南理工英美文化简答题

How did americans lose their national optimisim in the 1960s?

1Americans underwent the World War two and the Great Depression before 1960s

2 the loss of that Vietnam War.

3John Kennedy,whom the young president represented a spirit of hope for the nation was murdered in

nineteen felt that their hopes died, too.

4Unrest and violence affected many young Americans

5old values

were not enough to help yong Americans deal with the social and racial difficulties of the

nineteen sixties

3 Explain the characteristics of the uniformity in American culture and give your own evaluation.

Although the country is so big and its people have so many different ethnic backgrounds, it is in

some way less varied than Europe. The national origins of the people are by now fairly well mixed all

over

the

country,

though

there

are

exceptions

on

small

and

large

scales.

The

English

language

is

virtually universal in its American form. The American way of speaking has developed independently

of England and is on the whole closer to what can be heard in Ireland than to the speech of any other

part

of

the

British

Isles.

Regional

variations

of

accent

are

slight,

and

to

a

German

or

an

Italian

the

difference

between

the accent

of

the

deep

south and

that

of

the

Yankee

”

is

less

evident

that

the

difference

between

two

Englishmen

from

places

two

hours

’

journey

apart.

Some Americans

speak

rather indistinctly, not pronouncing consonants properly, others show by their speech that English is not

their mother tongue, and Irish or Negro accents can often be recognised; but the lack of real regional or

class variety in speech or usage is one of the characteristics that tend to make the whole country very

obviously one.

Another instance of uniformity is in habits and ways of living. From Boston to Los Angeles is as far as

from France to Central Asia, and from east to west there are four time zones, but everywhere people get

up and go to bed at about the same time, eat the same kind of food, bought in the same kind of shops,

work and rest at the same times of the day and have the same pattern of holidays. In general they share

the same ideas, ideals and objectives. In most of the things that matter there is less difference between

rich people and ordinary people, or between town and country, than in any single European nation. It is

fairly easy to imagine a typical American; most individuals deviate from this

“

type

”

in some ways,

but

are

fairly

near

to

it

in

others.

It

is

not

that

this

personal

uniformity

is

boring.

It

is

after

all

superimposed on origial diversity, and where the single pattern involves much friendly informality in

personal relations there is little cause to feel oppressed.

Although the United States covers so much land and the land produces far more food than the present

population needs, its people are by now almost entirely an urban society. The fact that the United States

has always been a single economic unit, with no tariffs to restrict trade, has contributed to uniformity.

are

the

elements

and

functions

of

British

Parliament?

Discuss

the

role

of

each

element

and

explain briefly.

The

British

parliament

is

divided

into

the

house

of

lords

and

the

house

of

is

the

1

toppest government is produced from it,and is responsible to The British parliament.

The

House

of

Lords

consists

of

Hereditary

peerage

and

the

senator

who

get

the

senator in the house of lords can't be constituted by election.

The House of Lords is the supreme judicial organs. It has the authority to examine the bill in the house

of

Commons,and

pass

the

necessary

can

also

delay

the

legislation

which

it

doesn't

approve under one year.

The senator in the house of commons is constituted by election for a term of five authority of

the house of commons is legislation and supervising financial and government.

5..What was the origin of Thanksgiving Day? And what do you think of celebrating Thanksgiving Day

in China?

Thanksgiving is celebrated in the U.S. on the fourth Thursday in November. For many Americans

it is the most important holiday apart from Christmas. Schools, offices and most businesses close for

Thanksgiving, and many people make the whole weekend a vacation. Thanksgiving is associated with

the time when Europeans first came to North America. In 1620, the Mayflower arrived, bringing about

150 people who today are usually called Pilgrims. When they first arrived, they had a very hard winter

and

could

not

find

enough

to

eat,

so

many

of

them

died.

During

the

following

summer,

Native

Americans showed them what crops were safe to eat and how to plant them so they had a good harvest.

They held a big celebration to thank God and the Native Americans for helping them survive the harsh

winter and produce a bountiful harvest. Thanksgiving Day became an official holiday in 1863. Today

people

celebrate

Thanksgiving

to

remember

these

early

days.

The

most

important

part

of

the

celebration is a traditional dinner with foods that come from North America. The meal includes turkey,

sweet potatoes (also called yams) and cranberry sauce, which are made into a kind of sauce or jelly.

The

turkey

is

filled

with

stuffing

or

dressing,

and

many

families

have

their

own

special

recipe.

On

Thanksgiving, there are special television programs and sports events. In New York, there is Macy

’

s

Thanksgiving Day Parade ---- a long line of people wearing fancy costumes march through the streets

with large balloons in the shape of imaginary characters. Thanksgiving is considered the beginning of

the Christmas season, and the next day many people go out to shop for Christmas presents

are characteristics of religion in America? Why is there not a decline in religious observance

along with scientific and economic advance?

The religion in American has many features. and the most basic feature is the dominated by Protestant

Christianity.

With the changing composition of the American population, the pluralism levels of American religious

is increasing. this is another very significant

characteristic religion in

American

Einstein

had

a

famous

saying:

without

religion

is

lame,

religion

without

science

is

blind.

Science and religion, the interdependence

Religion deeply rooted in American society .and it has a very broad impact in all aspects of American

social

life.

Religion

and

American

history

have

always

been

closely

intertwined .

the

religion

in

2