英国文化第一章桌面上的

Who are the British? I. The Immigration to the British Isles and Ireland British Isles 不列颠群岛 ※ isle  (chiefly poetic/literary)an island or peninsula, especially a small one(主诗/文)小岛；小半岛] Eg: Crusoe's fabled isle.克鲁索虚构的小岛。 [in place names]the British Isles.不列颠群岛。 The British Isles are a group of islands lying off the coast of NW Europe, from which they are separated by the North Sea and the English Channel. They include Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Hebrides, the Orkney Islands, the Shetland Islands, the Scilly Isles, and the Channel Islands 不列颠群岛（位于欧洲西北近海，与欧洲大陆之间隔有北海和英吉利海峡，包括不列颠岛、爱尔兰岛、马恩岛、赫布里底群岛、奥克尼群岛、设得兰群岛、锡利群岛和海峡群岛）不列颠群岛今天有两个主权国家并存，分别是英国和爱尔兰共和国。 人口 1.population distribution 人口分布： Britain has a population of about 57 millions（5700万） and it is very unevenly distributed. 90% of the population is urban and only 10% is rural. The population of Britain is made up mainly of the English (81.5%), the Scottish (9.6%), the Welsh (1.9%), the Irish (2.4%), the Northern Irish (1.8%) and other peoples (2.8%). 英国人口约5700万，分布极不均匀，90%是城市人口，只有10%是农村人口。英国人口组成为：英格兰人（81.5%），苏格兰人（9.6%），威尔士人（1.9%），爱尔兰人（2.4%）、北爱尔兰人（1.8%）和其他民族居民（2.8%）。 2.The difference between the ancestors : The ancestors of the English are Anglo- Saxons The Scots, Welsh and Irish are Celts. 英格兰人祖先属于盎格鲁-萨克逊人，而苏格兰、威尔士和爱尔兰人的祖先属于凯尔特人。 3.The difference in character The Welsh are emotional and cheerful people. They are music lovers and are proud of their past. 威尔士人感情丰富，情绪高涨，热爱音乐，为过去感到自豪。 The Scots are said to be a serious, cautious and thrifty people, and they are also hospitable, generous and friendly. 苏格兰人通常被认为严肃、谨慎而且节俭，但是他们同样也热情、大方且友好。 The Irish are charm and vivacity. 爱尔兰人充满魅力，生性活泼。 4.The difference in speech betweensouthern England and northern England: 英格兰南方人和北方人语言上的差别： Southerners speak the type of English close to BBC English; In northern England, regional speech is usually "broader" than that of southern England. 南方人讲的英语接近BBC，北英格兰人的发音通常要比南英格兰人宽。 5.The Welsh keep their language and culture in this way: 威尔士人以这样的方式使他们的语言及文化保持活力： Throughout the year they have festivals of song and dance and poetry called Eisteddfodau. The great event of the year is the National Eisteddfod. On these occasions competitions are held in Welsh poetry, music, singing and art. 一年中他们有称之为"艺术年会"的歌唱、舞蹈、诗歌节。一年中最重要的节日是全国诗歌音乐比赛。在这些场合会举行威尔士诗歌、音乐、歌唱和艺术比赛。 6.The main problem in Northern Ireland: The fight between the Protestants who are the dominant group, and the Roman Catholics, who are seeking more social, political and economic opportunities. 作为社会主体的新教徒和要求更多社会、政治及经济权利的罗马天主教徒之间的斗争。 7.Immigrants: 移民： About three million have come to Britain to live and find work since World War II.自从二战以来约有三百万人来到英国生活和工作。 Earliest settlers: 10,000 years ago, the Stone Age hunters and gatherers—arrived from European continent. 1)The Paleolithic Period: 2,000,000-10,000 BC hunting,fishing 2)The Mesolithic Period（10,000-8,000 BC）a transitional period  3） Then the Neolithic (新石器时代的) peoples followed them—agriculturalists, they kept domestic animals. 2000 BC, the Stone Age people started to erect huge monuments, or (henges of giant rock slabs), possibly for religious purposes until the Bronze Age, about 1500 BC Easy communication between the islands and the continental mainland must have existed and from early times this encouraged migration迁移. Around 700 BC, (by the end of the Bronze Age) Celtic peoples had arrived from north Europe. They belonged to the Iron Age by their iron-working. They continued to come for about 500 years. 凯尔特是欧洲古代文明之一，北方的日耳曼人和凯尔特人被并称为蛮族，他们之间频繁的冲突与碰撞。现代欧洲的各民族在很大程度上源自于他们。凯尔特人身材魁伟、长颅白肌、金发碧眼。 他们“整个种族都狂热地喜好战争，勇武自信，敏于作战。当他们受到煽动时，会相当直率而不加深思熟虑地召集人马去战斗，以致于很容易受到那些图谋哄骗他们的人的操纵”。凯尔特战士怀着满腔怒火，徒然而狂乱地冲向敌人，直至牺牲他们的生命。凯尔特人在战况不利于己时所表现的战斗激情，同样给人留下了深刻的印象。他们在对手投射过来的密集标枪箭矢之下，不是设法保护自己，而是像狂暴而冲动的野兽一般扑向敌人，完全没有一丝理性；斧剑之下，他们被纷纷砍倒，但只要身体内还有一口气，这股盲目的狂热劲就未失去。甚至在被箭矛刺穿身体时，他们也还靠着支撑其生命的顽强精神而坚持下去。其中一些人甚至从他们的伤口拔出击中他们的长矛，掷向敌人或用它来刺敌人。关于凯尔特人的脾性，除去坦率和天性狂热之外，还极其轻浮，大言不惭”，“胜利时傲气凌人，而失败时又垂头丧气”。恺撒在《高卢战记》中对此也有不少类似的评述，抱怨高卢人“性情浮躁，轻于寻衅惹祸”，“气质也很脆弱，完全经受不起挫折”，脾气“反复无常”，行事“轻率”，但又禁不住称赞他们“原是一个极机灵的民族，最善于模仿和制作别人传去的任何事物”。 1. Until the Romans first landed in 55 BC, the Celtic culture was well established. Note: the earliest written records of British inhabitants come from the Romans who eventually conquered the various Celtic kingdoms then flourishing in England, Wales and the Scottish Lowlands. 英国位于欧洲大陆西北岸外的大西洋中，它悬置于欧洲大陆之外，但是来自大陆的一次次外力的冲击，却把它纳入了欧洲社会的历史进程。公元前55年凯撒统帅的罗马军团扬帆而至，不列颠开始纳入西方进程。 凯撒大帝Julius Caesar(100-44BC)罗马共和国（今地中海沿岸等地区）末期杰出的军事统帅。恺撒出身贵族，历任财务官、祭司长、大法官、执政官、独裁官等职。公元前60年与庞培、克拉苏秘密结成前三头同盟，随后出任高卢总督，花了八年时间征服了高卢全境（大约是现在的法国），还袭击了日耳曼和不列颠。公元前49年，他率军占领罗马，打败庞培，集大权于一身，实行独裁统治。公元前44年，恺撒遭以布鲁图所领导的元老院成员暗杀身亡。恺撒死后，其甥孙及养子屋大维击败安东尼开创罗马帝国并成为第一位帝国皇帝。 II. The Scots 1. The Scots (like the Welsh) object to being called “English”. They like to be called “Scots”, or “Scottish”, and not “Scotch”.  Their earliest known ancestors: Picts and the Celts. The Gaelic language is still spoken in remote parts. Picts: One of an ancient people of northern Britain. They remained undefeated by the Romans and in the ninth century joined with the Scots to form a kingdom later to become Scotland. 皮克特人：英国北部的古代民族之一，罗马人一直未能征服他们，9世纪时他们与苏格兰人联合建立了王国，后成为苏格兰