大题英美概况 英文版

名词解释

1 bill of rights （英国美国）

英国the Bill of Rights of 1689

It is a Parliamentary act of Britain to invite William and Mary of Netherlands to serve as joint sovereign of British Monarchy. The Bill of Rights lays down limits on the powers of the monarch and sets out the rights of Parliament, including the requirement for regular parliaments, free elections, and freedom of speech in Parliament. It sets out certain rights of individuals including the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.

美国Bill of Rights: 1787

The Bill of Right is amendments to the Constitution. It consists of 10 short paragraphs which guarantee freedom and individual rights and forbid interference with lives of the individual by the government, freedom of religion, of speech and of the press; the right to assemble in public places, to protest government actions and to demand change. They have the right to own weapons; No one can stop and search a person without good reason. The accused have the right to defend him in court of a jury trial. Cruel punishment is forbidden.

Other Important amendments include, one forbidding slavery, rights of citizenship to people regardless of race, women’s right to vote, and lowering the voting age to 18.

2英国国旗

Union Jack--National Flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland:

The flag consists of three heraldic crosses: the cross of St. George (Patron Saint of England), St. Andrew (Scotland) and St. Patrick (Ireland).

3Magistrates’Courts (地方法庭)

The overwhelming majority of the public who come into contact with the court system will do so with the Magistrates’court,and there are more than 700 Magistrates’ Courts in England and Wales. However, nearly all of the UK’s criminals will pass through their doors. The Magistrate's court just deals with all kinds of petty cases, including criminal and civil cases.

4百年战争

The war between England and France started in 1337 when Edward III landed in Normandy. At first the English was on the offensive, but after a century’s fighting the war ended with the English army driven out of France in 1453影响（1）Ruling Normans came to regard Britain as their home and themselves as belonging to the English nation. English came to replace French as the official language.

（2）The war stimulated the development of the woolen textile industry, which leads to the Industrial Revolution.

（3) It also sped up the decline of English feudalism.

5玫瑰战争

In 1455 the Duke of York tried to displace Lancaster king, Henry VI. The Lancastrians (with the badge of red rose) were supported by the nobles in the Scot and Welsh, the feudal landowners, while the Yorkists (with the badge of white rose) got support from the progressive South, the commercial-minded gentry. It was a war between the backward landowners in the north and the progressive commercial gentry in the south.

The war ended in 1485 with the accession of Henry VII, the founder of the Tudor Monarchy.

6美国内战

The American Civil War started in 1861, when some slavery southern states declared secession from the US and formed the Confederate States of America because of their intention to keep the black slavery.During the war, President Lincohn announced the Emancipation of Proclamation. The war ended with the surrender of the Confederate armies and the collapse of Confederate government in spring 1865, and it put an end to the black slavery in the USA.

7美国土著人

25,000 years ago Siberian tribes, in search of hunting grounds or refuge from pursuing enemies, crossed the Bering Strait to Alaska. By late 1500s, about 20 million people, mistakenly called Indians by Christopher Columbus, lived in America. They developed their own aboriginal cultures, ranging from those of the primitive tribes to the brilliant civilizations of the Aztecs (阿兹台克文化), the Incas (印加文化) and the Mayas (玛雅文化).

8美国战争的导火索(波士顿倾茶事件)

In 1773, a group of American patriots responded to the Tea Act by staging the Boston Tea Party. Disguised as Indians, they boarded British ships and tossed 342 crates of tea into Boston harbor.

British responded with four intolerable acts (法令) on Boston. These acts closed the port of Boston, replaced civil government with martial law and sent more troops to Boston.

The British government responded harshly and the episode escalated into the American Revolution. The Tea Party became an iconic event of American history.

9美国的总统大选

The general election in three steps:

A. Primary election: two parties hold separate primary election to select delegates to their national party convention. It is a party business but organized by state public authority.

B. Party convention:

1) writing the party’s platform, a statement of the party’s policy

2) selecting the party’s presidential c andidate

After winning the nomination, the candidate makes an acceptance speech, thanking the delegates and promising to win the general election.

C. Nation-wide campaign and balloting

Winning the party’s nomination，the candidate and his team start with nation-wide campaign, a competitive effort of rival candidate to win support of voters with various means

10 美国最早宪法为什么行不通

P289The Constitutional Convention decided that the Constitution would go into effect once nine states, rather than all the 13 states, had ratified it. The Anti-federalists, mostly small farmers and people with debt, however, criticized the draft Constitution for its negligence of state power and the individual’s rights. The Constitution did not win its final ratification until the Federalists had promised to accept amendments proposed by the opponents. The promise paved the way for the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution ,which have known as the Bill of rights.

简答题

1英国的四次侵略

History of Invasions (Before 12th century):

1) Invasion from the Roman Empire:

The Romans started to invade England in 55 B.C. but they did not succeed to occupy England until 43 D.C., and the English were dominated for 360 years until 410.

2)Invasion from Angles and Saxons.

In the 5th century, to against Scotland, Britons found help from Angles and Saxons, who refused to leave and occupied the country. The Anglo-Saxons laid the foundation of the English state.

3) Raiding from Vikings in 8th century

In the 8th, 9th and 10th centuries A.D. There came a new wave of

invasion by the Vikings and Danes from North Europe.

4) Norman Conquest (1066):

Headed by William, Duke of Normandy, Edward’s cousin, Normans defeated the English army.

and the Normans dominated English for 300 years.

2.民主进程

1.Henry II 's reform:

He divided the country into six circuits and arranged the circuit judges who toured the country at least once a year. Investigations and trials helped to uncover the barons’illegal behavior and bring the lawless barons into submission.

2. The Great Charter:

The Great Charter is considered as “the corner stone of English history”It was the first step of constitutional experiment. It tried to set up a legal relationship between the king and his barons by defining their rights and obligations.

It set the basic rules for the English legal systems and rules of law began to challenge feudal despotism.

The starting of parliament英国民主进程

3.美国政治体制的优与劣

The advantages of the political system

the delegates set up the government consisting of three parts or branches, the executive, the legislative and the judicial.

Each branch has its own particular powers, which could limit the wrongful action that might be taken by any other two branches. And it can guard against the possibility of tyranny and deal with the possibility that the central government weaken the power of the state government. Problems of the Party System:

The two factors - appointing people to public office and the majority vote system - led to a concentration of the American party system.

Lack of party discipline and unity:

Lack of clear policy alternatives

Increase in inefficiency and legitimacy deficits