Wales was united to England in 14th century
Northern Ireland takes up the northern fifth of Ireland. It has an area of 14,147 square kilometers. It is made up of six counties that consist of fertile, drumlin [`dr?mlin] (鼓丘) country surrounding Lough Neagh. Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland. Mountains in the north
and south, separated by the fertile basin of Lough Neagh, mainly agricultural, industrial center: two ports– Belfast and Londonderry.
3. Climate and Weather ------A maritime type of climate:
1) moderated by the Atlantic Gulf Stream, milder than places in the same latitude. 2) equable: winters are mild, temperature exceed 4c in the west, lower in the east. July about 18c. 13c in the northern Scotland. 3) changeable day-t-day conditions.
4) Rainfall throughout the year. No marked dry season.
In Britain the weather is rainy, changeable and unpredictable. In fact it has a favorable maritime climate. It rarely rises above 32℃ in summer or falls below –10℃ in winter. Winters are mild, not too cold and summers are cool, not too hot.
― Can I compare thee to the summer‘s day ?‖
Rainfall: Britain has a steady reliable rainfall throughout the whole year. The average annual rainfall in Britain is over 1,ooo mm.
It is rainy and so changeable and unpredictable. One can experience four seasons in the course of a single day. Britain is famous for its fogs. The smoke-fogs of the big town, which used to develop in winter time whenever there was not enough wind to blow the smoke away, were horrible, unhealthy and dangerous to movement
4. Rivers and lakes and natural resources
There are many lakes and rivers in England: but not very large. 1) the longest river: Severn River, 355km 2) Thames River, 338km, in Oxford 3) Clyde River in Scotland
4) lakes lies in Northern Scotland & the Cambria Mountains and North Wales England is rich in coal, iron, tin, copper, oil and gas
There are no large land-based oilfields except in North Sea. (also gas)
5. Exercise:
Tell if the following are true or false
1) The island of great Britain is geographically divided into three parts: England , Scotland and Wales. ( + )
2) People in different parts of Britain like to use the name England to refer to their country. ( - )
3) Today more than half of people in Wales still speak the ancient Welsh language.( - )
4) In terms of population and area, Northern Ireland is the second largest part of the United Kingdom. ( - )
5) The longest river of Britain originates in Wales. ( + )
6) Because of political troubles, Northern Ireland has been quite significant among the four
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constituent parts of the United Kingdom. ( + )
7) Though the climate in Britain is generally mild, the temperature in Northern Scotland often falls below -10‘c in January. ( - )
8) The two main islands of the British Isles are Great Britain and Ireland. ( + ) 9) Cardiff is the capital city of Scotland. ( - )
10) According to a 2005 census, Britain now has a population of 60 million. ( + ) 11) Among the four parts of United Kingdom, Wales is the smallest. ( - ) 12) English belong to the Germanic group of Indo-European family of language. ( + ) 13) Almost a quarter of the British population lives in northwestern England. ( - )
14) The introduction of Christianity to Britain added the first element of Latin and Greek words to English. ( + )
15) The evolution of Middle English was reinforced by the Norman influence. ( + )
Lecture Two The People(1)
Question for discussion: 1) What are the Celtic languages? Are they still alive?
2) How has English language evolved in history? Is it important to the UK‘s class structure? 3) What are the minor languages spoken in the UK？
Overview: Population: 56,500,000
English 80%; Welsh 5%; Scots 10%; Irish 4%.
1. The English: Anglo-Saxon in origin, Germanic tribes conquered in the 5th, 6th AD. Norman French, Under William of Normandy in 1066. Welsh, Scot, Irish: Celts from north-western Europe, invaded Britain between 700BC and 200BC.
1.1 The characteristics of English people: reserved, unemotional, courteous; shy of strangers; suspicious of change and slow to accept new ideals; solid and dependable with a high sense of honesty, duty and justice; physically and morally courageous; conscious of his place in the social order, disliking any show of emotion and lack of control.
2. The Welsh is composed of two groups of people:
1) sheep farmers in the mountainous regions of the centre and north;
2) industrial workers in the south
2.1 Characteristics of Welsh people: musical, emotional, cheerful, proud of their past, and welcoming to friends but suspicious of foreigners. They lived hard-working lives of the Welsh The cultural pride in Wales is very strong, famous for their love of music and poetry.
Welsh is an ancient Celtic language, more different from English than English is from French or German.
3. Characteristics of the Scots: inventive, hard-working, serious-minded and cautious with money
A) Highlanders live by farming sheep and fishing, being proud, independent, hardy B) Lowlanders live in industrialized urban areas.
2) Great empire builders, fierce soldiers . ―Devils in skirts‖ or ―ladies from hell‖ are nicknames of
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Scottish soldiers for their bravery.
3) Distinctive national dress: kilt, pleated skirts( 百折裙)
4.Characteristics of Irish: introspective(好反省的) dreamers and poets, argumentative and aggressive.
1) IRA: the Irish Republican Army on the Catholic side. 2) Ulster Unionists, (Loyalists) on the Protestant side.
5 . Immigrants:
1) escape political or religious persecution
2) seek a better life
3) A) from old dominions of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa B) Eastern European refugees C) West Indies, India & Pakistan
D) Chinese, Greek, Turkish Cypriots, Italian, Spaniards
Emigration from Britain to Canada and Australia, USA (doctors, scientists) ---- “brain drain‖
6. The Origins of a Nation 6.1. early settlement (---55BC)
A) the first immigrants: Iberians from Spain & Portugal about 5000 years ago.
their relics: Stonehenge 石林(stone monuments) on Salisbury Plain in southwest of England. B) 3 waves: Celts from north-west Europe after 700 BC., 500 BC, and 100 BC — tall, red hair and blue eyes.
C) Celtic conquerors blended with Iberian
6.2. Roman Britain (55BC –410) 1) Julius Caesar came to Britain in 55BC. 2) Roman occupation lasted about 400 years.
6.3 Impacts on its culture 1) brought Christianity to England 2) built roads all across Britain
3) towns grew up along the Roman roads
4) English upper classes became completely Romanized, Roman landowners and officials. 5) Social systems: laws, taxes 6) Roman language---Latin 7) system of writing & numbering 8) written description of the land, peoples 9) engineering skills, architecture
7. Anglo-Saxon times (446-871)
Three Germanic tribes invaded England: Angles, Saxons and Jutes. The name England is named after Angles.
7.1. Danish Invasion
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At the turn of 8th century, Danes, or Vikings, invaded England from Norway & Denmark.
8. Normans
The Norman Conquest in 1066.
8.1 Consequences: William of Normandy and his French-speaking followers set up a strong central government which brought a new unified discipline and control to England. 8.2. French became the official language. 8.3. established a feudal system.
8.4. Contacts between England & France increased.
Exercises：
1. Decide whether the following are true or false:
1) The British history before 55BC is basically un documented. (+) 2) The name of Britain came from a Celtic tribe ---the Britons. (+) 3) The Anglo-Saxons came to Britain in the mid 5th century. (+)
4) The Vikings began to attack the English coast in the 8th century.(+). 2. Choose the best answer:
1) The ____ attack on Roman ended the Roman occupation in Britain in 410.
A. Norman B. Danish C. Celtic D. Germanic (d)
2) By the late 7 century, _____ Christianity became the dominant religion in England.
A. Celtic B. Anglo-Saxon C. Germanic D. Roman (d)
Part I Politics Feudal England
Recorded history in Britain began in the year 55BC, when Julius Caesar and his Roman troops invaded the island. Between the 8th and 5th centuries BC, the Celts inhabited the island and became the dominant residents. The name Britain came from the Britons, a Celtic tribe. In 43AD, Britain subsequently became a Roman province and it remains so until the beginning of the 5th century. Many of the native Celtic were driven to the mountainous region of Scotland and Wales, which remain unconquered by the Romans. The Roans were excellent builders and they constructed towns and cities which prospered far longer than any previous settlements on the island. In 410, Germanic barbarians attacked Roman, forcing all Roman troops to leave Britain, which ended the Roman occupation of the island. These warriors included the Angles, the Saxons and Hutes. From that time on, English, the language of the Angles, replaced the old Celtic language as the dominant language of the land. As the Anglo-Saxon were not Roman Christian, St. Augustine was sent to Britain to convert the Anglo Saxon people in 587 with 40 missionaries. They converted many Anglo-Saxons to Roman Christians. Augustine founded a church and a monastery in Canterbury and became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in 601. By the late 7 century Roman Christianity became the dominant religion in Britain. In the 8th century the Vikings from the Scandinavian countries of Northern Europe to attack the English coast. The seven Anglo-Saxons= kingdom in England gradually united under Alfred the Great. In 1042, Edward the Confessor,, as a pious Christian, built Westminster Abbey, which exists today. On September 28, 1066, William crossed the channel with a formidable army. His army defeated the English army King Harold (brother in law of Edward) at the battle of Hastings. and began the Norman Conquest of England, which
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