英美社会与文化.doc

英美社会与文化学生姓名： 余 利 院 (系)： 机械工程学院 专业班级： 机械s101 教 师： 李泽娟 UKI. British Education System 1. The purpose of the British education system To provide children with literacy and the other basic skills they will need to become active members of society and also to socialize children, teaching those rules and values needed to become good citizens, to participate in the community, and to contribute to the economic prosperity of an advanced industrial economy.2. The present education system - pre-primary schooling (up to age 5) nursery schools ; day care; play groups- primary schooling (5-11, 6 years) mainly state sector, co-educational / mixed primary schools- secondary schooling (11- around19, 7 years) comprehensive schools (90%; admit children without reference to their academic abilities and provide a general education, teaching students everything from academic subjects like literature to more practical subjects like cooking) ;grammar schools ( select children at the age 11 through an examination called “the 11-plus”, in which those who get the highest marks go to grammar schools; lay emphasis on advanced academic subjects rather than the more general curriculum of the comprehensives and expect many of their pupils to go on to universities; the grammar school/non-grammar school division is still common in Northern Ireland, but throughout the rest of Great Britain grammar schools are becoming increasingly rare).After 5 years of secondary schooling, at about age 16, except Scottish students, the students sit their GCSE exams (General Certificate of Secondary Education) then they can 1）quit school; 2）or prepare to sit university entrance exams;3）or concentrate on vocational training.- higher education Only one privately funded university: the University of Buckingham; Oldest universities: Oxford (12th C.); Cambridge (13th C.); St Andrews , Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen from 14th and 15th centuries.II. SportsMany international sports were introduced by the British who take their leisure time very seriously. There is widespread participation in sport in Britain.1. Football in BritainFootball was invented in Britain. It is a rough fast game played in winter and early spring. Legends hold that it derived from the “sport” of ancient warriors celebrating victory by kicking around the decapitated head of an enemy. Today, it is one of the most popular sports in Britain. Millions of people watch the FA Cup games. But in recent years, people are much concerned about football violence. The FA Cup is the trophy title for a series of games played by major member teams of the Football Association. Over 20 million tickets are sold to FA games each season. And sometimes, supporters of rival teams clash violently before, during and after the matches.2. TennisA more gentle sport played by people in early summer. It was invented in Britain and owes its origins to the church. As early as the mid-fifteenth century, people were playing a game called “tenys” around their local churches or cathedrals. The most famous tennis event in the world, the annual international tennis championships, takes place in Wimbledon every year.Wimbledon is a suburb in London. It is the place where the worlds best players gather to compete in the annual international tennis championship. It is one of the major events of the British sporting calendar and probably the most famous tennis event in the world.3. Cricket: A most popular sport in summer. It was also one of the very first team sports in Britain to have organized rules and to be played according to the same rules nationally. As early as 1787, the rules were fixed. It is a quite distinctive sport in many ways:1) the players wear white trousers and appear quite formally dressed; 2) matches do not last just a few hours and they can go on for days. Cricket has much influence on British peoples life, which is often believed to be associated with a set of English moral values such as “fair play”.III. MusicIn the early 1960s a new pop culture- “beat” emerged in Britain. The people responsible for this new pop culture were four Liverpool boys who joined together in a group and called themselves the Beatles.Unlike the famous solo stars who had their songs written for them, the Beatles wrote their own words and music. They wrote not only of love, but of death and old age, poverty and daily life. The Beatles had a close personal relationship with their audience, and they expected them to join in. They finally won the affection - and admiration- of people of all ages and social background.USAI. Location and Size1. The full name of the United States is the United States of America. The continental United States lies in central North America with Canada to its north, Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico to its south, the Atlantic Ocean to its east and the Pacific Ocean to its west.2. The U.S. has a land area of 9.3 million square kilometers. It is the forth largest country in the world in size after Russia, Canada and China.3. The U.S. is a federal republic with many states.1) For a long time there were 48 states, then in 1959 Alaska and Hawaii became the forty-ninth and fiftieth states. Alaska borders on northwestern Canada, and Hawaii lies in the central Pacific.2) Of all the states, Alaska is the largest in area and Rhode Island is the smallest. But on the mainland Texas is the largest sate of the country.II. Mountains, Rivers and Lakes1. Mountains:1) The Rockies , the backbone of the North American Continent, is also known as the Continental Divide.2) The two main mountain ranges in American are the Appalachian mountains and the Rocky mountains. The Appalachians run slightly from the northeast to southwest and the Rocky Mountains run slightly from the northwest to southeast.2. Rivers 1) The Mississippi River is the largest river in American, over 6000 kilometers. The Mississippi has been called “father of waters” or “Old Man River”.2) The Ohio River has been called the American Ruhr. The area along the river is rich in valuable deposits of high-grade coking coal and is well known for its steel industry. The river provides cheap water transportation for raw materials.3) On the Pacific side there are two great rivers: the Colorado in the south and the Columbia, which rises in Canada.4) The Rio Grande River forms a natural boundary between Mexico and the United States.3. Lakes: The most important lakes in the United States are the Great Lakes. They are Lake Superior, which is the largest fresh water lake in the