The United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland
Chapter 1 Geography, People and Language
全名: the United Kingdom of Great Britain（大不列颠联合王国）and Northern Ireland （北爱尔兰）.
由成千上万的小岛组成（the British Isles）. 两大岛屿：Great Britain（大不列颠）and Ireland（爱尔兰）
The River Thames(second longest and most important), originates（起源于）in southwestern England -----North Sea.
Scotland ( Edinburgh爱丁堡) important river:Clyde River kilts（苏克兰小短裙）Wales( Cardiff加迪夫，著名港口). The Severn River is the longest river of Britain------flow through western England.
Northern Ireland(Belfast贝尔法斯特，首府) Lough Neagh----the largest lake in the British Isles.
Climate: temperate, with warm summers, cool winters and plentiful precipitation(降雨量)，冬暖夏凉，降雨充沛
Three major features: winter fog, rainy day, instability 冬天多雾，常年多雨，天气不定London---Buckingham Palace（白金汉宫）, Guildhall (市政厅), St. Paul’s Cathedral（圣保罗大教堂）, The Tower Bridge of London（伦敦塔桥）
The majority of the population is descendants of the Anglo-Saxons, a Germanic people from Europe.大部分的人口是盎格鲁-撒克逊人的后裔，从欧洲来的日耳曼人Most people in Wales and Scotland are descendants of the Celtic people, including the Irish people威尔士和苏格兰的大多数人都是凯尔特人的后裔，包括爱尔兰人
English belongs to the Indo-European family of languages. English is in the Germanic group.英语属于日耳曼语语系
Germanic group: East Germanic, North Germanic, West Germanic. English evolved from the West Germanic group.日耳曼语系：东日耳曼语，北日耳曼语，西日耳曼语。英语从西日耳曼语中发展。
1、Old English: was influenced by Old Norse spoken by the Vikings and was related to the German and Dutch languages.受古代维京人所说的古斯坎德纳威亚语影像并和德语法语密切相关.was ended with the Norman Conquest, when the language was influence by the French-speaking Normans.古英语时代结束于说法语的诺曼人的征服
2、Middle English: William the Conqueror invaded and conquered and the Anglo-Saxons (Numerous French words came into the English vocabulary)征服者威廉入侵并征服和盎格鲁-撒克逊人（大量的法语词汇进入英语词汇）
3、Modern English(15 century): William Caxton brought standardization to English, and spelling and grammar became fixed. The first dictionary published in 1604. Samuel Johnson: A Dictionary of the English Language was influential in a standard form of spelling.卡克斯顿威廉带来了标准化的英语，并成为固定的拼写和语法。第一本字典发表于1604。约翰逊塞缪尔：一本英文字典是有影响的一种标准形式的拼写。
Standard English is based on the speech of the upper class of southeastern England. It is also
called “the Queen’s English” or “BBC English”. A third of world’s population use English.标准英语是基于英国东南部的讲话的。它也被称为“女王的英语”或“英国广播公司英语”。三分之一的世界人口使用英语。
Chapter 2 History
1.有记录的历史起始于55BC,Julius Caesar（凯撒大帝）and his Roman troops invaded the island. 410年, Germanic（日耳曼人）进攻罗马，结束了罗马的统治
2.Celtic→Spain and France 凯尔特人→西班牙和法国
Anglo-Saxon→Germanic Tribes盎格鲁-撒克逊→日耳曼部落
3. Norman Conquest（诺曼征服）of England marked the establishment of feudalism（封建制度）
4. Henry II 建立rule of the House of Anjou(安茹王朝) in England, 亦称为the House of
and
6. Henry III wages wars. The outraged nobles, led by Simon de Montfort, drafted the Provision of Oxford(牛津条约) to limit the King’s power by calling regular meetings of 15-member Privy Council(枢密院).由Simon de Montfort率领的贵族，起草提供牛津（牛津条约）通过调用15名枢密院会议限制国王的权力（枢密院）Simon de Montfort facilitated the modern idea of a representative parliament.西蒙·德·蒙特福特促进了现代有代表性的议会。
7.The Wars of the Roses: the House of York( white rose) and the House of Lancaster( red
8. In 1584, King Henry VIII issued the Act of Supremacy 《至尊法案》. In 1651, Cromwell destroyed Charles II’s army, which marked the end of the Civil Wars. In 1660 Parliament decided to restore Charles II to the throne which put an end to the Commonwealth.1584，国王亨利八世颁布《至尊法案》至上的行为。在1651，克伦威尔摧毁了查尔斯二世的军队，这标志着内战结束。在1660届议会决定恢复查尔斯二世的王位，这将结束了英联邦。
9. 在1688，光荣革命（Glorious Revolution）发生。在1689年，议会通过了人权法案（the Bill of Rights）。
10.19世纪中期，工业革命完成。
11.The British Empire began with the colonization of Newfoundland in 1583. By the end of 19th
12.South African is the fourth self-government dominion of the British Empire after Canada, Australia and New Zealand.南非是继加拿大、澳大利亚和新西兰之后的第四个自治领。
Chapter 3 Government and the Commonwealth
1.Britain is a parliamentary democracy 议会制民主with a constitutional monarchy君主立宪制.The British Constitution is made up of
① Statutory law 成文法,制定法（the most important）→ passed by parliament
②Common law 判例法，普通法→customs or legal precedents
③Conventions 习惯法，衡平法→not legally exist, but still vital
