专科-《英语国家概况》旧版精讲讲义.docVIP

Part One The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Chapter 1 Land and People Ⅰ.Names Different names for Britain and its parts British Empire (100 years ago) About 100 years ago, as a result of its imperialist expansion, Britain ruled an empire that had 1/4 of the world’s people and 1/4 of the world’s land area. It had colonies in North America, Asia, Africa and Australia. Commonwealth (1931) The commonwealth (of Nations) is a free association of independent countries that were once colonies of Britain. Member nations are joined together economically and have certain trading arrangements. The Commonwealth has no special powers. The decision to become a member of the Commonwealth is left to each nation. Reason for Britain Empire changed into a Commonwealth: the two world wars greatly weakened Britain. Ⅱ.Features Location Advantage: No part of Britain is very far from the coast and it provides a valuable resource. The British coast is long and has good, deep harbours. Sea routes extend far inland, providing cheap transportation. General features Tilting: ① Rising in North-West cause highlands there; ② Sinking in South-East cause lowlands. Ice Age: responsible for Britain’s spectacular mountain scenery. England (more than 130,000 square kilometres which takes up nearly 60% of the whole island) Pennines, principal mountain chain. Scafell (978 m), the highest peak of England. Capital: London. Scotland (78,760 square kilometres) Three zone: Highlands in the north: plateau; Central Lowlands: most important area in Scotland which contain most of the industry and population; Southern Uplands: moorland. Ben Nevis (1,343 m), the highest mountain in Britain. Capital: Edinburgh. Wales (20,761 square kilometres which takes up less than 9% of the whole island) Most of Wales is Mountainous; 12% of the land is arable; Massif 断层; Snowdonia (1,085 m), highest mountain in Wales; Capital: Cardiff. Northern Ireland (14,147 square kilometres which takes up 1/5 of Ireland