英语国家概况(英国部分)

1Chapter1TheLandandHistory英国全称大不列颠及北爱尔兰联合王国，由英格兰、苏格兰、威尔士及北爱尔兰构成，位于大西洋东部的不列颠群岛，是个岛屿国家，由大不列颠岛，爱尔兰岛北部和众多小岛组成。面积约24.40万平方公里，人口超过6400万(2013年)。英国属于温带海洋气候，常年温和多雨，气候多变。受高纬度因素的影响，有类似极昼极夜的现象，冬季日短夜长，夏季日长夜短。公元前3000年左右，伊比亚人最先到达大不列颠岛。随后，比克利人、凯尔特人相继来到不列颠。公元前1世纪到公元5世纪，罗马入侵。罗马人撤离后，欧洲北部的盎格鲁撒克逊人和以丹麦人为主体的斯堪的纳维亚先后入侵。到了1066年，诺曼底公爵威廉征服了英格兰，英国的封建制度正式形成。1215年，国王约翰被迫签订了大宪章。不久，议会制度形成，从此英国的王权被不断削弱和限制。1688年，“光荣革命”爆发，确立了君主立宪制。18世纪后期到19世纪前期，英国成为世界上第一个开始并完成工业革命的国家。19世纪是英国发展的鼎盛时期，分别建立了第一大英帝国和第二大英帝国。到二战前夕，英国统治了世界约1/4的土地。第一次世界大战以及第二次世界大战的爆发，导致英国的政治、经济势力大为削弱，失去了霸权地位。随着其殖民地的相继独立，20世纪60年代，大英帝国彻底瓦解。I.GeneralIntroduction1.LocationandtheFourNationsThefullnameoftheUKistheUnitedKingdomofGreatBritainandNorthernIreland.Itismadeupoffournations:England,Scotland,NorthernIreland,andWales.ItislocatedtothenorthwestofcontinentalEurope,separatedbytheEnglishChannel.Geographically,itisanislandcountry,coveringanareaofabout244,019km2,andconsistsofGreatBritainandnortheasternpartofIreland,togetherwithmanysmallislandsofBritishIsles.GreatBritainaccountsforover90%ofthecountry’stotallandmass.ItisthelargestislandoffthenorthwesterncoastofmainlandEuropewithEngland,ScotlandandWalesonit.IrelandisthesecondlargestislandofBritishIsleslocatedtothenorthwestofGreatBritain.Itisdividedintotwoparts:NorthernIrelandandtheRepublicofIreland(anindependentcountry).EnglandisthelargestpartoftheUKandoccupiesmostofthesoutherntwothirdsofGreatBritain.ThetotalareaofEnglandis130,410km2withapopulationofaround53.9million(Mid-2013estimated),whichcoversmorethan84%ofthetotalUKpopulation.ItisthemostpopulousandhighlyurbanizedpartoftheUK.London,thecapitaloftheUKandEngland,aswellastheseatofgovernment,islocatedinitssoutheasternpart.MapofBritishIsles2ScotlandisthesecondlargestandmostmountainouspartoftheUKinthenorthofGreatBritain.ComparedwiththatofEngland,thepopulationdensityisquitelow.Thereareonly5.3millionpeoplewithanareaof78,789km2.Edinburgh,itslargestcity,isthecapitalofScotland.Scotlandisfamousforitsbeautifulnaturalscenery,suchasScottishHighlands1andLochNess2,aswellasmanyhistoricalplaces,liketheEdinburghCastles.WalesisonthewesternsideofcentralsouthernGreatBritain.ThetotalareaofWalesis20,779km2,whichaccountsfor1/4partsoftheUK.ItisalsoamountainouspartofGreatBritain,particularlyinthenorthandcentralregions.ThesoutheastregionisthemostbuiltupregionofWales,andthemajorityofitspopulationlivethereandalargeproportionofitsindustryisbasedthere.Itscapitalcity,Cardiff,isalsointhisregion.NorthernIrelandliesinthenortheastoftheislandofIreland,covering14,139km2,whichconstitutes1/6oftheisland.ItisthesmallestpartamongthefournationsoftheUK,aswellasthesecondsparselypopulatedpartafterScotland.ThecapitalisBelfast,thelargestcityinNorthernIrelandbothinpopulationandinarea.Itisthecenterforgovernment,economic,arts,highereducation,business,lawofNorthernIreland.Additionally,itisthebirthplaceofTitanic,andvotedoneoftheworld’stopdestinations.2.ClimateTheoverallclimateintheUKistemperatemaritime,whichmeansthatitismildwithtemperaturesneithermuchlowerthan0℃inwinternormuchhigher32℃insummer.Generally,theUKhaswarmsummersandcoolwinters,withJulyandAugustasthewarmestmonth,andJanuaryandFebruaryasthecoldest.However,duetotheinfluenceofGulfStream3,thesummersarecoolerthanthoseincontinentwhilethewintersaremilder.Normally,thetemperatureinsummerisaround20℃，withthehighrarelygoingabove30℃.Theaveragetemperatureinwinterisaround0℃andseldomgobelow-10℃eveninthemostnorthernpartofthecountry.Meanwhile,sinceBritainisanislandcountryandsurroundedbythesea,theclimateisconsiderablychangeablecomparedwithothercountries.Sincethevariableclimatechangingdaytoday,itishardforpeopletopredictwhattheweatherwillbelikethenextday.Additionally,theuniquegeographicalpositionisalsothereasonforthedampnessoftheclimate.Therainfallisfairlydistributedthroughouttheyear.Althoughitdoesnotraineveryday,itisalwaysadvisableforpeopletobringanumbrellaorwaterproofclothingeveryday.II.History1.TheFoundingoftheNationTherecordedhistoryoftheUKbeginswiththeRomaninvasionin55BC.In55and54BC,BritainwastwiceinvadedbyJuliusCaesarandhisRomantroops.However,itwasnotuntil43ADthattheRomanledbyClaudiusIfinallysuccessfullyinvadedandBritainbecamepartoftheRomanEmpire.ThenativeCelticweredriventothemountainregionsofScotlandandWales,whichremainedunconqueredbytheRomans.TheRomanshavegreatimpactonmanyaspectsoftheBritishculture.TheRomancivilizationwasintroducedtotheBritainduringthisperiod.Forexample,Romanstylebathsandtempleswerebuilt,citieslikeLondonandtownswereconstructed,andthesystemofgovernmentwasalsointroduced.WiththedeclineoftheRomanEmpire,whentheGermanictroopsattackedRomein410A.D.,theRomanshadtowithdrawinordertoprotecttheirownnation,whichledtotheendofRomanoccupation.AftertheleaveoftheRomans,threegroupsofGermanictribescalledtheJutes,theAnglesandtheSaxonscametoBritainfromtheEuropeancontinentinthemid-4thcentury.TheyconquereddifferentregionsofBritain:1ScottishHighlands：苏格兰高地，是对苏格兰高地边界断层以西和以北的山地的称，被认为是欧洲风景最优美的地区。人烟稀少，有多座山脉，包括英国境内最高峰本内维斯山。2LochNess：尼斯湖，位于苏格兰高原北部的大峡谷中，面积并不大，却很深。平均深度达200米，最深处有300米。该湖终年不冻，湖北端有河流与北海相通，是英国内陆最大的淡水湖。3Gulf