Chapter 1
1.the geographical composition of the U.K.: two/four parts
2.the population: the majority / the earliest inhabitants
3.the English language: the Germanic group of the Indo-European family / three
periods
Chapter 2
4.Westminster Abbey
5.1066, Norman Conquest, feudalism
6.Henry II—jury system
7.Magna Carta
8.the Hundred Years’ War
9.House of Tudor: medieval to modern
10.Religious Reformation: the Roman Catholic Church VS. Henry VIII
11.two camps of the Civil War
12.the Glorious Revolution, the Bill of Rights, constitutional monarchy
13.the Industrial Revolution: reasons / effects
14.the British Empire —colonization
15.Three Majestic Circles
Chapter 3
16.the British Constitution: three parts
17.a division of powers among three branches
18.Parliament —the law-making body; two houses
The House of Commons —center of parliamentary power
19.the role of the Prime Minister
20.The House of Lords —Supreme Court
21.Scotland —a distinct legal system
22.right/left wing party
23.a general election —every 5 years
24.The Commonwealth —decolonization; an unpolitical union of sovereign states
Chapter 4
25.Margaret Thatcher and her controversial policies
26.three sectors of economy —primary, secondary and tertiary
27.the major trends in the British economy
28.two pillar industries of the current British economy
Chapter 5
29.British compulsory education —5 to 16
30.four stages
secondary education —comprehensive school
further education —sixth form
31.two systems
independent system —public schools
32.GCSE, A-levels
33.Oxford University —oldest
Cambridge University —more Nobel Prize winners
34.“Big Three” of the quality press
35.Boxing Day / Easter / Trooping the Color / Bonfire Night
Chapter 6
36.the Renaissance —sonnet / drama
William Shakespeare, Hamlet
37.the Neo-Classical Period:
Jonathan Swift —satire, Gulliver’s Travels
Daniel Defoe —progenitor of the novel in English, Robinson Crusoe
38.the Romantic Period
the Lake Poets / second generation
39.the Victoria Period —novel
Realism: Charles Dickens / Thomas Hardy
New literary trends —Neo-Romanticism / Aestheticism
40.the Modern Period:
stream of consciousness
Chapter 8
41.Stars and Stripes
42.50 states (48+2) and Washington D.C.
the smallest and the largest
43.the Appalachian Range / Rocky mountains
44.Great Lakes / Niagara Falls
45.the Mississippi River
46.New England
47.New York (the largest city), Los Angeles (second largest), San Francisco (largest
Chinatown)
48.population —while /blacks / asians / natives / mixed race
49.a “melting pot” and a “salad bowl”
50.dominant American culture / cultural diversity
Chapter 9
51.1607, James Town
52.American War of Independence
first shots / turning point / a decisive victory
53.1755, Philadelphia, the Second Continental Congress
54.July 4th, 1776, Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence
Independence Day (the national day)
55.American Civil War
Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation—abolishing slavery
