Реферат: История Великобритании
The famous English composer of the 19th century
was Arthur Sullivan. Together with William Gilbert, the writer of the texts, he
created fourteen operettas of which eleven are regularly performed today. In
these operettas the English so successfully laugh at themselves and at what
they now call the Establishment that W. S. Gilbert and A. Sullivan will
always be remembered.
3.3. Art Galleries
Britain is probably one of the most
rich European countries when cultural inheritance is considered. Along with
Italy and Germany, it’s a home for many famous art galleries and museums.
If you stand in Trafalgar Square in London
with your back to Nelson's Column, you will see a wide horizontal front in a
classical style. It is the National Gallery. It has been in this building since
1838 which was built as the National Gallery to house the collection of
Old Masters Paintings (38 paintings) offered to the nation by an English
Private collector, Sir George Beamount.
Today the picture galleries of the National
Gallery of Art exhibit works of all the European schools of painting, which
existed between the 13th and 19th centuries. The most famous works among them
are ‘Venus and Cupid’ by Diego Velazquez, ‘Adoration of the Shepherds’
by Nicolas Poussin, ‘A Woman Bathing’ by Harmensz van Rijn Rembrandt, ‘Lord
Heathfield’ by Joshua Reynolds, ‘Mrs Siddons’ by Thomas Gainsborough and many
others.
In 1897 the Tate Gallery was opened to house the
more modern British paintings. Most of the National Gallery collections of
British paintings were transferred to the Tate, and only a small collection of
a few masterpieces is now exhibited at Trafalgar Square. Thus, the Tate
Gallery exhibits a number of interesting collections of British and foreign
modern painting and also modern sculpture.
The collection of Turner’s paintings at the Tate
includes about 300 oils and 19,000 watercolours and drawings. He was the most
traditional artist of his time as well as the most original: traditional in his
devotion to the Old Masters and original in his creation of new styles. It is
sometimes said that he prepared the way for the Impressionists.
The modern collection includes the paintings of
Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall and Salvador Dali, Francis Bacon
and Graham Sutherland, Peter Blake and Richard Hamilton, the chief pioneers of
pop art in Great Britain. Henry Moore is a famous British sculptor whose works
are exhibited at the Tate too. One of the sculptor's masterpieces - the
‘Reclining Figure’ - is at fees Headquarters of UNESCO in Paris.
3.4. The British Theatre
Britain is now one of the world's major theatres
centres. Many British actors and actresses are known all over the world: Dame
Peggy Ashcroft, Glenda Jackson, Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud and
others.
Drama is so popular with the British people of
all ages that there are several thousand amateur dramatic societies. Now Britain
has about 300 professional theatres. Some of them are privately owned. The
tickets are not hard to get, but they are very expensive. Regular seasons of
opera and ballet are given at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London.
The National Theatre stages modern and classical plays, the Royal Shakespeare
Company produces plays mainly by Shakespeare and his contemporaries when it
performs in Stratford-on-Avon, and modern plays in its two auditoria in the
City's Barbican Centre. Shakespeare's Globe Playhouse, about which you have
probably read, was reconstructed on its original site. Many other cities and
large towns have at least one theatre.
There are many theatres and theatre companies for
young people: the National Youth Theatre and the Young Vic Company in London,
the Scottish Youth Theatre in Edinburgh. The National Youth Theatre, which
stages classical plays mainly by Shakespeare and modern plays about youth, was
on tour in Russian in 1989. The theatre-goers warmly received the production of
Thomas Stearns Eliot’s play ‘Murder in the Cathedral’. Many famous English
actors started their careers in the National Youth Theatre. Among them Timothy
Dalton, the actor who did the part of Rochester in ‘ Jane Eyre’ shown on TV in
our country
4. The British
Education
The British educational system incorporates a system of
school education, higher education and a number of other less important
particular subsystems. Here we will consider the basics of the British
educational system.
4.1. The British Schools
Schooling in Great
Britain is voluntary under the age of 5 but there is some free nursery school
education before that age. Primary education takes place in infant schools for
pupils ages from 5 to 7 years old and junior schools (from 8 to 11 years). Some
areas have different systems in which middle schools replace junior schools and
take pupils ages from 9 to 11 years. Secondary education has been available in
Britain since 1944. It is compulsory up to the age of 16, and pupils can stay
at school voluntarily up to three years longer.
In 1965 non-selective
comprehensive schools were introduced. Most local education authorities were
have now completely changed over to comprehensive schooling.
At the age of 16 pupils
take school-leaving examinations in several subjects at the Ordinary level. The
exam used to be conducted by eight independent examining boards, most of them
connected with the university. This examination could also be taken by
candidates at a further education establishment. This exam was called the
General Certificate of Education (GCE). Pupils of comprehensive school had
taken the examination called the Certificate of Secondary Education either with
or instead of the GCE.
A GCE of Advanced (“A”)
level was taken two years after the Ordinary level exam. It was the standard
for entrance to university and to many forms of professional training. In 1988
both examinations were replaced by the more or less uniform General Certificate
of Secondary Education.
The private sector is
running parallel to the state system of education. There are over 2500
fee-charging independent schools in GB. Most private schools are single-sex
until the age of 16. More and more parents seem prepared to take on the
formidable extra cost of the education. The reason is the believe that social
advantages are gained from attending a certain school. The most expansive day
or boarding schools in Britain are exclusive public schools like Eton college
for boys and St. James’ school for girls.
4.2. Universities and
Colleges in Great Britain
There are over 90
universities in Great Britain. They are divided into three types: the old
universities (Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh Universities), the 19th century
universities, such as London and Manchester universities, and the new
universities. Some years ago there were also polytechnics. After graduating
from polytechnic a student got a degree, but it was not a university degree. 31
formers polytechnics were given university status in 1992.
Full courses of study offer the degree of
Bachelor of Art or Science. Most degree courses at universities last three
years, language courses 4 years (including year spent aboard). Medicine and
dentistry courses are longer (5-7 years).
Students may receive grants from the Local
Education Authority to help pay for books, accommodation, transport, and food.
This grant depends on the income of their parents.
Most students live away from home, in flats of
halls of residence.
Students don’t usually have a job during term
time because the lessons called lectures, seminars, classes of tutorials (small
groups), are full time. However, many students now have to work in the
evenings.
University life is considered «an experience».
The exams are competitive but the social life and living away from home are
also important. The social life is excellent with a lot of clubs, parties,
concerts, bars.
There are not only universities in Britain but
also colleges. Colleges offer courses in teacher training, courses in
technology and some professions connected with medicine.
5. The Modern British
Economy
From 1981 to 1989 the British economy experienced eight
years of sustained growth at the annual average rate over 3%. However,
subsequently Britain and other major industrialized nations were severely
affected by recession. In Britain growth slowed to 0.6% in 1990, and in 1991
gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 2.3%. GDP fell in 1992 as a whole by 0.4%,
but it rose slightly in the second half of the year. The recovery strengthened
during the first part of 1993; with GDP in the second quarter being 2% higher
than a year earlier; the European Commission expected Britain to be the fastest
growing of all major European economies in 1993 and1994.
Recent indications that the recovery is under
may include:
·
an increase in manufacturing output;
·
a steady upward trend in retail sales;
·
increases in new car registrations;
·
record levels of exports;
·
increased business and consumer confidence; and
·
signs of greater activity in the housing market.
The
Government’s policy is to ensure sustainable economic growth through low
inflation and sound public finances. The Government’s economic policy is set
in the context of a medium-term financial strategy, which is revived each year.
Within this strategy, monetary and fiscal policies are designed to defeat
inflation. Short-term interest rates remain the essential instrument of
monetary policy.
Macroeconomic policy is
directed towards keeping down the rate of inflation as the basis for
sustainable growth, while micro-economic policies seek to improve the working
of markets and encourage enterprise, efficiency and flexibility through
measures such as privatization, deregulation and tax reforms.
The economy is
now benefiting from substantially lower interest rates. In September 1993 base
interest rates were at 6%. They had been cut by 9 percentage points since
October 1990, and were at their lowest since 1977.
6. The Modern British Industry
Private
enterprises in the Great Britain generate over three-quarters of total domestic
income. Since 1979 the Government has privatized 46 major businesses and
reduced the state-owned sector of industry by about two-thirds. The Government
is taking measures to cut unnecessary regulations imposed on business, and runs
a number of schemes which provide direct assistance or advice to small and
medium-sized businesses.
In
some sectors a small number of large companies and their subsidiaries are responsible
for a substantial proportion of total production, notably in the vehicle,
aerospace and transport equipment industries. Private enterprises account for
the greater part of activity in the agricultural, manufacturing, construction,
distributive, financial and miscellaneous service sectors. The private sector
contributed 75% of total domestic final expenditure in 1992, general government
24 % and public corporations 1%.
About 250 British industrial companies in the latest reporting period each had
an annual turnover of more than £500 million. The annual turnover of the
biggest company, British Petroleum’, makes it the llth largest industrial
grouping in the world and the second largest in Europe. Five British firms are
among the top 25 European Community companies.
7. The Modern British Army
The
strength of the regular armed forces, all volunteers, was nearly 271,000 in
mid-1993 — 133,000 in the Army, 79,300 in the Royal Air Force (RAF) and 58,500
in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. There were 18,800 women personnel — 7,500
in the Army, 6,800 in the RAF, and 4,400 in the Royal Navy.
British forces’ main
military roles are to:
·
ensure the protection and security of Britain and its dependent
territories;
·
ensure against any major external threat to Britain and its allies;
and
·
contribute towards promoting Britain’s wider security interests
through the maintenance of international peace and security.
Most of Britain’s nuclear and conventional forces are committed to NATO and
about 95% of defence expenditure to meeting its NATO responsibilities. In
recognition of the changed European security situation, Britain’s armed forces
are being restructured in consultation with other NATO allies.
Under these plans, the strength of the armed forces is being cut by 22%,
leaving by the mid-1990s some 119,000 in the Army, 70,000 in the RAF and 52,500
in the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines. This involves reductions in main
equipment of:
·
three Tornado GR1 squadrons, four Phantom squadrons, two Buccaneer
squadrons and part of a squadron of Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft;
·
12 submarines, nine destroyers and frigates and 13 mine
·
countermeasures ships; and
·
327 main battle tanks.
Civilian staff employed by the Ministry of
Defence will be reduced from 169,100 in 1991 to 135,000.
As a member of
NATO, Britain fully supports the Alliance’s current strategic concept, under
which its tasks are to:
·
help to provide a stable security environment, in which no country
is able to intimidate or dominate any European country through the threat or
use of force;
·
serve as a transatlantic
forum for Allied consultations affecting member states’ vital interests; deter
from aggression and defend member states against military attack; and
·
preserve the strategic
balance within Europe.
8. The Two
Lessons
This section of the paper is
dedicated to the development of two lessons for the “Regional Geography of
Great Britain” course to be taught in schools. The chosen topics are “Customs
and Traditions of Great Britain” and “American English”.
Both lessons are intended for 45-50
minutes duration and are of so-called “combined” type, according to the
generally accepted terminology in Russia. The principal scheme of such a lesson
can be represented in the following way:
1) Lesson organization (2-3 minutes)
2) Review of the previous studies (5-7 minutes)
3) New studies (approx. 15-20 minutes)
4) Systematization of the new knowledge and
training for it’s application in practice (15-
20 minutes)
5) Homework (1-2 minutes)
Lesson organization and review of previous studies are
not thoroughly considered here since they depend upon the composition and
structure of the whole course, and their development would require knowledge of
the previous and the following lessons. We concentrate our attention on the
“New studies” and “Systematization of the new knowledge and training for it’s
application in practice”. The main goal of both lessons is to introduce new
information and expand student’s vocabulary by learning some specific words and
expressions related to the considered topics.
8.1. “Customs and Traditions of Great Britain”
The studies of the customs and traditions of Great
Britain here are supposed to be carried out in calendar order, which means that
introduction of customs and traditions should begin with winter events and go
on throughout the whole year, from December until November.
Lesson topic: “Customs and Traditions of Great
Britain”
Lesson goal: general study of the British customs
and traditions
Lesson structure:
1) Lesson organization (2-3 minutes)
2) Particular review of the previous studies (4-5 minutes)
(We accept) that the previous lesson was dealt with the
civic customs of GB.
A student reports a result of his work done on the
material of the previous topic that was studied in class. He/she is supposed to
talk fluently by memory and speak about one-two civic customs that he’she
founds to be remarkable. The report is followed by a brief discussion (3-4
minutes) Approximate variant of the report is as follows:
“Some
historical and colorful customs belong essentially to a particular town or
community because they sprang, originally, from some part of the local history,
or from some deep-seated local tradition. No doubt, such customs, along with
various religious customs and traditions, attached to certain calendar dated,
constitute the soul of British social culture and are of great interest for a
researcher.
At Lichfield,
a festival commonly called the Greenhill Bower and Court of Array takes place
annually in late May or June. This is really two customs, of which the first –
the Bower – is said to run back to the time of King Oswy of Northumbria, who
founded Lichfield in A.D. 656. In the Middle Ages, the city guilds used to meet
at Greenhill, carrying flower garlands and emblems of their trades. Now the
Bower ceremonies have become a sort of carnival, wherein lorries carrying
tableaux, trade floats, decorated carts, and bands pass cheerfully through
streets profusely adorned with flowers and greenery.
The second
part of the custom is the meeting of the Court of Array and the inspection of
the ancient suits of armour which the city was once obliged by law to provide.
By Act passed in 1176, every freeman between the ages of 15 and 60 had to keep
a sufficiency of arms and armour, and maintain them in good condition and ready
for use. He had also to be able to handle them efficiently himself. Every
county had to have its Court of Array whose duty was to see that these
regulations were duly carried out by the freemen, and to hold periodical
inspections of the weapons and suits of armour provided by them”.
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