1、British Culture Education Literature Scenic sports & historical sitesBritish Education Elementary Education Secondary Education Higher Education1. Elementary Education All children in the U.K. must receive a full-time education from the age of 5 to 16. Compulsory educationState Primary School An

2、 infant section (5-7); A junior section (7-11); Kindergarten or Nursery Schools (3-5);State Primary School The academic year begins in September, and is divided into three terms, with holidays at Christmas, Easter and in the summer. Most primary schools are wholly maintained by the local authorities

3、. One third belongs to churches, either Anglican or Roman Catholic.Prep Schools The preparatory schools are independent schools for children from 7 or 8 up to 13. The prep school curriculum differs from Its main target is the “common entrance” examination at the age of 13, for admission to a public

4、school.2. Secondary Education Two complete educational systems: The state schools; The independent schools; For all children in state schools, secondary education begins at the age of 11. There are at this time two systems for secondary education, the selective and the comprehensive.Schools at this

5、stage Grammar School; Comprehensive Secondary School; Secondary Modern School; Public School;Grammar School Oldest schools in U.K.; William Shakespeare; 3% of the state school students; These schools are reserved for2002年高中入學率 London 5； Mexico City 62%; Los Angels 90%; Shanghai 94%; Tokyo 97%; Gener

6、al National Vocational Qualifications 國家專業資格證書 這一證書是專為職業技術學校畢業的學生設置的，共分個級別，這就便于人們按階梯逐級攀登，根據自己條件通過實際工作和專業培訓由低級向高級發展獲四級國家專業資格證書相當于學士學位；獲五級相當于研究生水平 90% students attend Comprehensive Secondary School; 5% attend Secondary Modern School;Public School The four most famous: Eton College; Harrow School; Winc

7、hester College; Rugby School; They emphasize two factors in education. One is the study of classics and science (needs of the bourgeoisie), the other is the development of character. The public school spirit is team spirit and leadership.3. Higher Education British universities are public bodies whi

8、ch receive funds from central government. So far, the UK has only one privately funded university, the University of Buckingham.Oxford & Cambridge Nearly all Cabinet Ministers who went to university Oxbridge; 46% of Conservative Party Members of Parliament of the Government executives Most senio

9、r civil servants are著名的牛津人（知名牛津校友）著名的牛津人（知名牛津校友） 牛津產生了牛津產生了4位英國國王，位英國國王，46位諾貝爾獎獲得者，位諾貝爾獎獲得者，25位英國首相，位英國首相，3位圣人，位圣人，86位大主教以及位大主教以及18位位紅衣主教。紅衣主教。 國王國王愛德華七世 愛德華八世 總統和首相總統和首相克雷芒艾德禮 安東尼艾登 哈羅德麥克米蘭 哈羅德威爾遜 愛德華希斯 瑪格利特撒切爾 托尼布萊爾 比爾克林頓 Two features of Oxford and Cambridge: The college system; Tutorial system; S

10、cottish Universities; The Middle-Aged Universities; Post-War Universities; The Open University;British LiteratureFictionPoetryDrama Fiction Fables: which are about animals or supernatural persons or incidents and whose purpose is teaching a moral are probably the earliest form of story-telling.Legen

11、ds come later;The best-loved story is about Robin Hood who was a popular hero living under the greenwood with his men, taking from the rich and giving to the poor and waging war against bishops and archbishops.Thomas More (1478-1535) In Utopia More exposes the poverty of the laboring classes and the

12、 greed of the rich; he points out the principle of Utopia- “From everyone according to his capacities, to everyone according to his needs”- which is the practical basis for a communist society.The Puritan Period John Bunyan, a prose writer; John Milton, an outstanding poet;John Bunyan Three great al

13、legories in the world literature: Spensers Faery Queen; Dantes Divina Commedia; Bunyans Pilgrims Progress;Pilgrims Progress It is a religious allegory which depicts the spiritual pilgrimage of a Christian, who flies from the City of Destruction, meets with perils and temptations at the Slough of Des

14、pond, Vanity Fair and finally reaches the Delectable Mountains.Daniel Defoe Modern novel began to appear in the 18th century; Defoe: forerunners of the English realist novel; The modern European novel began after the Renaissance, with Cervantess Don Quixote;塞萬提斯 堂吉訶德堂吉訶德，是西班牙作家塞萬提斯塞萬提斯于1605年和1615年分兩

15、部分岀版的反騎士小說。故事背景是個早沒有騎士的年代，主角堂吉訶德幻想自己是個騎士，因而作出種種匪夷所思的行徑，最終從夢幻中蘇醒過來。 評論家多稱唐吉訶德是西方西方文學史上的第一部現代小說小說，也是世界文學文學的瑰寶之一。這部書原本是打算對當時流行的騎士傳奇小說進行反諷。然而吊詭的是，由于后來騎士騎士小說小說漸漸銷聲匿跡，自文壇消失，于是當初塞萬提斯塞萬提斯諷刺騎士騎士小說小說的此一初衷漸漸被后世讀者所淡忘； 后來由于美國百老匯歌舞劇歌舞劇夢幻騎士的成功改編，原本“唐吉訶德”由嘲諷那些不自量力、脫離現實、自以為是一代大俠的這一類型人物，如今已多被用來指那些勇敢堅持自己的理想，敢于挑戰社會不合理現

16、象、不顧眾人嘲笑仍堅持一己信念之人物。Robinson Crusoe Robin Crusoe tells of the only survivor of a shipwreck who lives alone on a deserted island for many years, solving the problems of food, clothing and shelter as best as he can. Creating the image of English Bourgeoisie: FridayCharles Dickens Outstanding representa

17、tive of critical realism; Writing about the working class; Greatest creative writers;Some of his novels: Oliver Twist; David Copperfield; The Old Curiosity Shop; Hard Times; Great Expectations; A Tale of Two Cities; Dombey and Son;William Makepeace Thackeray Writing about middle-class; Masterpiece:

18、Vanity Fair; The title was taken from Bunyans Pilgrims Progress; The subtitle of the novel: A Novel Without a Hero;Women Novelists Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice; Narrow range of the society: The constant quest of the middle-class mother for rich husbands for her daughters;The Bronte Sisters Emily

19、 (1818-1848) Wuthering Heights; Charlotte (1816-1855) Jane Eyre; Ann (1820-1849); Al literary, all talented and all dying young, is one of the saddest pages in the history of English literature.Twentieth Century Novelist Thomas Hardy; D.H. Lawrence; James Joyce;Poetry Geoffrey Chaucer, the father of

20、 English poetry, the first to write in the London dialect; The Cantebury Tales;John Milton Greatest revolutionary poet of the 17th century; Paradise Lost;Pre-Romanticism Poets Robert Burns; William Blake; William Wordsworth was a famous nature-poet at the turn of the century; Lyrical Ballads; Byron (1788-1824);