Unit1 A Brief Introduction to the United Kingdom 1.The flag of Britain : Union Jack（英国国旗中没有显示出Welsh旗）2. The basic information of each country:Count ry Capital AreaMemoEngland London最大1.最不会把自己的“英格兰文化区别于其他文化”2.一个高度城市化3.The time joining the British parliament: However, in 1707 by agreement of the English and Scottish parliaments, Scotland joined the Union.4.Difference between the British Isles ,UK, Great Britain , and England:British Isles:the island of Great Britainthe island of Irelandsurrounding isles●UK=Great Britain + Northern Ireland●Great Britain =England +Scotland + Wales5.The four major invasions in the history of Great Britain :At first, England was occupied by Celtic people.Then in 43AD Britain was invaded by the Roman Empire.Result: England and Wales became a part of the Roman Empire for nearly 400 years.the Angle-Saxon invaded.Result: The land they lived became" Angle-land", later changed into England, the language they spoken became English.PS：One of the best-known English legends derives from this time. In 5 century AD, King Author(亚瑟王) united the British, and with his magical sword, Excalibur（被称为“王者之剑”的圣剑）,drove the Saxons back.关于亚瑟王的一些名词：Excalibur:被称为“王者之剑”的圣剑;亚瑟王之魔剑Castle at Tintagel(廷塔杰尔) in Cornwall: Tintagel传说为亚瑟王的诞生地，这是一个与亚瑟王传奇有关的地方。
Knight：骑士Camelot:卡米洛，传说中亚瑟王宫殿所在地。
the Vikings invaded. (From the late 8th century on) Result in a certain cultural divide between northerners and southerners in England, which can be expressed as "Saxon" versus(对抗；与... 相对) "Dane".PS:此时出现的历史人物是：King Alfred the Great：阿尔弗雷德国王，英国历史上的著名国王，领导英国抗击北欧海盗的入侵。
the Normans(from northern France, who were descendants(后代) of Vikings) , William of Normandy invaded this country.Result: This marks the last time that an army from outside the British Isles succeeded in invadingPS:与此时有关的历史人物是：William of Normandy (known as “William the Conqueror”)：征服者威廉，1066年通过英吉利海峡（English Channel）对英格兰宣战，打败了哈罗德国王，获全胜。
同年圣诞节威廉在威斯敏斯特教堂(Westminster Abbey)加冕成为英格兰国王，史称威廉一世。
（William the First of England）Westminster Abbey: 威斯敏斯特教堂坐落在伦敦泰晤士岸，原是一座天主教本笃会隐修院，始建于公元960 年，1045年进行了扩建，1065年建成，1220年至1517年进行了重建。
威斯敏斯特教堂在1540年英王创建圣公会之前，它一直是天主教本笃会（天主教的隐修院修会之一）教堂。
1540年之后，成为圣公会教堂。
King Harold:哈罗德国王，英格兰最后一位撒克逊民族国王，在关键的Hastings战斗中被杀。
6.Main cities of EnglandLondonBirmingham（伯明翰）—second largest city of England. Liverpool（利物浦）—second largest port of England Manchester（曼彻斯特）—industrial and commercial centre.其他名词解释：1.London: London is in the south of the country, and is dominant（主要的，主宰的）in the United Kingdom inall sorts of ways. It is by far the largest city in the country, with about one seventh of the nation population; it is the seat of government(伦敦是英国政府所在地); it is the cultural centre, home to all the major newspapers, TV stations, and with far and away the widest selection of galleries（画廊，美术馆）, theatres and museums. Also it is the business centre, headquarters of the vast majority of Britain's big companies; it is the financial centre of the nation, and one of the three major international financial centres in the world.London’s function= Beijing + Shanghai +Guangzhou=New York+ Washington +Los Angeles London Attractions:(1).Big Ben（大本钟（英议会大厦上的报时钟））and the Houses of Parliament（英国的国会大厦）. (2).The Tower of London（伦敦塔(伦敦古堡,在泰晤士岸,古代曾作宫殿及监狱,现为兵械库和博物馆)），由威廉一世建造。
(3). Tower Bridge（伦敦塔桥，是一座上开悬索桥，位于英国伦敦，横跨泰晤士河，因在伦敦塔附近而得名，是从泰晤士河口算起的第一座桥（泰晤士河上共建桥15座），也是伦敦的象征。
该桥始建于1886年，1894年6月30日对公众开放，将伦敦南北区连接成整体。
）(4). St Paul's Cathedral (圣保罗大教堂,巴洛克风格建筑的代表，以其壮观的圆形屋顶而闻名，是世界第二大圆顶教堂，它模仿罗马的圣彼得大教堂，是英国古典主义建筑的代表。
)(5).the River Thames(泰晤士河It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom, after the River Severn.)(6). The English Royal Family reside in London at Buckingham Palace(白金汉宫(英国王宫)) where you can see the famous 'Changing of the Guard' and much more.(7). Hadrian’s Wall: 哈德良长城。
罗马人保卫不列颠北疆的屏障，长118公里。
2. the Commonwealth of Nations/the British Commonwealth（英联邦国家）：It’s a free association of independent countries that were once colonies of Britain. It was established in 1931, replacing the former British Empire. Member nations are joined together economically and have certain trading arrangements. The Commonwealth has no special power. The decision tobecome a member of the Commonwealth is left to each nation .At present there are 50 member countries within the Commonwealth.3.British Empire（大英帝国）: （an empire in which the sun never set”（日不落帝国））About a hundred years ago, as a result of its imperialist expansion, Britain ruled an empire that had one fourth of the world’s people and one fourth of the world’s land area. However, t he two world wars greatly weakened Britain. The British colonies became independent one after another. The British Empire gradually disappeared and it was replaced by the British Commonwealth in 1931.4. the European Union(欧洲联盟，欧盟): The UK has been a member since 1973.6.Robin Hood：罗宾汉，英国传说中一位著名撒克逊族绿林好汉，在森林里盘踞，以劫富济贫、杀贪官污吏为宗旨。