English Society and Culture01

1、Week One (A) Introduction to this course What is the course about? Class discussion-what is Britain in your mind? A brief look at the contents Your expectation from this course How will we learn this course? (A brief look through Unit 1) How will you be assessed? Course Grade = Class performance (40

2、%) * + Midterm Test (20%) + Final test scores (35%) + Class Attendance (5%) *: Class Performance = Classroom Participation + Homework Completion Class Participation = Contributions to class discussion + Contributions to Classroom activity Unit One What is Britain? Write down what comes into your min

3、d when you think about Britain. Compare your list with that of your partner. Explain why/how you know about it/them. (p.5) Look at the pictures on p.4. How many items do you think are typical of the life of ordinary people who live in Britain today? How many are traditional items or stereotypes? Wha

4、t about your country? Are there traditional items that people associate with it, or stereotypes? The face of the Great Clock of Westminster. The hour hand is 2.7 metres (9 ft) long and the minute hand is 4.3 metres (14 ft) long. The Clock Tower is the worlds biggest four- faced, chiming clock. The s

5、tructure is situated at the north-eastern end of the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London. It is often colloquially referred to as Big Ben, which is actually the nickname of the main bell housed within the tower (formally known as the Great Bell). The Clock Tower has also been referred to as

6、The Tower of Big Ben. It is actually the spired tower towards the middle of the Palace and is also the main point of entry for attendees of debates and committees. Clock Tower Underwear may or may not be worn, as the wearer prefers: in some circumstances underwear is prohibited （禁止）by military regul

7、ations （紀 律）, but is generally required, or at least recommended （推薦）, for activities such as dancing. Unit One What is Britain? Charles, Prince of Wales (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) paid a visit to the flood-hit region. The kilt The kilt is a garment in the form of a knee-

8、length skirt with pleats (衣服上的褶) at the rear, originating in the traditional dress of men and boys in the Scottish Highlands. Since the 19th century it has been associated with the culture of Scotland in general, or with Celtic （凱爾特的） (and more specifically Gaelic蓋爾的，蓋爾人的) heritage elsewhere. It is

9、most often made of woolen cloth in a tartan (花格呢) pattern. Though the Scottish kilt is now worn mainly on formal occasions or at Highland Games and sports events, there are some (mainly in North America) who seek to revive it or adapt it as an item of everyday male clothing. Bass drone：低和音 Tenor dro

10、ne: 高和音 Chanler:管，渠 Blow pipe:吹管 Bag:音箱 Pants-less soldiers in a flag ritual (儀式) Sporran Kilt Beefeater A beefeater is on his sentry (哨兵) duty Bear skin hat C: centigrade F: Fahrenheit mm: millimeter in: inch London has a temperate marine climate, like much of the British Isles, so the city rarely

11、sees extremely high or low temperatures. Summers are warm with average high temperatures of 23 C (73 F) and lows of 14 C (57 F), however, temperatures could exceed 25 C (77 F) on many days. Winters in London are chilly, but rarely below freezing with temperatures around 2 - 8 C (36 - 46 F), while sp

12、ring has mild days and cool evenings. London has regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year, with average precipitation of 583.6 mm (22.98 in) every year. Snow is relatively uncommon, particularly because heat from the urban area can make London up to 5 C (9 F) hotter than the sur

13、rounding areas in winter. Light snowfall, however, is sometimes seen a few times a year, although it is not uncommon to have no snow during the colder months. Read the five questions and answer them. (p.5) Read the passage British Unity in Diversity and then make a summary of it. (p.5) The Union Jac

14、k The national flower of Scotland is the thistle, a prickly-leaved purple flower which was first used in the 15th century as a symbol of defense. The Five-stars-red Flag was red with a large golden five-pointed star and four smaller golden five-pointed stars in the upper hoist-side corner. The color

15、 red symbolizes the spirit of the revolution, the blood of heroes who died during the revolution and the five stars signify the unity of the people of China under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. Summary of British Unity in Diversity (p.6) A common identity of Britishness is considered

16、 as Englishness by people from many parts of the UK, while some other people think this idea is out of date. As time passes some people feel that nationhood of Britain has declined and they see England will finally merge with Europe. Retrospect of todays points Memory Ceremony of the dead in World W

17、ars, York B. Towns and cities Fill in the map with the city name.(p.8). Oral presentation: Which city do you like most? Select a city to describe orally. 2. Now find these towns or cities on the map on page 7. Unit One What is Britain? NORTH IRELAND SCOTLAND ENGLAND WALES Outer Hebrides North Sea Ou

18、ter Hebrides Oxford University in Summer 3 Discuss these two questions (p.8) Think about your own country, and especially the part of it where you live. What do you particularly like about it? Are there important differences in your country between: North and South? East and West? Capital city and r

19、ural areas? C. English History and Place What dates or events are meaningful in your countrys history? (p.10) D. Languages Do you think these statements are True or False? (p.12) Read the article and confirm your answers. Discuss these questions on language issues with the class. Discuss: Walk throu

20、gh Chinese towns and villages and you can hear languages as diverse as Cantonese, Spanish, Urdu and Greek xxx is so close a relative of Mandarin that it is often regarded as simply a dialect. Buy it has limited legal rights. It is not used in the courts, and it plays no part in the national governme

21、nt. Highlands Lowlands 5. Accents(p.13) Liverpool: Mark, which is a big company in the United States. Its um, a catering company- contract catering company. Erm, its not very big in England, but its the- its the world leader in managed services. Erm, I also work up this site (?)in- in Liverpool, The

22、 Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. Erm, we provide catering for the students and the staff here on site. Uh, Ive worked for the company for seven years, eh, but Ive actually worked at LIPA for five years. Umm, theres a few things going on at the moment with the contract. We hopefully gonna go

23、 in-house and Ill be working for LIPA rather than Alan Mark (unclear) which will be good. Ehm, cuz I get all the benefits and that. Mainly, I wanna- I wanna join the gym which I got kicked out of, um, quite embarrassingly, eh, last year because I worked for Alan Mark (unclear/spelling?) and not LIPA

24、. Eh, so I wanna go back to there so Ill get fit again. Scottish: I come from a village er, outside, on the outskirts of Edinburgh, and its a very pretty village, its called South Queensferry, and it has two bridges there. Er, one of the bridges, has been there for 100 years old, its 100 years old.

25、Er, and its over the Firth of Forth River. So theres a beach down there although its never hot enough to go down. Right I was brought up in South Queensferry, but just a year ago we moved to Livingston. And its a new house, and its in a new street, so its basically in the middle of nowhere. But its

26、a new town, and so everythings all spaced out, there are little areas that are all spaced out with main roads and, its not like you can just like, go next door and see your friends or whatever. And so I live there with my mum, my dad, and my little sister. BBC News Posh accent: This is the stereotyp

27、ical dialect of the nobility and royalty, sometimes called Queens English. As said in the Dialect Guide: This dialect is very refined. It conveys the impression that the speaker not only is better than most people, but that he or she is keenly aware of this fact. Received Pronunciation: I was born i

28、n um Maidenhead in Berkshire, so the Home Counties, and I spent uh eleven years there and then I moved to a place called Stenning (?)in ss West Sussex, where I went to school, I moved to the coast to a place called Shoreham (?) which is not far from Brighton so thats still West Sussex um and I spent

29、 my secondary school well I spent my time up to the age of seventeen there and then I went to London for a f. year to study at university up at Chelsea College and then I went back down to Sussex University and studied three years there; thats in East Sussex ahem um ss ah New York: (Um) I take Dutch lessons, because my father was born in Holland, and he- (uh) When he met my mother, (uh) in America, he came and lived here. And so I still have (uh) quite a number of cousins and aunts and uncles in Holland. And