雅思听力背景材料：英国概况

　　英国的概况是雅思听力考试最基本的背景知识之一，因为雅思的出题机构还是很喜欢出一些和英国相关的知识的。下面就是关于英国概况的雅思听力背景知识，包括了一些人文社会等方面，供大家参考。

　　1. The official name of the United Kingdom is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

　　2. There are three political divisions on the islands of Great Britain: England, Scotland and Wales.

　　3. About a hundred years ago, Britain ruled an empire that had 1/4 of the worlds people and 1/4 of the worlds land area.

　　4. The Britain Empire was replaced by the Britain commonwealth in 1931,which is a free association of independent counties that were once colonies of Britain.

　　5. Britain is separated from the rest of Europe by the English Channel in the south and the North Sea in the east.

　　6. Britain has, for centuries, been tilting with the northwest slowly rising, and the southeast slowly sinking. The north and west of Britain are mainly highlands. The southeast and east are mainly lowlands.

　　7. The pennies, a range of hills running from north midlands to Scottish border, are the principal mountain chain.

　　8. Ben Nevis in Scotland is the highest mountain in Britain, and the Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland is the largest lake in Britain.

　　9. There are three natural zones in Scotland: the highlands in the north, the central lowlands, and the southern uplands. The lowlands in the center comprise mostly the forth and Clyde valleys.

　　10. Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast are the capitals of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

　　11. Scotland has about 800 islands, including the Orkney, Shetlands and Hebrides.

　　苏格兰有800座岛屿，包括奥克内群岛，谢特兰群岛和赫不里德群岛。

　　12. Besides, the Tweed, the Tyne, the Tees and the Thames Rivers on the east coast all face the North Sea ports on the European continent.

　　除此以外，东海岸的邓恩河，泰河，迪斯河和泰晤士河都面临欧洲大陆上的北海各港口。

　　13. The longest river in Britain is the Severn River. The most important river is Thames River. River Clyde is the most important river in Scotland.

　　英国最长的河流是赛文河，最重要的河流是泰晤士河。克莱德河是苏格兰最重要的河流。

　　14. Though the weather in Britain is so changeable and unpredictable, the climate is in fact a favorable one. Britain has a steady reliable rainfall throughout the whole year.

　　15. Britain has a population of 57411000. it is a densely populated country with an average of 237 people per square kilometer, and it is very unevenly distributed. 90% of the population is urban, and only 10% is rural.

　　16. the English are Anglo-Saxons, but the welsh, Scots and Irish are Celts.

　　英格兰人是安各鲁-撒克逊人。而威尔士、苏格兰和爱尔兰人是凯尔特人。

　　17. The Celts of Wales defended their freedom for 1000 years and were not conquered by the English until 1536. today about a quarter of the welsh population still speak welsh as their first language and about one percent speak only welsh.

　　威尔士的凯尔特人为自由战斗了1000年，直到1536年才被英格兰人征服。今天有大约四分之一的威尔士人把威尔士语当作第一语言，大约1%的人只讲威尔士语。

　　18. though the Gaelic language is still heard in the Highlands and western isles, the English language is spoken all over the Scotland.

　　尽管在高地和西部岛屿还能听到盖尔语，但英语却遍及全苏格兰。

　　19. Since then, there has been bitter fighting between the Protestants who are the dominant group, and the Roman Catholics who are seeking more social and economic opportunities.

　　20. About three million have came to live and find work since world war second. They are mainly from the West Indies, India and Pakistan.