11Unit1BackgroundtoBritain2PARTICulturalFocusTextAThepeoplesofBritain33Warm-upActivitiesWhatisthefullnameoftheBritishstate?Whatcountriesdoesitconsistof?WhatisthetotalpopulationoftheUnitedKingdom?Wheredomostpeoplelive?445566Doyouknowthemeaningofthefollowingterms?CeltsBritainEnglandAnglo-SaxonsIndo-EuropeanlanguageGermaniclanguageVikingsNormanconquest7BackgroundInformation1.Land2.People3.CharacteristicsoftheEnglishpeople88LandTheBritishIslesisatraditionaltermusedtoidentifythegroupofislandsoffthenorthwestcoastofEuropeconsistingofGreatBritain,Irelandandthemanysmalleradjacentislands(over16).TheseislandsformanarchipelagooffthewestcoastofEurope,315,134km2(121,674squaremiles).TomanyIrishpeopleaswellasScottishandWelshnationalists,thetermBritishIslesisunacceptable.99LandThetermisnolongerusedinIrishstatedocuments,hasbeenabandonedfromIrishschoolbooksandisbeingphasedoutoftextbooks.ItsusageisalsodecreasinginofficialBritishstatedocumentation,outofsensitivitytotheconcernsofIrish,ScottishandWelshpeopleandtheevolvingnewgeo-politicalrelationships.1010AlternativesHowevertheissueofareplacementtermremainsunsettledasof2003,thoughinthecontextoftheNorthernIrelandpeaceprocessthetermIslandsoftheNorthAtlantic(IONA),aterminitiallycreatedbyformerConservativePartyMPSirJohnBiggs-Davison,hasbeenusedasaneutraltermtodescribetheseislands.1111LandThenameGreatBritainwasnotappliedtothislargeislanduntilthe17thcentury.ItssouthernpartadoptedthenameEnglandinthe5thcenturywhengroupsofinvadersfromNorthernEurope,traditionallycalledtheAngles,Saxons,andJutes,weretakingpossessionofthisarea.Theirlanguage,theEnglishlanguage,spreadfarandwideandlaterbecametheofficiallanguageofthenation.1212Beginningwiththefifthcentury,someGermanictribesknownastheAnglo-SaxonsstartedtheirinvasionofEngland.Theirconquestofthesmallislandcountrywassosuccessfulthattheirlanguage,OldEnglish,soonafterbecamethedominantlanguageontheisland.Land1313Anglo-Saxonsachievedlittlesuccessinannexingthesouthwesternpart,traditionallycalledWales,thenthemainstronghold(据点,要塞)intowhichthenativeCeltsorBritons,hadretreatedwhentheRomaninvadersconqueredwhatisnowcalledEnglandinthefirstcenturyA.D.Land1414OneofanIndo-EuropeanpeopleoriginallyofcentralEuropeandspreadingtowesternEurope,theBritishIsles,andsoutheasttoGalatiaduringpre-Romantimes,especiallyaBritonorGaul.凯尔特人印欧民族的一支,最初分布在中欧,在前罗马帝国时期遍及欧洲西部、不列颠群岛和加拉提亚东南部。尤指不列颠人或高卢人Land1515LandThe“Engl-”partofthewordcomesfromthewordAngleswhilethe“-ish”partmeans“belongingto”.ThewordEnglishmeans“thelanguagethatbelongstotheAngles”.1616LandThenorthernpartoftheislandwasoriginallydominatedbypeoplegenerallycalledtheScots.Inthe9thcenturytheScotsestablishedtheirownkingdom.TheScottishKingdom,beingweakerthanitsneighbortheEnglishKingdom,wasoftenforcedtovowallegiance(忠诚)totheEnglishking.1717NorthernIrelandTothewestofGreatBritainisthesecondlargestislandknownasIreland.IrelandwasonceanindependentcountryandtherehademergedmanykingdomsbeforetheAnglo-Normaninvaderscomeinthe13thcentury.DuringtheEnglishbourgeoisrevolutionOliverCromwellinvadedtheislandandthisstartedtheimmigrationoftheEnglishprotestantsettlers.1818TheIrishpeopleopposedtheannexationandfoughttoregaintheirindependence.TheirsuccessfulstrugglefinallyledtotheestablishmentoftheRepublicofIrelandin1927.SincemostoftheEnglishprotestantsettlersrefusedtoseparatethemselvesfromtheirhomecountry,theyoccupiedthenortheastcorner,about14,000squarekilometers,oftheislandandkeptitwithintheBritishKingdom,whichthusbecametheUnitedKingdomoftheGreatBritainandNorthernIreland.NorthernIreland1919PeopleAbouttowthousandyearsago,BritainwasinhabitedbytribesofpeopletraditionallyknownastheCeltsorBritons.Theirlanguage,whichhasbeencalledtheCelticlanguage,wasaspokenlanguageinitsprimitivestage.TheCeltswereconqueredbytheRomansinfirstcenturyA.B.AftertheRomansleftintheearlyfifthcentury,othertribesofpeoplefromNorthGermany,traditionallyknownastheAngles,Saxons,andJutesstartedtomigratetoEngland.2020EvennowtypicalEnglishpeoplearestillcalledAnglo-Saxons.TheAnglo-SaxonskepttheirpositionsasthemasterofEnglandforseveralhundredyearsbefore,theywerereducedtoslavesbytheNormansfromNormandyinFrance.TheNormanswereNorthernEuropeanpeopleinoriginbuttheyhadacceptedtheFrenchcultureandlanguage.TheystartedtheirinvasionofEnglandinthe11thcenturyandestablishedtheNormanlineofkingswhohaveruledEnglandeversince.People2121CharacteristicsoftheEnglishpeopleAgenerallyacknowledgedoneistheirconservatismorreservation.InpoliticstheyhaveaConservativeParty.IndailylifetheEnglishpeopleoftenrefusetomakesuddenchanges.Theyeasilyclingtowhatistraditionalandfamiliar.TheMonarchyhasbeenretainedandthenationalsongisstilltheold“GodsavetheQueen”.2222AnothercharacteristicoftheEnglishpeopleistheiremphasisondeference(依从),orobedience,andpropermanners.Evenfromchildhoodtheyaretaughttobedeferentialandobedienttothosewhoaresuperiorinwealth,status,orpower.ThecharacteristicsandvaluesoftheEnglishpeoplehavecertainlyundergonechanges.23PARTIICulturalJourneyAfterYouWatchDescribethephysicalconditionsofScotla