:“英美**概况”课程是为高等学校英语专业学生开设的专业知识必修课。按照教育部21世纪我国高等学校英语专业人才的培养目标和要求,在打好扎实的英语语言基本功和牢固掌握英语专业知识的前提下,要拓宽学生的人文学科知识,扩大知识面,对西方不同的政治、经济、文化、历史和科技教育等有较全面的了解,其中**是对英国和美国国情的梳理和掌握。同时,注重培养学生独立思考、分析问题、解决问题的能力和创新能力,培养学生跨文化交际意识和能力,提高思想道德素质、文化素养,并对今后从事英美问题的研究打下坚实的基础。

Chapter One General Introduction
1.1 Topography
1.2 Rivers and Coast
1.3 Climate
1.4 Natural Resources
1.5 Population and Language
1.6 British Characters
1.7 British Family Life
1.8 Holidays and Festivals
Chapter Two A Brief History ( I )
2.1 Early Man and Pre-feudal Society
2.2 Norman Conquest and Decline of Feudalism
2.3 The Decline of Feudalism
2.4 The Bourgeois Revolution
Chapter Three A Brief History( II )
3.1 The Industrial Revolution and the Chartist Movement
3.2 The British Empire and Two World Wars
3.3 Post-war Periods
Chapter Four Political System
4.1 Constitutional Monarchy
4.2 Three Branches of Power
4.3 The Party System
4.4 Current Political Landscape
Chapter Five Economy
5.1 A Historical Overvtew
5.2 Natural Resources
5.3 Different Sectors
Chapter Six Literature
6.1 Literature before the Renaissance
6.2 Renaissance Literature
6.3 Literature in the 17th and 18th Centuries
6.4 The Age of Romanticism ( 1790 - 1840)
6.5 Victorian Literature (1837 -1901)
6.6 Literature in the First Half of the 20th Century
Chapter Seven Education System
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Primary and Secondary Education
7.3 Higher Education
Chapter Eight Foreign Relations
8.1 Relations with Commonwealth Countries
8.2 Relations with Europe
8.3 Britain's Special Relationship with the US
8.4 Britain's Security and Defense Policy
Chapter Nine Religion
9.1 General Introduction
9.2 England and Wales
9.3 Scotland
9.4 Northern Ireland
9.5 Future Trends
Chapter Ten News Media
10.1 The Press
10.2 Radio and Television
10.3 Digital Broadcasting
10.4 News Agencies
10.5 Online Media
Bibliography