英语国家概况政治和艺术部分.ppt

Politics,The United Kingdom is a unitary state under a constitutional monarchy. Queen Elizabeth II is head of state of the UK as well as of fifteen other independent Commonwealth countries. The United Kingdom has an uncodified constitution, as do only three other countries in the world. The Constitution of the United Kingdom thus consists mostly of a collection of disparate written sources, including statutes, judge-made case law, and international treaties, together with constitutional conventions. As there is no technical difference between ordinary statutes and “constitutional law,“ the UK Parliament can perform “constitutional reform“ simply by passing Acts of Parliament and thus has the political power to change or abolish almost any written or unwritten element of the constitution. However, no Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change.,The UK has a parliamentary government based on the Westminster system that has been emulated around the worlda legacy of the British Empire. The Parliament of the United Kingdom that meets in the Palace of Westminster has two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed House of Lords, and any Bill passed requires Royal Assent to become law. It is the ultimate legislative authority in the United Kingdom since the devolved parliament in Scotland and devolved assemblies in Northern Ireland, and Wales are not sovereign bodies and could, theoretically, be abolished by the UK parliament.,The Palace of Westminster lies on the north bank of the River Thames in the heart of the London borough of the City of Westminster, close to the historic Westminster Abbey and the government buildings of Whitehall and Downing Street. The name may refer to either of two structures: the Old Palace, a medieval building complex most of which was destroyed in 1834, and its replacement New Palace that stands today; it has retained its original style and status as a royal residence for ceremonial purposes.,Today the UK has three distinct systems of law: English law, Northern Ireland law and Scots law. Recent constitutional changes saw a new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom come into being in October 2009 to replace the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, including the same members as the Supreme Court, is the highest court of appeal for several independent Commonwealth countries, the UK overseas territories, and the British crown dependencies,Royal courts of justice,Londons High Court of Justice,Art,Visual,Art,The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts (photography, video, and filmmaking) and architecture. These definitions should not be taken too strictly as many artistic disciplines (performing arts, conceptual art, textile arts) involve aspects of the visual arts as well as arts of other types. Also included within the visual arts are the applied arts such as industrial design, graphic design, fashion design, interior design and decorative art.,The history of British visual art forms part of Western art history. Major British artists include the Romantics William Blake, John Constable, Samuel Palmer and J.M.W. Turner, the portrait painters Sir Joshua Reynolds and Lucian Freud, the landscape artists Thomas Gainsborough and L. S. Lowry, the pioneer of the Arts and Crafts Movement William Morris, the figurative painter Francis Bacon, the Pop artists Peter Blake, Richard Hamilton and David Hockney, the collaborative duo Gilbert and George, the abstract artist Howard Hodgkin and the sculptors Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor and Henry Moore.,Classical music,Musical composition, performance and training in the United Kingdom inherited the European classical traditions of the eighteenth century (above all, in Britain, from the example of Handel) and saw a great expansion during the nineteenth century. Romantic nationalism encouraged clear national identities and sensibilities within the countries of the United Kingdom towards the end of the nineteenth century, producing many composers and musicians of note and drawing on the folk tradition. These traditions, including the cultural strands drawn from the United Kingdoms constituent nations and provinces, have continued to evolve in distinctive ways through the work of such composers as Arthur Sullivan, Gustav Holst, Edward Elgar, Hubert Parry, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Benjamin Britten.,Edward Elgar,Hurdy gurdy,Wheel fiddle,Harpscichord,Lute,Baroque guitar,British rock,Who are they?,Beatles,The Beatles was an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. From 1962, the group consisted of John Lennon (rhythm guitar, vocals), Paul McCartney (bass guitar, vocals), George Harrison (lead guitar, vocals) and Ringo Starr (drums, vocals). Rooted in skiffle and 1950s rock and roll, the group later worked in many genres ranging from pop ballads to psychedelic rock, often incorporating classical and other elements in innovative ways.,AlbumS,Please Please Me (1963) With the Beatles (1963) A Hard Days Night (1964) Beatles For Sale (1964) Help! (1965) Rubber Soul (1965) Revolver (1966) Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band(1967) Magical Mystery Tour (1967) The White Album (1968) Abbey Road (1969) Let It Be (1970),Hey Jude, dont make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better. Remember to let her into your heart, Then you can start to make it better. Hey Jude, dont be afraid. You were made to go out and get her. The minute you let her under your skin, Then you begin to make it better. An