新编英美c文化 unit 1.ppt

* Irish Jig吉格舞 * cities London * * * * * * * * St. James Park, London * England Windsor Castle Leeds Castle * Fish and Chips English staple food * Caerphilly Castle, South Wales * Beaumaris Castle, N. Wales * Supplementary Video Clip Brave heart * * Unit 1 Background to Britain * Focal Questions What is the full name of the British state? What countries does it consist of? What is the total population of the United Kingdom? Where do most people live? * * * Do you know the meaning of the following terms? Celts Britain England Anglo-Saxons Indo-European language Germanic language Vikings Norman conquest * Land The British Isles is a traditional term used to identify the group of islands off the northwest coast of Europe consisting of Great Britain, Ireland and the many smaller adjacent islands (over 16). These islands form an archipelago off the west coast of Europe, 315,134 km2 (121,674 square miles). To many Irish people as well as Scottish and Welsh nationalists, the term British Isles is unacceptable. * Land The term is no longer used in Irish state documents, has been abandoned from Irish schoolbooks and is being phased out of textbooks. Its usage is also decreasing in official British state documentation, out of sensitivity to the concerns of Irish, Scottish and Welsh people and the evolving new geo-political relationships. * Alternatives However the issue of a replacement term remains unsettled as of 2003, though in the context of the Northern Ireland peace process the term Islands of the North Atlantic (IONA), a term initially created by former Conservative Party MP Sir John Biggs-Davison, has been used as a neutral term to describe these islands . * Land The name Great Britain was not applied to this large island until the 17th century. Its southern part adopted the name England in the 5th century when groups of invaders from Northern Europe, traditionally called the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, were taking possession of this area. Thei