英语国家概况名词解释复习范围.doc

英语国家概况名词解释复习范围1. Puritanism: 清教徒主义 Puritans were those who followed the doctrine of Jonh Calvin and wanted to purify the Church of England. They believe that human beings were predestined by God before they were born. Some were Gods chosen people while others were damned to hell. No church nor good works could save people. The sign of being Gods elect was the success in his work or the prosperity in his calling. They also argued that everyone must read the Bible in order to find Gods will and establish a direct contact with God. These beliefs had great impact on American culture.2. The Declaration of Independence : 独立宣言 The Declaration of Independence was mainly drafted by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by the Congress on July 4, 1776, where the people of 13 English colonies in North America were fighting for their freedom and independence from the British colonial rule. The document declared that all men were equal and that they were entitled to have some unalienable rights such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It also explained the philosophy of government: the powers of governments came from the consent of the governed and the purpose of governments were to secure the rights mentioned above. The theory of polities and the guiding principles of the American Revolution mainly came from John Lock.3. George Washington : George Washington was one of the founding fathers of the American Republic. He was the Commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the War of Independence against the British colonial rule and the first President of the United States. 4. WASP: The early immigrants were generally known as the White Anglo-Saxon Protestants because most of them believed in the protestant church. They played the main role in the founding of the 13 colonies and established the ruling position of their English language. They transplanted English values and traditions to the colonies and played the decisive role in winning independence from England. Today it is estimated that about 33% of Americans are of British origin.5. Three Faiths in the US : By the 1950s,the three faiths model of American religion had developed. American were considered to come in three basic varieties: protestants, Catholic and Jewish. In terms of numbers, the Protestants are the strongest, the Catholica are next to the Protestants and the Jewish are the smallest among the three groups. 6. Religious liberty in the US : The Declaration of Independence guaranteed the basic right of religious freedom and this right was a political necessity. The First Amendment to the US Constitution explicitly forbade the federal government to give special favors to any religion or to hinder the free practice, or exercise, of religion. When desputes about the relationship between government and religion arise, American courts must settle them. But American institutions presuppose a Supreme Being, therefore Christianity is often, in practice, more favored than other religions. 7. The “Lost Generation”: 迷惘的一代 In the aftermath of World War , many novelists produced a literature of disillusionment. Some lived in Europe. They were known as the “Lost Generation.” Two of the most representative writers of the The “Lost Generation” were Hemingway and Fitzgerald. 8.Hemingway : 海明威 an American writer of fiction who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1954 (1899-1961). Among his best booiks were The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls. 9. High education in the US In America, higher education refers to education on the college level. America higher education includes four categories of institution . They are the university , the four-year undergraduate institution( the college) the technical training institution and the two-year or community college. Some are supported by public funds and some by private funds. Many universities and colleges have won reputations for providing their students with a higher quality of education. The great majority are generally regarded as quite satisfactory.10 The civil rights movement It is one of the most important of all social movements in the 1960s in America. Rose Parks spontaneous action in 1955 was believed to be true beginning of the civil rights movement. The black students sit-in at a department lunch counter in the North Carolina touched off the nationwide civil rights movement. During the first half of the decade, civil rights organizations like the SNCC,CORE,and SCLC struggled for racial integration by providing leadership, tactics, network and the people. In the latter half of the decade, some black organizations changed their nonviolent tactics, and emphasized on more radical means to end discrimination and raised the self-image of the blacks. The civil rights movement produced such great leaders as Martin Luther King.Jr., and Malcolm X, who inspired a generation of both blacks and whites to devote their lives to fighting for racial equality in the US.11. Martin Luther King.Jr. A black Baptist minister, he was the leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. To promote his philosophy of nonviolent protest against segregation and other kinds of social injustice,King organized a series of “marches”, including the march on Washington of August, 1963, when King delivered his famous” I Have a Dream” speech.As a civil rights leader, King worked ont only to end racial discrimination and poverty , but also to raise the self image of the blacks.Due to his strong belief in non-violent peaceful protest,King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.He was assassinated in the city of Memphis in April 1968. 12. The House of Lords and Commons in the UK The House of LordsThe House of Lords consists of the Lords Spiritual, who are the Archbishops and most prominent bishops of the Church of England; and the Lords Temporal , which regers to those lords who either have inherited the seat from their forefathers or they have been appointed .The lords mainly represent themselves instead of the interests of the pubilc.The House of CommonsThe House of Commons is the real center of British life because it is the place where about 650 elected representatives(Members of Parliament) make and debate policy. These MPs are elected in the General Elections and should represent the interests of the people who vote for them. 13. Romanticism Roughly the first third of the 19th century makes up English literatures romantic period. Writers of romantic literature are more concerned with imagination and feeling than with the power of reason. A volume of poems called Lyrical Ballads written by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge is regard as the romantic poetrys “Declaration of Independence.” Keats, Byron and Shelly, the three great poets, brought the Romantic Movement to its height. The spirit of Romanticism also occurred in the novel.14. Shakespeare William Shakespeare (1561-1616) was a famous dramatist and poet. He created a large number of masterpieces, including comedy, tragedy and historical dramas. Shakespeares plays fall into categories, or classes. He excels in each kind. The tragedies include Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet , Othello, King lear, and Macbeth. Among the comedies are The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Nights Dream, Twlfth Night , and The Tempest.His history plays, based on English history, include Richard III, Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V.16. Terra Nullius Terra Nullius is from Latin. It means a land that is owned by no one. The British declared the Australian continent Terra Nullius to justify their invasion of the indigenous peoples land. It served to legitimize their taking possession of the land and devalue the indigenous people as uncivilized and not fully human.17. The “Washminster” form policy in Australia The “Washminster” form of polity is adopted by the Australian government. It is a mixture of the US Washington system of government and the British Westminster system. This means that the political structure of the government is based on a Federation of States with a three-tire system of government. However, the chief executive is a Prime Minister, instead of a President as in the US system.18. The Bloc Quebecois The Bloc Quebecois was founded in 1990 by a former Conservative cabinet minister and later separatist Lucien Bouchard. It is a Quebec separatist party intended to complement the provincial Parti Quebecois (PQ) on the federal level. Its main concern is only to do the best for Quebec, and wants to separate entirely from the federal government. In the 1993 elections the party became the second largest in the Canadian parliament, and the charismatic Bouchard became leader of the opposition. 19. The Cold War By the end of World War II, the United States, which had not suffered as much as other allied countries, became the strongest country in the world. As the possessor of atomic tombs and much of the worlds gold reserve and industrial production in his hand, the policy-makers of the US wanted a world order dominated by the US, a world market free and open to American goods and services. In pursuing this gold, the US encountered determined resistance from the Soviet Union. Gradually the two wartime allies fell apart and the Cold War began.20. Unilateralism (the US) When George W. Bush became president in 2001, he and his top advisers pursued a strategy that has significantly changed some of the principles that have been practiced in American foreign policy for years. This strategy has two prominent elements: unilateralism and faith in military strength. The review policies and international agreements from the point of view of American national interests. If they think any international agreement is not in line with American national interests, they will not hesitate to discard it.20. London : London is the largest city located in the south of the country. It is dominant in Britain in all sorts of ways. It is not only the financial center of the nation, but also one of the three major international financial centers in the world.21. Percy Bysshe Shelley : 雪莱His writing has a wide range. The lovely musical quality of his work appears in the fine verses of “Ode to the West Wind” and “To a Skylark.” “The Revolt of Islam,” renamed as “The Rise of Islam,” preaches revolution, and Defense of Poetry upholds the place of imagination and love in the arts. The long poem Adonais is a beautiful lament written on the death of Keats. A month before his 30th birthday he drowned while sailing in the Mediterranean. His ashes lie in the same Roman cemetery where Keats is buried.22. the relationship between the UK and the US : The British foreign policy is also affected by its relationship with the United States. During World War 2, the two countries were closely allied and continued to work together closely in the postwar years, because they had many things in common about the past and the world situation. Even today, British and American policy-makers share the general ideas in many respects. However, Britains “special relationship” with the United Stated has gone through many ups and downs. The British are beginning to realize that their own foreign policy actions can be limited by the United States. But both sides have worked hard to maintain the “special relationship.”23. the Great Barrier Reef : 大堡礁The Great Barrier Reef, the largest coral structure in the world, extends for over 2000 kilometers along the coast of Queensland, Australia. It is