2010-2011学年英语国家概况教案

Chapter 1 Introduction of UK

Teaching Aims and Requirements:

To make a short introduction to UK;

To fully understand the details of the four parts of UK;

To know something more about the important Ages of England, Scotland and Wales.

Teaching Importance:

England and Scotland

Teaching Periods:

4*50

?

Teaching Procedure:

1. Introduce all the important points in this chapter.

2. Explain them as detailed as possible.

3. Rationalism

It refers to the belief that reason is the primary source of knowledge, and Human beings could

understand Nature through reasoning because Nature followed rational laws.

1) Major Greek philosophers

A. Thales (624-550 BC)

a. He claimed that Nature is rational; therefore, human beings could use their reasoning abilities

to understand Nature.

b. He reasoned that water is the basis of everything.

B. Anaximander (611-547 BC)

a.

He

disagreed

that

water

or

any

single

substance

could

explain

everything,

but

viewed

the

world in terms of opposites.

b. He incorporated mathematical ideas to describe the world.

C. Pythagoras (570-500 BC)

Pythagorean theory (

勾股定理

); explaining the entire natural world with numbers.

D. Heraclitus (535-475 BC)

a. He introduced the concept of change as the only unchanging reality in the universe.

b. He compared life to a flowing river: a person cannot step into the same river twice.

c. Opposites are inherently connected.

d.

?

Unity in opposition

?

created for perpetual change.

E. Parmenides (515-440 BC)

a. Change was an illusion.

b.

Human

reasoning

could

discover

the

hidden

universal

truth(s)

disguised

by

the

facade

of

change.

F. Democritus (460-390 BC)

a. Everything in the universe obeys the laws of necessity; they are the result of mechanical laws.

b. atomic theory, explaining that nothing actually changes.

2) Socrates, Aristotle, Plato

A. Socrates (470-399 BC)

a.

He

disagreed

with

the

Sophists,

and

argued

that

some

norms

are

universally

valid

and

absolute.

b.

two

types

of

knowledge:

innate

or

a

priori

knowledge

and

empirical

or

a

posteriori

knowledge.

c. question- and-answer technique, called the Socratic method.

B. Plato (428-347 BC)

a. There were a limited number of forms (ideas), transcending the sensory world.

b. True, absolute and eternal knowledge must be a priori, or innate within human beings.

c. Idealism: Mind over Matter

—

Human senses provide inexact concepts of things; only human

reason can give us true knowledge about the world.

d. the Republic

—

Every person could reach the highest level of wisdom and virtue possible in

his society.

C. Aristotle (385-323 BC)

a. To Plato, the highest reality was gained through reason; to Aristotle, the highest reality was

gained through the physical senses.

b. Plato

?

s motto was

?

Mind over Matter

?

, but Aristotle

?

s motto was

?

Matter over Mind

?

.

c. Reason depended on the senses.

d. Four causes for why events occur in the natural world: material, efficient, formal and final.

e. He founded the science of logic: syllogism.

f. Geocentric theory: the earth was the center of the universe; women were

?

incomplete

?

men.

4. The Middle Ages/ the Medieval Period

It is a thousand-year-feudal era which occurred between Antiquity and the Modern Age, when

the Christian dominated Western Europe.

a. Christianity

b. Christians accepted some earlier ideas.

c. religious interpretation/the study of theology

5. The Renaissance

It refers to the rebirth of knowledge in Europe, particularly the rediscovery of the Greco-Roman

texts, based on a new humanism which focused on Man and characterized by changes in all areas

of human endeavor.

1) Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

the father of modern Rationalism and the father of modern Western philosophy

a. mathematical logic

b. dualism

c.

?

What am I?

?—

I am a thinking, conscious being for as long as I am thinking.

2) John Locke (1632-1704)

the modern father of Empiricism

a. Reflection

b. Nurture Vs Nature //concept of the blank mind

c. corresponding theory

d. some political views

3) David Hume (1711-1776)

a. impressions & ideas

b. concept of open mindedness

c. the law of Causation

4) George Berkeley (1685-1753)

a.

Locke

and

Hume

said

that

ideas

come

from

the

mind

?

s

reflection

on

the

physical

world;

Berkeley argued that ideas come from the mind of a supernatural All-perceiver.

b. The foundation of all scientific knowledge is sense experience.

6. Modern Philosophy

1) Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

Combining elements of both Rationalism and Empiricism into one new comprehensive system

to explain how humans know the world.

2) Georg Hegel (1770-1831)

a. paradoxical nature of change

b. concept of dialectal change

7. Modern philosophical trends

1) Existentialism (meaning & morality)

2) Positivism (Radical Empiricism)

Nature & Science; Russell & Wittgenstein

3) Pragmatism

8. Consider and discuss the questions of EX4 and EX5.

Chapter 2 Geography of UK

Teaching Aims and Requirements:

To make a full knowledge of UK

?

s physical geography, general characteristics and political

divisions

Teaching Importance:

Location; geographical characteristics; political regions

Teaching Periods:

3*50

?

Teaching Contents:

1. Location

1) a. Situated in the Northwestern Europe;

b. lying to the north of France, to the west of the Netherlands and Denmark, and to the east of

the Republic of Ireland

2)

The

English

Channel

&

the

North

Sea

keeps

Britain

from

Europe;

the

Irish

and

Celtic

seas

separate Britain from Ireland.

3) Smaller islands: Western: Hebrides; Northern: Orkneys, Shetlands; Southern: Angelsey, Scilly,

Wright, Man, Channel

2. General characteristics:

1) Land area:

about 242,534 sq km; 1000 km long; 500-150 km wide; Higher in the northwest; lower in the

southeast

2) Climate:

a. Remarkably mild maritime climate; favorable

b. It is

moderated by

the North Atlantic Drift Current. It

is

much milder than that of many

places

in

the

same

latitude,

Labrador

in

Canada,

Alaska

in

America

and

Heilongjiang

in

China.

c. Rich amount of rainfall: 760-1000mm per year

d. Dreary weather; foggy

3) Mountains:

a. Not high

b. Ben Nevis: highest in UK (Scotland; 1343m); Gwynedd: highest in Wales (1085m); Scafell:

highest in England (978m); Silieve Donard: highest in N. Ireland (852m)

4) Rivers:

a. Most are rapid.

b. The Severn River is the longest, rising in the mountains of Wales, tumbling and dashing, fast

flowing into England, and finally reaching the Irish Sea at the Bristol Channel.

c. The Thames River is the most important, dropping and flowing slowly, and passing through

historic towns: Oxford & Windsor

5) Transportation:

ng: good harbors and waterways due to the heavily indented coastlines and many short

rivers; Main deep-water ports: London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Southampton, Cardiff and Belfast

b. Canals: Now for pleasure boating

c. Railways: about 1,7000km; Chunnel (1994)

d. Roads: well-drained; well-engineered

e. Airports: 54 airports (1995); Heathrow: the busiest international airport

3. Water

key geographical feature; less than 3%of the land area of PRC but more than 60% of coastline

of PRC; the Atlantic Drift Current

4. Political Regions

I. England: 130,836 sq km

1) The Pennines:

a. The backbone of central northern England

b. Extending from the Scottish border to Birmingham

c. Divided into three sections: Northern: moorland & Northern Yorkshire Dales; Central: karst

plateaus; Southern: Tourism

2) Lake District:

a. Located in Cumbria and northern Lancashire

b.

Several

geological

types:

South:

moorland;

North:

weathered

slate

and

mudstone

hills;

Central: Lakeland Dome

3) Vale of Eden:

Productive agricultural section; Major transportation corridor

4) Lowlands: Agriculture & Industry

a. Rich, red marl

b. Major industrial sites: three sections

the Lancashire or Cheshire Plain---west of the Pennines; the Midlands---south of the Pennines,

the Industrial Heart of England or the Black Country; the Vale of York ---east of the Pennines

5) Southern Uplands:

a. Masses of granite

b. Minerals: clay for Staffordshire pottery; quarry granite for construction

c. Climate: one of the warmest, most pleasant regions

6) South & Southeast

Lined

with

hedgerows;

London;

The

Thames

River;

Visualized

as

a

broken

bowl

(P37);

Stonehenge

II. Wales (Cymru): 20764 sq km; mountainous land

Sheep & tourism; The Severn River; unemployment

III. Scotland: about 80,000 sq km

1) Gaelic & English

2) Three sections: the Highlands and Western Isles; Lowlands; Southern uplands

3) the Highlands and Western Isles:

a. Thin soils; tough gneisses, schists, and metamorphic rocks

b. Loch Ness in the Great Glen

c. Ben Nevis in the western Highlands

d. Sphagnum & heather

4) Lowlands:

a. Densely populated

b. Steep hills and strangely winding rivers

c.

Edinburgh

(the

capital

of

Scotland):

the

banking

and

legal

center

of

Scotland;

Edinburgh

University; major paper and publishing industry; Edinburgh Festival

5) Southern uplands:

a. Rounded, rolling hills

b. Sheep---the main agricultural product

c. Border country---old castles

IV

. Northern Ireland (Ulster): 14160 sq km

a. Saucer-shaped (31)

b. Not rich in minerals; bogs for plentiful peat

c. Linen; livestock

d. Imported oil and coal

e. Tourism

5. Current situation

1) Advantages:

strong

national

characters;

strong

technological

and

education;

good

source

of

fuel;

highly

efficient agriculture

2) Problems:

trade imbalance; water shortage; increasing competition from outside; uncertain involvement in

EU

6. Consideration

Consider the questions after this chapter.

Chapter 3 History of UK

（

1

）

Teaching Aims and Requirements:

To let the students make an almost full knowledge of the history of the United Kingdom;

To

let

the

students

pay

special

attention

to

some

important

historic

events

and

some

great

kings in the UK.

Teaching Importance:

The Roman Conquest; Henry II, III

Teaching Periods:

4*50

?

Teaching Contents:

I. Prehistory to the Norman Conquest

1. Iberians (2500 BC)

—

the Celtic Invasion (700 BC-300 BC)

1) From earliest known history until the Norman Conquest in 1066 AD, the British Isles were

invaded

by

migratory

tribes

and

pirates

landing

along

the

flat

southern

and

eastern

coastlines,

including Iberians, Celts, Saxons, Danes, Phoenicians, Romans and Normans.

2) The first known inhabitants were collectively known as

Iberians

’

, and inhabited Great

Britain during the Stone and Bronze Ages.

3) From the 7th to 3rd century BC, the Celtic tribes arrived from territory that is now Germany

and

the

Netherlands,

pushing

the

Iberians

into

the

highlands

of

Wales,

Northwest

England

and

Scotland.

2. Roman Britain

1) Invasions:

a. True Roman occupation was confined almost exactly to modern England and Wales, and

then England was divided into two sharply contrasting regions: the Latinized south and east, and

the Celtic north and west.

b. Julius Caesar waged two invasions of Britain: one in 55 BC failed, and the other in 54 BC

succeeded but did not lead to Roman occupation.

c. In 43 AD, the Roman emperor Claudius ordered the full Roman conquest of Britain.

2) Contributions:

a. The Romans built military roads and constructed forts to hold troops at strategic locations

along the roads. These roads were marvels of engineering, straight, raised above ground level and

wide enough for a troop of soldiers to travel.

b. The Romans built many towns and cities and bound them together, for example, London,

Bath, etc.

c. The government of Roman Britain was decentralized, so larger towns had self-government.

d. However, the Roman armies were never able to stabilize the fiercely defended and rugged

northern frontier. So, finally the emperor Claudius renovated Hadrian

?

s Wall.

3. Nordic Invasions (300-1042)

1) The Anglo-Saxon Conquest

Language; culture; common law; conversion to Christianity

2) The Vikings: the Danes

3) Alfred the Great: Father of the British Navy

4. The Norman Conquest (1042-1066)

1) Cause:

In 1066, Edward the Confessor dies with no clear heir to the throne of England. Harold, Earl

of Wessex was selected as King by the Witan, but immediately challenged by Harold Hardrada,

King of Norway, and William, Duke of Normandy, whom Edward gave his claim to.

2) Result:

Harold

defeated

Harold

Hardrada

at

the

Battle

of

Stamford

Bridge

but

was

defeated

by

William

near

Hastings.

On

Dec.

25,

1066,

William

was

crowned

as

William

I

at

Westminster

Abbey by the Archbishop of York.

3) Methods to establish the occupation of England:

a. Devastation of the rebellious, and castles to protect garrisons;

b.

Break-up

of

the

old Saxon

earldoms

and

establishment

of

centralized

royal

government

managed by a new, French-speaking Norman aristocracy;

c. Appointment of administrative officers carrying out a variety of government functions as

tax collectors, troop leaders and judges;

d. A solvent royal treasury;

e. An alliance with the Roman Catholic church.

4) Contributions:

The feudal system was completely established in England. Relations with the Continent were

opened,

and

civilization

and

commence

were

extended.

Norman-French

culture,

language,

manners, and architecture were introduced. The church was brought into closer connection with

Rome, and the church was separated from the civil courts.

II. From the Norman Conquest to the Renaissance

After William I died in 1087, he was succeeded by William II, who was murdered, and Henry I

was crowned. Henry I died without a male heir, and was followed as King by Stephen, his nephew,

and then by his grandson Henry, Henry II.

1. William I

1) Giving his barons large estates in England in return for a promise of military service and a

proportion of the land

’

s produce

2) Replacing the Witan with the Grand Council of his new tenants-in-chief

3)

Developing

his

policy

towards

the

church,

keeping

it

completely

under

his

control

and

upholding its power

4) Compiling a property record book known as Domesday Book

2. Henry I

1) The first king of the House of Plantagenet

2) The influence in three areas

a. the area of law

b. the area of foreign territorial claims

c. the reform of certain abuses in Church government

3)

his

ordering

the

murder

of

the

Archbishop

Of

Canterbury,

Thomas

Becket,

in

Canterbury

Cathedral - stabbed at the high alter in 1170

3. King John and Magna Carta

1) Disasters caused by King John

2) Philip Augustus

3) Response of the barons

4) Magna Carta: the Great Charter

a.

main

points:

no

tax

without

the

approval

of

the

Grand

Council;

no

freeman

arrested,

imprisoned or deprived of his property except by the law of the land

b.

Significance:

foundation

of

English

liberties;

guarantee

of

the

freedom

of

the

church;

limitation of the powers of the king

4. Henry III and Parliament

1) Troubles

2) Montfort

’

s rebellion

3) The forming of Parliament

5. Edward I

1) Prince of Wales

2) King of Scotland

3) Expansion of royal power

6. Edward III

1) Hundred Years

?

War (1337-1453)

2) Black Death (1348-1349)

3) The Statute of Laborers (1351)

4) Nationalism: the war against France and hostility against the Pope

7. Richard II

1) Peasant uprising

2) The Wars of the Roses: 1455-1485

a. involved with two families

Lancaster----red rose;

York----white rose

b. significance

ordinary

people

little

affected;

feudalism

receiving

death

blow;

king

’

s

power

being

supreme

History of UK

（

2

）

Teaching Aims and Requirements:

To let the students make an almost full knowledge of the history of the United Kingdom;

To

let

the

students

pay

special

attention

to

some

important

historic

events

and

some

great

kings in the UK.

Teaching Importance:

Henry VII & VIII; Elizabeth I

Teaching Periods:

3*50

?

Teaching Contents:

III. The Tudors: Sea Power and Renaissance (1485-1603)

Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I

1. Henry VII

1) The first king of the Tudors

2) A secure country

3) Lady Margaret Tudor

2. Henry VIII

1) He created the Royal Navy, the basis of future British sea power

2) He made England stable and prosperous

3) He was above all responsible for the religious reform of the Church.

3. Mary I

1) Restoration of Catholicism

2) Killing of more than 300 protestants

3) Bloody Mary

4. Elizabeth I

1) Characters

2) War with Spain

3) Elizabethan age (part of Renaissance)

a. It was characterized by wars, rebellions, personal and party strife, and intense competition.

b. It was largely literary flowering, especially the Elizabethan drama.

c.

William

Shakespeare:

37

plays;

comedies

—

Merchant

of

Venice,

As

you

like

it,

Mid-Summer

Night

’

s

Dream,

Much

Ado

about

Nothing;

Tragedies

—

Romeo

and

Juliet,

Macbeth, Hamlet, King Lear, Othello; Historical plays

—

Richard II, Henry V

, Richard III

d. Christopher Marlowe: Dr. Faustus

e. King James Bible