中央财经大学英美文化概论期末考试常识整理2013年

美国：

1、The full name of the United States is the United States of America. 2、It is the fourth largest country in the world in size after Russia, Canada and China.

3、The Mississippi has been called “father of waters ”or “old man river ”.

4、The most important lakes in the United States are the Great Lakes. They are Lake superior （苏必利尔湖）, which is the largest fresh water lake in the world, Lake Michigan （密歇根湖）(theonly one entirely in the U.S.), Lake Huron , Lake Erie （休伦湖）（伊利湖）and Lake Ontario （安大略湖）.

5、New England is made up of six states of the North –East.New England is sometimes called the birthplace of America.Many famous universities and colleges such as Yale, Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology （MIT ）are located here.

6、The United States of America is the third most populous country in the world after China and India. Immigration accounts for a major source of population growth.

7、The continental United States lies in central North America with Canada to its north, Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico to its south, the Atlantic Ocean to its east and the Pacific Ocean to its west.

8、The two newest states Alaska and Hawaii are separated from the continental United States.

9、Of all the states Alaska is the largest in area and Rhode Island （罗德岛）is the smallest, but on the mainland Texas （德州）is the largest state of the country.

10、Two main mountain ranges are the Appalachian Mountains （阿巴拉

and the Rocky Mountains .The highest peak of the 契亚山脉）（落基山脉）

Rocky Mountainsis the Elbert(埃尔伯特山).The Rockies, the backbone of the North American continent, is also known as the Continental Divide （大陆分水岭）.

11、Chicago, the largest and busiest port on the Great Lakes, is the largest industrial and commercial center of the area. Chicago is also the cultural capital of the Midwest.

12、Omaha, known as the agricultural capital of the United States. 13、Wheat is American ’s most important food crop. It is second only to corn in production every year. The U.S ranks first in the production and export of corn.The U.S ranks second in the export of rice in the world after Thailand.

14、Texas is the country ’s leading state in oil and natural gas deposits.Huston is now the greatest commercial center of the Southwest and the chemical capital of the world. It is a center of petrochemical and synthetic rubber production . It is also the home of the space center.The state of California now has passed New York as the most populous state. 15、The Midwest round the Great Lakes, the Middle Atlantic state, the

south, and the Pacific Coast are the major industrial regions of the U.S. 16、The American Constitution is the oldest written constitution in the world. It was draw up in 1787and went into effect in 1789.The government is divided into three branched:the legislative （立法机构）,the executive （行政机构）,and the judicial （司法机构）. 17、Congress consists of a Senate （参议院）

Representatives （众议院）.

18、The judicial power of the U.S is vested in Supreme Court. 19、There are two major political parties in America:the Democrats （民主党）and the Republicans （共和党）. Obama belong to the Democrats. and a House of 英国：

1、The official name of the United Kingdom is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

2、The British Isles are made up of two large islands-Great Britain (thelarger one) and Ireland, and hundreds of small ones.

3、（UK ）capital:London

4、There are three political divisions on the island of Great Britain:England, Scotland, and Wales. England is the largest, most populous and richest.

5、The British Empire :one fourth of the world ’s people and （大英帝国）

one fourth of the world ’s land area. The British Empire gradually disappeared and it was replaced by the British Commonwealth or the

Commonwealth of Nations in 1931. The Commonwealth is a free association of independent countries that were once colonies of Britain. 6、The United Kingdom is separated from the rest of Europe by the English Channel in the south and the North Sea in the east. The English Channel lies between Britain and France.

7、The highest mountain in Britain is Ben Nevis （本尼维斯山）, 1,343m in Scotland. The longest river is the Severn River （塞文河）;the （338km ）second largest and most important river is the Thames River （336km ）. The largest lake in Britain is the Lough Neagh （内伊湖）in Northern Ireland.

8、The English are Anglo-Saxons （盎格鲁撒克逊人）, but the Scots, Welsh and Irish are Celts （凯尔特人）.

9、Britain is an island country. It is surrounded by the sea. It lies in the north Atlantic Ocean off the north coast of Europe.

10、Chunnel stands for channel and tunnel which was cut under the Straits of Dover. With it England and France join together by road.

11、90%of the population is urban and only 10%is rural.

12、The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy.The monarch actually has no real power. The monarch ’s power are limited by law and Parliament. Constitutional monarchy began after the Glorious Revolution in 1688.Parliament consists of the Sovereign （君主）, the House of Lords （上议院）and the House of Commons （下议院）.

13、British constitution is made up of statute law, common law and conventions.

14、The festivals:Christmas,Easter, and Whit Sunday.

15、The most typically English of sports is cricket(板球).

爱尔兰共和国

The Republic of Ireland has been an independent republic since 1949and its capital is Dublin.

Two official languages in Ireland:Irish （or Gaelic ）and English.

Ireland is now the largest producer of lead and zinc concentrates in Europe.

加拿大

Toroto （多伦多）is Canada's largest city.Its capital is Ottawa （渥太华）. The highest peak in Canada is Mount Logan(洛根山), which is in the Yukon Territory of northwest Canada.

Canada is made up of ten provinces and two territories.

澳大利亚

Australia is popularly known in the West as “the Land Down Under ”.The highest point is Mount Kosciusko (科修斯科山)(2255).The Great Dividing Range(大分水岭) is Australia ’s main watershed (分

s longest river. Lake Eyre(艾尔湖) 水岭). The Murray(穆雷河), Australia ’

is regarded as Australia ’s largest lake.

新西兰

New Zealand is in the Southern Pacific Ocean,halfway between the equator and the South Pole.The size of the country is similar to Britain or Japan.It has two main islands:NorthIsland and South IslandNew Zealand is just west of the Internationnal Date Line,so it is the first country to get the new day.