英美文学考试名词解释和简答(自己整理的)

1.The glorious revolution (光荣革命): the overthrow(推翻、瓦解) of king JamesⅡof England takes place in 1688 by a union of parliamentarians with an invading army led by William of Orange who, as a result ascended（上升、登高）the English throne（君主、王权）as William Ⅲ of England. It was also known as White Revolution because it caused no bloodshed(流血、杀戮). It marked the real beginning of the constitutional monarchy in England.

2. How did the “Glorious Revolution” break out? What was the significance of it?

In 1685 Charles II died and was succeeded by his brother James II. James, who was brought up in exile(流犯）in Europe, was a Catholic; He hoped to rule without giving up his personal religious views. But England was no more tolerant of a Catholic king in 1688 than 40 years. So the English politicians rejected James II, and appealed to a Protestant king, William of Orange, to invade and take the English throne. William landed in England in 1688. The takeover was relatively smooth, with no bloodshed, no any execution of the king. This was known as the Glorious Revolution. William and his wife Mary were both Protestants and became co-monarchs. They accepted the Bill of Rights. It’s the beginning of the age of constitutional monarchy.

2.Great charter (大宪章): Known as the Great Charter, it was the first famous political document to limit the king’s powers in English history. It was signed in 1215 by King John at a conference at Runnymede（兰尼米

德）, an island in the Thames River four miles downstream（下游的、顺流而下的）from Windsor（温莎）. It contains altogether 63 clauses（条款）, among which the most important ones are: no tax should be made without the approval of the Grand Council（天庭会议）; no freeman should be arrested, imprisoned, or deprived（缺乏教育的）of his property except by the law of the land;没有大议会批准不准征税；不得随意逮捕，拘禁自由民，不依照土地法不得剥夺其财产；The king must promise to observe the rights of his vassals（诸侯、封臣）and the vassals in turn must observe the rights of their men, and the king also should permit merchants to move about freely and should observe the privileges of the various towns. 2. Comments: The great charter was the first step of constitutional experiment. It tried to establish a legal relation between the king and his barons by defining their respective rights and obligations. The great charter made it possible for the new-born bourgeoisie to enter into politics because it granted some power to the great council which was the embryonic form of the English parliament. The great charter protected the rights of the merchant class. This facilitated（促进）the development of commerce and handcraft. (It was arguably the most significant early influence on the extensive historical process that led to rule of constitutional law today in the English speaking world.)

3.Monarch: In law, the monarch has many supreme powers, but in practice, the real power of monarch has been solely（单独的，唯一的）on

the advice of her ministers. She reigns but does not rule（统而不治）. The real power lies in the parliament, or to be exact, in the House of Commons. 2. The monarch actually has no real power. The monarch’s power is limited by law and parliament. The monarch symbolizes the tradition and unity of the British state, have a weekly chat with the Prime Minister, and to give Royal Assent to Bills passed by Parliament.(对议会通过的法案给予御准)

4.The presidential elections: The general election, held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in each election year, is technically divided into two stages. During the first stage, states elect their presidential electors. The number of presidential electors for each state is equal to the total number of its representatives in congress plus two senators. The total number of presidential electors for the nation is 538, with 3 from Washington D.C. I n the second stage (十二月的第三个星期一) the electors meet to elect the president. (electoral college)

5.Ivy League（常春藤高校联盟）: It was founded in 1954, an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions（体系）of higher education in the Northern United States. The term is most commonly used to refer to those eight schools considered as a group and also has connotations(含义) of academic excellence, selectivity in admissions, and social elitism（精英主义）.常春藤名校联盟：Brown University (布朗大学), Columbia University, Cornell University（康奈尔大学）,

Dartmouth College（达特茅斯大学）, Harvard University, Princeton University（普林斯顿大学）, University of Pennsylvania（宾夕法尼亚大学）, Yale University

6.Pilgrim Father (开国元勋): In September, 1620, a group of 101 puritans and some employees left Plymouth, England, and sailed for America in the ship named Mayflower. They founded the colony of Plymouth (普利茅斯) in New England. So these early puritans in New England were called the pilgrim father.

7.New deal: 1. The New Deal included the following contents;

(1) establishment and strengthening of government regulation and control of banking, credit and currency systems, overcoming the financial crisis and restriction of certain extreme practices of financial capital;

(2) federal government management of relief and establishment of social security system such as the formation of the Civilian Conservation Crops and the setting-up of the Tennessee Valley Authority(田纳西州流域管理局);(3) Stimulation of the recovery of industry and agriculture;

(4) formulation and implementation of federal labor laws to raise the role of labor in the relations of production; 2. Comments on the new deal: Roosevelt’s new deal was an American type of social reforms which was based on the new concept that the government was responsible for the healthy development of national economy and social security, and that the growth of production could be maintained only if the great body of the

consumers could continue to purchase its output. No economy could develop if it was beset by overproduction and large stockpiles（库存）. To achieve balanced development, the new deal increased government interference n the nation’s economic life, strengthening the trend towards big government. (The New Deal----In order to deal with the Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt put forward the New Deal program. It passed a lot of New Deal laws and set up many efficient social security systems. The New Deal helped to save American democracy and the development of American economy)

8.Domesday Book (英国土地制度): It is a book compiled by a gr oup of clerks under the sponsorship of King William. The book w as in fact a property record. It was the result of a general survey of land resources. It was one of the important measures adopted by William I to establish the full feudal system in England

9.Norman Conquest----The Norman Conquest of 1066 is perhaps t

he best-known event in English history. William landed his arm y in Oct, 1066 and defeated King Harold. Then he was crowne

d king of England on Christmas Day th

e same year. He establis

hed a strong Norman government and the feudal system in Engl and. 结果：（William confiscated almost all the land and gave i t to his Norman followers. He replaced the weak Saxon rule wi th a strong Norman government. So the feudal system was com

pletely established in England. Relations with the Continent wer

e opened, and civilization and commerce were extended. Norma

n-French culture, language, manners, and architecture were been introduced. The church was brought into closer connection with Rome, and the church courts were separated from the civil cour ts.）原因：（It was said that king Edward had promised the En glish throne to William but the Witan chose Harold as king. So William led his army to invade England. In October 1066, duri ng the important battle of Hastings, William defeated Harold an

d killed him. On Christmas Day, William was crowned king of

England, thus beginning the Norman Conquest of England.）10.Public school：(1) It is a kind of independent privately-owned secondary boarding schools in Britain. (2) These schools are financially supported by tuition fees and private funds.（3）Public schools have their own characteristics and strict rules. (4) These schools focus their attention on developing pupils’ minds as well as bodies.

11.Roman invasion: The Roman first invaded Britain in 55BC. It

was not until AD43 that they eventually conquered the Celts liv ing in what is today England and Wales. The Roman occupatio n of Britain lasted for 400 years, but it was never a total occu pation. British recorded history begins with the Roman invasion.