英美文化问答题

King Arthur was a legendary British leader of the late fifth and early sixth centuries, who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early sixth century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and his historical existence is debated and disputed by modern historians. The sparse historical background of Arthur is gleaned from various sources, including the Annales Cambriae, the Historia Brittonum, and the writings of Gildas. Arthur's name also occurs in early poetic sources such as Y Gododdin.Explain your understanding of how the United States is governed according to its constitution , including its polity and the check and balance mechanism of governing.In the course of the Convention, the delegates designed a new form of government for the United States. he plan for the government was written in very simple language in a document called the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution set up a federal system with a strong central government. A federal system is one in which power is shared between a central authority and its constituent parts, with some rights reserved to each. The Constitution also called for the election of a national leader, or president. It provided that federal laws would be made only by a Congress made up of representatives elected by the people. It also provided for a national court system headed by a Supreme Court.There are three branches of the federal government: legislative branch, executive branch and judicial branch.The legislative Branch is made up of elected representatives from all of the states and is the only branch that can make federal laws, levy federal taxes, declare war or put foreign treaties into effect. It consists of a Congress that is divided into two houses: The House of Representatives and The Senate.The chief executive of the United States is the president, who, together with the vice president, is elected to a four-year term. Under a Constitutional Amendment passed in 1951,a president can be elected to only two terms. The power of the presidency are formidable, but not without limitations. And the president has the authority to appoint federal judges as vacancies occur, including members of the Supreme Court. Under the Constitution, the president is primarily responsible for foreign relations with other nations.The judicial branch is headed by the Supreme Court, which is the only court specifically created by the Constitution. Federal judges are appointed for life or voluntary retirement, and can only be removed from office through the process of impeachment and trail in the Congress. The Supreme Court today consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices.When Americans talk about their three-part national government, they often refer to what they call its system of "checks and balances". This system works in many ways to keep serious mistakes from being made by one branch or another. But sometimes they do not work the way as they are supposed to work. Here are a example of checks and balances:If Congress proposes a law that the president thinks is unwise, the president can veto it. And the Senate must approve all treaties and confirm all appointments before they become official. In this way the Congress can prevent the president from making unwise appointments.Your understanding of the characteristics of American religion and its social functions。

America is a country full of immigrants. Different immigrants have taken to the USA the different religious belief. Nearly about 80% Americans have their own belief in the past time. And its religion features with diversity and colorfulness. Nevertheless, the basic characteristic is the dominance of Christianity and religious-oriented. There are three obvious characters of American religion:First of all, American with different religions live together under the same law. The Bill of Rights in the Us Constitution insists that there should be no state religion. That means that the government has no right to interfere in people's religious affairs.Secondly, the religious beliefs of Americans continue to be strong with social progress. Every Sunday morning, all over America, people pour into the churches. In America, through all the social and economic changes religion has remained a constant factor.Thirdly, in the United States every church is a completely independent organization,and concerned with its own finance and its own building.If one goes to a Protestant church,he or she will hear morality preached,but not a word of doctrine.Anglicans do not pay much attention to 39 articles on which the belief of the Anglican church is based.And the social function of American religion just like the function of glue that keeps society together. Protestantism is the most active and important element in the Christianity, and even in the American religion. The U.S. presidents, with few exceptions, are all Protestant.However, Roman Catholicism, the Orthodox Church and Protestantism, Judaism，Islam，Buddhism in addition to Christianity, the various Oriental religions, and all sorts of new and developing religions, are also members of American religions，which have their own distinctive features and are playing their own unique roles in American religions.The United States has always been considered a nation built on Christianity. Hence, the number of Christian is an important factor which can indicates the general condition of US religion. The investigation shows that in 2008 76% of American adults confessed they are Christian. However, the proportion in 1990 was 86%. In other words, over the past 20 years, the proportion of American Christians in population decreased by 10 %.How do you understand the saying：“British history has been a history of invasion”？British history has been a history of invasions. Before the 1st century AD Britain was made up of tribal kindoms of Celtic people. They brought the central Europen culture to Britain. Then in 43AD, Roman Empire invaded Britain and controlled it for slave society but also disseminated their Catholicism.However, in the 5th century, the Roman Empire rapidly waned in power and Britain was conquered by the Angles and the Saxons. In order to defend the Saxons, a great leader—King Arthur appeared. He created the "round table" to satisfy all the knights' requirement of having equal precedence. Thus it gradually formed the monarchy in Britain as a more democratic system. Whether Arthur's a real person in the history or not, Anglo-Saxons did succeed in invading Britain and they were the forefathers of the English.In the 8th century, the Vikings from Denmark controlled the nothern and eastern England. A Anglo-Saxon herio, king Alfred the Great fought against the vikings with the truly English. And that's why there's a certain cultural difference between northerners and southerners in England.Later, the Nomans from northern France, under the leading of William of Normandy, killed the king and William became the Frist of England. They imported a rulling class that French-speaking Norman aristocracy rulled Saxon and English-speaking population. In this condition, there weren't a lot of rebellions among the English people. That directly formed an English unique character: a richly unconventional interior life hidden by an external conformity. Even today, we can still find this personality from the British people through their lifestyles.In fact, such invasion is a peaceful history of joining together the various parts of the British Isles and the power gradually transferred from the monarch to the parliament. So the constitutional monarchy has been established in Britain.Which foreign festival do you like best and why？Among all those foreign festivals,Christmas is my favourite.And I believe it's also the biggest and best loved holiday in many western countries.There are plenty of reasons for me to love Christmas.In western countries,schools close for the holiday period,as do shops and offices,so people can spend time at home with their families.While Christmas has a Christian meaning--it commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ--celebrations of the Winter Solstice have taken place since ancient times and some"Christian"traditions such as decorating the house with evergreen plants like holly and ivy,or kissing under a twig of mistletoe,are actually Celtic or pagan traditions.Nowadays,Christmas is celebrated by most Britons by exchanging gifts and Christmas cards,preparing holiday foods,and decorating homes and workplaces with coloured lights,Christmas trees and ornaments.There are three Christmas traditions which are particularly funny.One is the Christmas Pantomime,a comical musical play.The "panto" is usually based on a version of a traditional children's story like Cinderella,written to include songs and jokes which can be enjoyed by adults and children.The main man character--the "principal boy"--is played by a young woman.In the days when women wore long skirts,it was considered rather naughty to see a woman appear in an outfit which revealed the shape of her legs.The main female character is a middle-aged, often ugly woman called "the Dame." The Dame is played by a man, often a famous actor or sportsman. When he appears in heavy make up, skirts and woman's shoes, it is considered very humorous. The audience is encouraged to cheer the hero on and boo when the villain appears. Another Christmas tradition in British is to hear the Queen give her Christmas message to her realm over the television and radio. The British Queen is also the Queen of other nations, like Canada and Australia, and so her message is broadcast to her millions of subjects throughout the world. She usually talks about the year that has passed and expresses her hopes for the future.The third funny tradition, which is also celebrated in countries with British heritages, is Boxing Day, which falls on the day after Christmas. Traditionally, it was on Boxing Day that people gave Christmas gifts or money to their staff or servants. Now that most British people do not have servants, this custom is no longer observed and most people cannot even tell you what one is supposed to do on Boxing Day. Some think it involves the sport of boxing and others think it has something to do with the Boxer uprising in China. However, a new Boxing Day custom has emerged, in the cities at least: shopping. Shops open up to sell off all their Christmas stock decorations, food, cards and gift items at low prices. But for most people, however, Boxing Day is a day for visiting, eating and relaxing.。