英語國家概況(漢英對照)

1、英語國家概況A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIESPart One The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland第一部分 大不列顛及北愛爾蘭聯(lián)合王國第一章 國土與人民 Chapter 1 Land and People.英國的不同名稱及其區(qū)域 1. Different Names for Britain and its Parts人們說到英國時常常使用不同的名稱:不列顛、大不列顛、英格蘭、不列顛群島、聯(lián)合王國等。這些名稱一樣嗎?還是有所區(qū)別? When people

2、 refer to Britain, they often use different names such as Britain, GreatBritain, England, the British Isles, the United Kingdom or the U.K. Do they mean the same thing? Or are theydifferent?嚴(yán)格地講，不列顛諸島、大不列顛和英格蘭都是地理名稱。它們并不是這個國家的正式名稱。不列顛諸島是由兩個大島和幾百個小島組成的。兩個大島是不列顛島和愛爾蘭島，其中不列顛島較大，它與愛爾蘭島的北部一北愛爾蘭構(gòu)成聯(lián)合王國。因此，

3、聯(lián)合王國的正式國名是大不列顛及北愛爾蘭聯(lián)合王國。但一口氣說出這么長的國名太費(fèi)事，因此，人們就說不列顛，聯(lián)合王國或簡單地說 UK。這是不列顛島上的一個國家，首都是倫敦。另外還有一個國家，叫愛爾蘭共和國或稱愛爾蘭，也位于不列顛島上。它占據(jù)了愛爾蘭島的其余部分，在島的南部。1949 年始愛爾蘭獨(dú)立，首都是都柏林。Strictly speaking, the British Isles,Great Britain and England are all geographical names. They are not the official name of the country. The Brit

4、ishIsles are made up of two large islands and hundreds of small ones. The two large islands are Great Britain andIreland. Great Britain is the larger of these two islands. It forms the United Kingdom with Northern Irelandthenorthern part of Ireland. So the official name of the United Kingdom is the

5、United Kingdom of Great Britain andNorthern 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. This is one country on the British Isles and its capital is London. There isanother country called the Republic of

6、 Ireland or Eire on the British Isles. It takes up the remainder ofIrelandthe southern part of Ireland. It has been an independent republic since 1949 and its capital is Dublin.大不列顛島上有三個政治區(qū):英格蘭、蘇格蘭和威爾士。英格蘭面積最大、人口最多，一般說來也最富裕。因此人們常用英格蘭指代英國，用英格蘭人指代英國人。這有時令蘇格蘭人和威爾士人不快，他們不認(rèn)為自己是"英格蘭人"，他們有自己的文化，甚

7、至有自己的語言。There are three political divisions on theisland of Great Britain: England, Scotland and Wales. England is the largest, most populous and generallyspeaking the richest section. So people tend to use England and English when they mean Britain and British.This sometimes annoys the Scots or the

8、 Welsh who do not regard themselves as English and who have a cultureand even a language of their own.英國一直是世界上最重要的國家之一。約一百年前，由于推行帝國主義擴(kuò)張政策，英國成為一個帝國，這個帝國占有世界上四分之一的人口，四分之一的面積。它不僅在北美，而且在亞洲、非洲和澳洲都有殖民地。但是兩次世界大 戰(zhàn)大大削弱了英國，英國殖民地接二連三獨(dú)立，大英帝國逐漸消失，1931 年由英聯(lián)邦所取代。Britain has been one of the most important countries

9、 in the world. About a hundred years ago, as aresult of its imperialist expansion, Britain ruled an empire that had one fourth of the worlds people and one fourthof the worlds land area. It had colonies not only in North America, but also in Asia, Africa and Australia.However, the two world wars gre

10、atly weakened Britain. The British Empire gradually disappeared and it wasreplaced by the British Commonwealth or the Commonwealth of Nations in 1931.英聯(lián)邦是一個自由聯(lián)合體，由曾經(jīng)是英國殖民地變?yōu)楝F(xiàn)已獨(dú)立的國家構(gòu)成。成員國之間實(shí)行經(jīng)濟(jì)合作，有一定的貿(mào)易協(xié)議。英聯(lián)邦沒有特別的權(quán)力，是否參加英聯(lián)邦由各成員國自己決定。目前( 1991 年) ，英聯(lián)邦有 50 個成員國。The commonwealth (of Nations) is a free as

11、sociation of independent countries that wereonce 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 eachnation. At present there are 50 membe

12、r countries within the Commonwealth (1991).1.英國的地理特征 II. Geographical Features英國是個島國，四周是海。它位于歐洲北海岸附近的北大西洋中。南面的英吉利海峽和東面的北海把英國與歐洲的其他部分隔開。英法之間的英吉利海峽很狹窄，最狹窄的地方叫多佛爾海峽，只有 33 公里寬。1985 年，英法兩國政府決定在多佛爾海峽底修建一個隧道，把兩個國家連接起來。經(jīng)過八年的奮斗，這條名為"查諾爾"的海底隧道于 1994 年 5 月通車。英國的面積為 244，100 平方公里。南北長 1000 公里，東西最寬闊的地方約為

13、 500 公里。因此英國的任何地方離海邊都不遠(yuǎn)，海岸資源豐富。英國海岸線很長且擁有優(yōu)良的深水港。 海上通道延伸到內(nèi)陸，提供了低廉的運(yùn)輸。Britain is an island country. It is surroundedby the sea. It lies in the north Atlantic Ocean off the north coast of Europe. It is separated from the rest of Europeby the English Channel in the south and the North Sea in the east. T

14、he English Channel between England andFrance is quite narrow and the narrowest part is called the Straits of Dover, which is only 33 km across. In 1985the British government and the French government decided to build a channel tunnel under the Straits of Dover sothat England and France could be join

15、ed together by road. After eight years of hard work this channel tunnelwhich is called ''Chunnel'' was open to traffic in May 1994. Britain covers an area of 244, 100 square krn. It runs1, 000 km from north to south and extends, at the widest part, about 500 kilometers. So no part of

16、 Britain is veryfar from the coast and it provides a valuable resource. The British coast is long and has good, provides a valuableresource. The British coast is long and has good, providing cheap transportation.幾個世紀(jì)以來，英國一直在緩慢地傾斜。西北部緩慢上升，東南部緩慢下沉。英國的北部與西部主要是山地。這種上升在蘇格蘭西部形成了突起的海灘山的平地。這種海灘提供了主要的農(nóng)田、定居點(diǎn)、

17、工業(yè)區(qū)及通道。東部及東南部主要是低地，是"歐洲大平原"的一部分，有著平坦的土地及肥沃的土壤。尤其是南部及英格蘭東海岸有許多良田。Britain has, for centuries, been slowly tilting with the North-West slowlyrising and the South-East slowly sinking. The north and west of Britain are mainly highlands. In western parts ofScotland this rise in the land has resu

18、lted in the formation of raised beaches - flat areas of land in an otherwisemountainous area, which provide the main farming, settlements, and industrial areas as well as routeways. Theeast and south-east are mostly lowlands. They are part of the Great European Plain, with its level land and fertile

19、soil. There is much good farmland especially in the south and along the east coast of England.在冰川時代，英國覆蓋著大冰塊，導(dǎo)致英國壯觀的山景，尤其是斯諾多尼亞、湖泊區(qū)及蘇格蘭山地，因此英國擁有平頂?shù)纳矫}、瀑布流經(jīng)的山谷、帶狀湖、平坦的谷底、陡峭的谷倒、冰礫土及沃土。During theIce Age great ice covered Great Britain. Ice has been responsible for most of Britain's spectacular mount

20、ainscenery especially in Snowdonia, the Lake District ,and the Scottish Highlands. It left Great Britain withmountains with flat tops ,hanging valleys with waterfalls, ribbon lakes, flat valley floors ,steep valleysides ,boulder clay and fertile soil.1.英格蘭 1. England英格蘭占了大不列顛島南部的絕大部分面積。英格蘭西面是威爾士，北面是

21、蘇格蘭。面積為 130，000平方公里，占整個島的 60%。除了塞汶河谷及柴郡蘭開郡平原(中心為利物浦)外，其西南部和西部主要是高原，也有起伏的平原、丘陵地及少數(shù)沼澤地，但主要是高原。從北中部延伸至蘇格蘭邊境的奔寧山脈是主要山脈。但英格蘭的最高峰斯加非爾峰(978 米)卻位于西北部的湖泊區(qū)。英格蘭東部主要是開闊的可耕種平原，此平原的海岸沼澤地和奔寧山脈之間變成一條狹窄的走廊(約克谷)，在諾桑伯蘭郡則變成很窄的海岸帶。England occupies the largest, southern part of Great Britain with Wales to its west and Sc

22、otland toits north. It has an area of more than 130,000 square kilometers which takes up nearly 60% of the whole island,the north-west and west except for the Severn valley and the Cheshire-Lancashire plain (round Liverpool) arelargely a plateau, with rolling plains, downs and occasional moors. The

23、Pennines, a range of hills running fromNorth Midlands to the Scottish border, are the principal mountain chain. But the highest peak of England, Scafell(978m), is in the Lake District in north-west England. The east of England is mainly an open cultivated plain,narrowing in North Yorkshire to a pass

24、age (Vale of York) between coastal moors and the Pennines, and inNorthumberland to a coastal strip.2.蘇格蘭 2. Scotland2蘇格蘭面積為 78，760 平方公里。位于大不列顛島北部，擁有眾多的山脈、湖泊及島嶼。它有三大自然區(qū):北部山地、中部低地及南部高地。北部山地 (3001，200 多米)是一片荒蕪而多石的高原，有彎曲的海岸線，西面尤其如此。本奈維斯山海拔 1，343 米，英國的最高峰就在此地。山地西部及赫布里底群島 風(fēng)景迷人。狹長的海灣與荒山交錯，一些內(nèi)海上的農(nóng)場只有坐小船才能到達(dá)

25、。中部低地，主要由福斯和克萊德谷、煤礦和鐵礦區(qū)及奶牛牧場組成。中部是蘇格蘭主要的工業(yè)區(qū)，人口最為稠密，是蘇格蘭最重要的地區(qū)。南部高地是起伏的沼澤地(多在 240-600 米之間)，被眾多小而肥沃的河谷所分割。蘇格蘭有 800座島嶼，包括奧克尼群島，設(shè)德蘭群島及赫布里底群島，此外還有幾百個湖泊。愛丁堡是蘇格蘭的首府。Scotland has an area of 78,760 square kilometers. It is in the north of Great Britain with many mountains, lakesand islands. There are three n

26、atural zones: the Highlands in the north, the central Lowlands, and the southernUplands. The Highlands (300over 1,200m) are a wild, rocky, mountainous plateau with a coastline deeplyindented, especially in the west. Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Britain (1,343m) is located here. The westernpart

27、 of Highlands and the islands of Hebrides are a very beautiful region. Great sea-lochs, or fiords, alternate withwild and empty hills, and on some of the lochs there are farms which can only be reached by boat. The Lowlandsin the center comprise mostly the Forth and Clyde valleys, coal and iron fiel

28、ds and dairy pasture. This is the mostimportant area in Scotland which contains most of the industry and population. The southern Uplands, a rollingmoorland (mainly 240600m), are cut by small fertile river valleys. Scotland has about 800 islands including theOrkneys. Shetlands and Hebrides and hundr

29、eds of lakes. Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland.3.威爾士 3. Wales威爾士位于大不列顛島的西部，面積為 20，761 平方公里，占整個島的近 9%。威爾士大部分地區(qū)是山。山脈沿海陡峭聳起，而山頂卻相當(dāng)平坦。威爾士 6%為森林覆蓋，大部分鄉(xiāng)村是草原牧場養(yǎng)牛養(yǎng)羊，只有 12%的可耕地。威爾士形成一個山區(qū)，但周邊是狹窄的低地，最寬之處是沿英格蘭邊境和南海岸。山地高度在 180 米到 600 米之間，北面多巖石，南面有煤。西北部的斯諾多尼亞山(1085 米)是威爾士的最高點(diǎn)。威爾士首府是加的夫。Wales is in the west of

30、 Great Britain. It has an area of 20,761 square kilometerswhich takes up less than 9% of the whole island. Most of Wales is mountainous: the hills rise steeply from the seaand are rather flat on top. 6% of Wales is covered with forest and much of the country is pastureland for sheepand cattle. Only

31、12% of the land is arable. Wales forms a massif with a lowland fringe widest along the Englishborder and south coast. The massif is largely between 180 and 600m, rocky in the north and coal bearing in thesouth. Snowdonia (1,085m) in the northwest is the highest mountain in Wales. The capital of Wale

32、s is Cardiff.4. 北愛爾蘭 4. Northern Ireland北愛爾蘭是聯(lián)合王國的第四個所屬區(qū)域。它占據(jù)愛爾蘭北部五分之一的面積14，147 平方公里。北愛爾蘭北部海岸線荒蕪多石，并有幾處深陷的回地。東北部地區(qū)的安特里爾郡多高地，而向東南部逐漸變成了洛尼格盆地所在的中央低地。貝爾法斯特是北愛爾蘭的首都。Northern Ireland is a fourth region of theUnited Kingdom. It takes up the northern fifth of Ireland and has an area of 14,147 square kilome

33、ters. It has arocky and wild northern coastline, with several deep indentations. In the north-east gradually give way to thecentral lowlands of the Lough Neagh basin. Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland.河流和湖泊 III. Rivers and Lakes英國的河流冬天不結(jié)冰。河流在國民經(jīng)濟(jì)中起著重要作用。倫敦、利物浦和格拉斯哥這些大港口全都通過河流與海洋連接在一起。此外，東海岸

34、的 Tweed 河、Tyne 河、蒂斯河、泰晤士河都面對著歐洲大陸上的北海各港口，距離富饒的漁區(qū)也很近。而西海岸的克萊德河、默西河和塞汶河把原材料運(yùn)到繁忙的內(nèi)陸工業(yè)城市。英國的河流并不很長，最長的塞汶河也只有 338 公里長。它發(fā)源于威爾士中部，河道呈半圓形流經(jīng)英格蘭中西部，注入布里斯托爾海峽。第二大河，也是英國最重要的河是泰晤士河，全長 336 公里。發(fā)源于英格蘭西南部的科茨沃耳德山，流經(jīng)英格蘭中部到達(dá)倫敦，注入北海。泰晤士河流速相當(dāng)慢，這對水路運(yùn)輸極為有利。海輪可以沿著此河遠(yuǎn)至倫敦，而小船則可再上溯 138 公里。牛津也在泰晤士河上?？巳R德河是蘇格蘭最重要的河流。它發(fā)源于鄧弗里斯山，全長

35、171 公里，流經(jīng)格拉斯哥，注入克萊德河灣，是重要的商業(yè)水路航道。Rivers in Britain do not freeze in winter. They play a very important role in thecountrys economy. The great ports of London, Liverpool and Glasgow are all connected to the sea by rivers.3Besides, the Tweed, the Tyne, the Tees, and the Thames rivers on the east coast

36、 all face North Sea ports on theEuropean continent. They are also close to rich fishing grounds. On the west coast the Clyde, the Mersey, and theSevern rivers carry raw materials to busy manufacturing cities inland. The rivers in Britain are not very large. Thelongest river is the Severn River which

37、 is only 338 kilometers long. It rises in central Wales and flows in asemicircle through West Central England to the Bristol Channel. The second largest and most important river inBritain is the Thames River. It is 336 kilometers long. It rises in the Cotswolds in southwest England and flowsthrough

38、the Midlands of England to London and out into the North Sea. The Thames flows rather slowly, which isvery favorable for water transportation. Ocean-going ships can sail up it as far as London and small ships can sailup it for a further 138 kilometers. Oxford is also on the Thames. River Clyde is th

39、e most important river inScotland. It rises in Dumfries and runs 171 kilometers, passing through Glasgow, and enters the Firth of Clyde. Itis an important commercial waterway.英國有許多湖泊，尤其是蘇格蘭北部、英格蘭西北部的湖泊區(qū)及威爾士北部更是如此。但是，英國最大的湖是北愛爾蘭的洛尼格湖，面積為 396 平方公里。湖泊區(qū)是英國最吸引人的旅游名勝之一，它以荒野和美麗的景色及 15 個湖而名揚(yáng)天下。其中較大的湖有汶德密湖、鄂

40、思水湖、德文水湖和柯尼斯頓水湖。湖區(qū)也是湖畔詩人的家。例如 19 世紀(jì)的威廉.華茲華斯，塞繆爾.泰勒.柯勒律治和羅伯特.騷塞。There aremany lakes in Britain especially in northern Scotland, the Lake District in north-west England and North Wales.However, the largest lake in Britain is the Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland which covers an area of 396 squarekilomet

41、ers. The Lake district is one of the popular tourist attractions in Britain. It is well known for its wild andbeautiful scenery and 15 lakes. The largest ones are Windermere, Ullswater, Derwentwater and Coniston Water. Itwas also the home of the Lake poets William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge

42、 and Robert Southey of 19thcentury Britain.氣候 IV. Climate1.海洋性氣候 A maritime type of climate當(dāng)我們說到氣候時，我們指的是某個地方數(shù)年時間里的平均天氣狀況，而非指某個地方每天的天氣狀況。盡管英國人似乎總在抱怨天氣下雨、變化無常、不可預(yù)測，但實(shí)際上英國的氣候相當(dāng)宜人，是海洋性氣候冬季溫和不冷、夏季涼爽不熱，全年有穩(wěn)定的降雨量。氣溫變化小，北方冬季平均氣溫是攝氏 46 度，南方夏季為 12-17 度。因此即使在冬天，在開闊的鄉(xiāng)村、公園和房屋周圍，也能看見大片的綠草。When we say climate we

43、mean the average weather conditions at a certain place over a period of years. We dontmean the day-to-day weather conditions at a certain place. Though it seems that people are always complainingabout the weather in Britain because it is rainy and so changeable and unpredictable, the climate in Brit

44、ain is infact a favorable one. It has a favorable maritime climate. Winters are mild, not too cold and summers are cool, nottoo hot, and it has a steady reliable rainfall throughout the whole year. It has a small range of temperature. Theaverage temperature in winter in the north is 46 degrees C. an

45、d in summer in the south is 1217 degrees C. Soeven in winter one can still see stretches of green grass in the open country, in the parks and round the houses.2.影響英國氣候的因素 2. Factors which influence the climate in Britain英國是個位于北緯 50-60 度之間的島國，甚至比中國的黑龍江的最北端還要靠北。與同一緯度的其他國家相比，英國的氣候最溫和，主要受以下三個因素的影響。 Brit

46、ain is an island country which lies betweenlatitude 50 to 60 degrees north. It lies farther north than even the northernmost part of Heilongjiang Province ofChina. Compared with other countries of the same latitudes it has a more moderate climate, which is influencedmainly by three factors:(1)四周的海水使

47、季節(jié)差異有所平衡、冬暖夏涼。因?yàn)楹Ｑ蟮募訜岷徒禍刈饔檬窍鄬徛?，因此在冬季帶來暖氣，夏季帶來涼氣?1) The surrounding waters tend to balance the seasonal differences by heating upthe land in winter and cooling it off in summer. As the sea heats up and cools off relatively slowly it brings warmair in winter and cool air in summer.(2)溫暖濕潤的西南風(fēng)吹遍全國，一

48、年四季如此，使氣溫溫和。(2) The prevailing south-west winds or theWesterlies blow over the country all the year round bringing warm and wet air in winter and keeping the4temperatures moderate.(3)北大西洋暖流流經(jīng)大不列顛群島西海岸并使其溫和。(3) The North Atlantic Drift, which is a warmcurrent, passes the western coast of the British

49、Isles and warms them.因?yàn)橛哂械湫偷暮Ｑ笮詺夂颍虼藲夂蛱攸c(diǎn)為氣候涼爽，多云，多陣雨。氣候每天都在變，很難預(yù)測。有時甚至同一個人在同一天可以經(jīng)歷四季。 早上是天氣晴朗的春天，一兩個小時后，烏云不知從哪里跑出來，大雨傾盆而下。到了中午，氣溫下降約 8 度，像寒冷的冬天。傍晚時分，天空晴朗，陽光普照，天黑前的一兩個小時里又是夏天。據(jù)說天氣的不確定對英國人的性格有很大影響，例如使他們謹(jǐn)慎行事。當(dāng)你看到一個英國人在陽光燦爛的早上穿著雨衣拿著雨傘出門時，你可能會笑話他。但是更經(jīng)常的是一會兒就下起了毛毛細(xì)雨，當(dāng)然你未必需要雨傘。Since Britains climate is o

50、f the maritime type, it ischaracterized by cool temperature, frequent cloudy days and rainstorms. It changes from day to day, and thismakes it difficult to forecast. It is so changeable that sometimes one can experience four seasons in the course of asingle day. Day may break as a fine spring mornin

51、g; an hour or so later black clouds may have appeared fromnowhere and rain may be pouring down. At midday conditions may really be wintery with the temperatures downto about 8 degrees C. Then in the later afternoon the sky will be clear, the sun will begin to shine again, and for anhour or two befor

52、e darkness falls, it will be summer. It has been said that the uncertainty about the weather hashad a definite effect upon the Englishmans character. It tends to make him cautious, for example. You may laughwhen you see an Englishman going out on a brilliantly sunny morning wearing a raincoat and ca

53、rrying anumbrella. However, most frequently it comes in drizzles and you dont necessarily need an umbrella.3.降雨量 3.Rainfall英國全年有穩(wěn)定的降雨量。平均年降雨量為 1000 多毫米。在東部和南部海岸，平均降雨量為 7501250毫米，只有東南部的少數(shù)地區(qū)降雨量不足 750 毫米。在西部，降雨量可達(dá) 1250-2000 毫米，西北部一些地區(qū)則超過 2000 毫米。從大西洋吹來的暖流給整個英國一年四季帶來暖濕空氣。在西部，暖流遇到高地就上升變冷，導(dǎo)致了大量的降雨。而東部降雨不多是因?yàn)槲鱽淼目諝馀肋^高地后，就變暖變干，雨水就不多了。Britain has a steady reliable rainfall throughout the whole year. The average annual rainfall in Brit