A brief introduction to the United States

2. The effect of UK’s imperial past:

A: the relationship with its subordinate countries;

B: maintain links through the common wealth of nations;

C: the relationship with the European Union (joined the EU in 1973);

D: make-up of the Britain population (1/20 are non-European ethnicity)

3. The flag of Britain: union jack 4. The capital of each country

Country Its capital Its function England London Largest both in area and population Scotland Edinburgh The second largest in area and population Wales Cardiff Northern Belfast Ireland

5. The four major invasions in the history of Great Britain

Background：At first, England was occupied

by Celtic people

A: in 43AD, Britain was invaded by the Roman Empire.

Result: England and Wales became a part of the Roman Empire for nearly 400 years.

th

B: in the 5 century, the Angle-Saxon invaded Britain

Result : the land they lived became ‘angle-land’ later changed into England ,the language they spoken became English .

th

C: in the late 8 century, the Vikings invaded. Result: In certain cultural divided between northerners and southerners in England, which can be expressed as ‘Saxon’ versus ‘Dane’.

th

D：In the 11 century, the Normans, William of Normandy invaded this country.

Result: this marks the last time that an army from outside, the Britain isles succeeded in invading.

6. a multiracial society: Britain is a multiracial society, because its remarkable class, regional and economic differences.

7. The significant role of London: London, it is the cultural centre, the business centre and

the financial centre.

8. The Angle-Saxon invaders were the forefather of the English. 1. The purpose of school is to provide children with literacy and the basic skills they will need to become active members of society. It’s also to socialize children. 2. The state is involved in deciding when, where, how, what children are taught. 3. Class inequality can be erased or continued by educational policy. In Britain, the accent you speak with, the clothes you wear and the schools you attend are all markers that identify your social class. 4. The enduring feature of Britain education is continuing debate over how‘equal’ educational opportunity should be. 5. Historically, education was voluntary and many of the schools that existed were set up by churches. The influence of the church on schooling is the still strong. First, religious education was the only subject which the state insisted all schools should

teach their pupils. Second, daily prayers and singing hymns is still a regular part of school life. 6. The 1944 Education Act which made entry to secondary and ‘meritocratic’. 7. To raise the quality of education of all pupils, in the 1960s, comprehensive school occurred, which ended the division between grammar schools and vocational schools. 8. In 1989, the governments introduced a national curriculum. 9. Education in the UK is compulsory, children are obliged to attend school from 5 to 16. 10. The state schools are founded by local and central government.

11. Independent schools receive their funding through private sectors tuition rates, with some government assistance.

12. Up to 5, children go to pre-primary school, the ages of 5 to 11, children go to primary school, children from 11 around the age of 19, go to secondary school.

13. About 90% secondary schools are comprehensive schools, which admit children without reference to their academic abilities.

14. LEAs: Local Education Authorities

GCSE: General Certificate of Secondary Education

GCEA: General Certificate of Education- Advanced GNVQs：General National Vocational-Qualifications. 1. When the war ended, Britain was the largest military power in Western Europe. 2. Britain was an active member in setting up the united nations, and it was awarded a seat on the UN Security Council . 3. The foreign policy of the UK is influenced by its imperial history and geopolitical traits. 4. The prime minister and cabinet decide on the general direction of Britain‘s foreign policy. The main government department involved is the foreign and commonwealth office.(FCO) 5. Treasury makes decisions on how much money other departments can have each year.

6. Since Britain is a parliamentary democracy, the government’s foreign policy repents the desires of its electorate. 7. Nowadays, the foreign policy of the UK is largely shaped by its participation in a number of important international institutions. 8. Britain is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, others is Russia, China, France, the US. 9. In 1973, the UK joined the EEC (European Economic Community).

10. Britain is still a member of the commonwealth. The commonwealth set up as a forum for continued cooperation and as a sort of support network. There are 54 members of the commonwealth, many of these are developing countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the south pacific, others are advanced industrial countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand.

11. This physical isolation has been diminished by the development of airlines and more recently, by the opening of the Channel Tunnel, which links Britain to

continental Europe.