自考英语国家概况汇总版.doc

自考英语国家概况汇总版

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　Chapter 1　Land and People
一、本章知识点
　　1.重点：　① Different names for Britain and its parts
　　2.难点、考点： ① Britain’s official name　　② British Commonwealth
　　三、课本内容
　　（一）Different names for Britain and its parts

　　Strictly speaking, the British Isles, Great Britain and England are all geographical names.
　　1. The British Isles are made up of two large islands and hundreds of small islands. （see map of UK） The two large islands are Great Britain and Ireland. Great Britain is the larger of these two islands.
　　2. ★The official name of the United Kingdom is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. But it is too much of a mouthful to say such a long name for a country, so people just say Britain, the United Kingdom or simply U.K.
　　（UK） capital: London
　　The Republic of Ireland爱尔兰共和国 has been an independent republic since 1949 and its capital is Dublin.
　　3. There are three political divisions on the island of Great Britain: England, Scotland, and Wales. England is the largest, most populous and richest, so people tend to use “England” and “English” when they mean “Britain” and “British”.
　　4. The British Empire大英帝国: one fourth of the world’s people and one fourth of the world’s land area.
　　5. The British Empire gradually disappeared and it was replaced by the British Commonwealth or the Commonwealth of Nations in 1931. ★The Commonwealth is a free association of independent countries that were once colonies of Britain. Member nations are joined together economically and have certain trading arrangements. The Commonwealth has no special powers. The decision to become a member of the Commonwealth is left to each nation.如果出简答,则只需要第一句话.
　　（二）Others
　　Geographical Features
　　1. The United Kingdom is separated from the rest of Europe by the English Channel in the south and the North Sea in the east. The English Channel lies between Britain and France. （p.4）
　　Taiwan Strait：台湾海峡
　　2. “Chunnel”: channel + tunnel, opened to traffic in 1994. （p.5）
　　Smog: smoke +fog　　Mortel: motor +hotel　　Kidult: kid +adult
　　3. The highest mountain in Britain: Ben Nevis, 1,343m in Scotland. （p.6）
　　The longest river: the Severn River （338 km）
　　The second largest and most important river: the Thames River （336 km） （p.7）
　　4. 90% of the population is urban and only 10% is rural. （p.11）
　　5. The English are Anglo-Saxons 盎格鲁撒克逊人, but the Scots, Welsh and Irish are Celts凯尔特人. （p.12）
　　四、总结　　① Britain’s official name　　② British Commonwealth
Chapter 2　The Origins of a Nation （5000 BC – AD 1066）
一、本章知识点
　　1.重点：① Arrival and settlement of the Celts　② Basis of modern English race: the Anglo-Saxons　③ The Viking and Danish invasions　④ King Alfred and his contributions　⑤ The Norman Conquest and its consequences
　　2.难点、考点：① the Anglo-Saxons: Heptarchy七王国; foundation of the English state　② King Alfred　③ Norman Conquest
　　　三、课本内容
　　（一）Arrival and settlement of the Celts （p.17）
　　1. began to arrive about 700 BC
　　2. originally have come from eastern and central Europe, now France, Belgium and southern Germany
　　3. three main waves——1st. Gaels盖尔人, about 600 BC; 2nd. Brythons布列吞人, 400 BC, （Britain）; 3rd. Belgae比利其人, 150 BC, （Belgium）.　Gaelic：盖尔语
　　4. The Celtic tribes are ancestors of Highland Scots, the Irish and the Welsh, and their languages are the basis of both Welsh and Gaelic.
　　5. Religion: Druidism: The Celts’ religion was Druidism. The Druids worshipped and performed their rites in woods by the light of the moon.
　　6. Roman Britain （55 BC – AD 410）　p.18: British recorded history begins with the Roman invasion. For nearly 400 years Britain was under the Roman occupation. The Roman capital was London （Londinium）.
　　（二）Basis of modern English race: the Anglo-Saxons （p.20-23）
　　1. mid-5th century, three Teutonic tribes: Jutes朱特人 （from southern Denmark）, Saxons, and Angles （both from northern Germany）; Angles were to give their name to the English people.
　　2. ★Heptarchy七王国——seven principal kingdoms set up by the Anglo-Saxons: Kent, Essex, Sussex, Wessex, East Anglia, Marcia and Northumbria. （英国版的战国七雄）Monarchy：君主制The Anglo-Saxon tribes部落 were constantly at war with one another, each trying to get the upper hand, so that the kingdoms were often broken up and often pieced together again.
　3. In 829, Egbert 伯特became an overlord of all the English.
　4. Teutonic日耳曼人的 religion: Tiu—war, Woden—heaven, Thor—Storms, Freya—Peace
　5. St. Augustine奥古斯丁—— the first Archbishop of Canterbury.坎特伯雷大教主
　6. ★Anglo-Saxons laid the foundations of the English state: divide the country into shires（郡）, later counties; the narrow-strip, three-field farming system（三田轮作）; manorial庄园 system; Witan（议会） （council or meeting of the wisemen, 贤人会议）, the basis of the Privy Council枢密院 which still exists today.
（三）The Viking and Danish invasions （p.23-24）
1. from the end of 8th century, Norwegian Vikings and Danes from Denmark 挪威海盗和丹麦人
2. The Danes gained the “Danelaw”（丹麦法区）, the north and east of England.
3. The Witan chose Canute, the Danish Leader, as king in 1016. Canute made England part of a Scandinavian empire.
（四）King Alfred and his contributions
1. King of Wessex （871-899） （抗击北欧海盗入侵的国家英雄）
2. ★his contributions: “the father of the British navy”; reorganized the fyrd英国民兵 （the Saxon army）; translated into English Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People; established schools and formulated a legal system.
3. “Alfred the Great”
（五）The Norman Conquest and its consequences （p.24-25）
1. King Edward, known as “the Confessor”, was far more Norman than Saxon心向着诺曼第人(法国),而不是撒克逊人(英国).
　　2. 4 men laid claim to the English throne: the King of Norway, the Duke of Normandy, Tostig and Harold （two brothers of Edward’s Queen）; 4人对英国有继承权,挪威国王,诺曼底公爵和爱德华国王王后的两个兄弟
　　3. Oct. 14, 1066, Hastings, Anglo-Saxon England perished with Harold’s death.因为Harold的死亡,英国被诺曼人打败
　　4. William was crowned King of England on Christmas Day.
　　5. William the Conqueror: the best-known event in English history; the feudal system was completely established.法国诺曼第人征服后,威廉成为英国国王,成为英语历史最著明的事件,而且完本建立了封建制度.
　　四、总结:　历史上定居和入侵英国的不同民族：Celts, （Romans） Anglo-Saxons, Viking/Dales, and Normans
Chapter 3 the shaping of the nation1066-1381
本章知识点
1重点: 1 England’s feudalism under the rule of William the Conqueror; 2 Contents and the significance of the Great Charter; 3 Origins of the English Parliament; 4 The Hundred Years’ War with France and its consequences; 5 Consequences of the Black Death;
2 难点\考点: English feudalism: Domesday book <土地清帐册>; Great Charter; English Parliament;
3课本内容
i. England’s feudalism under the rule of William the Conqueror
1. Under William, the feudal system in England was completely established. According to this system, the King owned the land personally. William gave his barons男爵 large estates in England in return for a promise of military service and a proportion of the land’s produce.
The barons parceled out分配 land to the lesser nobles, knights and freemen, also in return for goods and services. At the bottom of the feudal scale were the villains of serfs, unfree peasants who were little better than slaves.
★Class structure 等级结构: the king ; barons-tenants-in-chief; lesser nobles, knights, and freemen; villains\serfs
(补充: baron’s oath of allegiance 誓词for the king: “we who are as good as you swear to you, who are no better than we, to accept you as our king and sovereign lord provided you observe all our statutes and laws; if not, no.”国王与贵族在封建法规所规定的权力和义务范围内平起平坐.)
2. Replace the Witan with the Grand Council (大会议)
William replaced the Witan, the council of the Anglo-Saxon Kings, with the Grand Council of his new tenants-in-chief, on which they were required to serve when summoned.
3. ★Domesday Book: record of lands, tenants, and their possessions, for taxes. Not unlike the Book of Doom. (末日审判书)
In order to have a reliable record of all his lands, his tenants and their possessions and to discover how much they could be called upon to pay by way of taxes, William sent his clerks to compile a property record known as Domesday Book because it seemed to the English not unlike the Book of Doom to be used by the greatest feudal lord of all on Judgment Day.
注: William took a deep interest in the development of the church in England. His policy towards the church was to keep it completely under his control, but at the same time to uphold its power. But he took care to maintain his own independence.
4. Henry Ⅱ, founder of the Plantagenet dynasty (金雀花王朝), ruled for 35 years.
Henry, founder of the Angevin Dynasty, usually known as the Plantagenet dynasty, became king and went on to rule for 35 years.
In Henry Ⅱ’s reign a common law, which over-rode local law and private law, was gradually established in place of the customs of the manor which had previously varied not only from shire to shire but even from one community to another.
The common law is the unwritten law common to the whole people as distinct from law governing only sections of it, and is “case-made”, i.e., based on precedent judgments, and derived from acknowledged custom.
In Henry’s day the jury system-whose origins can be traced to primitive trials in which witnesses were called forward to swear to the innocence of the accused-was at last replacing old English ordeals by fire and water and old Norman trials by battle.
ii. contents and the significance of the Great charter
1. Crusades (十字军东征) . The result was confrontation between king John and his barons in 1215.
2. Magna Carta, 1215
The barons’ charter, or Magna Carta as it came to be known, was presented by a delegation of their class to the king and his advisers in the summer of 1215 at a conference at Runnymede, an island in the Thames four miles down stream from Windsor.
3. contents-63 clauses: No tax should be made without the approval of the Grand Council; no freeman should be arrested, imprisoned, or deprived of his property except by the law of the land; the Church should possess all its rights, together with freedom of elections; London and other towns should retain their ancient rights and privileges, and there should be the same weights and measures throughout the country.
Although Magna Carta has long been popularly regarded as the foundation of English liberties, it was a statement of the feudal and legal relationship between the Crown and the barons, a guarantee of the freedom of the Church and a limitation of the powers of the king.
4. significance: regarded as the foundation of English liberties; the spirit- the limitation of the powers of the king
iii. origins of the English Parliament
1. king John and his son Henry III defied Magna Carta. The barons, under Simon de Montfort, rebelled.
King john defied Magna Carta.
The barons, under Simon de Montfort, Henry III’ s brother-in-law, rebelled.
2. provisions of Oxford ----Grand Council of 24 members, half to be nominated by the barons themselves; a permanent body of advisors, without whose authority the king could not act.
A civil war broke out between the king’s supporters, mostly foreign mercenaries, and the baronial army led by Simon de Montfort.
1264 the king was defeated by De Montfort and taken prisoner.
3. ★the earliest Parliament ---- in 1265, 2 knights from each county, 2 burgesses (citizens) from each town.
The Great Council developed later into the lords and the Commons known as parliament.
3. Met only by royal invitation. Its role was to offer advice.
At this point parliament only met by royal invitation. Its role was to offer advice, not to make decisions.
4. under Edward I, Wales was conquered. The statute of Wales in 1284; Prince of Wales, a title held by the heir to the throne
under Edward I, Henry III’ s son, Wales was conquered (1277-1284) and came under the English Crown. The statute of Wales in 1284 placed the country under English law end Edward I presented his new-born son to the Welsh people as Prince of Wales, a title held by the heir to the throne ever since.
iv. the hundred years’ war with France and its consequences
1. the intermittent war, 1337-1453; the name is given to the intermittent war between France and England that lasted form 1337 to 1453.
2. the causes: partly territorial and partly economic
3. Edward III declared war. When Edward III (1327-1377) claimed the French Crown by right of his mother Isabella, daughter of Philip IV. In 1337 Edward declared a war that was to last for a hundred years. There were three outstanding stages of the war.
4. England was successful at first, but was defeated at last. Joan of Arc(圣女贞德)
After his death in 1422, the French, encouraged by Joan of Arc, their national heroine, drove the English out of France.
5. By 1453, only Calais
By 1453 Calais was the only part of France that was still in the hands of the English.
6. a blessing for both countries: good for the development of separate English and French national identity.
The expulsion of the English from France is regarded as a blessing for both countries; had they remained, the superior size and wealth of France would certainly have hindered the development of a separate English national identity, while French national identity was hindered so long as a foreign power occupied so much French territory.
V. consequences of the Black Death
1. deadly bubonic plague(淋巴腺鼠疫), an epidemic disease spread by rat fleas.
Black Death was the modern name given to the deadly bubonic plague, an epidemic disease spread by rat fleas. It spread through Europe in the 14th century, particularly in 1347-1350.
2. It killed between one half and one third of the population, reduced England’s population from 4 million to 2 million by the end of 14th century.
3. Consequences: much land was left untended, and there was a terrible shortage of labor. The government tried to keep down wages.
The economic of the Black Death were far-reaching. As a result of the plague, much land was left untended and there was a terrible shortage of labor.
It intervened for the first time to establish rules to keep down wages.
IV. 总结: William the Conqueror and feudalism; the limitation of the kings’ power: Great Charter and Parliament; the Hundred Years’ war; Black Death
Chapter 4 Transition to the Modern Age (1455-1688)
I. 本章知识点
1. 重点: the nature and consequences of the wars of the roses; Henry VIII and the English reformation; Elizabeth I and Parliament; Elizabeth’ s religious reform and her foreign police; Distinctive features of the English renaissance; The Civil Wars and their consequences; The commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell; The restoration and the Glorious Revolution;
2. 难点\考点: the English reformation; Elizabeth I ; English renaissance; The restoration; The Glorious revolution;
III. 课本内容
一 the nature and consequences of the wars of the roses
1.the nature : a revival of baronial activity; the wars of the roses was fought between tow branches of the Plantagenet family, the House