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第1部分 英国文化
第1章 谁是英国人
I. Explain each of the following in English
1. TheScottish Highlanders
Key: The Scottish Highlander consider himself the’true’ Scot and he wears his national dress, the kilt, with pride. They are aproud, independent and hardy people who mainly live by farming sheep in themountain areas.
2. TheBritish Isles
Key: The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast ofcontinental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain, Irelandand over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located onthe islands: the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britainand Northern Ireland.
3. TheNational Eisteddfod
Key: The National Eisteddfod takes place each August and lasts for abouta week. The highlight of the Eisteddfod is a competition for the best epic poemabout Wales written and read in Welsh; the winner is crowned Bard, consideredthe supreme honor in Wales.
4.Bard
Key: In medieval Gaelic and Britishculture, a bard was a professional poet, employed by a patron, such as amonarch or nobleman, to commemorate the patron’s ancestors and to praise thepatron’s own activities.
5.Northern Ireland (Ulster)
Key: In 1922, Irelandwas partitioned. The 26 countries of southern Ireland became the Irish FreeState, later re-named the Republic of Eire. The six countries of Ulster, in thenorth, remained part of the United Kingdom with their own parliament, Stormont,responsible for internal affairs.
6. OliverCromwell
Key: He was an English military and political leader and later LordProtector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotlandand Ireland.
7.William III
Key: William III was a sovereign Princeof Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed asStadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland,and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III overEngland and Ireland; it is a coincidence that his regna number (III) was thesame for both Orange and England. As King of Scotland, he is known as WilliamII. He is informally known by sections of the population in Northern Irelandand Scotland as “King Billy”. In what became known as the “Glorious Revolution”,on 5 November 1688 William invaded England in an action that ultimately deposedKing James II & VII and won him the crowns of England, Scotland andIreland. In the British Isles, William ruled jointly with his wife, Mary II,until her death on 28 December 1694. The period of their joint reign is oftenreferred to as “William and Mary”.
8. TheOrange Day celebrations
Key: (1) Celebrations held byProtestants on 12 August each year in Northern Ireland to commemorate the battle of the Royne in 1690when the Protestant King William III (William of Orange) crushed a Catholicrebellion in Londonderry.
(2) The celebrations were always aggressivelyprovocative and fightings often broke out between Protestant marchers andCatholic bystanders.
9. TheProvisional IRA
Key: (1) IRA, the Irish RepublicanArmy, is a nationalist organization dedicated to the unification of Ireland.
(2) It was organized in 1919.
(3) In 1969 it split into an “official”majority, which disclaimed violence, and a terrorist” provisional” wing, whoseattacks on British troops in Northern Ireland, random bombings, and others actsof terror in England kept tensions high.
10. ThePeace People
Key: (1)In the summer of 1976 BettyWilliams, a Protestant house-wife, was so horrified at the killing of twochildren by a running IRA car that she decided to organize the women of Ulster,both Protestant and Catholic, into a pressure group.
(2)It is a pressure group working for peaceand reconciliation in Ireland.Williams and her catholic partner, Corrigan, soon gathered thousands offollowers despite threats and intimidation from both sides.
(3)They continued to pursue their aims and atthe end of 1976 the two leaders were awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.
11.William the Conqueror
Key: In AD 1066 William of Normandy (William the conqueror) landed with alarge armed force on the south coast and won a great victory over the Saxons.He and his French-speaking followers set up a strong central government whichbrought a new unified discipline and control to the country.
II. Fill in the blanks.
1. Thefull name of the United Kingdom is _____.
Key: the United Kingdom of GreatBritain and Northern Ireland.
2. TheRomans first landed in Britainin the year of _____.
Key: 55 BC
3. TheScots are well-known for being _____, _____, and _____.
Key: inventive, hardworking,serious-minded and cautious with money.
4. Two ofthe Welsh characteristics are _____ and _____.
Key: love of music ; poetry.
5. Peoplebegan to settle in Britain about _____ years ago.
Key: 10,000
6. Name two famousScottish writers: _____ and _____; two Welsh writers: _____ and _____; twoIrish writers: _____ and _____.
Key: Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott;Roald Dahl, Dylan Thomas; Fercert ó hUiginn, Tomás ó Cobhthaigh.
7. _____, _____ and_____ were the three Germanic tribes that came to be the basis of modernEnglish race.
Key: Jutes, Saxons,Angles
III. Tick the correct answer in each of the following.
1. It would bedifficult to find anyone in modern Britainwho could, say with certainty that his ancestors had not come to the British Isles from somewhere else. This sentence meansthat _____.
A. everyone in Britainhad come from the British Isles
B. almost everyone had come to the British Isles from somewhere else
C. almost everyone had his or her family origin from the British Isles
D. almost everyone had his or her family origin from somewhere else
【答案】D查看答案
2. TheHighlanders in Scotlandare known for being _____.
A. proud
B. tough
C. independent
D. generous
Which of the above is not true?
【答案】D查看答案
3. Whichof the following is not true in the Irish character? The Irish people are_____.
A. argumentative
B. reserved
C. introspective dreamers and poets
D. aggressive
【答案】B查看答案
4. Whichof the following is not a characteristic of the Englishman?
A. The Englishman is outspoken.
B. He is class-conscious.
C. He is suspicious of change.
D. He is racist.
【答案】A查看答案
5. Whointroduced Christianity into Britain?
A. The Celts.
B. The Romans.
C. The Viking Danes.
D. The French.
【答案】B查看答案
IV. Answer the following questions
1. Who are theearliest inhabitants of Britainof whom the English people have written records, and where did these recordscome from?
Key: The earliest written records of Britain’s inhabitants come from theRomans who eventually conquered the various Celtic kingdoms then flourishing inEngland, Wales and theScottish Lowlands.
2. Whatare the national characteristics of the Scots supposed to be?
Key: The Scots have a reputation forbeing inventive, hard-working, serious-minded and cautious with money.
3. Whatare considered to be the national characteristics of the Welsh, and how can yourecognize Welsh people?
Key: The Welsh are very conscious oftheir separate Celtic heritage. The cultural pride in Wales is verystrong. The Welsh are also famous for their love of music and poetry. They alsohave a great feeling for the music of words.
The Scots can be recognized by theirdistinctive national dress and their particular style of speech and accent.
4. Whatis a traditionally typical Englishman thought to be like? Why is it not easy totalk about a typical Englishman?
Key: A traditionally typical Englishmanis thought to be reserved, unemotional, courteous; shy of strangers; suspiciousof change and slow to accept new ideas; solid and dependable with a high senseof honesty, duty and justice; physically and morally courageous; conscious ofhis place in the social order; disliking any show of emotion and lack ofcontrol; and fervently believing that the British are superior to any otherrace on earth. It is not easy to talk about a typical Englishman because theEnglish are as individual as the inhabitants of any other nation. Moreimportant, they are descended from so many different Peoples who came andsettled in England at some time or other
5. Givethree or four examples to show that the Romans had great influence on theEnglish culture.
Key: (1)The Romans invaded England in 55 BC, and brought with them theirlaws, taxes, engineering skills, architecture and social system as well astheir language, Latin, and their system of writing and numbering.
(2) Theyintroduced Christianity.
(3) They alsoleft behind the first written description of the land and its peoples as wellas records of their administration.
6. What, according tothe author, are the causes of the present situation in Northern Ireland(Ulster)? Do you agree with the author?
Key: On the Catholic side, the violencewas caused by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) with its terrorist wing, theProvisional IRA.
On the Protestant side, the violence wascaused by the Ulster Unionists, or Loyalists.
7. Givethe main points of view held by the important groups in Ulster.
Key: Between 1840 and 1900, some Irishnationalists, such as Charles Stewart Parnell, demanded some kind of autonomyand Irish members of the Westminster Parliament. They called persistently, forthe control of internal affairs by an assembly in Dublin. This is what they called “home rule”.The home rule question led to even more disturbance and riots as the UlsterProtestants feared that an autonomous Ireland would be dominated byCatholics.
