英语国家概况简答题+翻译

1.Shakespeare:Great Tragedies:Hamlet\ Macbeth\ Othello\ King LearGreat Comedies:The Merchant of Venice\The Twelfth Night\A Midsummer Night's Dream\As you like it2.The Privy Council was formerly the chief source of executive power in the state and give private advice to the King.So the Privy Council was also called the King's Council in history.Today its role is largely formal,advising the sovereign to approve certain government decrees.3.Civil ServiceImplementation of the Minister’s decisions is carried out by a permanent politically neutral organization known as the civil service.The civil service is non-political.Changes of government do not involve changes in departmental staff.Civil servants are recruited mainly by open competition.4. Norman ConquestIn 1066, Edward died childless. Harold, Edward’s brother-in-law, and William, Duke of Normandy, Edward’s Norman cousin, both claimed the throne.William, Duke of Normandy, crossed the Channel , killed Harold and defeated the English army at the battle of Hastings.After Norman Conquest, feudalism was established inEngland.5. Great CharterRichard I demanded more feudal taxes and army service. The lords became angry, marched to London and forced him to sign a long document on June 17th.The Great Charter contained 3 sets of provisions.It was made in the interests of the feudal lords.6.Bourgeoisie RevolutionCharles I ascended the throne in 1625.Like his father,he was constantly at loggerheads with Parliament.At the beginning of the Civil War,two camps were formed;the king's men were called "Cavaliers" and the supporters of parliament were called "Roundheads".The King ran away to join the revolt in 1648.The army,under the leadership of Cromwell,defeated the revolt in a few months.The king was recaptured on 1649.English then called itself a Commonwealth.7. Restoration of the StuartThe bourgeoisie compromised with the rightists and invited Charles II to come back from Holland to the throne in 1660.The expansion of James II’s power soon clashed with the interests of the bourgeoisie, and in 1688, the 2 parties of thebourgeoisie united and staged a bloodless coup d’ etat.8.What were the consequences of the British Industrial Revolution ?First, the industrial bourgeoisie gained supremacy in the 1840s.Second, productivity was greatly increased.Third, population was more and more concentrated in towns and cities.Fourth, the rapid growth of capitalism caused miseries and disasters among the working people.9. Why is the United States a melting pot?The United States has long been known as a “melting pot”, because it is a country of many ethnic groups from different parts of the world.There are many different Americans, who have been dissipating their different ethnic cultures toward some “standard” by living and working together in the “melting pot”of the United States and gradually forming a new nation.10. What are the 2 principles followed by the constitution ? Explain each.The Constitution follows two principles : the federal system and the “separation of powers”. The federal system means that the states have the right to self-government. There is also a division of powers among the three branches of the federal government: the legislative branch, the executive branchand the judicial branch. They are supposed to be independent of each other, but each checks the other two which calls for “checks and balances”.11. Use the process of law-making to illustrate the relationship between the president and congress.After both houses have passed the bill, it is sent to the President, who should sign it or veto it within ten days. If he vetoes the bill, it goes back to Congress; his veto may be overruled by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress and the bill then becomes a law.12. Use the process of impeachment to explain the relationship between the president and congress.Under the Constitution, a sitting President may be removed from office before his term expires only by an impeachment process whereby the House of Representatives, upon sufficient evidence, brings a “bill of impeachment”approved by two-thirds of its membership. Next there comes a trial in the Senate, with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court as the judge and the Senators as the jury. In 1868, Congress tried to impeach President Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, but both failed.13. When the first 13 colonies were established how werethey divided? What were their distinctive features in terms of economy?Firstly, the New England Colonies became a center for lumbering, shipping and fishing.Secondly, the Central Colonies became a region of small farms.Thirdly, the Southern Colonies developed a plantation system with the exploitation of slave labor.14. the Stamp ActThe British Parliament passed the Stamp Act of 1765, which required that a stamp, purchased from the British government, be placed on all legal documents, newspaper and other printed materials. The reaction from the colonies was so violent that the British government was forced to repeal the Act.15. Boston Tea PartyIn 1773, the British government passed the Tea Act, which permitted the British East India Company to sell tea directly to its agents in the colonies. A group of Boston citizens, who disguised themselves as Indians, boarded three British ships in the labor and tossed a cargo of tea worth 17000 overboard. 16.Monroe DoctrineIn 1823,President James Monroe announced his "Monroe Doctrine",which warned the European powers against anyattempt at intervention in Latin American affairs with the aim of keeping Latin American countries for the United States itself. 17. Cuban Missile CrisisIn 1962 after the discovery of Soviet nuclear missile bases in Cuba,the US imposed naval as well as air blockade on Cuba while Pres.Kennedy demanded that the Soviet Union dismantle the missiles.For several days the world stood on the brink of its first nuclear war,however,the USSR later removed the missiles.18.我们认为下述真理是不言而喻的：人人生而平等，造物主赋予他们若干不可剥夺的权利，其中包括生存权，自由权和追求幸福的权利。