2024年3月16日发(作者：)

英美文学考试名词解释和简答（自己整理的）

glorious revolution (光荣革命): the overthrow(推翻、瓦

解) of king JamesⅡof England takes place in 1688 by a union of

parliamentarians with an invading army led by William of Orange

who, as a result ascended（上升、登高）the English throne（君

主、王权）as William Ⅲ of England. It was also known as White

Revolution because it caused no bloodshed(流血、杀戮). It

marked the real beginning of the constitutional monarchy in

England.

2. How did the “Glorious Revolution” break out? What was

the significance of it?

In 1685 Charles II died and was succeeded by his brother

James II. James, who was brought up in exile(流犯）in Europe,

was a Catholic; He hoped to rule without giving up his personal

religious views. But England was no more tolerant of a Catholic

king in 1688 than 40 years. So the English politicians rejected

James II, and appealed to a Protestant king, William of Orange,

to invade and take the English throne. William landed in England

in 1688. The takeover was relatively smooth, with no bloodshed,

no any execution of the king. This was known as the Glorious

Revolution. William and his wife Mary were both Protestants and

became co-monarchs. They accepted the Bill of Rights. It’s the

beginning of the age of constitutional monarchy.

charter (大宪章): Known as the Great Charter, it was

the first famous political document to limit the king’s powers in

English history. It was signed in 1215 by King John at a

conference at Runnymede（兰尼米

德）, an island in the Thames River four miles downstream

（下游的、顺流而下的）from Windsor（温莎）. It contains

altogether 63 clauses（条款）, among which the most important

ones are: no tax should be made without the approval of the

Grand Council（天庭会议）; no freeman should be arrested,

imprisoned, or deprived（缺乏教育的）of his property except by

the law of the land;没有大议会批准不准征税；不得随意逮捕，拘禁

自由民，不依照土地法不得剥夺其财产；The king must promise to

observe the rights of his vassals（诸侯、封臣）and the vassals in

turn must observe the rights of their men, and the king also

should permit merchants to move about freely and should

observe the privileges of the various towns. 2. Comments: The

great charter was the first step of constitutional experiment. It

tried to establish a legal relation between the king and his barons

by defining their respective rights and obligations. The great

charter made it possible for the new-born bourgeoisie to enter

into politics because it granted some power to the great council

which was the embryonic form of the English parliament. The

great charter protected the rights of the merchant class. This

facilitated（促进）the development of commerce and handcraft.

(It was arguably the most significant early influence on the

extensive historical process that led to rule of constitutional law

today in the English speaking world.)

h: In law, the monarch has many supreme powers,

but in practice, the real power of monarch has been solely（单独

的，唯一的）on

the advice of her ministers. She reigns but does not rule（统

而不治）. The real power lies in the parliament, or to be exact, in

the House of Commons. 2. The monarch actually has no real

power. The monarch’s power is limited by law and parliament.

The monarch symbolizes the tradition and unity of the British

state, have a weekly chat with the Prime Minister, and to give

Royal Assent to Bills passed by Parliament.(对议会通过的法案给予

御准)

presidential elections: The general election, held on the

first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in each election

year, is technically divided into two stages. During the first stage,

states elect their presidential electors. The number of presidential

electors for each state is equal to the total number of its

representatives in congress plus two senators. The total number

of presidential electors for the nation is 538, with 3 from

Washington D.C. I n the second stage (十二月的第三个星期一) the

electors meet to elect the president. (electoral college)

League（常春藤高校联盟）: It was founded in 1954, an

athletic conference comprising eight private institutions（体系）

of higher education in the Northern United States. The term is

most commonly used to refer to those eight schools considered

as a group and also has connotations(含义) of academic

excellence, selectivity in admissions, and social elitism（精英主

义）.常春藤名校联盟：Brown University (布朗大学), Columbia

University, Cornell University（康奈尔大学）,

Dartmouth College（达特茅斯大学）, Harvard University,

Princeton University（普林斯顿大学）, University of Pennsylvania

（宾夕法尼亚大学）, Yale University

m Father (开国元勋): In September, 1620, a group of

101 puritans and some employees left Plymouth, England, and

sailed for America in the ship named Mayflower. They founded

the colony of Plymouth (普利茅斯) in New England. So these early

puritans in New England were called the pilgrim father.

deal: 1. The New Deal included the following contents;

(1) establishment and strengthening of government

regulation and control of banking, credit and currency systems,