英语国家概况名词解释

1. William the Conqueror 威廉征服: William was Duke of Normandy. He landed his army in Oct.1066 and defeated king Harold. Then he was crowned king of England on Christmas Day the same year. He established a strong Norman government and the feudal system in England.建立了封建制度

2. Doomsday Book----It is a book compiled by a group of clerks under the sponsorship of King William the First in 1086. The book was in fact a property record. It was the result of a general survey of England. It recorded the extent, value, state of cultivation, and ownership of the land. It was one of the important measures adopted by William I to establish the full feudal system in England. Today, it is kept in the Public Records Office in London. 为了可靠地记录所有的土地、佃户和他们的财产并查明他们能交多少税，威廉派官员编了一本财产清册，称为《末日审判书》。因为对英国人来说，这本土地清册无疑就是最后审判日那天众王之王所用的《末日书》。此册完成于1086 年，它记录了1085 年作的英国全国总调查的结果。此册陈述了土地的范围、价值、人口、耕种情况和所有权。现在《末日审判书》保存在伦敦的公共档案馆里。从此册可以看出，在1086年，农村约有一半的耕地掌握在10 个承租人(贵族)手里，其中只有两个是英国贵族，约五分之一土地归国王本人所有。其余大多数属于主教、修道院院长和其他修道院头领

3. the Black Death----It is a modern name given to the dearly bubonic plague, an epidemic disease spread through Europe in the fourteenth century particularly in 1348-1349. It came without warning, and without any cue. In England, it killed almost half of the total population, causing far-reaching economic consequences. 黑死病是现代名称，指的是由鼠身上的跳蚤传播的致命的淋巴腺鼠疫引起的传染疾病。14 世纪传播到欧洲，尤其是在1347 - 1350 年。1348 年夏天横扫全英国，事先毫无征兆。但重要的是无药可救。不论贫富不放过任何人，死亡迅速而痛苦。它夺去了二分之一到一半的英国人的生命，加上随后50 年中发生的流行病，英国的人口在14 世纪末从400 万税减至200 万。

4. The Wars of Roses玫瑰战争----the name Wars of the Roses was refer to the battles between the House of Lancaster, symbolized by the read rose, and that of York, symbolized by the white, from 1455 to 148

5. Henry Tudor, descendant of Duke of Lancaster won victory at Bosworth Fireld in 1485 and put ht country under the rule of the Tudors. From these Wars, English feudalism received its death blow. The great medieval nobility was much weakened..是对外战争和国内不稳定导致贵族们之间冲突再起，却令人回想起13 世纪的麻烦。1455至1485 年间政局不稳定是两支金雀花家族争斗引起的，它们是兰开斯特家族和约克家族。实际上，玫瑰战争这个词是19 世纪的大作家瓦尔特司考特创造的，但它已被普遍接受，专指这两个家族间的战争。因·为红玫瑰代表兰开斯特家族，而白玫瑰则是约克家族的象征尽管玫瑰战争断断续续进行了三十年，但普通民众所受影响甚微，他们照常从事各自营生。封建制度却遭受了致命打击。不少于80 位皇族血统的贵族阵亡，中世纪的贵族势力被大大削弱，名誉扫地。至此国王的权力变得至高无上

5. The Bill of Rights----In 1789, James Madison introduced in the House of Representatives a series of amendments which later were drafted into twelve proposed amendments and sent to the states for ratification. Ten of them were ratified in 1791 and the first ten amendments to the constitution were called the Bills of Rights because they were to insure individual liberties.1789年詹姆斯麦迪逊在众议院提出了一系列的修正法案，后来这些法案被起草成十二条修正法案提交各州讨论。其·中有两条没被各州通过，其余十条在1791 年被通过，成为宪法的前十项修正案--《人权法案》。从那时起美国就完成了宪法体制的建立

6. The British constitution: There is no written constitution in the United Kingdom, that is, unlike the constitutions of most other countries, the British constitution is not set out in any single document. It is made up of statute law, common law and conventions.英国议会制政府制度并不是基于成文宪法。联合王国没有成文宪法，也就是说与大多数他国宪法不同，英国宪法不由单一文件构成，而是由成文法、习惯法和惯例组成。(惯例是指法律没有明文要求必须执行，但被视为政府工作中不可缺少的行为准则)。司法部门裁定习惯法和解释成文法。

7. The Great lakes----The Great Lakes are the five lakes in the northeast. They are Lake Superior which is the largest fresh water lake in the world, Lake Michigan (the only one entirely in the U.S.), Lake Huron, Lake Eire and Lake Ontario. They are all located between Canada and the United States expect Lake Michigan.美国最重要的湖泊就是五大湖。这五大湖包括：苏必利尔湖--世界上最大的淡水湖，密歇根湖(唯一完全在美国境内的湖)，休伦湖，伊利湖和安大略湖。除密歇根湖全部属美国外，其他均为美国和加拿大之间的界湖。

8. The Emancipation Proclamation-（解放宣言）---After the Civil war began, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation to win more support at home and abroad. It granted freedom to all slaves in areas still controlled by the Confederacy. 1863年1月1日，林肯总统发表了《解放宣言》，正是解放美国所有的奴隶。

9. checks and balances: 制衡the United states has three separate branches of government: the of government: the legislative, executive ,and judicial .Each branch has a portion of constitutional authority and can check or block the actions of the other branches. The three branches are thus in balance. the three branches are thus in balance .this is a system of checks and balances美国政府的三个分支：在政府立法，执行，和司法。每个分支具有宪法权力的一部分，可以检查或其他部门的行为块。三个部门是平衡三个部门是平衡的。这是一个制衡制度。

10. The Great Depression: It refers to the economic depression started from the New York stock market collapse on October24, 1929.After that, thousands of banks and businesses failed. Many people lost their jobs, It was due to the