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Unit 1
- What is the United Kingdom geographically and politically composed of?
- 课本P2，第一段始至第五行
- Geographically, its territory is primarily situated on the island of Great Britain and in Northern Ireland on the island of Ireland, with additional settlements on numerous smaller islands in the surrounding seas. Politically, it is a union made up of four constituent nations: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, plus several overseas territories.
- Briefly discuss the international influence the UK exercises on today’s world.
- 课本P3，第一段第三行始至段末
- In modern times, UK retains links with parts of its former empire through the British Commonwealth. Its parliamentary and legal systems have also been emulated throughout the world. But more important today in Britain’s international relations is the European Union. As one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and a founding member of NATO, the UK today pursues an active global approach to foreign policy. A leading member of the Group of Eight, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the World Trade Organisation, the UK is a highly developed country with a US$1.833 trillion economy and the fifth largest gross domestic product in the world. Socially, it is a highly prosperous and peaceful country and culturally, it is preeminent in the arts, sciences, and technology.
- Why can’t the term “English” be used to address all the people of the UK?
- 课本P4（Part in England），倒数第五行左右
- Because this is not only incorrect but may annoy people from other parts of the UK. The English themselves feel most British and least attached to a separate English identity. However, this also means that England longer represents the whole nation when the other three nations of the UK enjoy separate political status in one way or another.
- How does English dominance come into being?
- 课本P4（Part in England），前几行均是
- England is the largest, most populous, and wealthiest division of the United Kingdom. With the bulk of the most fertile lowlands and six of the country’s seven conurbations, England has a higher proportion of wealth and natural resources than the rest of the UK. London, which is the seat of government, centre of business, and the heart of arts and culture, dominates England, just as England dominates Great Britain. This has led to the formation of English dominance.
- What is the historical relationship between “Northern Ireland” and “Ireland”?
- 课本P5（Part in Northern Ireland），第二段倒数第五行
- For over a century from 1801, Ireland had been part of the United Kingdom. But in 1922, the Irish Free State ceased to be part of the Union, leaving only six northeastern counties inside the Union to be called Northern Ireland.
- What influences the climate in the UK?
- 课本P8，第一段第三行至段末
- The main influences on the climate come from the moist and mild westerly wind from the Atlantic Ocean and the warm drift of the Gulf Stream around the land, particularly on the western shores. Additionally, the relative smallness of the British Isles and its inlet-filled coastal configuration both help the oceanic influences penetrate inland more effectively.
- What are its features with respect to temperature, rainfall and sunshine?
- 课本P8，第一段始至第三行
- The UK has a temperate maritime climate, that is, one with a moderate temperature and abundant rainfall, but it is extremely changeable throughout the year.
- How does the weather in the UK affect British life?
- 课本P8最后一段第二行，至P9首段末
- The weather is a constant topic of daily conversation for the Britons, and it is believed that the changeability of weather is a conditioning factor of the national character that has helped the British become more adaptable. On the other hand, the frequent drizzles and gloomy skies in winter are so depressing that people tend to suffer seasonal affective disorder.
- Discuss the differences between the terms “British Isles”, “United Kingdom”, “Great Britain”, and “England”.
- 课本P9（Notes部分）第一、二条，还可结合The United Kingdom的建立来谈
- The British Isles is a geographical term which includes Great Britain, the whole of lreland, and all the offshore islands. Great Britain-Shortened as Britain, it can be a geographical term, referring to the island on which England, Wales and Scotland are situated, together with numerous smaller islands. It can also be a political term that describes the combination of these three nations which together include all the land on the island. However, “Great Britain” is very often, but in the strict sense, inappropriately used as a synonym for the sovereign state properly known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern lreland.
- The United Kingdom (UK) was formed on January 1,1801 and constituted and still constitutes the greater part of the British Isles. In history it was the union of what were once four separate nations: England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. When the lrish Free State ceased to be part of the Union in 1922, the title changed to include “Northern Ireland”.
- Located in north-west Europe and in the southern part of Great Britain, England is the largest part in Great Britain and the UK.
Unit 2
- What patterns of settlement and immigration has the UK demonstrated in history?
- 太杂了，穿插在P13、14 Ethnic Composition 的整个部分
- Between the 5th and 7th centuries, Germanic peoples from Europe — the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes — arrived in massive numbers, who have come to constitute Britain’s present predominant stock.
- In 1066, French Normans conquered England, adding yet another ethnic component. They were the last major group to add their stock to the British population.
- The first settlement and invasion movements until Norman Conquest substantially affected the developing fabric of British life and formed the first foundations of the modem state.
- Since the Norman Conquest, there have been many fits and waves of immigration to Britain from overseas, owing to factors such as religious and political persecution, trade, business and employment.
- There was no more large immigration into Britain because North America and the expanding colonies worldwide became more competitive host countries and attracted immigrants including from Britain.
- During the 19th century, with industrialization going on in Britain, large migratory movements took place at home where people flocked from countryside to urban centres, from Wales, Scotland and Ireland to England.
- In the 20th century, immigration increasingly caused public and political concern in Britain. As a result of the Great Depression and World War II, refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe such as Jews and white immigrants from old Commonwealth countries flooded to Britain.
- What are the changing patterns of population distribution in the UK?
- 课本P16第三段，第二行至第五行
- The Industrial Revolution built up major urban areas, and most British people live in and around them to this day. In the 1980s and 1990s southern England, particularly the southeast, became a centre of population growth, due in large part to the growth of the high-tech and service sectors of the economy.
- How has English language evolved in history? Why is it said that it is important to the UK’s class structure?
- 课本P16页第二段始至P17页该段完，P17页第二段始至第四段
- Modem English is derived mainly from the Germanic dialects spoken by the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. It is also heavily influenced by the language of the Danes (Vikings). From the 11th to 14th century, under the French-speaking Norman kings, a hybrid speech combining Anglo-Saxon and Norman French elements developed and gradually became the official language known as Middle English today. This hybrid language, along with many additions from many other languages in the world, subsequently evolved into modern English.
- The use of language in the UK has a strong association with class and social status. Some educated English people, regardless of their class origin, strive to free themselves of regional or local accents in order to sound like educated English-speaking people with the Received Pronunciation (RP).
- Discuss the ways the English, Welsh, Irish and Scottish have defined themselves in terms of their individual nationalities.
- 我懒了
- Critically examine Britishness in the contemporary UK population.
- 课本P20第二段第一二行，第六行至十三行
- Contemporary UK still seems to be well united. Regardless of nationality, ethnic background, religion, language, area, sex or age, citizens in the United Kingdom still share identification with Britain, or “Britishness”, ranging over eight dimensions: geography, national symbols, people, values and attitudes, cultural habits and behaviors, citizenship, language, and various notable achievements. However, the research also indicates that the relative importance of each dimension, the attitudes towards each element, and the identification with Britishness as a whole, all vary between different national groups.
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