英美概况考试名词解释

1.the House of Lords

The house of Lords consists of Lords Spiritual,who are the Archbishops and most prominent bishops of the church of England ;and the Lords Temporal,which refers to those Lords who either have inherited the seat from their forefathers or they have been appointed .The Lords mainly represent themselves instead of the interests of the public.

2. The house of Commons

The House of commons is the real center of British political life because it is the place where about 650 elected representatives(Members of Parliament) make and debate the policy.These MPs are elected in the General Elections and should represent the interests of the people who vote of them.

3.The Constitution(of the UK)

Britain has no written Consitution.The foundations of the British state are laid out in satute law,which are laws passed by Parliament;the common laws,which are laws established through common practice in the courts;and conventions.

4.The functions of Parliament

To pass laws,to vote for taxation,to scrutinize government poliy ,administration and expenditure and to debate the major issuses of day.

prhensive School

Comprhensive School are the most popular secondary schools in Britain today,such schools admit children without reference to their academic abilities and provide a general education.Pupils can study everything from academic subjects like literature to more practical subjects like working. 6.Grammer school

Grammar School is a type of secondaryschools in Britain.Grammer schools elect children at the age of 11 through an examination called “the 11-plus”.Those children with the highest marks go to Grammer schools.These schools lay emphasis on advanced academic subjects rather than the more general curriculum of the comprehensive schools and expect many of their pupils to go on to universities.

7.the making of Britain’s foreign policy

The general direction of Britain’s foreign policy is maily decided by the Prime Minister and Cabinet . The Foreign and Commonwealth Office,the main government department,plays a significant role in the making of Britain’s foreign policy.Many other government minisities such as the Ministry of Defence al so play a part in formulating and carrying out the government’s decisions .But an extremely influential palyer in Britain’s for eign policy is the Treasury.The Treasury makes decisions on how much money other departments can have each year.

8．The foundations of British foreign policy

The contemporary foreign policy of theUK is greatly influenced by its imperial history and also by its geopolitical traits.As Britain lost its empire so recently,British policy-makers frequently forget that Britain is not as influential as it used to be in world affairs.Another decisive influence upon the way Britain handle its external affairs is geopolitical attitude to Europe.

9、the commonwealth

In the author’s option, the commonwealth is a voluntary associati on of states which is made up mostly of former British colonies. There are 50 members of the commonwealth: many of these are developing countries like India and Cyprus; others are developed nations like Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The commonwealth was set up as a form for continued cooperation and as a