Open Exam of British and American Culture
TOPIC 1 GEOGRAPHY
The full name of the United Kingdom is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The British Isles lie northwest of Europe in the Atlantic Ocean. They consist of two large islands- Britain and Ireland- and several small islands.
A traditionally typical Englishman thought to be reserved, unemotional, and courteous; shy of strangers, suspicious of change and slow to accept new ideas; solid and dependable with a high sense of honesty, duty and justice; physically and morally courageous, conscious of his place in the social order; disliking any show of emotion and lack of control; and frequently believing that the British are superior to any other race on earth.
The United States is bigger than the whole of Europe, spreading from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast. It comprehends land features like forest, desert, swamp, mountains, plains and one of the world’s largest river systems. At the time of its foundation, the original Union consisted of thirteen states along the eastern seaboard and 35 continental states were added since that. The US continent is roughly divided into six major parts: New England, the Mid-Atlantic Area, the South, the Middle West, the Great Plains States and the Western and the Pacific coast states. Two states are separated from continental US- Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean and Alaska to the northwest of Canada.
New York City, composed of five boroughs, is the commercial capital of the US. Manhattan Island includes everything that most people think of when they say “New York” city. Philadelphia is the metropolis of Pennsylvania State, and one of the culture centers of the US.
TOPIC 2 POLITICS
The Constitutional Monarchy in which the Monarch respects the Constitution plays an important role in the United Kingdom. In law, the monarch is head of the executive, an integral part of the legislature, head of the judiciary, commander-in-chief of all the armed forces and head of the Church of England. In practice, the real power of monarchy has gradually been reduced and today the Queen acts solely on the advice of her ministers. The Bill of Rights which was passed in 1689 restricted the power of the monarchy.
The British Constitution is unwritten. Its components include Acts of Parliament, the Prerogative of the Crown, Conventions of the Constitution, Common Law and Parliamentary Privilege. Conventions of the Constitution form an important part of the Constitution just as written laws do. They are rules which are not written down but which everyone agrees must be followed in practice. Common Law is one of the main components of the British Constitution. It refers to the Bills which have been passed by courts.
British Parliament includes three elements: the Crown, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. It is the supreme law-making authority in Britain. The real center of parliamentary power is in the House of Commons. The leader of the party with the largest numbers returned to the House of Commons becomes Prime Minister and is invited by the Queen to form a Government.
Federalism, the separation of powers and respect for the Constitution and the rule of law are the general principles of the form of the US government. The states give up their rights to conduct separate relations with each other and with the outside world, but each state kept the basic powers of government for itself within its own territory. Influenced by Montesquieu’s theory of division of powers, the US constitution ruled that political structures should share out political powers between legislative, executive and judicial checks against each other.
The Federal government has three branches- executive (the President), legislature (Congress) and judicial. The three elements are checked and balanced by one another. In each state government, power is also divided between three agencies.
Two parties, Democrats and Republicans, dominate the political scene: all elections must be looked at in terms of party; party influences the whole process of government. The two parties are very complex in their aims and in their basis of popular support. But in the long run, they do provide means of keeping government close to the people.
TOPIC 3 EDUCATION
Every child in Britain must by law receive full-time education from the age of five to fifteen. Some children go before the age of five to kindergartens. Most children start their education at five in an infants’ school. The school year begins in September, and is divided into three terms. A child studies in the infants’ school for two years. After that the child enters a junior school. The exam taken by children in their last year at primary school under the selective system is the “eleven plus”. Those with the highest marks go to grammar schools; other children may go to technical school; the rest- by far majority- go to secondary modern schools. Parents who are both rich and conservative in politics will most probably send their children to public schools. If a student wishes to go on to university, he will take the Advanced level of the G.C.E. at 18. The two oldest universities in Britain are Oxford and Cambridge. Freedom is a feature of British education as a whole.
All American children are offered twelve years of free public education. In most areas, free public school education begins with kindergarten classes for five-year-old. The other two educational organizations for younger children are nursery schools and day care centers. In the United States, classes of students are divided into 12 academic levels. In some school systems, elementary school includes grades one through eight. The next four years are high school. In other school systems, there are three divisions: elementary school, junior school (grades seven through nine), senior high school.
American education on the college level is provided by more than 3000 institutions. Some are supported privately and some by local and state governments. After completing four academic years with acceptable grades in an approved course of study, the student earns a bachelor’s degree. The other two higher degrees are master’s degree and Ph. D degree.
原文好长，您看懂了吗？反正我是没看明白。
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