英语国家社会与文化入门(II)

1、英语国家社会与文化入门（II）名词解释题1. American IndiansAmerican Indians , who were mistakenly called by Columbus, moved to the Americas from Asia about 25 000 years ago. They developed their own aboriginal cultures and some of them such as the Aztecs, the Incas and the mayas were very advanced when Europeans arrive

2、d in the New World. But, as a result of European conquest, the Indian population was quickly reduced and their cultures were ruthlessly destroyed. 2. the Declaration of IndependenceThe Declaration of Independence was mainly drafted by Thomas Jefferson and was adopted by the Congress on July 4,1776,

3、when the people of 13 English colonies in North America were fighting fortheir freedom and independence from the British colonial rule. The document declared that all men were equal and that they were entitled to have some unalienable rights such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It als

4、o explained the philosophy of governments:the powers of governments came from the consent of the governed and the purpose of governmemts was to secure the rights mentioned above.The theory of politics and the guiding principles of the American Revolution mainly came from John Locke.3. Ggeorge Washin

5、gtonGeorge Washington was one of the founding fathers of the American Republic. He was the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army in the War of Independence against the British colonial rule and the first President of the United States.4. Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson was one of the founding

6、fathers of the American Republic He was the chief author of the Declaration of Independence and the third President of the United States.5. Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin was one of the founding fathers of the American Republic.He participated in writing the Declaration of Independence and maki

7、ng the U.S.Constitution.6. the Articles of ConfederationAfter the War of Independence was won, the new nation of the United States was organized under the agreement of the Articles of Confederation with a weak national government called the Congress. Each state had its own government, made its own l

8、aws and handle its internal affairs. The states did not cooperate with the Congress and with each other. The Congress had no power to force anystate to contribute money to the national government and the Congress could not tax any citizen either. As a ressult,the Articles of Confederation failed.7.

9、the Bill of Rights The Bill of Rights consssists of the first 10 amendments which were added to the Constitution in 1791. The Bill of Rights was passed to guarantee freedom and individual rights such as freedom of speech, the right to assemble in public places, the right to own weapons and so on.8.

10、Eli WhitneyEli Whitney is an American inventor who invented the cotton gin, which made removing the seeds from the bolls of cotton much easier. He also began manufacuring rifles with machinery, using interchanageable part. This contributed to the American system of massproduction.9. service industri

11、esService industries are industries that sell a service rather than make a product. Service industries range from banking to telecommunications to the provision of meals in restaurants. Aas more and more people are employed iin service industries in the US, it is sometimed said that the US has moved

12、 into a “post-industrial era “.10. stockWhen starting or expanding business, corporations need to borrow money. They may issue stocks for people to buy. When people buy stock, they become part owner of the company. If the company makes a profit, they receive a share of it . Likewise, if the company

13、loses money, the stockholders will not make a profit or the value of their shares will drop-they lose money. Therefore buying s tock is a risk. 11. Mattin Luther Ling,JrMartin Luther King,Jr.,an Atlanta-born Baptist minister, was the leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference during the

14、civil rights movement of the 1960s. To promote his philosophy of nonviolent protest against segregationand other kindds of social injustice, King organized a series of “marches”. King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Due to his strong belief in nonviolent peaceful protest, King was awar

15、ded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.He was assassinated in the city of Memphis in April 1968.12. Counter CultureIn the wake of the Free Speech Movement and the New Left appeared a phenomenon that historians called the “counter culture.” The Counter Culture rejected capitalism andd other American princ

16、iples. They had morals different from those taught by their parents.Some groups of youth tried to construct different ways of life. The counter culture exerted a great influence upon peoples attitudes toward social mores,marriage,career,and success.13.Now:With the publication of The Feminine Mystiqu

17、e in 1963,Betty Friedan became the chief spokesperson of the Womens Liberation Movement. In her book,she compared the American family,or the American society as a whole,to a “comfortable concentration camp”,where women were discriminated against and oppressed. In 1996,she helped to found the nationa

18、l Organization for Women(NOW).A reform organization,NOW battle for “equal rights in parnership with men.14.white-collar crimes White-collar crimes are those committed by higher income groups such as the crimes of fraud,false advertising,corporate price fixing,bribery,embezzlement,industrial pollutio

19、n,tax evasion and so on. Yet the statistics provided by the FBI tend to overrlook white-collar crimes.In fact,white-collarcrimes are often ignored by law enforcement agencies.Some sociologists aargue that the higher classes may actually have a higher rate of crime than the lower classes.15. the abus

20、e of power by governmentPeople believe that public organizations in the United States sometimes work in concert to advance their own interests rather than those of the people. Government in America is widely distrusted for the lack of answerability. Americans were convinced that the Johnson and Nixo

21、n administrations were deliberately and systematically lying to the people in the war against Vietnam and in the Watergate scandal. The FBI and the CIA are responsible for thousands of illegal acts. All these acts show the abuse of power by government.16. Richard NixonRichard Buxib was the former Pr

22、esident of the United states Iin the early 1970s, he was involved in the Watergate scandal, for which he was forced to resign from the presidency. 17. the Prairies The prairie provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba lie east of the Rockies. The prairies are flat and featureless and have a ha

23、rsh continental climate. They are called the breadbasket of Canada becaussse the land is well-suited to farming, and wheat is one of the biggest agricultural crops in this area.The praairies are also rich in energy resources.18. central CanadaCentral Canada, Ontario and Quebec, are the parts of the

24、country that were first settled. They are the industrial heartland of the country and are also the most densely populated provincees. They have the largest cities like Toronto and Montreal.19. The Canadian Charter of Rights and FreedomsThe canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which was introduce

25、d in 1982, expressed the idea thaat any ethnic, racial and religious groups which wanted to retain their cultural identity would be supported by the federal government. This promise was further strengthened and explained in the 1988 Multiculturalism Act. 20. Structures of governmeentCanadas systerm

26、of government is based on the British system of parliamentary democracy.Like Britain,Canada is a monarchy. The official head of state is the Queen, but she is represented by an official called a Governor General as she doesnt live in Canada. Canada is a federation with ten provinces and two territor

27、ies. The government of the country is referred to as “the federal government”,to distinguish it from the lower level government of each province.21. Immigration Act 1976The Immigration Act 1976 encouraged Asian immigration, offering passports to those with capital and entrepreneurial skills.Would-be

28、 immigrants with more than $250 000(Cdn )to invest in businesses that will create jobs and wealth wer welcomed to settle in Canada. This created a new category of ”entrepreneurial immigrants”.22.The Canadian MosaicCanada is a nation of immigrants. When Canada is described as a mosaic, it meaans that

29、 each if the immigrant groups do not have to throw off their oldd customs, languages and traditions, because there is no particular concept of an overarching Canadian identity.This resembles a mosaic of different cultures which overlap but do not overwhelm each other.23. “the First Nnations”The First Nations are the native tribes of aboriginal people who lived