The-United-Kingdom-of-Great---Britain-and-Northern

TheUnitedKingdomofGreatBritainandNorthernIrelandPresenter:ZhongLingLiuLingLiNaTheBriefProfileofTheUnitedKingdom—ByZhongLingGeographicalLocationinEuropeTheUnitedKingdomofGreatBritainandNorthernIrelandLondonCompositionofBritainEnglandisinthesouthernpartofGreatBritain.Itisthelargest,mostpopuloussection.ENGLANDIRELANDNorthernIrelandisthefourthregi-onoftheUK.Capital:Belfast.ScotlandisinthenorthofGreatBrit-ain.Capital:EdinburghSCOTLANDWALESWalesisinthewestofGreatBritain.Capital:CardiffFLAGOFGREATBRITAINNationalflagisalsocalledtheUnionFlagortheUnionJack12TheflagofUKisacombinationoftheflagsofEngland,Scotland,andIrelandBriefProfileofTheUnitedKingdomEconomyPopulation☞TheUKhasapartiallyregulatedfreemarketeconomy.Basedonmarketexchangerates,theUKisthesixthlargesteconomyintheworldandthethirdlargestinEuropeafterGermanyandFrance;☞TheUKservicesectornowmakesupabout73%ofGDP.Theservicesectorisdominatedbyfinancialservices,especiallyinbankingandinsurance.ItisthesecondlargestfinancialeconomyintheWorld;☞ThecurrencyoftheUKisthepoundsterling,andithasnotyetjoinedtheEuro.☞Bymid-2009,thetotalpopulationoftheUnitedKingdomwasestimatedtohavegrownto61,792,000,thethirdlargestintheEuropeanUnion,thefifthlargestintheCommonwealthandthetwenty-firstlargestintheworld.;☞Between2001and2008,thepopulationincreasedbyanaverageannualrateof0.5percent.Naturalpopulationgrowthandimmigrationarethemaincontributorstopopulationgrowth;☞.Englandisoneofthemostdenselypopulatedareasintheworld,Itspopulationaccountformorethan80%ofTheUK’s.ThecapitalofU.K.andthecapitalofEnglandaswellGreatBritain0fficialLanguages•TheEnglishlanguagistheofficiallanguageofficialoftheUnitedKingdom,andisspokenmonolinguallybyanestimated95%oftheBritishpopulation.•However,individualcountrieswithintheUKhaveframeworksforthepromotionoftheirindigenouslanguages.•InWales,allpupilsatstateschoolsmuststudyWelshuntilaged16,buttheWelshandEnglishlanguagesshouldbetreatedequallyinthepublicsector•IrishandUlsterScotsenjoylimitedusealongsideEnglishinNorthernIreland,mainlyinpubliclycommissionedtranslations.•TheGaelicLanguage(Scotland)Act,passedbytheScottishParliamentin2005,recognisedGaelicasanofficiallanguageofScotland,commandingequalrespectwithEnglish.ThelandmarksofTheUnitedKingdom—ByliuLingItwasbuiltin1999thehighofitis135metresVisitedbyover3.5millionpeopleannually.builtin11thcenturydestroyedin1512and1834reconstructionstartedin1840andlastedfor30yearslargestandtallest:98.5metreshighmostfamous:BigBenThePalaceofWestminsterThePalaceofWestminsterTowerBridgeTheBritishMuseumamuseumofhumanhistoryandculturecollectmorethansevenmillionobjectsTheBritishMuseumGreatCourt:ThecentreofthemuseumSirHansSloaneBuckinghamPalaceknownasTheQueen'sHouse”BuckinghamPalaceQueenVictoriaTheUniversityofOxfordTheUniversityofCambridgecelebrityWilliamShakespeare1564-1616IssacNewton1643-1727CharlesDickens1812-1870QueenVictoria1819-1901Robert_Peel1788-1850WinstonChurchill1874-1965MargaretThatcher1925-ElizabethII1926-TheCulture&CustomofBritishPeople—ByLiNaSuperstitionsinBritain1、GoodLuck•Luckytomeetablackcat.•Luckytotouchwood.•CatchfallingleavesinAutumnandyouwillhavegoodluck.Everyleafmeansaluckymonthnextyear.•Cutyourhairwhenthemooniswaxingandyouwillhavegoodluck.2、BadLuck•Thenumberthirteenisunlucky.Fridaythethirteenthisaveryunluckyday.FridayisconsideredtobeanunluckydaybecauseJesuswascrucifiedonaFriday.•Sevenyearsbadlucktobreakamirror.Thesuperstitionissupposedtohaveoriginatedinancienttimes,whenmirrorswereconsideredtobetoolsofthegods.TeainBritain•Britainisatea-drinkingnation.Everydaytheydrink165millioncupsofthestuffandeachyeararound144thousandtonsofteaareimported.•TeainBritainistraditionallybrewedinawarmedchinateapot,addingonespoonfulofteaperpersonandoneforthepot.MostBritainsliketheirteastronganddark,butwithalotofmilkorlemonsliceandjasmine.•Ifsomeoneasksyouifyou'wouldlikeacuppa',theyareaskingifyouwouldlikeacupoftea.•Ifsomeonesays'letmebemother'or'shallIbemother',theyareofferingtopourouttheteafromtheteapot.•Teabreaksarewhenteaandbiscuitsareserved.Thetraditionaltimeforteabreaksareat11:00amand4pmintheafternoon.Sports•SportsplayanimportantpartinthelifeofBritainandisapopularleisureactivity.•Manyoftheworld'sfamoussportsbeganinBritain,includingcricket,football,lawntennis,golfandrugby•England'snationalsportiscricketalthoughtomanypeoplefootballisseenastheirnationalsport.Footballistheirmostpopularsport.SomeofEngland'sfootballteamsareworldfamous,themostfamousbeingManchesterUnited(曼彻斯特联队),Arsenal(阿森纳)andLiverpool.Invitations•“Dropinanytime”and“comeseemesoon”areidiomsoftenusedinsocialsettingsbutseldommeanttobetakenliterally.Itiswisetotelephonebeforevisitingsomeoneathome.•Ifyoureceiveawritteninvitationtoaneventthatsays“RSVP”,youshouldrespondtoletthepersonwhosenttheinvitationknowwhetherornotyouplantoattend.•Neveracceptaninvitationunlessyoureallyplantogo.Youmayrefusebysaying,“Thankyouforinvitingme,butIwillnotbeabletocome.”If,afteraccepting,youareunabletoattend,besuretotellthoseexpectingyouasfarinadvanceaspossiblethatyouwillnotbethere.•Althoughitisnotnecessarilyexpectedt