英国概况第一章提纲

1 A General Survey of UK

Chapter 1 Land and People

1. Names and Position

* Names: Britain, Great Britain, the British Isles, the UK, the United Kingdom, the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, and

Northern Ireland.

* The official full name: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

* The total area: a little more than 240,000 square kilometers

* population: 57.4 million (1990)

* the island of Great Britain: England, Scotland, and Wales

* England: the largest and most developed of all the three; takes up nearly 60% of the

whole island. population: more than 47 million

* Scotland: the second largest both in area and population; covers about 30% of the

whole area; population: 10% of the whole.

* Wales: the smallest of the three; takes up less than 9% of the total, population: about

5% of the whole.

* Northern Ireland: belongs to the UK; the founding of the Republic of Ireland in

1927.

2. National Flag

* The national flag of UK: Union Jack

* It is made up of three crosses.

In the middle, the largest one, the red cross: ―the Cross of St. George‖, represents

England.

The second cross, the slanting one, the white one: ―the Cross of St. Andrew of

Scotland‖, represents Scotland.

The slanting red, the narrow one: ―the Cross of St. Patrick of Ireland‖

3 .Physiographic Features

* over 1,000 kilometers from south to north.

* coastline: about 10,000 kilometers, one of the countries with the longest coastlines

in the world.

* the island of Great Britain can be roughly divided into two parts: the Highland Zone

of the north and west, and the Lowland Zone of the south and southeast.

4. Climate and Weather

* weather: changeable, ―Other countries have a climate, we only have weather.‖ 2 * Spring: an important festival known as May Day

* Summer: the best time of year is; the average temperature: 20℃.

Summer is often used as a comparison to describe a person who is very mild and

lovely. e.g.: Shakespeare: ―Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day,…‖

* Autumn: the season of maturity and harvest

* Winter: the average temperature is normally above 3℃ and it seldom falls below

freezing point.

* abundant rainfall, much of the rain comes down in drizzle

5. Inland Water

* The longest river in Britain is the Severn River.

* The second longest and most important river in Britain is the Thames River / River

Thames.

* In Scotland the most important river is the Clyde River

*The Lake District: beautiful scenery and 15 lakes; the home of the English Lake

Poets William Wordsworth, Samuel T. Coleridge and Robert Southey in the 19th

century.

6. The Main Cities

1) London:

* the capital of England and of Great Britain, the political center of the

Commonwealth, and a major port from the mouth of the River Thames.

* Administratively, London is divided into two parts: the City of London and Greater

London.

* East End of London: a place usually for lower class people.

* West End of London: the shopping district

2) Birmingham:

* the second biggest city in Britain

* developed during industrial revolution in the 18th century

* an important manufacturing center.

3) Manchester

* the third largest city

* the center of textile industry

4) Liverpool:

* the second biggest commercial port in Britain

* also an important passenger transporting harbor 3 5) Edinburgh:

* the capital and the economic and cultural center of Scotland

* the second biggest touring city in the UK just next to London.

6) Glasgow:

* the largest industrial and commercial city and port of Scotland.

* Shipbuilding industry is the biggest in the country, with dozens of boatyards.

7) Belfast:

* the capital of Northern Ireland

8) Cardiff

* the capital of Wales

7. Famous Landmarks

1) Stonehenge

* lies in the suburb of Salisbury in the south of Britain,

* a well-known prehistoric building.

* built from the year 1900 BC to 1700 BC

* is composed by stone pillars of two concentric circles with a diameter of 70 meters,

each stone pillar is 5 – 10 meters high, 20 – 30 tons in weight, and there are some

slabstones on the top of it.

* used by the ancients for observing the sun and the changing of the celestial body,

and sacrificing to the Sun God.

(2) Tower of London

* a mediaeval building with more than 900 years’ history

* It is located on the tower mountain of the southeast corner of London city and it

faces the River Thames in the south

* In order to suppress local people’ resistance and safeguard London, William Ⅰ,

Duke Normandy of France, began building the Tower of London in 1078 and it lasted

20 years. Later on, each dynasty had built some other buildings.