王文琴专八人文知识.docVIP

精编英语专业八级——人文知识 主编 ： 王文琴 世界图书出版公司出版 A 1. ABC (abb.) American Broadcasting Company; Associated British Cinema. 2. Abilene A town of Kansas, USA. It was a railway terminus and lawless town until order was introduced by Marshal Wild Bill Hickok in 1871. There is an Eisenhower museum. 3. Abolitionists (US hist.) Those who opposed slavery between 1830 and 1860---in the years leading up to the Civil War . 4. A bomb Atomic bomb. 5. Abortion The death or killing of the fetus before birth. Abortion has been legal in GB (Great Britain) since 1968, in certain circumstances. In the US the laws concerning abortion vary from state to state. Since 1967 nine states have made abortion legal. 6. Abstract Expressionism A movement in art that began in New York in the 1940s and dominated American painting in the 1950s. Abstract expressionism grew out of surrealism; the most important single figure in its development was Arshile Gorky. Other leading figures in the movement were Robert Motherwell, Willem de Kooning and the German-American painter Hans Hoffman. 7. Acronym A combination of the initials of several words: e. g. WTO, from World Trade Organization. 8. Adams, John (1735-1826) Second President of the USA (1797--1801). He was born at Quincy, Massachusetts. He was one of those who signed the Declaration of Independence. 9. A.D. Latin: Anno Domini, in the year of our Lord, i. e. after Christ. 10. AEC (abb.) (US) Atomic Energy Commission. 11. Agincourt, Battle of a battle fought in 1415 between the French and the English, during the Hundred Years War. It was a famous victory for the English, under Henry V. 12. Air Force (GB) The Royal Air Force was formed in 1918 by merging the Royal Flying Corps (1912) and the Royal Naval Air Service. During the First World War aircraft were used first only for reconnaissance; then air fighting developed. During the Second World War the R.A.F. played a very vital pa