第2章 英国历史

I. Explain each of the following in English.

1. King Harold

Key: The Saxon king who was defeated and killed at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, when the French-speaking Normans under William the Conqueror invaded England from France.

2. Alfred the Great

Key: He was a fine Saxon king who successfully defeated the invading Danes.

3. King Arthur

Key: (1)He was the king of England in the sixth century.

(2)Little was known about him, except that he was associated with Corn-wall and is the central figure of many legends about him and his Knights of the Round Table.

4. The Magna Carta

Key: (1)The Magna Carta (or Great Charter) was a document signed in 1215 by King John under compulsion by the powerful barons.

(2)The purpose of the Charter was to make King John to recognize the rights of the barons.

(3)The Magna Carta is now in the British Museum, London.

5. The Wars of the Roses

Key: (1)It is the name given to the struggle (1455—1485) for the throne of England between two branches of the English royal family.

(2)The houses of Lancaster whose badge was a red rose, and York whose badge was a white rose.

(3)The wars weakened both the nobility and the monarch.

6. Henry VIII

Key: Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor. Besides his six marriages, Henry VIII is known for his role in the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. Henry's struggles with Rome led to the separation of the Church of England from papal authority, the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and establishing himself as the Supreme Head of the Church of England.

7. Elizabeth I

Key: Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. She gave her name to an age, the Elizabeth age, which remains in English minds as an age of glory. Most people associate it with two things. One is the literature, for this was the age when English literature blossomed. The other is adventure on the sea. For the first time English ships began to explore the world and trade with distant countries.

8. Divine Right

Key: The doctrine that a monarch derives his or her power directly from God

9. Charles Darwin

Key: (1)The famous Britain scientist who wrote the important book “The Origin of Species”.

(2)His theory of evolution caused reaction of the Victorians against the book, and furious debates were held in private and in public.

(3)Darwin's theory contributed to the decay of Victorianism.

10. Victorianism

Key: Victorianism is the name given to the attitudes, art, and culture of the later two-thirds of the 19th century. This usage is strong within social history and the study of literature, less so in philosophy. Many disciplines do not use the term, but instead prefer Victorian Era, or simply “Late 19th century”. Victorianism as a word is often specifically directed at Victorian morality.

II. Fill in the blanks.

1. _____ were a series of wars in which armies from all over Europe tried to seize Palestine from the Muslims.

Key: The Crusades

2. _____ and _____ were the two famous sailors who started the age of discovery.

Key: Columbus; Vasco da Gama

3. By the end of _____ England became separated from France and the English language finally took the place of French in all classes in English society.

Key: 15th century

4. In the English Civil War, the. ‘Roundheads' supported _____, while the ‘Caveliers' supported _____.

Key: Parliament, bourgeoisie; king and feudal aristocracy.

5. The Origin of Species was written by _____.

Key: Charles Darwin

6. In the early 1930s, _____ brought poverty and humiliation to millions of people in America and Europe.

Key: Economic Depression

7. After World War I, an international body called _____ was formed and after World War II, another international organization _____ was founded.

Key: the League of Nations; the United Nations

III. Tick the correct answer from each of the following.

1. One of the following did not take place during the middle ages: _____.

A. The making of the Magna Carta

B. The defeat of the Spanish Armada by the English navy

C. The rule of Alfred the Great

D. The defeat of King Harold by France

【答案】B

2. In England, the Protestant Reformation began with _____.

A. Bloody Mary

B. Queen Elizabeth

C. King Henry VII

D. King Henry VIII

【答案】D

3. Three of the following were characteristics of the Elizabethan age. Which of the four is the exception?

A. Queen Elizabeth advocated the Divine Right and quarreled with Parliament.

B. Protestantism gradually became the dominant faith.

C. This was the age of literature when Shakespeare lived and when English literature blossomed.

D. This was the age of adventure on the sea.

【答案】A

4. The Industrial Revolution owed a great deal to _____.

A. the invention of printing

B. George Stephenson's famous locomotive, the ‘Rocket’

C. the invention of the steam engine

D. the springing-up of towns

【答案】C

5. Victorianism was characterized by the following except _____.

A. It was in an age of imperialism

B. It saw the great progress in social sciences with Charles Darwin as prominent figure

C. It was the age when the great progress was made in the field of communications

D. It was an age when the Battle of Waterloo was won by the Duke of Wellington

【答案】D

IV. Answer the questions.

1. What were the main features of the middle ages?

Key: All the kings of this period spoke French as their mother tongue, and had close family connections and in some cases extensive territories in France itself. Disputes between England and France were common.

2. Why did the Pope in Rome in the Middle Ages have so much power? Take two or three examples from the text to illustrate your point?

Key: He could always inspire the fear of eternal damnation by “excommunicating” (i. e. expelling from the Church) a king or even a whole nation, wielded great political power over the whole of Western Europe.

3. Why was the sixteenth century so important to English history and European history?

Key: (1) In the sixteenth century, the invention of printing made books much easier to produce and therefore much cheaper, so that ideas could spread quickly.

(2) It was the age of the great voyages of discovery and the beginning of the imperialist expansion.

(3) It was also the beginning of freedom of thought in the Christian religion.

4. Discuss the importance of the Elizabethan age in English history.

Key: Factories multiplied; so too did coal-mines, since steam engines needed coal as a fuel. Big towns were springing up. The nation was able to produce more. Some people grew rich.

5. What, in the author's opinion, were the causes of the English Revolution? Do you agree with the author?

Key: Britain was the first country to industrialize because of the following factors:

①Britain was well placed geographically to participate in European and world trade.

②Britain had a peaceful society, which, after the 17th century, was increasingly interested in overseas trade and colonies. International trade brought wealth to merchants and city bankers. They and those who had done well out of new farming methods provided capital in large quantities for industrialization.

③The limited monarchy which resulted from the Glorious Revolution of 1688 ensured that the powerful economic interests in the community could exert their influence over Government policy.

④It was a country in which the main towns were never too far from seaports, or from rivers, which could distribute their products.

⑤Britain had many rivers, which were useful for transport but also for water and steam power. Britain also had useful mineral resources.

⑥British engineers had sound training as craftsmen.

⑦The inventors were respected. They solved practical problems.

6. What changes took place during the Industrial Revolution? What was the impact of the Industrial Revolution on English society?

Key: The Industrial Revolution took place first in Britain in the eighteenth century. The Industrial Revolution owed a great deal to the invention of the steam engine. Factories came into being because they brought about more benefits to the owners. The revolution brought many economic advantages to Britain and made Britain an exceedingly rich and powerful nation, but it also caused some social problems. The successes and achievements of industrialization were founded on the exploitation of working people.

7. Explain the atmosphere of Victorianism.

Key: Victorianism was an age of national development and national optimism. Tremendous social reform took place. The greatest progress of all was made in the field of communications. Victorian family life had the quality of stability and the Victorians were extremely religious. It was also an age of imperialism.