高中英语人教版高二下05

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[00:00.00]和谐英语学习网 Unit 5 THE BRITISH ISLES
[00:04.78]Reading The British Isles
[00:09.53]The idea that England stands for Fish Chips,Speakers' Comer,
[00:16.20]Big Ben and the Tower of London is past.
[00:21.47]Though many people around the world study its language,
[00:26.51]their view of British culture is sometimes narrow.
[00:31.56]The fact that Great Britain is made up of three countries is still unknown to many
[00:38.50]Within Great Britain for many years now,
[00:42.87]there has been a growing movement to make the most of its cultural diversity
[00:49.42]to see it as it really is:
[00:53.50]a nation of different countries held together by a common language and culture.
[01:00.55]The British Isles are a group of islands that lies off the west coast of Europe.
[01:07.63]The largest island is called Britain,
[01:11.58]which is separated from France by the English Channel,
[01:16.62]which at one point is only 20 miles wide.
[01:21.66]It forms the mainland of Great Britain and consists of three countries:
[01:28.03]Scotland in the north,Wales in the west and England in the south and east.
[01:35.79]The island just west of Britain is called Ireland.
[01:41.12]Between Britain and Ireland,in the Irish Sea,lies the small Isle of Man.
[01:48.67]The British Isles are surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west,
[01:54.55]and the North Sea to the east.
[01:58.31]The climate of the British Isles is mild with a lot of rain.
[02:03.87]In general, Scotland is colder throughout the year,and receives more rain.
[02:10.22]It rains a lot in England and Wales too,but the temperatures are more pleasant.
[02:16.99]In the summer months the difference in temperature bet ween London
[02:22.63]and the north can be as much as nine degrees!
[02:27.38]The coldest months are January and February,
[02:31.93]while the warmest months are July and August.
[02:36.89]The culture of the people of the British Isles
[02:41.44]was influenced by the culture of the people on the European mainland.
[02:47.18]In the fifth century,
[02:50.53]people from different parts of northern Europe settled in England,
[02:56.30]bringing their own culture and language with them.
[03:00.56]Their languages formed the basis for English.
[03:05.10]Some of the native population moved to the inland,
[03:09.96]mountainous parts of the islands,
[03:14.12]to Ireland,Scotland and Wales,where they continued speaking their own languages.
[03:20.67]In 1066 England was conquered by the French.
[03:26.42]For the next few hundred years the upper classes spoke French
[03:32.19]while the common people spoke English.
[03:36.35]The result of this French influence was that the English language
[03:42.20]ended up with many French words such as table,animal and age.
[03:49.67]The United Kingdom has a long history.
[03:53.61]England and Scotland are kingdoms.
[03:57.45]The first two countries forming the Union were England and Wales in 1536.
[04:04.82]Wales had already been conquered by England in 1283,
[04:10.67]but it was not until 250 years later that they formed a single state.
[04:17.44]Scotland joined later in 1707,
[04:22.09]while the southern part of Ireland was only part of the UK for some time,
[04:28.46]and is now an independent republic.
[04:32.40]Only the northern counties,making up Northern Ireland,
[04:37.68]are still part of the United Kingdom.
[04:41.76]The smaller islands,such as the Isle of Man,
[04:46.72]are neither part of the United Kingdom nor independent.
[04:52.08]They are ruled by the King of England.
[04:56.12]In modern times,people throughout the British Isles speak English.
[05:02.00]However,there are still people who also speak the older European languages,
[05:08.66]Welsh and Irish.
[05:12.14]There are six spoken languages that are considered to be native to the British Isles
[05:18.48]as well as two local accents.
[05:22.56]That most of these are now threatened
[05:26.40]and may disappear is a serious matter to the people in Britain.
[05:31.86]They realise that it is of great value to record
[05:37.03]teach them to the younger generation.