《英美概况》名词解释

《英美概况》名词解释

1. backbone of England : It refers to the Pennines in England. The Pennines extend from north to south, from
upland to Derbyshire.
2. the act of 1801: In the year of 1801, the parliament passed the act to agree that Ireland joined the kingdom.
From then on, Britain got the name: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and Britain includes
England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
3. the Bank of England: It is the center of the British financial system. It was founded in 1694 and nationalized
in 1946.
4. Black country: It refers to the industrial area in the west midland and Birmingham is the center. The area is
very rich but is heavily polluted.
5. Hadrian’s Wall: In 122AD, the Romans built a wall in order to defend Picts and Scots. The wall is very long,
from Solway to Tyne; we call it Hadrian’s Wall.
6. Julius Caesar：The king of Rome. In 55-54BC, he led his army invaded Britain twice.
8. King Alfred: He is the king of Wessex in Britain. In the 8
th
century, he led the British people defeated the
Danes and Vikings, and he was considered the first national hero. He wrote Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. (盎格鲁-
撒克逊编年史)
9. William the Conqueror: One the Christmas Day of 1066, French man William defeated the British King
Harold at Hastings. In Westminster Abbey, he was crowned the King of Britain, so the Norman Conquest
began. He established a strong monarchy in England, and unified the country. In 1086, he and his officials
made a book about the survey of Britain, which is called Doomsday Book.
10. Battle of Hastings: One the Christmas Day of 1066, at Hastings, French man William defeated the British
King Harold, and Harold was killed. The battle was called Battle of Hastings. The battle of Hastings paved a
way for the Norman Conquest.
11. Henry II: In the year of 1154, Henry II built the Plantagenet and when he was a king, he made the
monarchy stronger than before. He made a set of reformation and in the year of 1181, he issued the Assize of
Arms. He died in 1189.
12. the Assize of Arms: In the year of 1181, Henry II issued the Assize of Arms. According to the law, every
freeman in England should be provided with arms, and they can only use the arms when they are called to fight
for the King.
Great Charter: It is also called Magna Carter. In the year of 1215, King John signed the Great Charter.
According to the charter, the king can’t freely change the law, the king can’t freely tax, and if the king violates
the Charter, the vassals may rebel by the civil war. It is a feudal charter, but it gave the people trade freedom
and self government.
14. all estates parliament ：The parliament in 1265 is called all estates parliament, and it is considered the
beginning of Parliament.
15. model parliament :. In 1295, in order to collect more money on the war again Wales, King Edward
opened the “all estates parliament”. The parliament included more than 400 members and was considered the
most successful parliament. In the history, it is called model parliament.
17. Black Death: It is a kind of plague in 14
th
century and so many people died from it. The Hundred Year’s
War stopped for some time because of the Black Death.
18 the Lollards: It refers to John Wycliffe and his followers. They made some ideological(思想上的)
preparation for the labour movement and peasant uprising.

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19. enclosure movement：In 15
th
century, the industry of woolen cloth was the source of wealth and export. So
more wool was needed, and more sheep were needed. So some landlords began to enclose some “common
lands” into pasture, and then some nobles and business men do so. As a result, farmers lost land and went to
the cities to be the cheap workers. This is called enclosure movement.
21. the East India Company: It is one of the most famous trade companies in England. It was founded in the
year of 1600 and was a tool of exploiting(剥削) Indian people.
22. Henry VII : He became the King in the year of 1485. He did a lot of things to make his crown stronger, for
example: he confined Edward in the London Tower, he increased the income of government, he encouraged the
education, but he didn’t deal with the Church problem.
23. Charles I: The second king of Stuart. He quarreled with the Parliament and dismissed the Parliament for a
long time. He killed the Puritans. In 1649, he was killed.
24. O’liver Cromwell: He is a famous man in the British history. During the civil war, he and his “New Model
Army” defeated the King’s army. In 1649, he killed Charles I. In 1653, he became Lord Protector and later
compressed the Diggers.
25. new model army: It is the new kind of army led by Oliver Cromwell in the civil war. The army includes
farmers, craftsman, undermasters (学徒) etc.
Treaty of Paris in 1763: The treaty is between England and France. It includes four points. According to
the treaty, France gave up many colonies, for example, it gave up the controlling on India, and Britain
became the chiefleading colonial power.
27. the House of Hanover: George began the House of Hanover in the year of 1714, and the Cabinet System
was established and monarch was controlled by the Parliament.28.
28. the Treaty of Paris in 1783 : The treaty is between Britain and America. In the treaty the Britain admitted
the independence of America.
29. the Corn Laws: It refers to a set of laws to regulate the corn trade, for example: to increase the price of corn
imported in 1815. The Corn Laws were cancelled in 1848.
31. the Reform Bill: The Bill was brought up by Whig in 1832. It made 3 changes in election system. (1) many
“rotten boroughs” are cancelled （2）many new seats (席位) were given to the most populous (人口稠密的)
countries. (3) the total electorates increased to 217000. But working class still didn’t have to right to vote.
32. the Chartist Movement: 1839-1848, the working class in Britain had a movement to realize the “people’s
charter” , in fact , they wanted to have the universal suffrage. The chartist had two groups : moral force and
physical force. At last, the Chartist Movement failed, but the working class entered the history stage for the
first as an independent political force.
Statute of Westminster: It was passed in 1931 and it gave the legislative recognition to the relation
between British Kingdom her dominions. The dominions are independent in all aspects except the name.
nster Abbey: It is a national shrine. Many famous literary persons or scientific persons are buried
here. In 1066, William the Conqueror crowned himself in the Westminster Abbey.
46. Christmas Day: It is on 25
th
, Dec to celebrate the birth of Jesus. On Christmas Day, people will go home
from far places, eat Turkey with families, and children will get the present from Christmas Father.
49. Protestantism: a main group of Christianity, separated from the Roman Catholic Church by the
Reformation in 1534.
51. Parliament : It refers to the legislature(立法机构) in Britain. The parliament has 3 parts: the Crown, the
House of Lords and the House of Commons.
52. House of Lords: It is the oldest part in Parliament which comes from the Great Council. The House of
Lords doesn’t have real power. Normally speaking, the House of Lords can stop the law passing into the

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legislation, but after 1949, the House of Lords can not can stop the law passing into the legislation.
53. the House of Commons: The House of Commons has 650 seats. The members of it are not pointed but are
elected.. It has the real power. Strong part of the House Commons forms the government, the weak part of the
House Commons forms the Opposition. The leader of the House of Commons is called SpeakerPresident of
Chamber.
54. Opposition: The weak part of the House Commons forms the Opposition. They criticize the government or
government’s policy, and give their new policies.
55. the Mississippi River :It is the longest and most important river in the USA, and one of the greatest
river in the world. It has two branches: Missouri and Ohio. It is 6262 km long.
56. the five Great Lakes: the five Great Lakes are in the place between America and Canada. They are:
Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior.
57. the Niagara Falls: It refers to the Falls between Erie and Ontario in North America, 1240m wide, and
49m deep. Every year, thousands of visitors come here to enjoy it.
58. Yellow Stone National Park: It is located in the northwest of Wyoming. It is the oldest national park in
the world. A great number of wildlife live there.
59. Grand Canyon: Grand Canyon lies in Arizonan, it is the one of the wonders（奇迹） in the world. Its
wall has many layers, which tells you the story of the earth formation.
60. Old Faithful: It is the most famous geyser（火山） in Yellow Stone National Park. It erupts more than
100 feet in the air every 73min.
61. Pearl Harbor: It is the base of the Pacific Fleet of the USA, near the city Honolulu in Hawaii.
64. The Stamp Act: When Britain controlled the America, it issued a law: the stamp paper must be used for
legal documents. It was passed in 1765 and stopped in 1766.
65. the Boston Massacre: In 1770, a little boy in Boston threw a small stone to the British soldiers, and British
soldiers fired at the people, with 4 died and many wounded. After it, the American people united together
to fight against the British army.
tees of Correspondence: In 1772, the Boston town meeting appointed “Committees of
Correspondence” to call people to unite together to fight against the British army.
67. the Boston Tea Act: When Britain controlled America, according to the“Tea Act”, East Indian Company
exported tea to America to make money. In 1773, some Boston men got on the English ship and poured the
tea into the sea. The Boston Tea Act showed the fighting spirit of Americans.
68. the First Continental Congress: It was held in 1714 in Philadelphia. The leaders in the Congress agreed that
they wouldn’t buy any goods from England until the objectional law was stopped.
69. the Second Continental Congress: It was held in 1715 in Philadelphia. The leaders in the Congress agreed
to sent army around Boston and made George Washington as the commander.
70. the Articles of the Confederation: At the end of the Independent War, the people meet a question. How the
United States should be governed? So a constitution（the Articles of the Confederation）was made. In 1781,
it was accepted by all the states.
71. the Sedition Act: It was made by John Adam, any one shouldn’t stir up the hatred to the government. It was
opposed by Republican Party, and was stopped by Jefferson in 1800.
72. Monroe Doctrine: It was made by President Monroe in 1823. “America is American’s America”.
According to the doctrine, European countries shouldn’t open any colony in North America or South
America, and shouldn’t interfere the everything in America. And America shouldn’t open any colony in
Europe, and shouldn’t interfere the everything in Europe.
73. Westward Movement: In the early time of 19
th
century, more Europeans immigrated to America to find a

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better life, but in the northeast, they found themselves still poor. So the farmers without land and workers
without work went to the west part. Now, the west part is developed and wild land is farmed.
75. Republican Party: The Party was founded in 1854; the members of this party were against the slavery.
Lincoln is the famous leader from this party.
76. Abraham Lincoln: In 1860, Lincoln was elected president. He played an important role in the Civil War
and made two important documents: Homestead Bill, and Emancipation Proclamation. In 1864, he was
elected for the second time. He was killed in 1865.
77. the Confederate Union: After Lincoln was elected as president in 1860, the seven southern states, set up a
country “the Confederate Union”. They wanted to keep the slavery in it.
78. Homestead Bill: It is one of the documents by Lincoln, according to the bill, the farmers and settlers got
enough land. So Lincoln got their support and the agriculture in the South developed.
80. the American Federation of Labor : the first national union in America .
81. the League of Nations: According to Wilson’s Fourteen Points, the League of Nations is set up to keep the
world peace. But it is controlled by England and France.
83. the Great Depression: It happened 1929-1933. In 1929, the New York Stock Market failed, many factories
closed down, many workers lost jobs, many products found no markets. Many extra goods were destroyed.
Eisenhower Doctrine(重点) : It was the foreign policy carried by the Eisenhower Government. The
doctrine contains the point of instant and massive retaliation(迅速的大量的复仇), and avoid the frustrating
war(阻碍发展的战争)， such as the Korean War.
92. the Marshall Plan (此题去年考过): The plan was suggested by Secretary of State George Marshall in 1947.
The plan offered a great deal of money and machines to European countries to help them to recover their
economy.
93. the Cold War: It refers to the severe struggle between the America and other opposed political systems. The
Cold War is not friendly, but didn’t use weapon.
96. the Civil Right Movement : In 1950s-1960s, the American black men made the Civil Right Movement to
fight against segregation. Martin Luther King was a famous leader in the Civil Right Movement in
America in 1950s-1960s. He was a clergyman. He organized the Montgomery blacks and changed it into
Montgomery Improvement Association. He led the famous Civil Right Movement in 1960s. Under his
leading, in 1964 the Civil Right Act was passed, in 1965 the Voting Right Act was passed. In 1968, he was
killed.
110. The Republican Party: It came into being in 1854. It is made up of northern capitalists who opposed the
slavery.
Democratic Party: It came out of “Anti-Federalists”in 1787. It was founded in 1828, and the leader is
Thomas Jefferson.
ine’s Day: It is on 14
th
, Feb. On the day, the boys and girls in love will come out to have a date,
send red roses or chocolate. The symbol of ine’s Day is a picture of a Heart and Cupid, Cupid has
a bow and arrow.
Day : It is on the first Sunday after the full moon, in March.. People , in this day , will celebrate the
rebirth of Jesus. Children will dye the eggs and adults will kill lamb to eat.
114 Halloween Day: It is on 31
st
, Oct. It is a night-time festival, which is held by children. On the Halloween
Day children will wear a mask to frighten the parents and ask money from their parents. In 1950s, child
sent the money to the poor countries’ children. The Halloween Day got Noble Peace Prize in 1965.
ndence Day : It is the national day of the USA，on 4
th
, July.


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