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新人教版第二册Unit4P40WHAT’SINANAME?TheUnitedKingdom,GreatBritain,Britain,England—manypeopleareconfusedbywhatthesedifferentnamesmean.Sowhatisthedifferencebetweenthem,ifany?GettingtoknowalittlebitaboutBritishhistorywillhelpyousolvethispuzzle.Inthe16thcentury,thenearbycountryofWaleswasjoinedtotheKingdomofEngland.Later,inthe18thcentury,thecountryScotlandwasjoinedtocreatetheKingdomofGreatBritain.Inthe19thcentury,theKingdomofIrelandwasaddedtocreatetheUnitedKingdomofGreatBritainandIreland.Finally,inthe20thcentury,thesouthernpartofIrelandbrokeawayfromtheUK,whichresultedinthefullnamewehavetoday:theUnitedKingdomofGreatBritainandNorthernIreland.Mostpeoplejustusetheshortenedname:“theUnitedKingdom”or“theUK”.PeoplefromtheUKarecalled“British”,whichmeanstheUKisalsooftenreferredtoasBritainorGreatBritain.ThefourcountriesthatbelongtotheUnitedKingdomworktogetherinsomeareas.Theyusethesameflag,knownastheUnionJack,aswellassharethesamecurrencyandmilitarydefence.However,theyalsohavesomedifferences.Forexample,England,Wales,Scotland,andNorthernIrelandallhavedifferenteducationsystemsandlegalsystems.Theyalsohavetheirowntraditions,liketheirownnationaldaysandnationaldishes.AndtheyevenhavetheirownfootballteamsforcompetitionsliketheWorldCup!TheUnitedKingdomhasalongandinterestinghistorytoexplore,whichcanhelpyouunderstandmuchmoreaboutthecountryanditstraditions.AlmosteverywhereyougointheUK,youwillbesurroundedbyevidenceoffourdifferentgroupsofpeoplewhotookoveratdifferenttimesthroughouthistory.Thefirstgroup,theRomans,cameinthefirstcentury.Someoftheirgreatachievementsincludedbuildingtownsandroads.Next,theAnglo-Saxonsarrivedinthefifthcentury.TheyintroducedthebeginningsoftheEnglishlanguage,andchangedthewaypeoplebuilthouses.TheVikingscameintheeighthcentury,leftbehindlotsofnewvocabulary,andalsothenamesofmanylocationsacrosstheUK.ThelastgroupweretheNormans.TheyconqueredEnglandafterthewell-knownBattleofHastingsinthe11thcentury.TheyhadcastlesbuiltallaroundEngland,andmadechangestothelegalsystem.TheNormanswereFrench,somanyFrenchwordsslowlyenteredintotheEnglishlanguage.ThereissomuchmoretolearnabouttheinterestinghistoryandcultureoftheUnitedKingdom.Studyingthehistoryofthecountrywillmakeyourvisitmuchmoreenjoyable.ThecapitalcityLondonisagreatplacetostart,asitisanancientportcitythathasahistorydatingallthewaybacktoRomantimes.Therearecountlesshistoricsitestoexplore,andlotsofmuseumswithancientrelicsfromallovertheUK.TheUKisafascinatingmixofhistoryandmodernculture,withbothnewandoldtraditions.Ifyoukeepyoureyesopen,youwillbesurprisedtofindthatyoucanseebothitspastanditspresent.