英美概況100問

1、英語國家概況（ 1）（ 2） 100 問1. British history has been a history of invasion. Please illustrate this point with the examples from the text. How did each of the invasions influence English culture2. What are some general characteristics of Scotland ?3. Describe Wales unification with Great Britain.4. Are th

2、ere any differences between England and Wales in terms of cultural tradition ?5. Why is Northern Ireland, according to the author, so significant in the United Kingdom? What is the political problem there?6. What are some of the factors in Irish and English history that affect the situation in North

3、ern Ireland today?7. Different parties and groups in the United Kingdom have different solutions to the political problem in Northern Ireland. Please sum up their different attitudes.8. Has the author offered a solution to the political problem in Northern Ireland?9. What is the oldest institution o

4、f government?10. What is the name of the charter of liberty and political rights granted by King John in 1215?11. Do you think Elizabethan Drama occupies a significant position in British literature? Who is the most important figure in Elizabethan Drama? What are some of his major works?12. What do

5、we call the group of important Parliamentarians?13. Which party forms the government and who becomes Prime Minister?14. What are some of the changes that have take place recently in the Chinese attitude towards sports? How do you account for these changes?15. For how many years is a general election

6、 held once in the UK?16. Who can stand for election as an MP?17. What are the three major parties? Which party is the party that spent most time in power?18. Which party does Tony Blair belong to?19. When was the British economy dominant in the world?20. By what time was the UK overtaken by other co

7、untries, such as the US and Germany?21. Which country does it refer to as the Jewel in the Crown? When did it gain its independence?22. What are some of the positive and negative effects of non-white immigrants on British society according to the author?23. What is the general situation of racial re

8、lations in the UK?24. Why is Geoffrey Chaucer, who wrote in Middle English, still read and studied today?25. When was the term parliament first used officially?26. The author says that the media are central to British leisure culture, why does the author say so?27. What are some of the characteristi

9、cs of British newspaper culture? In what way is it different from the United States?28. Is the British press free from the government control and censorship? What is the relationship between the British press and politics or business?29. How does the BBC operate? How is it different from American br

10、oadcasting systems?30. What are some of the features of Romantic Literature?31. What is Modernism? Can you illustrate your points with specific books as examples?32. What is Postmodernism? Can you illustrate your points with specific books as examples?33. How has the Christian church influenced Brit

11、ish sports? Please pick up some examples from the text. 34. What is the origin of football?35. How is the violence of football hooligans related to the British history of football?36. Why is cricket very English? Why does the author believe that cricket was associated with a set of English moral val

12、ues?37. Christmas is the biggest and best-loved British holiday? How do the British celebrate this holiday?38. How do the British celebrate the Queens Birthday? What is the origin of this holiday?39. Bonfire Night is one truly English holiday. How and why do the English celebrate this holiday?40. Ho

13、w do the Protestants and Catholics celebrate their own holidays in Northern Ireland? What traditions are behind their celebrations?41. How is Hogmanay celebrated in Scotland? What other festivals are celebrated in Scotland?42. Which are the two most important and famous universities in Britain?43. W

14、hat is the goal of education in the U.K.?44. Is the British education system run by the state or the private sector?45. Where do British universities receive their funds besides students tuition?46. Why does the author say that the way the living arrangements of a society as a whole are organized te

15、lls us something about that society?47. What are the four main types of home in Britain? How do they reflect the cost and status of homes? What are some of the major types of home in China?48. How are people in the UK divided into different classes?49. Is the class system similar with the United Sta

16、tes?50. What and how did the British empire end? How did the British react to this reality?51. What are the foundations of Britains foreign policy?52. How is Britains foreign policy made? Does the governments foreign policy represent the desires of British citizens?53. Why does the author say that t

17、he decision to join the EC was and remains controversial in Britain?54. Why does the author think that Britain has the special relationship with the United States? Does this relationship still exist?55. What are some of the general characteristics of Australia in terms of land, people and culture?56

18、. Discuss the climate in Australia. What are some of the major differences between Australia and China in terms of the climate?57. What are the six states of Australia? What are some of the major similarities or differences in terms of population, early settlement and economy in the six states?58. C

19、an you point out some main differences between the Australian government system and the British government system?59. Discuss the Australian education system. What are some of the features in the system that are specifically Australian?60. What are some of the distinct features of New Zealands geogr

20、aphy? Find out similarities and differences in terms of geography between New Zealand and Australia.61. What are some of the similarities between New Zealand and Britain in the government system?62. How did modern development in Europe influence the settlement of North American colonies?63. What was

21、 the unique American phenomenon ? How did it come into being? Do you think it still exists in todays American society?64. In what way did Puritanism influence American culture?65. What are the two political parties in the United States? Do you think they are fundamentally different?66. What is the B

22、ill of Rights? Do you think that it was necessary to write the Bill of Rights explicitly into the U.S. Constitution?67. Why did the Articles of Confederation fail? Was it necessary to change the Articles of Confederation and write a new constitution for the new nation of the United States at the tim

23、e?68. What is a federal system? What are some of the major differences between a federal system and a confederation?69. What are some of the major powers of each of the three branches of the U.S. government? How are the three branches supposed to check and balance each other?70. It is known to all t

24、hat buying and selling stocks is a risky business. Why do you think there are still so many people involved in it?71. What promotes the diversity in American religion?72. In what way do you think that religious freedom was a historical necessity in the United States?73. What is the relationship betw

25、een government and religion in America?74. What are some of the features in religion that are particularly American? What are some of the major differences between American religion and religion in Europe?75. What is the main theme in American literature according to the author? How does the author

26、illustrate his point?76. Why did Mark Twain win so many readers both at home and abroad?77. What are the major characteristics of education in America?78. What are some of the major themes in novels written by the Lost Generation?79. What is the goal of education in the United States? Discuss the si

27、milarities and differences in Great Britain, the United States and China concerning the goals of education.80. What does an American student learn?81. What were the major social movements of the 1960s? And what was the historical background of the social movements of that decade?82. The black politi

28、cal movement that began as a force for integration changed course in the mid-1960s and began to emphasize black uniqueness and even black separatism. What caused this transformation?83. Draw analogies between the black revolution and the womens movement. What common assumptions do they share?84. The

29、 author says that the United States was founded on the principle of human equality, but in practice the nation has fallen far short of that ideal. Illustrate this point with what you have learned from this book.85. What does poverty mean in the United States ? Why is poverty a social problem in Amer

30、ica?86. Why does the author emphasize that the invention of one technology has to be supported by a number of related technologies which form a supporting system? Give examples.87. When are the American football matches held?88. Why did a musical form of black origin gain acceptance in all classes i

31、n America and spread throughout the country?89. What are the contributions made by Louis Armstrong to the early jazz music?90. Why Canada is regularly rated as having the best standard of living in the world? 91.What is the distinct feature in Canadian modern literature?92. Discuss the similarities

32、and differences in the government systems between the U.K. and Canada.93. What are some of the characteristics of the Canadian party system?94. What are some of the things that make Canada a unique and interesting country?95. How do you understand multiculturalism?96. Why do you think the author say

33、s that Canada has avoided the worst excesses of intolerance and prejudice?97. What is the Canadas Place in the World Economy?98. Do you think the Canadian government should subsidize the inefficient Canadian farmers or import foodstuff from neighbouring American states?99. Why is the idea of surviva

34、l thought of as the central symbol of Canadian literature? What does cultural survival mean in Canadian literature?100. What are the major reasons for Canadas active role in international organizations? And how does Canada play its active role?外國語學(xué)院：曾倩英語國家概況（ 1）（ 2）問題庫答案1. British history has been a

35、 history of invasions. Before the first century AD Britain was made up of many tribal kingdoms of Celtic people: a powerful culture originating in central Europe. Then in 43AD Britain was invaded by the Roman empire, and England and Wales (though not Scotland or Ireland) became a part of the Roman e

36、mpire for nearly 400 years.Two more groups of invaders were to come after the English: from the late 8th century on, raiders from Scandinavia, the ferociou s Vikin gs, threate ned Brita ins shores2. Scotland is the second largest of the four nations, both in population and in geographical area. It i

37、s also the most confident of its own identity because alone amongst the non-English components of the UK it has previously spent a substantial period of history as a unified state independent of the UK. Thus it is not a big leap for the Scottish to imagine themselves independent again.Physically, Sc

38、otland is the most rugged part of the UK, with areas of sparsely populated mountains and lakes in the north (The Highlands), and in the south (The Southern Uplands). Three-quarters of the population lives in the lowland zone which spans the country between these two highland areas. The largest city

39、is Glasgow, in the west of this zone. Scotlands capital city is Edinburgh, on the east coast forty miles away from Glasgow. It is renowned for its beauty, and dominated by its great castle on a high rock in the centre of the city. Both cities have ancient and internationally respected universities d

40、ating from the 15th century.3. Wales was always under pressure from its English neighbours, particularly after the Norman conquest, when Norman barons set up castles and estates in Wales under the authority of the English Crown. Some brief campaigns are the only times in history when Wales has exist

41、ed as a unified independent nation.4. Yes, there are. The close long-standing relationship means that modern Wales lacks some of the outward signs of difference which Scotland possesses its legal system and its education system are exactly the same as in England. Often official statistics are given

42、for England and Wales. However, Wales is different, and one of the key markers of that difference is the Welsh languagethe old British Celtic tongue which is still in daily use.5. Until 1921 the full name of the UK was The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, not only Northern Ireland, becau

43、se the whole island of Ireland was politically integrated with Great Britain, and had been since 1801, while Britains domination of the Irish dated back centuries even before that date. But Irish desires for an independent Irish state were never lost, and one of the key issues in late nineteenth cen

44、tury British politics was a campaign in parliament for what was called home-rule Irish political control of Irish affairs. The Home Rule Bill was finally passed in 1914, but the process was overtaken by the First World War and was suspended for the duration of the war.6. Along with the political cam

45、paign for home-rule there were groups who followed a more direct method of pursuing Irish independence, engaging in guerilla or terrorist activities against British institutions and the British military forces. During the First World War and immediately after, this activity increased, sometimes brut

46、ally suppressed by British forces.7. Margaret Thatchers government did not give in to this demand for political status and 11 prisoners starved to death. This event revitalised the political campaign of Sinn Fein, the legal political party which supports the IRAs right to fight. Its leaders spoke of

47、 a twin campaign for union with Ireland, both political and military, which they called the policy of The Bullet and the Ballot Box.8. The problem lay in the commitment to peaceful methods aspect of the possible talks. Province-wide elections are planned under a complex formula to ensure a wide rang

48、e of representation on the body which will carry out these talks, in an attempt to give them legitimacy. Without the participation of Sinn Fein and the IRA it is hard to see them succeeding. Northern Ireland is poised on the brink a new peaceful future, or a return to the violence that has claimed 3

49、150 lives so far.9. The oldest institution of government is the Monarchy (rule by the king).10. It was a gang of feudal barons and the Church which opposed some of King Johns (1199 1216) policies. This opposition was so powerful that the king finally granted them a charter of liberty and political r

50、ights, still known by its medieval Latin name of Magna Carta. Magna Carta placed some limits on the kings ability to abuse his royal power. This is still regarded as Britains key expression of the rights of citizens against the Crown.11. Shakespeare is the most important figure at that time. He exce

51、ls in each kind. The tragedies include Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. Among the comedies are The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Nights Dream, Twelfth Night, and The Tempest. His history plays, based on English history, include Richard III, Richard II, Henry IV , and Hen

52、ry V . Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra are tragedies on classical themes.12. The House of Commons.13. The party that wins most votes in general election and the leader of this winning party would become Prime Minister.14. They more and more like sports15. For five years.16. Anyone who is elig

53、ible vote to can stand as an MP. It is necessary only to make a deposit of500 pounds (a quite easily obtainable amount in the UK) which is lost if the candidate does not receive at least 5% of the vote.17. There are three major national parties: The Conservative party and the Labour party are the tw

54、o biggest, and any general election is really about which of those two is going to govern. But there is a third important party, the Liberal Democrats, who usually receive up to about 20% of the votes: not enough to form a government, but enough to have a big impact on which of the other two parties

55、 does so. The Conservative Party spent most time in power18. Tony Blair belong to Labor Party.19. By the 1880s the British economy was dominant in the world, producing one third of the worlds manufactured goods, half its coal and iron, half its cotton.20. But even by 1900 this was no longer the case

56、, the UK having been overtaken by both the United States and Germany; and certainly from 1945 until the present, the story of the UK economy is usually thought of as one of decline.21. India, popularly known as The Jewel in the Crown of the British Empire, gained its independence in 1947.22. This ha

57、s a number of consequences for British society, mainly positive, though with some indirect negative effects. On the positive side such immigrant groups bring their culture with them, which increases the variety and interest within British culture: for example, the UK, which used to have a bad reputa

58、tion for food, now has a cuisine as varied as any, with Indian and Chinese restaurants in every community, as well as many other varieties in bigger cities. This varietyinrestaurant food has resulted in more experimentation at home, so that shops now carry a much wider variety of goods to supply the

59、 demand, and there are many TV programmes and books devoted to all kinds of different cooking. The negative side of things lies largely in the attitude of some of their white neighbours.23. While there is a growing ethnic minority middle-class, and many individual success stories, by most measures the immigrant popula