastical History of the English People (英国⼈民教会史)；established schools; formulate a legal system6. The Norman Conquest: 1066, the best-known event in English history, William the Conqueror; the establishment of the feudal system; the introduction of Norman French culture, language, manners and architecture; closer connection with RomeThe Shaping of the Nation1. The Great Charter: 1215, King John, 63 clauses. The statement of the relationship between the Crown and the baron; a guarantee of the freedom of the Church; a limitation of the power of the king (the spirit of the Great Charter or Magna Carta)2. All Estates Parliament—Simon de Montfort, 1265, the Great Council, the House of Lords, the House of Commons, the beginning of Parliament3. Black Death: the deadly epidemic disease; the 14th century; reduced the population from 4 million to 2 million;4. The Hundred Years’ War (1337—1453): blessing for both countries,4. The Peasant Uprising: 1381, Wat Tyler (killed) and Jack Straw; a telling blow to villeinage.Transition to the Modern Age1. The Wars of Roses (1455-1485): the battles between Lancaster (red rose) and York (white rose); Henry Tudor (the descendant of Duke of Lancaster) won, thus the rule of Tudors; the death blow to feudalism.2. The English Reformation: (1529-1534) Henry VIII, began with a struggle for divorce (Catherine of Aragon) and ended in the freedom from the Papacy; an independent Church of England; the king—the Supreme Head of the Church of England.3. Bloody Mary: 300 Protestants; the French port of Calais4. Elizabeth I: the defeat of Armada (the Spanish fleet)5. The English Renaissance: (rebirth) largely artistic; Elizabethan Drama (Christopher Marlowe, Ben Johnson and William Shakespeare)6. The Divine Rights of Kings: Charles I7. The Civil Wars (1642-1651): between the Cavaliers (the king’s men) and Roundheads (the Parliamentary supporters); Oliver Cromwell (New Model Army) (Lord Protector); the Puritan Revolution; overthrew the feudal system; the beginning ofthe modern history8. The Restoration; the return of Charles II from his exile in France;9. The Glorious Revolution: 1688, the smooth takeover of English throne by William ofOrange, replacing James II (a Catholic king, the brother of Charles II), with no bloodshed, nor execution of the king.10. The Gunpowder Plot of 1605: Guy Fawkes (Catholic) planted barrels of gun-powder in the cellar of the Parliament; the execution of Fawkes; a national annual celebration (bonfire and firework display)The British Empire1. Whigs and Tories (the forerunner of the Conservative Party)2. The Enclosure Movement:3. The Industrial Revolution: the mechanization of industry; the late 18th and early 19th century; after the revolution, by 1830,“the workshop of the world”; the industrial working class—the proletariat4. The Chartist Movement (1836-1848)—“the first broad, really mass, political formed, proletarian revolutionary movement”(Lenin)5. The Labor Party—the Independent Labor Party(the origin); then the Labor Representation Committee; the Labor Party (1906).6. The first colony—Newfoundland, 15837. The East Indian Company: 1600, the economic penetration; 1858, ruled by the British crown; 1877, Queen Victoria, Empress of India.8. The Opium War: 18409. WWI: the Central Power (Germany and Austria-Hungary); the “Allies”(Britain, France and Russia); The Treaty of Versailles (1919); the League of Nations10. The Roaring Twenties: women with cropped hair and short dresses; two imports from America: jazz, silent films11. The Swinging Sixties—the permissive age; pop music (the Beatles turned their hometown of Liverpool into a place of pilgrimage)12. 1973: a full member of the European Economic Committee13. Thatcherism: the policies put forward by Margaret Thatcher (the iron lady), the return to private ownership of the state-owned industries, the strengthening of the role of market forces, and an emphasis on law and order.14. The Statute of Westminster (1931)政治1. The Constitutional Monarchy2. The monarch: the symbol of the whole nation, the head of the executive, head of judiciary, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the “supreme governor” of the Church of England.3. The components of the English Parliament: the Sovereign, the House of Lords (the oldest part of the Parliament) and the House of Commons (the real center of power in the Parliament) (651 members of Parliament); the maximum duration—five years4. The British Constitution: unwritten, including statute law, common law and conventions.5. Prime Minister—the leader of the majority party; the Cabinet—the core of leadership6. The Official Opposition—the party which wins the second largest number of seats, the“shadow cabinet”7. Downing Street No. 10—the official residence of the Prime Minister8. The Speaker—presiding over the House and enforcing the rules of order教育,社会,⽂化传统1. NHS—the National Health Service, a full range of medical services, the largest single employer of labor in U.K.2. Established religion: the Church of England (the Sovereign as the “Defender of Faith”) (changes only with the consent of the Parliament); the Presbyterian in Scotland3. Football: soccer, 19th century4. Rugby—invented at Rugby school in Warwich shire in the 19th century5. Cricket—the most typical English sport6. The home of golf is Scotland7. Magazines and newspapers: the Spectator; the Times; the Economist8. The most famous music and art festival in Britain9. Easter: the resurrection of Christ, the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox10. Hogmanay—Scottish New Year’s Eve11. Boxing Day: December 26th, the gift to give “Christmas boxes”, or gifts of money, to servants or tradesmanIreland1.The Emerald Isle: rich green countryside2.The largest river—the Shannon River3.Two official languages: Irish, English4.National Day: March 17th, St. Patrick’s Day (the arrival of St. Patrick—the mostimportant event in Irish history)5.Parliament: the House of Representatives (Dail Eireann); the Senate (Seanad)6.The two political parties: Fianna Fail; Fine Gael7.The oldest university in Ireland: the University of Dublin8.Roman Catholics: 93% of the Irish population9.Ulysses: James Joyce’s masterpieceThe United States of America:地理, ⼈⼝及基本事实1.The Rocky Mountains—the backbone the continent2.The Mississippi—the world’s third longest continental river, “Father of Waters”,“Old Man River”.3.The Five Great Lakes: Huron; Ontario; Michigan; Erie; Superior4.The Niagara Falls—between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie5.Yellowstone National Park—the oldest national park in the world and the largestwildlife preserve in the U.S.A.6.The Statute of Liberty—New York Harbor7.Grand Canyon—the state of Arizona8.Alaska and Hawaii—the two newest states in USA9.Alaska—the largest state in area; Rhode Island—the smallest; Texas—the largeststate on the mainland10.New England—the birthplace of America11.The nickname of the U.S.A.: Yankees1600—1900:1. The discoverer of America2. Magellan3. The 13 colonies4. May Flower5. Stamp Tax6. The Boston Tea Party7. The First Continental Congress8. The Second Continental Congress9. The beginning of the War of Independence10. The turning point of the War of Independence11. The Treaty of Paris12. The Constitutional Convention13. The Bill of Rights:14. The turning point of the Civil War15. Lincoln16. The Louisiana Territory17. The Westward Movement:18. KKK: Ku Klux Klan, terrorized and attacked the black, progressives, Communists and social party members. 1900—1945:1. The “Open Door Policy”—Theodore Roosevelt2. The 1920s—material success and spiritual frustration, confusion and purposelessness3. The Great Depression—1929-1933, the stock market crash, from prosperity to bleak despair,3. “N ew deal”—to save American democracy and capitalist system, social security systems,4. WWI—pro-Ally partiality5. Isolationism—1930s, to keep the U.S. out of the war in Europe and Asia6. WWII—(guiding principles) establish postwar political structure in accordance with American interests and; prevent Soviet Union from over-expansion1945—:1. The containment policy2. The Civil Rights Movement: Martin Luther King (non-violence) and Malcolm X(violence)3. The Sino-US relations: 1972, the Shanghai (Joint) Communique; 1979, the diplomatic relations was established4. The Vietnam War5. Baby-boomer: 1946-1961, helped to bring an end to the Vietnam War5. The Counterculture Movement6. The New Frontier.7. The Watergate Scandal—Nixon, the first to resign in American history8. New Right conservatism9. Desert Storm政治1. The American constitution; 1787, 1789; the oldest written constitution; principles—rule by law: popular sovereignty; separation of power; judicial review; civilian supremacy in military matters; protection of individual rights and federalism2. The Bill of Rights3. The Separation of three powers: Congress (the legislative branch); President (the executive branch); the judicial branch4. The Congress: the Senate (2 members from each state) (vice president as the president of the Senate 副总统为参议院议长); the House of Representatives (based on population) (the presiding officer—the Speaker of the House众议院主持官员)5. The President can appoint the federal court judges, preside over the government, sign and veto laws passed by the Congress;6. Impeachment7. The judicial branch: the Supreme Court; the circuit court of appeals (巡回上诉法院); district court8. The bipartisanship (the two party system)—the Republican; the Democratic The emblem of the two parties9. The Democratic: Anti-Federalists; Thomas Jefferson; greater federal involvement in economic issues and less state’s rights10. The Republican: a less powerful central government; more rights to the states11. “Winner-take-all” principle: applied in all states except Maine教育,社会,⽂化传统1. The higher education: two-year colleges, four-year colleges and universities.2. The best research universities: Harvard (1636), Yale, Princeton, Columbia, MIT (on the east); Stanford, Berkeley (on the west)—private.3. Three functions of the higher education: teaching, research and public service.4. The age of the students admitted by schools: 65. Graded schools: elementary schools (grades 1—8); high school (9—12).6. No national system of education, the state establishes policies for the education within its boundary7. Three main types of popular music: Jazz (U.S.’unique contribution to music);Rock-and-roll; the Western Country music.8. “The Lost Generation”9. Nationally observed holiday of America10. Important cities:Washington D.C.(1800, John Adams ordered the transfer of the capital from Philadelphia to Washington D.C.);New York City (city of the world; Times Square; the United Nations; Manhattan—the heart of the city; Wall Street; Broadway); Chicago—the second largest city; “Great Center Market of U.S.”San Francisco—the Golden Gate BridgeLos Angeles—Hollywood and DisneylandPhiladelphia—the city for two Continental Congress; the capital city from 1790 to 1800 Huston—“the Pearl in the Gulf”; “the Space City of the U.S.A.”Detroit—the motor city;11. Independence Day: July 4th, the birthday of the nation;12. Halloween: October 31st, “Trick or Treat”;13. Thanksgiving Day: a typical American holiday; (began with) the Pilgrims; the first celebrated on December 13th, 1621.14. Veterans’ Day: (or the Armistice Day); (celebrated) the signing of 1918 Armistice15. The plane—1903, the Wright brothers16. Newspaper and magazines: the New York Times; Washington Post; the Los Angeles Times; the Wall Street Journal; Time; Newsweek; Readers’ DigestCanada1.The National Day: July 1 (1867)2.The origin of the name “Canada”: “kanata”, a settlement, Indian3.The national flag: Maple Leaf Flag, white square in the centre, a red stylized11-pointed maple leaf4.Two discoverers of Canada: John Cabot (Newfoundland, east coast); JacquesCartier (the St. Lawrence river)5.Official languages: Bilingualism—English, French; the official Language Act (1969)6.Important cities: Ottawa (the capital, the 4th largest city); Vancouver (the thirdlargest city, ice-free harbor); Montreal (the second largest city); Toronto (the largest city, Toronto university—the largest university)7.Seven Years’ War: 1756-1763; between France (defeated) and England8.Quebec: the largest province; strong French culture9.The Constitutional Act of 1791: Upper Canada (English law and constitution);Lower Canada (French law and institutions)10.The British North America Acts in 1867: the dominion; the Statute of Westminster in1931: independence.11.The Parliament: the Crown, the Senate and the House of Commons12.Constitution: partly written, partly unwritten, including fundamental acts, customsand parliamentary traditions of British originAustralia1. “T he Land Down Under”.2. Australia’s National Day: January 26 (1788), the date of the first European settlement of the continent3. Great Barrier Reef: the longest coral reef in the world, from southern Queensland to the Gulf of Papua4. National flower: wattle; national bird: lyrebird5. Important cities: Canberra (the capital); Sydney (New South Wales); Melbourne (Victoria); Brisbane (Queensland); Adelaide (South Australia); Perth (West Australia); Hobart (Tasmania); Darwin (the Northern Territory);6. 1901: the Commonwealth of Australia; 1931: independence, the Statute of Westminster 《威斯敏斯特法案》7. Elementary education: 5-11; secondary education: 11-188. Animals: koala; kangaroos9. William Dampier: the first Englishman to reach Australia, the author of the book A New V oyage Around the World; James Cook: the English put Australia on map, British colony;10. Convicts from Britain11. Multiculturalism: coined in Canada in 1960s, adopted by Australia in 1973, emphasizing the unique characteristics of different cultures in the world .12. Politics: a written Constitution; Legislature: the Queen, the House of Representatives, the Senate13. The gold rushes: 1850s, the discoveries of gold in New South Wales and Victoria New Zealand1.National Day: December 6th, 1840, the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty ofWaitangi, Waitangi Day2.The land of the long white cloud3.Cities: Auckland (the largest city, the North Island), Wellington (the capital, theNorth Island)4.Official languages: English, Maori5.Haka: a dance performed to daunt the enemy and to prepare warriors for the battle6.The International Date Line—just west of the line, the first country to get the newday7.fault line: the cause of the frequent earthquakes8.The Kiwis: the national symbol, the name the New Zealanders called themselves9.Abel Tasman: the first European to visitor, who named the area Statenland, laterNieuw Zeeland10.No single written constitution, including parliamentary statutes, judiciary rulings,administrative practices.11.Only one chamber: the House of Representatives12.the world’s biggest farm, the world’s largest exporter of lamb and mutton, diaryproducts。