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Background Information of the British Isles

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Background Information of the British Isles

What is the difference between British Isles(不列颠群岛), Britain, United

Kingdom and England? These terms (术语) are familiar(熟悉), but puzzling to us

Chinese.

The British Isles are made up of two large islands: One is Britain and the other

Ireland. Britain, or Great Britain, is the larger of the two islands, and is divided into

three parts: England, Scotland and Wales.

The United Kingdom (UK) is the short for the United Kingdom of Great Britain

and Northern Ireland. UK consists of Scotland, Wales and England (i.e. the whole of

Britain), and also about one-sixth of Ireland, i.e., the northern part. The rest of Ireland

which is called the republic of Ireland is another country.

England is the largest, and generally speaking, the richest section. Its capital is

London, which is also the capital of the UK. London lies on the River Thames. Much

of England is rather flat, although there are hills in the northeast and in the center of

the country. English people tend to use the words “England” and “English” when they

mean “Britain” and “British”. This sometimes annoys (惹恼) the Scots and the Welsh.

Scotland lies in the north of the UK, with its capital Edinburgh. Scotland has many

lakes and mountains, and is famous for its beautiful countryside. The Scots in

particular (尤其) are very proud of their nationality; they have their own legal system

(法律制度), and some of their internal(内部的)affairs are managed by special

Scottish departments, though they have no separate parliament(议会).

Wales lies to the east of England. Its capital is Cardiff. Everyone there can speak

English, but the first language in north Wales is Welsh. The Welsh, too, do not regard

themselves as English, and have a culture and even a language of their own.

Ireland became part of the UK in 1801, but it soon grew discontented, and for

forty years the “Irish question” became the greatest headache of the British Parliament.

At last, after much bloodshed(流血), Ireland divided itself into two: Northern Ireland

and the republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland, with its capital Belfast, is part of the UK.

The Republic of Ireland is a separate country, with Dublin as its capital. The Republic of Ireland does not regard itself as British. It is still discontented, as it resents（怨恨）the existence of Northern Ireland, and wants the whole of Ireland to be a republic.

The UK is a small country. Its population is over 58 million. About 80% of the

population lives in cities. More than 80 % of the people are the English people, and

the rest are the Scottish, the Welsh, the Irish, the Jews and others. There are many

famous cities in the UK, such as London, Belfast, Manchester, oxford, and Liverpool.

Among them Manchester is home of the football club Manchester United. Oxford is a

university city. Liverpool is home of the Beatles, a famous group of pop singers. The

UK is famous for beer, Fish and Chips, football(Manchester United), London Bridge,

the Tower of London, Big Ben, Stone henge, ancient stone cross, old castles, Scottish

kilts, William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, the Beatles, Greenwich Mean

Time(GMT), Cambridge, Oxford, English language, fog, River Thames, Hyde Park,

etc.

Although the UK lost its status as a superpower after the middle of the 20th

century, it is still a very important country and over the past fifty years the English

language, has become one of the most important languages in the world. The UK is

still one of the richest countries in the world and one of the seven largest economies in

the world.

The UK is a member of the Group of Eight (G8), which consists of: France, the

United States, Britain, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada and Russia. Japan and the UK

are island states. The United States, Canada and Russia belong to the largest countries

in the world. France, Italy and Germany are neither island countries nor belong to the

largest countries.

English is the most important language of the Internet. On websites where people

from different countries meet and talk to each other, they all use English, even though

their mother tongue could be Spanish, Russian or Chinese.

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自考英语国家概况重点名词解释

自考英语国家概况重点名词解释

1. The British Isles: The British Isles are made up of two large islands and hundreds

of small ones. The two large islands are Great Britain and Ireland.

2. The Commonwealth ( or the British Commonwealth): It is a free association of

independent countries that were once colonies of Britain. It has no special powers.

The decision is left to each nation. At present there are 50 member countries

within the Commonwealth.

3. Witan: It was the council or meeting of the wise men. It was created by the

Anglo-Saxons to advise the king. It’s the basis of the Privy Council which still

exists today.

4. Alred the Great: Alfred was a strong king of Wessex. He defeated the Danes and

reached a friendly agreement with them. He founded a strong fleet and is known

as “ the father of the British navy”. He also translated books, established schools

(完整版)英语国家概况_谢福之_课后答案

(完整版)英语国家概况_谢福之_课后答案

英语国家概况（谢福之主编）课后答案

一、选择题（答案在下面）

I. Choose the one that best completes each of the following statements.

1.The two main islands of the British Isles are . A. Great Britain and Ireland B. Great Britain and Scotland

C. Great Britain and Wales D. Great Britain and England

2.is the capital city of Scotland.

A. Belfast B. Edinburgh C. Aberdeen D. Cardiff

3.According to a 2005 estimate, Britain now has a population of over million.

A. 160 B. 600 C. 60 D. 16

4.Among the four parts of the United Kingdom, is the smallest.

A. England B. Scotland C. Wales D. Northern Ireland

5.Almost a quarter of the British population lives in England.

A. northeastern B. southeastern C. northwestern D. southwestern 6.English belongs to the group of Indo-European family of languages.

A. Celtic B. Indo-Iranian C. Germanic D. Roman

7.The introduction of Christianity to Britain added the first element of words to

英国早期-中世纪史-C5-P1

英国早期-中世纪史-C5-P1

Part One

The Early and Medieval History

As a multi-national country, Britain has gone through several conquests,

which laid a foundation for the progress of the British people. What are the

historical conquests and the significance of them in British history? Try to get the

information from the materials available.

The Native Celts and the Roman Conquest

As there is no actual written history about the origin of the earliest natives in

Britain, the Celts were taken as the early natives in British history. Their languages

were assimilated into the English language and served as the origin of the Scots

and Welsh languages. The Celtic tribes migrated from northwestern Europe to the

British Isles from about 750 B.C.in search for empty land, living in a primitive

society. They became the ancestors of the Scots, the Irish, and the Welsh, and

苏格兰 中英文 双语 简介 苏格兰独立 Scotland

苏格兰 中英文 双语 简介 苏格兰独立 Scotland

Scotland is one of four areas of Britain, it is located in the British Isles, hill, north of distributed in

the population, with 511 million. Here is a distinctive feature of the place, the unique

highland

scenery lets a person to have forgotten. More greatly small lakes and mountains, if copy Mosaic,

extremely attractive eye sings. At first glance, Scotland and England no difference, but they have

their own ancestry, Celtic, have their own national language - the Gaelic language. And about the

history, believe in Scotland saw the brave heart of people of Scotland's history. Scotland

has

strong national pride,

everyone will recite the great poet burns poems nationalities. They also

Burns's birthday (January 25) as the national holiday, called Burns eve (Night)'ll. That night, the

people gathered together, read burns poems to eat a Scottish national food (Haggis). Now, people