英语国家概况 课后问答题Book 1 England Chapter 1 Questions for Thought: 1.What was the British Empire? What do you know about it? In what way is the “Empire” still felt in Britain and in the international field? Key points: 1. Before the end of WWII, the British Empire was one of the most powerful empires; it enjoyed the name of “an empire on which the sun never set” due to its overseas colonies on the world. 2. People of the British Empire are descendents of the Anglo-Saxons. 3. A system of monarchy was observed still on todays Britain, which went through the history. The Queen is still the Head of the Commonwealth. 4. the “Empire” still can be felt in the following ways: a. there are still close relationships between the UK and the fifty or more countries which used to be its former colonies, and which maintain links through a loose organization called the Commonwealth of Nations. b. it became one member of the European Union since 1973. c. the effect also lies in the makeup of the British population itself. Newly immigrants mainly came from the former colonies, specially from India and Caribbean area. d. today the Monarch represents the country in many occasions. e. class exists and lords and peers are obvious evident of the imperial past.2.Why does the author say that it is not possible to sum up the British people with a few simple phrases? Key points: Reasons: 1. regional differences-England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland 2. racial differences 3. class differences 4. cultural differences-Highland vs Lowland 5. religious differences- protestants vs Catholics (main in Northern Ireland) 3. “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 culture ?Key points:When Who Where from Which part conqueredinfluence 43 AD AD.5th CLatin-speaking RomanMediterranean countriesEngland and Wales (not Scotland or Ireland)Brought the Mediterranean civilization, Christian, AD.5th C 1066 Angles and Saxons (the forefathers of the English; the founders of England)GermanyEastern and Southern Britain (not Wales and most of Scotland ) mainly EnglandThe ancestor of the English people; King Alfreds storyLate AD.8thC AD 10th C.the ferocious VikingsScandinavia (北欧：瑞典、 挪威一带。 丹麦、芬兰、 冰岛等)Northern and Eastern England, ScotlandThe process of forming a united Britain (English Kings united mean, so did the Scottish Crown), 1707, the united Britain came into being AD 11th C (1066)Norman French (William the Conqueror defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings, and built the Tower of London)Normandy (northern France)The next few hundred years, joining various parts of the British Isles under English rule (England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland)Import a ruling classBritish history has been a 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 empire 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 ferocious Vikings, threatened Britains shores.4.What are some general characteristics of Scotland? How did Scotland become part of the union of Great Britain? Key points: a)The Celts originally lived on Scotland, they kept their own culture and languagethe Gealic. b)Around the AD 6th C, people from Northern Ireland invaded the South-west - the lowland zone. They were called Scots and gave the modern country of Scotland its name. c)The Scottish people have a strong sense of nationality and desire for cultural independence. They observed some old customs and tradition, like the Highland tradition. Today, bagpipe, and tartan are considered as the souvenir of the Scottish history. d)The division between highland and lowland Scotland remains a cultural divide today, in much the same way as north and south England see themselves as different from each other. e)Scotland has a great tradition of innovation in the arts, philosophy and science.Robert Louis Stevensons famous novel Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde 吉基尔医生与海德先生 shows that: Scotland was superficially fully integrated into the UK, but concealed beneath this is a still-strong Scottish identity.Scotland is the second largest of the four nations, both in population and in geographical area. It is 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, Scotland is the most rugged part of the UK, with areas of sparsely populated mountains and