《英语国家概况(英国部分Unit2)》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《英语国家概况(英国部分Unit2)（63页珍藏版）》请在金锄头文库上搜索。
1、Do You Know?Focus In1GetReady-mainDo You Know?1.1Fromthefollowingvideoclip,canyoutelltheelementsofBritishness?Do You Know?1.1-videoIIHaveageneralideaoftheethnicalcompositionoftheBritishpeopleBeinformedofthestatisticsabouttheBritishpopulationKnowsomethingaboutthelanguagesinBritainUnderstandtheclassst
2、ructureinBritainKnowaboutBritishnessFocus In1.2An aging country2text-mainWhat are the elements of the British identity?Class consciousnessWhat are the ethnic groups in the UK?An English-speaking country?How is the population distributed in the UK?In historic times, migrants from the Europeanmainland
3、joinedtheindigenouspopulationofBritainduringtheRomanEmpireandduringtheinvasionsoftheAngles,Saxons,Jutes,VikingsandNormansfromNorthern andWesternEurope.2.1.1 Names for Britain1. Ethnic originsTheIrishhavelongmadehomesinGreatBritain.ManyJewsarrivedinBritaintowardtheendofthe19thcenturyandinthe1930s.Aft
4、er1945largenumbersofotherEuropeanrefugeessettledinthecountry.ThelargeimmigrantcommunitiesfromtheWestIndiesandSouthAsiadatefromthe1950sand1960s.TherearealsosubstantialgroupsofAmericans,Australians,andChinese,aswellasvariousotherEuropeans,suchasGreeks,Russians,Poles,Serbs,Estonians,Latvians,Armenians,
5、TurkishCypriots,Italians,andSpaniards.Beginningintheearly1970s,UgandanAsiansandimmigrantsfromLatinAmerica,SoutheastAsia,andSriLankahavesought2.1.12. Immigrants2. Immigrants2.1.1refugeintheUK.PeopleofIndian,Pakistani, and Bangladeshi originaccountformorethanhalfofthetotal ethnic minority population,a
6、nd people of West Indian originare the next largest group. Theforeign-bornelementofthepopulationisdisproportionatelyconcentrated in inner-city areas,andmorethanhalfliveinGreaterLondon.EthnicityinEnglandandWalesRoman Empire2.1.2TheRomanEmpirewasthepost-Republicanperiodofthe ancient Roman civilization
7、, characterised by anautocraticformofgovernmentandlargeterritorialholdingsinEuropeandaroundtheMediterranean.ThetermisusedtodescribetheRomanstateduringandafterthetimeofthefirstemperor,Augustus.BecauseoftheEmpiresvastextentandlongendurance,theinstitutionsandcultureofRome had a profound and lasting inf
8、luence on thedevelopmentoflanguage,religion,architecture,philosophy,law,andformsofgovernmentintheterritoryitgoverned,particularlyEurope,andbymeansofEuropeanexpansionismthroughoutthemodernworld.Angles, Saxons, and Jutes2.1.2TheAnglesisamodernEnglishwordforaGermanic-speakingpeople.TheAngleswereoneofth
9、emaingroupsthatsettledinBritaininthepost-Romanperiod,andtheirnameistherootofthename“England”.The Saxons were a confederation of Old Germanictribes. Their modern-day descendants are generallyconsidered ethnic Germans, Dutch, or English. Saxonsparticipated in the Germanic settlement ofBritain duringan
10、dafterthe5thcentury.2.1.2TheJuteswereaGermanicpeoplewhowereoneofthethreemostpowerfulGermanicpeoplesoftheirtime.TheJutes,alongwithsomeAngles,SaxonsandFrisians,sailedacrosstheNorthSeatoraidandeventuallyinvadeGreat Britain from the late 4th century onwards, eitherdisplacing, absorbing, or destroying th
11、e native Celticpeoplesthere.TheyfinallysettledinKent,Hampshire,andtheIsleofWight.Angles, Saxons, and JutesVikings2.1.2The term Viking is customarily used to refer to theNorse(Scandinavian)explorers,warriors,merchants,andpirateswhoraided, traded,explored andsettledinwideareas ofEurope and theNorth At
12、lantic islands fromthelate 8th to the mid-11th century. These Norsemen usedtheirfamedlongshipstotravelasfareastasConstantinopleandtheVolgaRiverinRussia,andasfarwestasIceland,Greenland,andNewfoundland,andasfarsouthasAlAndalus.ThisperiodofVikingexpansionknown as the Viking Age forms a major part of th
13、emedieval history ofScandinavia, Britain, Ireland and therestofEuropeingeneral.Normans2.1.2TheNormanswerethepeoplewhogavetheirnametoNormandy, a region in northern France. They played amajor political, military, and cultural role in medievalEuropeandeventheNearEast.Theywerefamedfortheirmartialspirita
14、ndChristianpiety.TheyquicklyadoptedtheRomancelanguageofthelandtheysettledoff,theirdialectbecoming known as Norman, an important literarylanguage.TheDuchyofNormandy,whichtheyformedbytreatywiththeFrenchcrown,wasoneofthegreatlargefiefsofmedievalFrance.NormanadventurersestablishedakingdominSicilyandsout
15、hernItalybyconquest,andaNorman expedition on behalf of their duke, William theConqueror,ledtotheNormanConquestofEngland.West Indies2.1.3Doyouknowwhere“WestIndies”is?WestIndiesisagroupofislandsthatextendsinanarcfromnearsouthernFloridatothecoastofVenezuela.TheWestIndiesarchipelago,whichincludesthousan
16、dsoftinyislands,formsabreakwater3,200-kmlongagainsttheAtlantic Ocean, separating it from the Caribbean Sea.EuropeanexplorerChristopherColumbusgavetheregionthatnameinerrorwhenhearrivedin1492.HeassumedthattheislandswerenearthecoastofIndia.An aging country2.2 Where Is the UK Located?Compared to the res
17、t of theworld,theUKhasasmallerpercentageofyoungerpeopleandahigher percentage of older people,with15.8percentovertheageof65;those under the age of 14 yearsmake up only 17.7 percent of thepopulation. Life expectancy in 2005was75.94yearsformenand80.96years for women. This pattern isexpectedtocontinue.D
18、emographicsofUKpopulationbyage1. Population statistics2.3TheUnitedKingdomhasapopulationof60,209,500(2005estimate),withanaveragepopulationdensityof243personspersquarekilometre(629persquaremile),oneofthe highest in the world. According to 2004 statistics,EnglandisthemostpopulatedpartoftheUnitedKingdom
19、,with50,093,800people,whichmeansaboutfour-fifthsoftheUKpopulationresidesinEngland.Ithasapopulationdensity of 383 persons per square kilometre. Scotlandpossesses5,078,400people,andapopulationdensityof65 persons per square kilometre. Wales has 2,952,500people, with a population density of 142 persons
20、persquarekilometre.NorthernIrelandspopulationis1,710,300,andithas125personspersquarekilometre.2. Urban population2.3TheUKpopulationisoverwhelminglyurban,with89.4percentlivinginurbanareasand10.6percentlivinginruralareas.TheIndustrialRevolution(17501850)builtupmajorurbanareas,andmostofBritishpeopleliv
21、einandaroundthemtothisday.EnglandspopulationisdensestintheLondonarea,aroundBirminghamandCoventryintheMidlands,andinnorthernEnglandneartheoldindustrialcentresofLeeds,Sheffield,Manchester,Liverpool,andNewcastleuponTyne.Inthe1980sand1990ssouthernEngland,particularlythesoutheast,becameacentreofpopulatio
22、ngrowth,dueinlargeparttothegrowthofthe2. Urban population2.3high-tech and service sectors of the economy. In Walestwo-thirds of the people live in the industrial southernvalleys.InScotlandthree-quartersofthepeopleliveinthecentral lowlands, around Glasgow to the west andEdinburgh to the east. About h
23、alf of the people living inNorthern Ireland reside in the eastern portion, in Belfastandalongthecoast.2. Urban population2.3LargestcitiesoftheUnitedKingdom1. Celtic languages2.4Ofthesurvivinglanguages,theearliestIndo-EuropeanlanguagetoarrivewastheCeltic,fromwhichIrish,WelshandScottishGaelic,amongoth
24、ers,havedeveloped.Ofthese,Welsh,closelytiedtotheculturalnationalismofWales,isthestrongest.Todayaboutone-fifthofthetotalpopulationofWales,especiallyinthenorthandwest,areabletospeakit.Manyschoolsinthisregionofferbilingualeducation,andthereisaWelsh-languagetelevisionchannel.In1993,afterlongandconsidera
25、bleagitationbyWelshnationalists,thegovernmentmadeWelshajointofficiallanguagewithEnglishinWalesfor2.3useinthecourts,thecivilservice,andotheraspectsofthepublicsector.ScottishGaelicisstrongestamongtheinhabitantsoftheislandsoftheOuterHebridesandSkye,although it is still heard in the nearby North WestHig
26、hlands. Because only less than 2 percent Scots areabletospeakGaelic,ithaslongceasedtobeanationallanguage.Eveninnorthwesternareas,whereitremainsthe language of religion, business, and social activity,Gaelicislosingground.Similarly,verylittleIrishisspokeninIreland.1. Celtic languages2.31. Celtic langu
27、agesWelshandEnglish2.3ModernEnglishisderivedmainlyfromtheGermanicdialectsspokenbytheAngles,Saxons,andJutes(whoallarrived in Britain in the 5th century AD) and heavilyinfluenced by the language of the Danes (Vikings), whobegan raiding the British Isles in about AD 790 andsubsequently colonised parts
28、of northern and easternEngland.Fromthe11thto14thcentury,undertheFrench-speakingNormankings,ahybridspeechcombiningAnglo-Saxon and Norman French elements developed andgraduallybecametheofficiallanguage,knownasMiddleEnglishtoday.Thishybridlanguage,alongwithmanyother2. English2.3otheradditions,subsequen
29、tlyevolvedintomodernEnglish.Today Englishistheofficial language of the UnitedKingdomandisthefirstlanguageofthevastmajorityofitscitizens (being spoken monolingually by roughly 95percentoftheUKpopulation).SomepeopleinEnglandregardregionalaccentsandslang as substandard. On the other hand, many localpeo
30、ple,suchasCockneysinEastLondonandpeopleinnorthernEngland,enjoytheirparticularwayofspeaking,regarding it as warmer and friendlier than StandardEnglish.ScottishpeopleappreciatetheScottishaccentsomuchvery2. English2.3thattheyinsisttheBBCcarryprogrammeswithScottish-accentedspeakers.Englishisthepredomina
31、ntlanguageinNorthernIreland,althoughatleastsomeoftheRomanCatholicminorityspeakIrish,anotherGaelicdialect,asasecondlanguage.DespitethelargevarietyofdialectsineverypartoftheUK,themostcommonformofEnglishisthatusedbytheBritishrulingclassofsoutheasternEngland.ThisformofthelanguageisassociatedwithReceived
32、Pronunciation (RP), which is still regarded by manypeopleoutsidetheUKas“theBritishaccent”.2. English2.3CockneyHaveyouheardof“Cockney”?The term Cockney has both geographical andlinguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, itoftenreferstoworking-classLondoners,particularlythosein the East E
33、nd. Linguistically, it refers to the form ofEnglishspokenbythisgroup.Class consciousness2.5Britain was once a class-ridden society. Today,multiculturalism and a changing economy are graduallyerodingtheBritishclasssystem,butsomefeaturesofthesystemstillremain.The British society has often been conside
34、red to bedividedintothreemainclasses:the Upper ClassOftenpeople withinherited wealth.Includessomeoftheoldestfamilies,withmanyofthembeingtitledaristocrats.the Middle ClassThe majority of the population of Britain. They includeindustrialists, professionals, business people and shopowners.2.5the Lower
35、or Working ClassPeople who are agricultural, mineandfactoryworkers.AlthoughsomepeopleintheUKstillrefer to themselves as “working-class”, “lower-middle” or “upper-middle” (and of course there arethose who think of themselves asthe “elite” class), to the majority oftheBritishthemeaningsdontseemtomatte
36、rmuchthesedays.ClassidentityincontemporaryBritainClass consciousnessWhat are the elements of the British identity?2.6While the content of “Britishness” is shared acrossmostgroups,thereareimportantdifferencesinthewaysinwhichdifferentgroupsandindividualsarerelatedto,andidentifiedwith,Britishness.UKpas
37、sportholdersallknowtheyareBritishcitizens,butnoteveryoneattachesvalueorsignificancetobeingBritish.InScotlandandWales,whiteandethnicminoritypeopleidentifymorestronglywitheachrespectivecountrythan with Britain. In England, white English perceivethemselves as English first and as British second, whilee
38、thnic minority people perceive themselves as British,secondWhat are the elements of the British identity?2.6notEnglish,alabeltheyassociateexclusivelywithwhitepeople.Thus,thepeoplewhoidentifymoststronglywithBritishness are those from ethnic minority backgroundsresidentinEngland.Ethnicminoritypeopleal
39、sodrawonothersourcesofidentification:religion(forMuslimsonly);ethnicity(region,countryorcontinentoforigins,andtheirassociated cultures); and race or colour (for blackCaribbean and black African participants only). Thesevariousidentitiesbecomemoreorlesssalientindifferentsituations. They are seen as b
40、eing compatible withBritishness.What are the elements of the British identity?2.6Thesefeaturessuggestthatthecontemporary British are a verydiversepeoplewithvaryingidentities. There has been strongvoicearguingformulticulturalismorseparate development of culturalgroupsandthepreservationoftheiridentiti
41、es.Others,however,advocateculturalveryElementsofBritishnessassimilation. The latter implies an acceptance of basiccommonvalues,includingthoserepresentedbycivicsocialandpoliticalstructures,whichhaveprimacyoverculturalidentities.3.1True or FalseMultiple ChoiceDiscussion 1.TheEnglish,theScots,andtheWel
42、shareAnglo-Saxons,buttheIrishareCelts.2. London and England as a whole have greatinfluence over the rest of the United Kingdombecauseoftheirlargepopulation.3.PeopleofIndian,Pakistani,andBangladeshioriginarethelargestgroupofimmigrantsinBritain.4.Compared totherestoftheworld,theUKhasasmaller percentag
43、e of older people and a higherpercentageofyoungerpeople.F( )True or False3.1T( )T( )F( )3.1T( )F( )T( )F( )F( )5.TheWelshlanguageistheofficiallanguageinWales.6.ScottishGaelicistheofficiallanguageinScotland.7.TheEnglishlanguageisthepredominantlanguageinNorthernIreland.8. English people all strive to
44、free themselves ofregional or local accents in order to sound likeeducatedEnglish-speakingpeople.9. Social class in the UK lays more emphasis onmoneyandproperty.True or False3.110.Britishnessisassociatedwithpolitical,historical,technological,sporting,andculturalachievementsinBritain.T( )True or Fals
45、e1.TheEnglishpeopleandtheEnglishlanguagewerebornfromtheunionof_.A.theAnglesandtheSaxonsB.RomansandtheNormanFrenchC.DanesorVikingsandtheNormanFrenchD.NormanconquerorsandthedefeatedAnglo-SaxonsMultiple Choice3.23.22.ThefirstknownsettlersofBritainwere_.A.theIberiansB.theBeakerFolkC.theCeltsD.theRomansM
46、ultiple Choice3.23.About80,000ScotsspeakGaelicwhichisanancient_.A.ScottishlanguageB.EnglishlanguageC.IrishlanguageD.CelticlanguageMultiple Choice3.24.AboutthreemillionpeoplehavemigratedtoBritainsinceWorldWarII.TheyaremainlyfromtheWestIndies,Indiaand_.A.IndonesiaB.SingaporeC.HongKongD.PakistanMultipl
47、e Choice3.25.InBritain_ofthepopulationisurbanand_isrural.A.90%;10%B.80%;20%C.70%;30%D.60%;40%Multiple Choice3.26.TheancestorsoftheWelshweretheancient_.A.CeltsB.RomansC.NormansD.BritonsMultiple Choice3.27.TheaveragepopulationdensityinBritainis_peoplepersquarekilometer.A.250B.370C.800D.500Multiple Cho
48、ice3.28. During the 5th century when the Roman Empirefell, the Germanic _ invaded andconqueredBritain.A.AnglesandCeltsB.AnglesandPictsC.AnglesandBrythonsD.AnglesandSaxonsMultiple Choice3.29.TheupperclassinBritainconsistsofthefollowingexcept_.A.peerageB.gentryC.landownersD.professionalsMultiple Choic
49、e3.210.“Britishness”canbereflectedinthefollowingexcept_.A.UnionJackB.conservativenessC.theBeatlesD.ThanksgivingDayMultiple ChoiceDiscusshowtheEnglish,Welsh,IrishandScottishhavedefinedthemselvesintermsoftheirindividualnationalities.Discussion3.3Thecomplication indefining theEnglish isacommontendencyf
50、orthewords“English”and“British”tobeusedinterchangeably.“Welsh people” may refer to anyone born or living inWales.PeoplefromNorthernIrelandareBritishcitizensbutmayadditionallyberecognisedasIrishpeople.In modern use “Scottish people” or “Scots” refers toanyoneborninScotland.H ints:Britains Dirty Secre
51、t: Class Still MattersJenniRussell4FURTHER READINGOn rare days I feel sorry for members of thegovernment.Runningthecountrymustbeasfrustratingasbeingaparent:itsonlyinretrospectthatyourealisewhereyouwentwrong.Butyournew-foundwisdomisofnousebecausethecrucialmomentshavepassed,andyoucanthaveyourtimeagain
52、.4-1Thats whats happened with the governmentsbelatedengagementwiththequestionofclass.Foryearsnew Labour avoided the word. It was too divisive. Itthreatened the partys delicate position in the centreground. Itwas too easily linked with the uncomfortableword “struggle”. It was much better to talk inst
53、ead ofaspirationanddisadvantage,inclusionandsocialmobility.InLaboursviewoftheworld,anyonecouldgetonaslongastheyraisedtheirsightsandworkedhard.Thetwinproblems facing the less privileged were those ofmoney4-2andambition.Thegovernmentwouldprovidemoreofthefirst through redistribution, and more of the se
54、condthrough educational reforms and exhortation. Schoolswould drive up standards, the poor would pass moreexaminations,educationalinequalitywouldberedressedandwewouldenteranewageofmeritocracy.The strategy hasnt worked. True, people from thelowerandmiddle-incomegroupshavemorequalifications,butitsdone
55、nothingfortheirrelativeposition.Inequalityhaswidenedslightly,socialmobilityremainsamongthe4-3worstinEurope,andthewell-offdominatetopuniversitiesand the professions just as they always did. It failedbecause it ignored the truth. Labour acted as if socialdisadvantagewaslargelyapracticalproblem.Foralon
56、gtimeitavoidedaddressingthebarriersthatdivideBritonsfrom one another and make attempting to move out ofones group as risky and as psychologically difficult aprocessasemigration.4-4The apparent emergence of a classless society, inwhichanyonemightwearjeans,watchThe X FactororspeakinavariantofestuaryEn
57、glish,disguisesthefactthat Britain is still a highly stratified society, in whichdifferent classes are brought up to follow different rulesabouthowtothink,talkandbehave.Theseclassesprefertosocialiseandworkwiththosewhosharetheirvalues.Joiningthesegroupsisnotasimplematterofgainingtherightacademicquali
58、fications.Theywilladmitandpromoteonlythosewhocanreadalltheirunwrittenandunspokenrulesofbehaviour.4-5Ithasbeenonlyinthepastyearorsothatpartsofthegovernmenthavesuddenlywokenuptothefactthatthestrategy to create a fairer society isnt working. AlanMilburns blistering report on social mobility recognisedh
59、ow split Britain was becoming, divided between thosewhohadnetworksandsocialskillsandthosewithout.Itpointed out that the ordinary middle classes were nowalsolosingouttothoseintheuppermiddle,whohadtheconnections.Itcalledfornationalmentoringschemesandinternshipsandforschoolstobejudgedonwhethertheyeduca
60、tedthewholechild.HarrietHarmanproducedthe4-6Equality Bill, aimed among other things at reducingdiscriminationonthebasisofclass.AndlastweekJohnDenham,thecommunitiesminister,saidclasswasnowaslikelyacauseofdiscriminationasraceusedtobe.Thisisdifficultterritorybecauseitinvolvesuncomfortable issues. It is
61、 not a simple story aboutprejudice.Ontheonehand,thereareissuesofpowerandexclusion. On the other, society is now becoming sodividedthatinsomepoorareaspeoplearebeingraisedwithoutdevelopingthecharacterandattitudestheyneedtosurvive.Theyareemergingwithoutbasicmannersand4-7skills. One former Downing Stree
62、t adviser says that itremainshardtohaveanhonestconversationaboutthis.Labourdoesntwanttolooktoocloselyatbehaviourandcharacter. The Tories, on the other hand, dont want toconfronttherealitiesofstructuralprivilege.That seemed ominously true last week when DavidCameronpraisedsocialmobilitywhileconfirmin
63、gthathewillnotaimtoclosetheincomegapbetweentherichestandthepoorest.Hedidntacknowledgethatthesecondwouldmakethefirstfarmoredifficult.Inthesameway,whiletheToriesCentreforSocialJusticehasproduced4-8someimpressiveandconvincinganalysesofwhatkeepspeoplepoor,classisnotoneofthefactorsmentioned.Aspokesmantol
64、dmethatclasswasnolongeroneofthethingsthatheldpeopleback.Societywasmorefluid,andtothinkotherwisewasbackwardandsterile.ThisissofarfromthetruththatitleavesonewithnohopethattheTorieswillbeanymoreeffectiveatsecuringsocialmobilitythanLabourhasbeen.Socialmobilitymattersbecauseitisthesmallgesturewe make tow
65、ards fairness. If it is to get any easier,politiciansmustbemorehonestaboutwhatsneededto4-9movefromoneclasstoanother,andtheyhavetocreatepathwaystoachieveit.Withoutthat,theirconstanttalkofaspiration will be meaningless, because all well be leftwithistheentrenchmentofprivilege.WilliamJeffersonHagueThe
66、X Factor: A British television singing competitioncontestedbyaspiringsingersdrawnfrompublicauditions,whichstartedinSeptember2004.ItistheoriginatoroftheinternationalXFactorfranchise.ThesevenseriesoftheshowtodatehavebeenbroadcastfromAugust/SeptemberthroughtoDecember.AdhocEstuary English: A dialect of
67、English widely spoken inSoutheast England, especially along the River Thamesanditsestuary.PhoneticianJohnC.WellsdefinesEstuaryEnglishas“StandardEnglishspokenwiththeaccentofthesoutheastofEngland”.The European CommissionAlan Milburn:ABritishLabourPartypolitician,whowastheMemberofParliament(MP)forDarli
68、ngtonfrom1992until2010.HeservedforfiveyearsintheCabinet,firstlyasChiefSecretarytotheTreasuryfrom1998to1999,andsubsequentlyasSecretaryofStateforHealthuntil2003.Shadow Cabinet Harriet Harman:ABritishLabourPartypolitician,whoisthe Member of Parliament (MP) for Camberwell andPeckham.ShewastheinterimLead
69、eroftheLabourPartyand Leader of the Opposition from 11 May to 25September2010.David Wright MilibandJohn Denham:ABritishLabourPartypoliticianwhohasbeen the Member of Parliament (MP) for SouthamptonItchen since 1992. He has previously served in theCabinet,asSecretaryofStateforInnovation,Universitiesan
70、dSkillsfrom2007to2009,andthenastheSecretaryofStateforCommunitiesandLocalGovernmentfrom2009to2010.Sir Walter Menzies “Ming” CampbellTories: A term colloquially referred to the ConservativePartyintheUnitedKingdom.Denis MacShaneDavid Cameron:ThecurrentPrimeMinisteroftheUnitedKingdom,FirstLordoftheTreasury,MinisterfortheCivilServiceandLeaderoftheConservativeParty.
