championships英语国家社会与文化入门-课后题答案.doc

2021年1月19日发(作者：帅气)
Book1 Unit 1
was the British Empire? What do you know about it? In what way is
the “Empire” still felt in Britain and in the international field?

The
British
Empire
comprised
the
dominions,
colonies,
protectorates,
mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom,
that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by
England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
In
the
international
field,
Britain
has
great
voice
in
politics,
economy
and
culture and so on.

2.
Why impossible to sum up British people with a few simple phrases: The UK
is made up of different elements. It includes 4 parts within the one nation-state.
It
is
now
a
multiracial
society
with
different
religion
believes.
It
is
divided
economically and it is a society with a class-structure. And within each of the
four
countries
there
are
different
regions.
Since
this
country
was
so
complicated
both
in
history
or
humanity,
it
is
impossible
to
sum
up
their
people.

3.
A history of invasions: (1) Before the 1st century AD Britain was made up of
tribal
kindoms
of
Celtic
people.
They
brought
the
central
Europen
culture
to
Britain.
Then
in
43AD,
Roman
Empire
invaded
Britain
and
controlled
it
for
slave society but also disseminated
their Catholicism.
(2)However, in the 5th
century, the Roman Empire rapidly waned in power and Britain was conquered
by
the
Angles
and
the
Saxons.
In
order
to
defend
the
Saxons,
a
great
leader
—
King Arthur appeared. He created the
knights' requirement of having equal precedence. Thus it gradually formed the
monarchy
in
Britain
as
a
more
democratic
system.
Whether
Arthur's
a
real
person in the history or not, Anglo-Saxons did succeed in invading Britain and
they were the forefathers of the English. (3)In the 8th century, the Vikings from
Denmark
controlled
the
nothern
and
eastern
England.
A
Anglo-Saxon
herio,
king
Alfred
the
Great
fought
against
the
vikings
with
the
truly
English.
And
that's
why
there's
a
certain
cultural
difference
between
northerners
and
southerners in England (4)Later, the Nomans from northern France, under the
leading of William of Normandy, killed the king and William became the Frist
of
England.
They
imported
a
rulling
class
that
French-speaking
Norman
aristocracy
rulled
Saxon
and
English-speaking
population.
In
this
condition,
there weren't a lot of rebellions among the English people. That directly formed
an English unique character: a richly unconventional interior life hidden by an
external
conformity.
Even
today,
we
can
still
find
this
personality
from
the
British people through their lifestyles.

How did they influence culture:[
接着上边一起看
] (2) a lot of stories of King
Arthur, which brought a lot of singers, poets, novelists and filmmakers. Places
associated with his legend. Round table was ween as an indicator of the way in
which the English have wished to see their monarch as something other than a
remote
dictator.
(3)anglo-saxon
invaders
were
the
forefathers
of
the
English.
By Vikings' settlements the Enlish heroes were truly English. There remains to
this
day
a
certain
cultural
divide
between
northerners
and
southerners
in
england.
(4)Norman
aristocracy
ruling
a
largely
Saxon
and
English-speaking
population. the legend of Robin Hood.

4.
General
characteristic
of
Scotland:
Scotland
is
the
second
largest
of
the
four
nations,
both
in
population
and
in
geographical
area.
It
is
also
the
most
confident
of
its
own
identity
because
alone
amongst
the
non-English
components of the UK it has previously spent a substantial period of history as
a
unified
state
independent
of
the
UK.
(1)
rugged.
(2)
not
conquered
by
the
Romans
(3)
maintain
its
separate
political
identity
for
more
than
a
hundred
years.(4) eager for independence.

How Scotland became part of the union of Great Britain: in 1707 by agreement
of
the
English
and
Scottish
parliaments,
Scotland
joined
the
Union.
In
1745
there was a brutal military response from the British army. The rebel army was
destroyed at the battle of Culloden in northern Scotland.

5.
Describe
Wales
and
the
unification
with
Britain:
(1)
wales
was
an
important
element
in
Britain's
industrial
revolution,
as
it
had
rich
coal
deposits.
It
is
successful in attracting investment from abroad. Wales has been dominated by
England for longer than the other nations of the union. Despite this nearness
and
long-standing
political
integration
Wales
retains
a
powerful
sense
of
its
difference from England. (2)Wales has been dominated by England for longer
than
the
other
nations
of
the
union.
Despite
this
nearness
and
long-standing
political
integration
Wales
retains
a
powerful
sense
of
its
difference
from
England. In 1536, wales was brought legally, administratively, and politically
into
the
UK
by
an
act
of
the
British
parliament.
This
close
long-standing
relationship
means
that
modern
wales
lacks
some
of
the
outward
signs
of
difference
which
Scotland
possesses
---
its
legal
system
and
its
education
system are exactly the same as in England.

6.
Differences
between
England,
Scotland
and
Wales
in
terms
of
cultural
tradition:
[
书上说的比较散，建议参考
festival那章的答案，这里只有一些
零散的不系统的比较
] (1) English character: a richly unconventional interior
life hidden by an external conformity. But young people are not all stereotypes.
But it is certainly true that the lifeless fronts of many english houses conceal
beautiful
back
gardens.
(2)The
dream
of
an
independent
Scotland
has
not
vanished. They are always eager for freedom. Scotland has a great tradition of
innovation
in
the arts,
philosophy
and
science.

fully
integrated
into
the
UK,
but
concealed
beneath
this
is
a
still-strong
Scottish
identity.
Some people speak Gaelic.(3)Wales is different, and one of the key markers of
that diffenece is the Welsh language
-- the old British Celtic tongue which is
still in daily use. Modern wales lacks some of the outward signs of difference
which Scotland possesses. (its legal system and education system are exactly
the same as in England)

Unit 2
1.

Why is Northern Ireland so significant in the UK: Though Northern Ireland is
small it is significant because of the political troubles there.

Its political problem: The problem is in Northern Ireland in 1921 in southern
Ireland
independence
from
Britain,
Ireland
North
and
South
following
the
separation
of
issues
left
over
by
history,
mixed
it
with
historical,
political,
ethnic
and
religious
conflicts,
extremely
complex.
Ireland’s
independence,
to
remain under British rule within the framework of the 6 in the northern island
of
Ireland
residents
of
the
pro- British
Protestant
majority
(about
51%),
the
Catholic nationalist minority (about 38%), as a result of the two major forces in
Northern
Ireland
On
the
contrary
position
of
ownership
and
lead
to
confrontation, conflict.

[
因为发现实在太难
sum up
了，所以 就搜了一下，
以下是
wikipedia
版本
]Northern
Ireland
was
for
many
years
the
site
of
a
violent and bitter ethno-political conflict
—
the Troubles
—
which was caused
by divisions between nationalists, who are predominantly Roman Catholic, and
unionists, who are predominantly Protestant. Unionists want Northern Ireland
to remain as a part of the United Kingdom,
[6]
while nationalists wish for it to be
politically reunited with the rest of Ireland, independent of British rule. [
网络
其它版本
]Until 1921 the full name of the UK was
Great
Britain
and
Ireland
not
only

Ireland
because
the
whole
island
of
Ireland
was
politically
integrated
with
Great
Britain,
and
had
been
since 1801, while Britain's domination of the Irish dated back centuries even
before that date. But Irish desires for an independent Irish state were never lost,
and
one
of
the
key
issues
in
late
nineteenth
century
British
politics
was
a
campaign
in
parliament
for
what
was
called

—
Irish
political
control of Irish affairs. The Home Rule Bill was finally passed in 1914, but the
process
was
overtaken
by
the
First
World
War
and
was
suspended
for
the
duration of the war.


2.
Factors in Irish and English history that affect the situation in Northern Ireland
today: Along with the political campaign for home-rule there were groups who
followed
a
more
direct
method
of
pursuing
Irish
independence,
engaging
in
guerilla or terrorist activities against British institutions and the British military
forces.
During
the
First
World
War
and
immediately
after,
this
activity
increased, sometimes brutally suppressed by British forces.


3.
Sum up solutions to NI's political problems of different parties and groups in
the
UK:
Margaret
Thatcher's
government
did
not
give
in
to
this
demand
for
political
status
and
11
prisoners
starved
to
death.
This
event
revitalised
the
political
campaign
of
Sinn
Fein,
the
legal
political
party
which
supports
the
IRA's right to fight. Its leaders spoke of a twin campaign for union with Ireland,
both political and military, which they called the policy of
Ballot Box

4.
What
do
you
think
should
be
the
right
solution
to
the
political
problem
in
Northern Ireland: I think they can ask the UN for help. / Keep the present status.
Turn to other countries for help. [
自由发挥啦
]



Unit 3
1.
Characteristics
of
the
British
constitutional
monarchy:
The
monarch
of
the
country
has
limited
rights
because
of
Bill
of
Right.
For
example,
while
the
official
head
of
state
is
the
queen,
her
powers
are
largely
traditional
and
symbolic. The government at national and local levels is elected by the people
and governs according to British constitutional principles.

How
the
English
monarchy
evolved
to
present
constitutional
monarchy:
Originally
the
power
of
the
monarch
was
largely
derived
from
the
ancient
doctrine of the
hereditary king or queen as the head of the state. While the King in theory had
God
on
his
side,
in
practice
even
in
medieval
times
it
was
thought
that
he
should not exercise absolute power. King John was unwilling to receive advice
from
prominent
men,
which
led
battles
between
the
king
and
other
powerful
groups. Finally the king granted them a charter, named Magna Carta, of liverty
and political rights. The civil war


2.

The
civil
war
was
rooted
in
a
dispute
over
the
power
of
the
king
vis-a-vis
Parliament.
James
I
and
his
successor
Charles
I
both
insisted
on
their
divine
right as kings. They felt Parliament had no real political right to exist, but only
existed
because
the
king
allowed
it to
do
so.
It
was
the
effort
to
reassert
the
rights of parliament that led to the civil war.


English
Revolution:

Revolution
has
been
used
to
describe
two
different
events
in
English
history.
The
first
was
the
Glorious
Revolution
of
1688, whereby James II was replaced by William III and Mary II as monarch
and a constitutional monarchy established, was described by Whig historians as
the English Revolution.
[1]

In
the
twentieth-century,
however,
Marxist
historians
used
the
term

Revolution
to
describe
the
period
of
the
English
Civil
Wars
and
Commonwealth
period
(1640-1660),
in
which
Parliament
challenged
King
Charles I's authority, engaged in civil conflict against his forces, and executed
him in 1649. This was followed by a ten-year period of bourgeois republican
government, the
of Charles' son, Charles II, in 1660.

3.
History
of
English
parliament:
Traditionally,
when
medieval
kings
wanted
to
raise money he would try to persuade the Great Council, a gathering of leading,
wealthy
barons
which
the
kings
summoned
several
times
a
year.
Later
kings
found
this
group
was
so
small
that
they
could
not
make
ends
meet.
So
they
widened
the
Great
Council
to
include
representatives
of
counties,
cities
and
towns
and
get
them
to
contribute.
It
was
in
this
way
that
the
Great
Council
came to include the House of Lords(who were summoned) and the House of
Commons(representatives of communities).

What role did the parliament play in the Civil War: Since James I and Charles I
both thought that Parliament didn't need to exist, the Parliament was enraged.
Leading politicians and church authorities asked William of Orange to replace
them two. In 1689 Parliament passed the bill of Rights which ensured that the
King would never be able to ignore Parliament.

4.
Characteristics
of
British
constitution:
Unlike
many
nations,
Britain
has
no
core constitutional documents.


Contents:
Statute
laws(laws
passed
by
Parliament);
the
common
laws(laws
which
have
been
established
through
common
practice
in
the
courts);
and
conventions(rules and practices which do not exist legally but are nevertheless
regarded as vital to the workings of government).

5.
Why parliament is supreme: because it alone has the power to change the terms
of the Constitution. There are no legal restraints upon Parliament.


Parliament's
function:
First,
it
passes
laws.
Second,
it
provides
the
means
of
carrying on the work of government by voting for taxation. Third, it scrutinises
government
policy,
administration
and
expenditure.
Fourth,
it
debates
the
major issues of the day.

Queen/King's role: To symbolise the tradition and unity of the British state. To
represent Britain at home and broad. To set standards of good citizenship and
family
life.
She
is
legally
head
of
the
executive,
an
integral
part
of
the
legislature, head of the judiciary, commander in chief of the armed forces and



PM's role: The Prime Minister is the leader of the political party which wins
the most seats in a general election. He/She chose usually around
20 MPs to
become
government
ministers
in
the
Cabinet.
Together
they
carry
our
the
functions
of
policy-making,
the
coordination
of
government
departments
and
the supreme control of government.

6.
The
House
of
Lords:
It
was
below
the
Queen,
consisting
of
the
Lords
Spiritual(who are the Archbishops and most prominent bishops of the Church
of
England)
and
the
Lords
Temporal(which
refers
to
those
lords
who
either
have inherited the seat from their forefathers of they have been appointed). The
lords mainly represent themselves instead of the interests of the public. It is the
upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom's
national
legislature.
It
remains
the
relationship
with
government,
debates
legislation and has some power to amend or reject bills (has some legislative
functions).



Unit 4
1.
Anyone who is eligible to vote can stand as an MP. It is necessary only to make
a deposit of 500 pounds.

Why small parties and independent candidates powerless: V
oters will see it as a
wasted vote because even if they were to win the seat they would be powerless
in parliament against the big parties' representatives. V
oting them will prevent
the
voters
from
contributing
to
the
competition
between
the
big
parties
as
to
which of them will form a government.


2.
Three
big
parties
in
the
UK:
the
Labour
party,
the
Conservative
party,
the
Liberal Democrats.

Similarities: Since Conservative began to have a
to the less fortunate in society, they didn't dismantle principles the Labour set
up.
That
indicates
that
thus
the
difference
between
the
Labour
and
Conservative is one of degree, not an absolute.

Dissimilarities: (1) Labour is a socialist party. They believe a society should be
relatively equal in economic terms and that part of the role of government is to
act as a
of public services, therefore high taxes. (2) Conservative is the party that spent
most
time
in
power.
They
are
seen
as
the
party
of
the
individual,
protecting
individual's right to acquire wealth and to spend it how they choose, therefore
low
taxes.
(3)
Liberal
Democrats
is
a
party
of
the

occupying
the
ideological
ground
between
the
two
main
parties.
They
are
comparatively
flexible and pragmatic in their balance of the individual and the social.

3.
Recent
political
trends
[
注意下一小问
]:
(1)
Conservatives
won
the
election
under
their
leader
Margaret
Thatcher
in
the
1970s.
During
that
time
the
economy
did
badly,
with
high
inflation
and
low
growth.
(2)
she
dismissed
being
the privatisazion of nationalised industry. (3)part of the mechanism of change
was a less redistributive taxation system. Tax rate were cut to allow people to
keep more of what they earned.

Author's
opinion:
The
1980s
have
seen
British
politics
move
to
the

away from the
toward the

4.
How
people
are
divided
into
different
classes:
(1)
employment:
manual(or
blue-collar)
workers
usually
call
themselves
working- class,
and
office(or
white-collar) workers would usually call themselves middle- class. (2) cultural
differences:
like
what
newspaper
they
read.
Working-class
often
read
THE
SUN,
a
newspaper
with
little
hard
news
and
more
about
soap
operas,
royal
family
and
sports.
Middle-class
often
read
THE
GUARDIAN,
a
larger
newspaper with longer stories, covering national and international events. (3)
education:
private
school
or
public
school.
(4)
the
UK
has
also
retained
a
hereditary aristocracy. (5) the way they speak.

Compare with the US and China: not similar at all. The UK has also retained a
hereditary aristocracy. Among the students
at the private schools attended by
the upper-middle-class above would be a thin scattering of aristocratic children,
who will inherit titles like baronets. This is due to Britain's different history and
convention.

Unit 5
1.
Absolute decline means recession, developing in a minus speed.
Relative
decline
means
that
although
the
UK
improved,
other
countries
developed more rapidly than the UK, which made it slid from being the second
largest economy to being the sixth.

Reasons: (1) The UK had gone into debt after WWII. (2) Britain spent a higher
proportion of its national wealth on the military than most of its competitors.
(Joining
NATO
and
UN
Security
Council)
(3)The
era
of
empire
was
over.
Former
colonial
countries
announced
independence,
leaving
Britain
as
a
medium- size
Euporean
country.
(4)Britain's
industry
survived
comparatively
unaffected, but its competitors did not. So the competitors invested in modern
equipment
and
new
products
while
British
industry
still
continue
with
older
ones. (5) Low rates of investment. The UK lacks a close relationship between
industry
and
banks
due
to
its
history.
A
low
rate
of
domestic
industrial
investment coupled with a very high rate of overseas investment.

2.
What did the conservative party under Mrs. Thatcher promise to do to the UK
national economy in 1979: A radical programme of reform.

What was her
radical reform programme: Bureaucracy was reduced,
(foreign
exchange controls were
lifted, rules governing banks loosened, for example).
Throughout the 1980s an extensive programme of privatisation was carried out.


Was
is
successful:
It
seemed
in
some
ways
to
be
successful
in
that
inflation
came under control, and business made profits. The negative aspect was a rapid
increase
in
unemployment.
The
national
economy
as
a
whole
continued
to
grow at lower rates than its competitors.

3.
Main
areas
in
national
economies:
Primary
industries
such
as
agriculture,
fishing
and
mining;
secondary
industries
which
manufacture
complex
goods
from
those
primary
products;
tertiary/service
industries
such
as
banking,
insurance, tourism and the retailing.

Development
of
each:
(1)
agricultural
sector
is
small
but
efficient.
Energy
production is an important part of the UK economy. (2)in the secondary sector,
manufacturing industry remains important, producing 22% of national wealth.
(3)tertiary or service industries produce 65% of national wealth.


4.
Why relatively shrinking of the important secondary industry and a spectacular
growth in tertiary or service industries: A lot of the tertiary or service industries
is domestic activity, accounting for about 10% of the world's exports of such
services. 70% of the UK's workforce are employed in the service sector.


Compare tertiary industries in China in the past 20 years or so: Chinese tertiary
industries didn't grow as fast as the UK, though the portion was increasing.


How is this growth related to the reform and opening up to the outside world:
China
was
famous
for
the
name
of

factory
which
means
Chinese
workforces can produce products at low paid. China is a developing country,
experiencing the transfer of manufacturing is reasonable. However, as China is
developing, wages of workforces are also increasing. Comparing to India, we
may lose our

Unit 6
1.
Why
Geoffrey
Chaucer's
work
written
in
Middle
English
can
still
read
and
studied today: It is notable for its diversity, both in the range of social types
amongst the 31pilgrims, and the range in style of the stories they tell.


2.
Do
you
think
Elizabethan
Drama
occupies
a
significant
position
in
British
literature: Yes. Elizabethan drama, and Shakespeare in particular, is considered
to be among the earliest work to display a
full
of
moral
doubts
and
political
insecurities,
where
the
right
of
those
who
wield power to do so is put in question.

The most important figure in Elizabethan Drama: William Shakespeare

Some of his well-known plays: (tragedies)Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello,
King
Lear,
Macbeth;
(comedies)The
Taming
of
the
Shrew,
A
Midsummer
Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, the Tempest; (history plays)Richard III, Richard
II, Henry IV
, Henry V jJulius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra.

3.
Some of the features of Romantic Literature: writers of romantic literature are
more concerned with imagination and feeling than with the power of reason.

4.
Modernism: it refers to a form of literature mainly written before WWII. It is
characterized by a high degree of experimentation. It can be seen as a reaction
against
the
19
th

century
forms
of
Realism.
Modernist
writers
express
the
difficulty they see in understanding and communicating how the world works.
Often they seem disorganized, hard to understand. It often portrays the action
from
the
viewpoint
of
a
single
confused
individual,
rather
than
from
the
viewpoint of an all- knowing impersonal narrator outside the action.

Postmodernism: After WWII. Postmodernist can be thought of as abandoning
the search of buried meaning below confusing surfaces.

Examples
to
illustrate:
(modernist)
Virginia
Woolf

the
Lighthouse
ce

and
Lovers
and
r

Passage
to
India
(postmodernist)George
Orwell

John
Fowles

French Lieutenant's woman


Book I Unit 7, British Education System
1.

What
are
the
purposes
of
the
British
education
system?
Please
comment
on
these purposes. What are the main purposes of the Chinese education system?
Are there any differences or similarities in the education of the two nations?
Schools
in
Britain
do
not
just
teach
the
students
3
Rs,
(reading,
writing
and
arithmetic), but to provide children with literacy and the other basic skills they
will need to become active members of society.

2.

How does the British education system reflect social class?

Firstly, in Britain, the school you attend can refer to your social status.
And the school tie is a clear market of social class,

3.

What
are
the
major
changes
that
have
taken
place
since
World
War
II?
Is
British
education
moving
towards
more
progress
or
more
equality?
Pick
up
some examples from the text to illustrate your points.
1)

The old education system has disrupted due to the war. So with the help of the
church and newly powerful trade unions began to reconstruct a new education
system.
2)

The
new
system
emphasizes
equality.
1944
education
act
made
entry
to
secondary
schools
and
universities
meritocratic.
Children
would
be
able
admitted to schools not because they were of a certain social class or because
their parents possessed a certain amount of money, but because of the abilities
they displayed. All children were given right to a free secondary education and
the
main
concern
was
to
make
sure
more
children
had
access
to
a
good
education.

3)

1989, a national curriculum was introduced by the government.


4.

Why does the author say that universities in Britain have rather elitist?
Most students in British universities are from the middle classes, attend good
schools,
perform
well
in
their
A-levels
and
receive
a
fully-funded
place
in
a
university.
And
when
they
graduate,
they
can
become
very
influential
in
banking, the media, the arts, education or even the government.

5.

What is the Open University in Britain? What do you think of this system?
The
opening
university
offers
a
non-traditional
route
for
people
to
take
university
level
courses
and
receive
a
university
degree.
People
can
register
without
having
any
formal
educational
qualifications.
They
follow
university
courses through textbooks, TV and
radio broadcasts, correspondence, videos,
residential schools and a network of study centre.
I
think
the
system
has
been
quite
successful.
Thanks
to
the
system,
tens
of
thousands
of
Britons,
from
various
statuses
attend
the
Open
University
each
year. And this has improve the equality in Britain’s high education.

Unit 8 British Foreign Relations
1.

What and how did the British Empire end? How did the Britain react to this
reality? How did the end of British imperialism influence the psychology of the
British and the making of Britain’s foreign policy?

1)

After the World War II the British could no longer afford to maintain its empire;
while Britain had won the war, it had paid a terrible price in terms of lives and
in terms of economic destruction. And the British realized that countries should
be
granted
the
independence
and
left
to
run
their
own
affairs.
People
and
territory should not just be treated
as
a source of economic
resources for the
ruling centers of commerce in Europe.
2)

Many
people
are
still
alive
who
can
remember
when
Britain
was
one
of
the
most powerful and rich nations on earth.
It is
sometimes hard to think about
Britain as it really is today.

3)

Because
Britain
lost
its
empire
so
recently,
british
policy
makers
frequently
forget
that
Britain
is
not
as
influential
as
it
used
to
be
in
world
affairs.
Historians argue that the British foreign policy makers retain very conservative
and
traditional
v
iews
of
Britain’s
role
as
a
world
power
and
point
to
many
major foreign policy decisions as examples.


2.

What are the foundations of Britain’s foreign policy?

It is greatly influenced by its imperial history and also by its geopolitical traits.
Britain’s
im
perial
history
made
the
policy
maker
very
conservative
and
traditional.
And
its
geopolitical
traits
created
a
sense
of
psychological
isolation
in
its
inhabitants. And as Britain is an island state, it naturally developed as a nation
of
seafarers
who
roamed
the
globe
looking
for
territory
and
economic
opportunities.

3.

How is Britain’s foreign policy
made? Does the government’s foreign policy
represent the desires of British citizen?
1)

The
prime
minister
and
cabinet
decide
on
the
general
direction
of
Britain’s
foreign
policy.
The
main
government
department
involved
is
of
course
the
foreign and commonwealth office but many other government ministries also
play a part in formulating and executing the government’s decisions.

2)

Since Britain is a parliamentary democrac
y, the government’s foreign policy in
theory represented the desires of its electorate , but in fact british citizens are
more concerned about issues closer to home. On the whole, they are not very
inclined to try to influence the direction of Britain’s fo
reign policy. There are a
number
of
different
interest
groups
however,
and
it
is
interesting
that
rare
occurrences of civil disobedience in the UK often involve foreign policy issues.

4.

Why
does
the
author
say
that
the
decision
to
join
the
EC
was
and
remains
controversial in Britain?
1)

It
is
an
important
psychological
decision
for
the
nation
because
traditionally
Britain
had
looked
beyond
its
European
neighbors
felling
that
really
it
had
more common with the United States on the one hand and the commonwealth
on the other. To many Britons, membership in the European community meant
turning its back on these “old friends”.

2)

In fact, it is natural for Britain to join the EC. For British economic, political
and military interests were already bounded up with other European countries.
3)

At the center of the controversy is that it is not clear what the EU is and what it
will become. The UK is interested in free trade between countries but the UK
has always been less enthusiastic about giving up its national sovereignty.
4)

Briton are happy to have other European countries as trading partners, they are
reluctant to think about them as fellow citizen belonging to the same state.

5.

Why
does
the
author
think
that
Britain
has
a
“special
relationship”
with
the
United States? Does this relationship still exist?
1)

The
two
were
closely
allied
during
World
War
II.
They
continue
to
work
together closely in the post war years. They shared many of the same worries
about Soviet Union.
2)

Today, British and American policy makers agree generally on many respects.
3)

They had gone through ups and downs.

4)

England is an outpost of an American- dominated military bloc.

6.

What was the purpose of establishing the NATO in the author’s opinion? Do
you agree with him? Explain your point.
The purpose of NATO is to protect member states against aggression to provide
a
foundation
for
security
in
Europe,
and
to
provide
a
forum
for
transatlantic
defense cooperation.

Unit 10 Sports, Holidays and Festivals in Britain

1.

Find
some
examples
from
the
text
to
demonstrate
how
Christian
church
has
influenced the sports and leisure activities of the British?
One
example
is
how
Sunday-----
the
day
of
the
week
when
everyone
traditionally went to Church---is still the day that most people have off in the
UK.

2.

Why
is
cricket
very
English?
Why
does
the
author
believe
that
cricket
was
associated with a set of English values?
1)

Cricket was one of the very first team sports in Britain to have organized rules
and to be played according to the same rules nationally. The sport was played
by
Britons
from
all
walks
of
life
originally.
But
since
19
th

century,
cricket
became
a
sport
associated
with
the
upper
class.
It’s
kind
of
a
“snob”
game
played by boys who attended public schools. It also became popular in places
where the public school system was adopted. So ,all these can explain why is
cricket very English.
2)

As generations of public school boys grew up to become the civil servants and
rulers of the UK and its colonies, cricket became associated with a set of moral
values,
in
particular
the
idea
of
“fair
play”
which
characterized
British
government.

3.

How do the British celebrate Christmas? In what way does this holiday and the
ways of celebration in Britain reflect western cultural tradition in general and
British traditions in particular?
Western
cultural
tradition:
Britain
celebrates
Christmas
according
to
some “Christian”tradition such as decorating the house with ever
-green plants
like
holly
and
ivy,
or
kissing
under
a
twig
of
mistletoe.
And
they
also
exchange
gifts
and
Christmas
cards
on
that
day
as
well
as
prepare
holiday
foods , decorate homes and workplaces with colored lights,





Christmas