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In acest capital sunt redate 40 de teme privind civilizatiaspatiului cultural al limbii engleze.
1. United Kingdom
The official name of the country we usually callEngland
and occasionally Great Britain is the UnitedKingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The U. K.is situated on
the group of islands lying just off themainland of
northwestern Europe. The British Isles includeGreat
Britain proper, Ireland and a number of smallerislands.
Great Britain consists of England, Scotland andWales. The
southern part of Ireland is the Republic of Eire.Great
Britain is separated from the continent by theEnglish
Channel, the narrower part of which is called theStrait of
Dover. The British Isles are surrounded by theshallow
waters of the Irish Sea and the North Sea, theNorwegian
Sea, the North Channel and the AtlanticOcean.Britain is
comparatively small, but there is hardly acountry, in the
world where such a variety of scenery canbe found. There
are wild desolate mountains in thenorthern Highlands of
Scotland - the home of the deerand the eagle. The
Pennine Range in northern Englandand the Cambrian
Mountains in Wales are much lower. Inthe extreme south
of England are the famous chalk hills,some of which form
the Dover Cliffs. The southern andsouth-eastern parts of
the island lie in varied lowlands. The rivers of the region
are short and of no greatimportance as waterways. The
longest of them is the"Father of London", the Thames,
which is a little over 200miles. Britain's principal ports
are London, Liverpool,Manchester, Hull, and
Glasgow. Thanks to climatic conditions, Britain in truth
lookslike one great well-ordered park with its old trees,
greenmeadows and hedges.
6. Places of interest
There are a lot of places of interest in London. Theyare
all worth seeing. On the north
side of TrafalgarSquare stands one of the world's
greatest art galleries. The National Gallery represents
all schools of Westernpainting from the Italian
Primitives to the early 20thcentury. Portraits by
Reynolds and Gainsborough can beseen here.Since the
7.Press in Britain
Probably in no other country are there such
greatdifferences the various national daily newspapers- in
thetype of news they report and the way they report it
On the one hand, there are the "quality" newspapers: The
Times, The Independent, The Guardian, the
Financialt i m e s a n d t h e D a i l y T e l e g r a p h . T h e s
e c o n c e r n themselves, as far as possible, with
11.Sightseeing London
The Tower of London is the most famous of all
thehistorical buildings in London. In the past the
Tower of London served both as a palace and as a
state prison,but it is only a museum today. Trafalgar
Square is in the centre of the West End of London. On
the north side is the National Gallery; in thenorth-east
corner is the National Portrait Gallery, and inthe centre is
Nelson's Column with the figure of
the greatseamen. Trafalgar Square is the place where
mass meetingsand demonstrations for peace and for
working people'srights take place."Big Ben" is the name of
the great bell which strikest h e h o u r. I t i s i n
t h e c l o c k Tow e r o f
t h e H o u s e s o f Parliament.Westminster Abbey is the
historic building in Londonto which every visitor sooner or
later goes. Many of GreatBritain's famous men are
buried in Westminster Abbey.Piccadilly Circus is
a square in the central part of London. London's bestknown theatres and cinemas andmost famous restaurants
are on Piccadilly Circus. HydePark is the largest park in
the West End of London. In
the1 9 t h c e n t u r y i t b e c a m e a p o p u l a r p l a c e f o r
p u b l i c meetings. The British Museum is one of the largest
museums inthe world. It consists of the National Library
and Museumof History, Archaeology, Art and Ethnography.
t h e a v a i l a b i l i t y o f m o r e r a d i o f r e q u e n c i e s, t o g e t h e r wi t h satellit
e, cable and microwave transmissions, has alreadymade a greater number
of local, national and internationalservices possible. The transition from
analogue to
digitaltransmission technology is now expanding this capacityenormo
usly. Broadcasting in Britain has traditionally beenbased on the
.principle that it is a public service accountable to people.While retaining
the essential public service element, itnow also embraces the
principles of competition andchoice:
t h e B B C ( Br i t i s h B r o a d c a s t i n g C or p o r a t i o n ) , wh i c h broadcasts
television and radio programs;
the ITC (Independent Television Commission), whichlicenses and r
egulates commercial television services,including cable and satellite
services;
t h e R a d i o A u t h o r i t y, wh i c h l i c e n s e s an d r e gu l a t e s commercial
radio services, including cable and satellite; The three bodies
work to broad requirements andobjectives defined and endorsed by
Parliament, but areotherwise independent in their daily conduct of
business.Cable
services are delivered through undergroundcables and are paid
for subscription. Cable franchiseshave been granted covering areas
comprising 83 per centof all homes and nearly all urban areas in Britain. In
mid -1999 there were about 12.1 million homes able to receivesuch
services, and 3 million subscribing homes. Digitaltechnology is
being introduced which will support up to500 television channels.
Cable also has the capacity
forc o m p u t e r - b a s e d i n t e r a c t i v e s er v i c e s , s u c h a s ho m e shoppi
ng and email. Satellite television and cable servicesare funded mainly
by subscription income. Television viewing is by far Britain's most
popularleisure pastime: over 97 per cent of households have
atleast one TV set. British television productions are soldworld wide
terrorism.S e c o n d , t h e e v e n t b r o u g h t a b o u t a c o n f r o n t a t i o
n between two different viewpoints on the development of world politics.
On the one hand, politicians from manycoun tries believe that any
active actions to preserveworld order must be organized only by
United Nations.On the other hand, the United States is pushing
forwardits aggressive unilateral policy that is based only
onWashington's understanding of the current
internationalsituation. This US strategy was clearly demonstrated
in Iraq.Now, after two and a half years of the war, the questionmust
be asked if this policy achieved its goals. Did itbr i n g a pe a c e a n d
s t a b i l i z a t i o n i n t h e p o s t S a d a m country? Yes, the military operation
itself was a
success.D e s p i t e t h e m i l i t a r y s u c ce s s e s , t h i s s t r a t e g y d i d n o t pr
oduce desirable results. The USA cannot stabilize thesituation, and
the Iraqis continue to organize attacksagainst the US and coalition
forces.It is possible that the USA will not be able to continueits
unilateral policy anymore because it goes
againsto b j e c t i v e p r o c e s s e s i n t h e w o r l d e c o n o m y a n d
international relations. The political regimes in Europeancountries are
very close to American, so any militaryconfrontations are
very unlikely at this point. But
aneconomical competition would be intense. It could besaid that the
other war, between the euro and the dollar,is already on, and the dollar is
loosing so far. There is another potential threat to the USA. Only afew
years ago, a dollar was almost equivalent to gold.People and
businesses all over the world tried to keeptheir savings in dollars.
Now, when a dollar is gettingcheaper, many try to get rid of it and
buy euros. Whatwould happen if all this dollar cash came back
to theUSA? India, Japan, and Russia will probably also try tomake
their influence on the world politics comparablewith their economical
potential.One thing is clear, however, the future of the countrydirectly
depends on today's policy.
ah a l f m i l l i o n s q u a r e k i l o m e t e r s . T h e U S A bo r d er s o n Canada
in the north and on Mexico in the south. It alsohas a sea boarder with
Russia. The USA is made up of 50 states and the District
of Columbia, a special federal area where the capital of thecountry,
Washington, is situated. The population of thecountry is about 250
million. The highest mountains are the Rocky Mountains, theCordillera
and the Sierra Nevada. The highest peak isMount McKinley, which is
located in
Alaska.A m e r i c a ' s l a r g e s t r i v e r s ar e t h e Mi s s i s s i p p i , t he Missour
i, the Rio Grande and the Columbia. The GreatLakes on
the border with Canada are the largest anddeepest in the USA. The
climate of the country varies greatly. The coldestregions are in the north.
The climate of Alaska is arctic. The climate of the central part is continental.
The southhas subtropical climate. Hot winds blowing from the
Gulf o f Me x i c o o f t e n b r i n g t yp ho o n s . Th e U S A
i s a h i g h l y developed industrial country. It is the world's
leadingp r o d u c e r o f c o p pe r a n d o i l an d t h e wo r l d ' s s e c on d
roducer of iron ore and coal. Among the most importantmanufacturing
industries are aircraft, cars, textiles, radioand television sets, armaments,
furniture and paper. The largest cities are New York, Los Angeles,
Chicago,Philadelphia, Detroit, San Francisco and others. The United
States is a federal union of 50 states,each of which has its own
government. The seat of
thec e n t r a l ( f e d e r a l ) g o v e r n m e n t i s W a s h i n g t o n , D C . A c c o
r d i n g t o t h e U S C o n s t i t u t i o n t he p o w er s o f t he government are
divided into 3 branches: the executive,headed by the President,
the legislative, exercised by theCongress, and the juridical. The Congress
consists of theSenate and the House of Representatives. There are
twomain political parties in the USA: the Republican and theDemocratic
23. Scotland
Scotland is administrative division of the kingdom of Great Britain,
occupying the northern third of the islandof Great Britain. As a
geopolitical entity Scotland includes186 nearby islands, a majority
of which are contained inthree groupsnamely, the Hebrides,
also known as
theWes ter n Islands, situated off the wes tern coast ; the
29.Education in
USA
The general pattern of
education in the USA is
aneight-year
elementary school, follow
ed by a four-yearhigh
school. There are
eight years
of elementary schooling.
Theelementary school is
followed by four years of
secondaryschool, or high
school. Often the
last two years of elemen
tary and the first years of
secondary school
arecombined into a junior
high school.Admission to
the American high school
is automaticon completion
school studies
is necessary, however,
and somestate
universities require a
certain scholastic
average, oraverage of
high school grades.It
usually takes four years to
meet the requirementsfor
a Bachelor of Arts or
Bachelor of Science
degree. AMaster
of Arts or Master
of Science degree
may beobtained in one
rthersubdivided into
undergraduate and
graduate levels.
Theliberal arts program,
on the undergraduate
level, may bea two-year
junior college course, or
a four-year
courseleading to a
degree of Bachelor of
Arts or Bachelor
of Science. The four-year
course is usually
subdivided into alower
division (which may be
it without. Eitherway
Americans love their
popcorn
Coca ColaCoca-Cola The world
famous fresh drinkCocaCola first was an allpurpose medicine,
made in1886 by
a druggist from Atlanta,
who made a brownsyrup
by mixing coca leaves
and cola nuts. The syrup
wasn't a success and
then another druggist,
31. Political
system of USA
The nation's capital,
Washington, D.C., is the
capitalof a federal union
of 50 states. Therefore, in
1789, theyadopted a new
Constitution establishing a
federal unionunder a
strong
central government.Under
the Constitution,
the federal government i
sdivided into three
branches, each chosen in
a differentmanner, each
able to check and balance
the others. The
Executive Branch is
headed by the
President,who, together
with the Vice President,
is chosen innationwide
elections every four yea
rs. The electiveprocess
for a U.S. President is
unique. The
presidentialcandidate
needs 270 electoral votes
to be elected; if
nocandidate has a
majority, the House of
Representativesmake the
decision. Any natural-born
American who is 35years
old or older may be
elected to this office. Th
ePresident proposes
bills to Congress, enforc
es federallaws, serves as
Commander-in-Chief of
the Armed Forcesand,
with the approval of the
Senate makes treaties
andappoints federal jud
appointed by the
President with the
approvalof the Senate;
to minimize
political influences, theira
ppointments are for
life. Federal courts decid
e casesinvolving federal
law, conflicts between st
ates orbetween citizens
of different states.Every
American citizen
is allowed to vote from
theage of 18.
32. Science in 20
th
century
The 20th century began
slowly, to the
ticking of grandfather
clocks and the stately
rhythms of
progress. Thanks to scie
nce, industry and moral
philosophy,mankind's
steps had at last been
guided up the rightpath.
The century of steam was
about to give way to
thecentury of oil and
electricity.Charles Darwin'
s theory of evolution,
only 41 yearsold in 1900,
proposed
a scientific basis for
the notionthat progress
was gradual but
inevitable, determined
bynatural law.And
everybody thought that
the development
wouldcontinue in the
small steps that had
marked the progressof
the 19th century.
distance, free-for-all
sprint. Thrust into this
race, the children of the
20th centurywould
witness more change in
their daily existence
andenvironment than
anyone else who had ever
walked
theplanet.Assassinations
in Sarajevo in 1914 lit a
spark that
setoff an unprecedented
explosion of destruction
anddeath. The Great W
to reinvent themselves. In
that task they were
assisted by two profound
developments psychoanalysisand the
Bomb.
accessible
sport.Aerobic exercise
and training with weigh
t-liftingmachines are two
activities which more and
more menand
women are
pursuing. Books, videos,
and fitness-conscious
movie stars that play up
the glamour
of fitnesshave
heightened enthusiasm f
or these exercises
andhave promoted the
34.The USA
court system
The courts are the ove
rseers of the law. They
administer it,
they resolve disputes
under it, and
theyensure that it is and
remains equal to and
impartial
foreveryone.In the
United States each
state is served
by theseparate court
systems, state and
federal. Both
systemsare organized in
to three basic levels of c
ourts-trialcourts, courts
of appeal and High Cour
t or SupremeCourt. Trial
courts bear the main
burden in theadministr
ation of justice.
Cases begin there and
mostinstances are finally
resolved there. The trial
courts in each state
include: common
pleascourts, which have
35.Sports in
Great Britain
National sports in Grea
t Britain... It is a veryint
eresting question,
because many kinds of
sport havetaken the origin
in England. The
Englishmen love
sports,they are called
sports-lovers in spite
of the fact thatsome of
them neither play games
nor even watch
them. They only like
to speak about sports.
Some kinds of
sportare professional in
England. Many traditiona
l sportingcontests take
place in England, for
example, cricket. It
isplayed from May till
September.Football, it ha
s got
Footballis played at
schools too.
Rugby is a popular game
in England. There are
manyamateur rugby
teams in this country. It is
a game that isplayed
between two teams of
players using an oval
ballthat can be handled or
kicked. The captain of the
teammust be the oldest or
best player. There are
some tennis clubs in
England, but if youplay
there it is necessary to
pay money for it.
Englishmenlike playing
tennis but many of them
prefer to watch thisgame.
Wimbledon it is the centre
of lawn tennis.Englishmen
pay much attention to
swimming, rowingand
walking. Usually the
OxfordCambridge Boat
Racetakes place at the
end of March or at the
beginning of April. It is
an interesting contest
popular in England. It
isinteresting to see the
egg-and-spoon race. The
runner,who takes part in
this competition, must
carry an egg ina spoon. It
is not allowed to drop the
egg. There are
suchcompetitions as putti
ng the weight, tossing
the caberand others. The
English are great lovers of
sports.
36. History of
Great Britain
theofficial language of
the ruling class for the
next
threecenturies. This exp
lains the great number o
f Frenchwords in
English.However the fin
al unification of Scotlan
d andEngland took place
in 1707 when both sides
agreed toform
a single parliament in
London for Great
Britain,although Scotland
continued to keep its own
WilliamShakespe
are
The last half of the 16th
and the beginning of
the17th centuries are
known as the golden age
of
Englishliterature. It was
the time of the English
Renaissance,and some
times it is even called
"the age of Shakespea
re". William Shakespeare
, the greatest andmost fa
mous of English writers,
wrote 37 plays: 10
tragedies(such as Hamle
t, King Lear, Othello, Ma
cbeth), 17comedies
(such as As You Like It,
Twelfth Night, Much
Ado About Nothing), 10
historical plays (such as
Henry 4,Richard 3). He
also left 7 books of
poems and sonnets.Most
of Shakespeare's plays
were not published in
hislifetime. So some of
them may have been lost
in the firewhen
the "Globe" burned down
in 1613.
Shakespearespent the
last years of his life at
Stratford, where he diedin
1616. He was buried
in the
church of Stratford. Am
onument was
erected to the
memory of the
greatplaywright in the
Poet's Corner in
Westminster Abbey.
mostpopulous
city
in the
United States.
For morethan a century,
it has been one of the
world's leadingbusiness,
financial and cultural
centers and its influencein
politics,
education,
entertainment,
sports,media,
fashion
and the arts all
contribute to itsstatus as
one of the major global
cities. As the home of the
United Nations,
the city is a hub for
internationaldiplomacy. R
esidents of the
city are known as New Y
orkers.New York has
five boroughs:
Manhattan, Brooklyn,Qu
eens, Staten Island and
the Bronx. The Bronx isf
amous for a zoo, which is
situated there.Manhattan
is the center of New York
City. Near 1million
people live here, but
over than 5 million
comehere to work from
all parts of the city every
day. Themain street,
Broadway, is also here.
And there are a lotof
other famous streets
on theisland of
Manhattan. There are
such buildings
as ArtDeco Chrysler
Building and there
were twin towers of
theWorld Trade Center.
One of the famous
building in theworld is the
Statue of Liberty. It was
built in 1886. It
wasa present from the
people of France. It repr
esentsAmerica's symbol
of freedom!In 2005,
39.Australian
culture.
Since 1788, the primary
basis of Australian
culturehas been
Anglo-Celtic,
although distinctive
Australianfeatures had
been evolving from the
environment and
indigenous
culture. Over the past
50 years,
Australianculture has be
en strongly influenced b
y Americanpopular cultur
e (particularly television
and cinema),large-scale
immigration from nonEnglishspeakingcountries, and
Australia's Asian
neighbors. The vigor
andoriginality of the arts
in Australia literature,
cinema,opera, music, pai
nting,
theatre, dance, and
crafts have
achieved international
recognition.In 1973,
Patrick White
was awarded the
NobelPrize in Lite
rature,
the only Australian to ha
veachieved this; he is re
cognized as one
of the greatEnglishlanguage writers of th
e 20th century.
Australian Englis
h
is a major variety of t
helanguage; its grammar
and spelling are largely
based onthose of British
English, overlaid with a
rich vernacular of unique
lexical items and
phrases, some of which
havefound their way
into standard
English. Sport plays
animportant part in Aust
ralian culture, assisted
by aclimate that favors
outdoor activities; 23.5%
Australiansover the
age of 15 regularly
participate
in organizedsporting
activities. At an
international level,
Australia
hasparticularly strong t
eams in
cricket, hockey,n
etball, rugby lea
gue, rugby union
,
Australianrules
football,
horse racing,
football (soccer)
and motor .acing.
Australia has
participated
in everysummer Olympic
Games of the modern
era, and every
Commonwealth G
ames.
Australia hosted the
1956 Summer
Olympics
in
Melbourne
and the
2000 Summer Ol
ympics
in
Sydney,
and
hasranked among the t
op five medal-takers
since2000Televised spo
rt is popular; some of the
highestrating television
programs include the
summer OlympicGames
and the
grand finals
of local and
internationalfootball
(various codes)
competitions
40.Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital
of Scotland and one of
Stevenson, a famous
English writer, wasborn
and lived in Edinburgh.
He loved the city and
wroteabout it his best
novels.Edinburgh is wellknown for the annual
EdinburghFestival
,
a collection of official an
d independentfestivals
held annually over about
four weeks from
earlyAugust. The number
of visitors attracted to
Edinburgh Fringe
(the largest performing
artsfestival in the world),
the
Edinburgh
InternationalFesti
val,
the
Edinburgh
Military Tattoo,
andthe Edinburgh
International Film Festival.
In fact the cityis one of the
most vibrant,
cosmopolitan cities in
Europeand
is regularly voted as on
e of the
most desirableplaces to
live in the world.This is a
city that knows how tobe
both ancient
and modern.