大学英语提高课程总结

The united kingdom of great Britain and north Ireland is made up of great Britain ,north Ireland and a number of smaller islands around them. The total area of the country is some 24000 square kilometers with a population of about 59.6 million.great Britain is traditionally divided into three countries ,or political regions.England in the south,Scotland in the north,and wales in thesouthwest .England is the largest and most developed of all the three.the same is true of the custom of speaking of the British people as the English.ParliamentThe British system of parliamentary government was often referred to as the Westminster model.most legislatures around the world follow the so-called Westminster model.parliament ,meaning a place for argument and debate,is the nation’s supreme legislative organ.the British parliament consists of three branches :the monarch(queen or king) ,the house of lords ,and the house of commons.parliament has the power to make ,unmake ,or change any laws.members of the house of lords were mostly descendent of these feudal lords.the full membership of the lords id only about 660 at present.all the members of the house of commons are directly elected by British people over the age of 18 through general elections.the house of commons now consists of 659 seats.PrimogeniturePrimogeniture thus promoted social mobility and limited the growth of the English noble class.this helped to mitigate contradictions between the broad masses and the noble class because the latter was not too large for society to sustain.Compulsory educationBritain's first act providing for state-financed primary education was pass in 1870.ministry of education established free compulsory education for all children up to age 16.parents are required by the law to ensure that their children receive full-time education between the ages of 5 and 16.going or not going to school has become a matter of the law.local education authorities are mainly responsible for providing primary and secondary education for school-ages.they employ the teaching staff,provide and maintain school buildings,supply equipment ,and give financial assistance to students.IndividualismIndividualism believe that society is an artificial organization ,existing only for the sake of its members as individuals.individualism claims that the goal of social,political and economic organization should be the greatest good for the greatest member of the society .Individualism is in opposition to autocratic .Individualism is not selfishness . It is a kind of value that attaches great importance to the interests of individuals . If one goes not pay ,other people must pay for it.The Middle classThe Middle class, which originally referred to the gentry only, expanded rapidly with the development of economy members of the middle class, who relied on their knowledge and skills to make money,placed freedom and the education of their children.Today the middle class is the largest and most important class in Britain. The middle class plays the major role because its members are the best educated and most skilled.Independent SchoolsThese school are neither controlled nor financed by local or central government.Many of these schools are not private,they are not allowed to run for profit and surplus income must be put back into the school .Compared with state schools.independent schools achieve higher academic standards.About two --thirds of independent schools admit both boys and girls,with the remainder still practicing separate education, with some only admitting boys and others for girls,Influence of the Norman conquestThe Norman conquest sped up the development of feudalism in England.William built the tower of London as a military fortress.he put the administration of justice under the control of the king .William sent his clerks to make investigations.these clerks finally compiled a property record known as Domesday Book in 1805.the general relation between the Normans and the Anglo-Saxons was that of master and servant.the Norman culture flowered on the English soil.the conquest start a bi-linguistic period in English history.the Normans and the Anglo-Saxons,however became intermingled.the Norman conquest was last invasion of England by foreigners.The black deathDuring the hundred year’s war.England was struck by another disaster ,the black death,between 1348-1349.in started in Italy and soon spread to other country.those who were stricken with it usually died in two or three days .a careful estimate shows that in England about one half of the population died of this disease.the death of so many people resulted in the shortage of labor and much land was left untended.the surviving peasants had better bargaining power and they began to demand better working conditions and high wages.the government intervened because it wanted to keep down wages by preserving serfdom.these statutes combined with poll taxes levied to fund the hundred year’s war,caused widespread discontent among the peasants.James I have the word 'no bishop,no king'.The reign of James I was full of religious controversy and other troubles.The Catholics engineered a number of plots to get rid of him.One of the major Catholic conspiracies against James I was Gunpowder Plot of 1605.James I continued to cling to the outdated doctrine of the 'Divine Right of Kings'.He would have preferred no Parliament at all and actually did without one for seven years.The result was that he could get no pounds from Parliament.He was called the wisest fool in Europe because he was foolish in terms of politics.JamesI continued to cling to the outdated doctrine of the 'Divine Right of Kings'.He would have preferred no Parliament at all and actually did without one for seven years.The result was that he could get no pounds from Parliament.He was called the wisest fool in Europe because he was foolish in terms of politics.Henry VIII Henry, the second son of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, was born on 28 June 1491 at Greenwich Palace. After the death of his elder brother Arthur in 1502, Henry became heir to the English throne.When Henry VII died in 1509, this popular eighteen-year-old prince, known for his love of hunting and dancing, became King Henry VIII.Henry VIII's early military campaigns began when he joined Pope Julius II's Holy League against France in 1511. However war with France ultimately proved expensive and unsuccessful.Henry VIII is known as the 'father of the Royal Navy.' When he became king there were five royal warships. By his death he had built up a navy of around 50 ships. Henry also built the first naval dock in Britain at Portsmouth and in 1546 he established the Navy Board. This set up the administrative machinery for the control of the fleet.Henry was acutely aware of the importance of securing a male heir during his reign. He was worried that he had only one surviving child, Mary, to show for his marriage to Catherine, who was now in her 40s. So the king asked Cardinal Wolsey to appeal to Pope Clement VII for an annulment and it soon became clear he wanted to marry Anne Boleyn, who had been a lady-in-waiting to his first wife.Henry's third marriage, this time to lady-in-waiting, Jane Seymour, finally produced the son he so desperately desired with the birth of Edward in 1537. Jane Seymour died after childbirth and Henry ordered that she be granted a queen's funeral.In an attempt to establish ties with the German Protestant alliance, Thomas Cromwell arranged a marriage between the king and German princess Anne of Cleves. The marriage was a disaster and Henry divorced Anne a few months later. Henry blamed Cromwell for this mismatch and soon afterwards had him executed for treason.I have done the PPT is about the background of the British bourgeois revolution. Many factors contributed the outbreak of the English Civil War in the 17th century. For example,the wars of the roses, the enclosure movement, and the extension of foreign trade and capital.With the development of the British capitalist economy, the bourgeoisie and new nobility is growing stronger, they seek not only the political rights, but also for economic development of capitalism.Because of the stuarts dictatorship prevented the development of the society, harm the interests of the bourgeoisie, the new aristocracy, and intensified some new social contradictions.With the development of capitalism and the bourgeoisie strength enhancement, the contradiction between the monarchy and the bourgeoisie will become more and more serious.For the above reason eventually led to the British bourgeois revolution。