英国小知识

苏格兰的政党 

Political Parties in Scotland

The largest political party operating in Scotland is the Labour Party. In the course of the twentieth century, they gradually rose to prominence as Scotland's main political force. The party was established to represent the interests of workers and trade unionists. They currently operate as the senior partners in a coalition Scottish Executive.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) was formed in the 1930s with the aim of achieving Scottish independence. They are broadly on the left-of-centre and are in the European Social-Democratic mould. As the second-largest party in the Scottish Parliament, they are the official opposition to Labour.

The Liberal Democrats are currently junior partners in a coalition Scottish Executive. In the 2005 Westminster election they became the second strongest party (in terms of seats and votes) in Scotland. They have the third highest number of councillors, and are the fourth strongest party in the Scottish parliament.

The Conservative and Unionist Party has declined in popularity in recent years. They are the only party ever to have achieved an outright majority of Scottish votes at any General Election, in 1951. However at the 1997 General Election they failed to get a single Scottish MP elected and at the following General Election they returned only one, as they did in 2005. They are on the right-of-centre, but many Scots used to vote for them simply because of their unionist credentials.

The Scottish Green Party has won regional additional member seats in the Scottish Parliament, as a result of the proportional representation electoral system for the Scottish Parliament. In 1999 this gave the UK its first green parliamentarian, Robin Harper. The Greens are also for Scottish independence

The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) was formed in 1998 and operate as the foremost political party of the far-left in Scotland. They are strongest in urban west central Scotland, the traditional heartland of the Labour Party. The Socialist party is also advocating Scottish independence

The Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party (SSCUP) was formed just in time to contest the 2003 elections to the Scottish Parliament. Unsurprisingly they were formed to work for the rights of Scotland's senior citizens. More surprisingly, thanks to the Scottish Parliament's proportional electoral system, they managed to get one MSP elected, John Swinburne, their party founder and leader.

工党是苏格兰最大的政党。在20世纪，他们逐渐成为苏格兰政坛上最重要的政治力量。工党的成立宗旨是代表工人阶级和行业工会的利益。他们目前是苏格兰行政院联盟政府的高级合作方。

苏格兰民族党（SNP）成立于二十世纪三十年代，成立之初的宗旨是寻求苏格兰的独立。他们大多党员属于中间偏左派，与欧洲的社民党如出一辙。作为苏格兰第二大党，民族党是工党的反对党。

苏格兰自由民主党是苏格兰议会中的第四大党，目前在苏格兰行政院联盟政府中居于的低级合作方的位置。在2005年的大选中，他们在席位和票数上甚至超过了民族党居苏格兰第二位，议员人数居第三位。

苏格兰保守和统一党近年来影响渐微。他们仅在1951年的大选中曾经取得最辉煌的胜利。在1997年的大选中，他们没有一人当选议员，之后两届都只有一位当选。他们是议会中的中间偏右派，许多曾经支持他们的苏格兰人都是因为他们的工会背景。

苏格兰的绿党在实行比例代表选举制以来，在议会中的份量有所增加。1999年，他们的一位成员Robin Harper首次进入议会。绿党也支持苏格兰独立。

苏格兰社会主义党成立于1998年，是苏格兰最极左的党派。他们在中西部的城市中影响力较大，也是传统上工党占优势的地区。苏格兰社会主义党也主张苏格兰独立。

苏格兰长者团结党（SSCUP）成立于2003年，正好赶上了03年的苏格兰议会选举。顾名思义，他们代表了苏格兰老年人的利益。这个最新成立的党借比例代表选举的东风，也有一位成员进入了议会，即该党的领袖及创始人John Swinburne。

英国皇家花园

Lady Salisbury restored 42 acres of gardens at Hatfield House， her home after taking up residence with her husband， the sixth Lord Salisbury， in 1972.

　　"Children see things in miniature，" said the onetime Miss Wyndham-Quin， now the Dowager Marchioness of Salisbury and Britain's high priestess of historic garden design. Lady Salisbury， 82， has put her stamp on a Tudor-style courtyard for a millionaire’s medieval town house in London as well as on a multi purpose street-front garden - "Americans would call it a yard，" she said - for the New York office of the World Youth Alliance on East 71st Street， a project she expects to complete in November.

　　In the early 1980's she designed gardens for the Prince of Wales at Highgrove and to the delight of satirists encouraged him to talk to his plants. "Don’t all gardeners do that？" she said.

　　Most famously Lady Salisbury spent 31 years reviving the gardens of her former home， Hatfield House， a brooding redbrick Jacobean palace 20 miles north of London.

　　英国詹姆士一世时期的一座皇家庄园在一位花园设计师的手下返老还童，恢复了400年前的生机和美丽。

　　据《纽约时报》3月3日报道，哈特菲尔德宫（Hatfield House）位于伦敦以北约20英里处，占地约7000英亩，它的主体是一座红砖房。它是詹姆士一世时期（1603—1625）的宫殿，伊丽莎白一世（1558-1603）童年时曾住在这里。

　　莫利·温德姆·奎因（索尔兹伯里侯爵夫人）今年82岁，是英国历史花园的高级设计师。她从小喜欢花园设计，从20世纪80年代初开始为查尔斯王储设计海格罗夫庄园（Highgrove），并鼓励王储和花园里的植物“交谈”。她说：“所有的园丁不都是这么做的吗？”

　　正是莫利让这个有400多年历史的皇家庄园重新恢复了生机。莫利和园丁们花了31年的时间重新打造哈特菲尔德宫的室外景观。摄影师休·斯内尔8年里用镜头记录下了哈特菲尔德宫一年四季的景色。莫利写了一本小传——《哈特菲尔德花园》，这本书有193页，里面附有斯内尔拍摄的照片。这本书将于今年4月7日出版。接着，哈特菲尔德宫的复兴展将于今年5月7日在伦敦花园历史博物馆开幕。

　　报道说，2004年，有6.7万多位游客前来参观哈特菲尔德宫。

 英联邦运动委员会简介 CGCE

The Commonwealth Games Council for England is the organisation responsible for all matters relating to the Commonwealth Games in England.

　　Membership of the Games Council consists of representatives of 26 sports in the Commonwealth Games programme from which the host city selects up to 17 sports for each Games. The Officers are elected by Council and hold office for 4 years， their work being supported by four salaried staff.

　　England has competed in every Games since the first Empire Games in 1930 and has hosted the Games twice - in London in 1934 and Manchester in 2002.

　　The CGCE has been a beneficiary of Sport England funding towards the costs of the preparation of Team England since 1994. This has enabled the CGCE to run extensive management， training and educational programmes， ensuring that competitors and officials alike are fully prepared to meet the challenges ahead.

　　The raising of funds for the Team's participation in the Games themselves is the sole responsibility of the CGCE and is raised through sponsorship and fund-raising activities. Donations from Commerce and Industry as well as the general public towards the team's costs are always most gratefully received. Without this ongoing support Team England would not be able to participate in the Games.

　　The CGCE is a member of the Commonwealth Games Federation who have overall responsibility for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games.

英国旅游景点

旅游观光

    翻开欧洲地图，可以看到欧洲西岸外的大海中有两个大岛，一个叫大不列颠岛，另一个叫爱尔兰岛。前者的全部，后者的北部以及其他小岛组成一个国家，全称大不列颠及北爱尔兰联合王国，国际上通称为联合王国。这个国家包括英格兰、威尔士、苏格兰（三者在大不列颠岛上）和北爱尔兰四个部分，面积24万多平方公里，相当于我国江苏，安徽两省大小，人口5800多万，首教为伦敦。由于英格兰是全国的重心所在，人口占绝大多数，所以在汉语中，又习惯把联合王国简称为英国。

    论国土，英国不算太大。英文中有一句成语：from John O'Groats to Land's End.意思是“从英国的极北到极南”，似乎挺远。其实从John o'Groats（苏格兰最北端的小村庄）到Land's End（英格兰西南端的兰兹角），直线距离还不到1000公里。加上海岸曲折，英国任何地点距海不超过120公里。但是在这不算大的国土上，地形却丰富多彩。东南多为平原丘陵，西北部则分布着山地和高原。最有名的山脉是奔宁山，它纵贯南北200多公里，号称“英国的脊梁”，但最高的山峰却在苏格兰，叫本尼维斯，海拔1343米，差不多有泰山那么高。英国最多的湖泊分布在湖区，即湖畔派诗人们生活过的地方，以及内斯湖（一作尼斯湖）那里传说有水怪出没。然而最大的湖泊，却在爱尔兰，叫讷湖（一作内伊湖），当然它比起我国的太湖、洞庭湖来要小多了。说起英国的河流，人们自然会想到泰晤士河，不过最长的河流却要数塞文河，它源于威尔士，全长354公里。这条河有着喇叭口似的河口湾，每当大潮涌现时，激浪排空，海水向河口倒灌，蔚为壮观。

    英国是个美丽的国家，文物古迹比比皆是，自然风景秀丽可餐，旅游资源丰富。许多城市，如“万城之花”伦敦，“北方雅典”爱丁堡，大学城牛津、剑桥，古色古香的约克城，莎翁故乡斯特拉特福都是享有世界声誉的旅游名城。英国还辟有湖区等几十座国家公园和风景保护区。目前，被联合国列入世界文化和自然遗产的名胜古迹和天然景观就有14处，即伦敦塔、威斯敏斯特宫（国会大厦）、布伦海姆宫（牛津附近），坎特伯雷主教堂、巴斯城、索尔兹伯里郊区的巨石阵等遗迹，铁桥峡（伍尔沃汉普顿以西），方廷斯修道院及园林（约克以北）、达勒姆的大教堂和古城堡、哈德良长城（纽卡斯尔一带），圭内斯的城堡群（威尔士卡那封一带），苏格兰的圣基尔达群岛，北爱兰的“巨人之路”和太平洋上的英国属地享德森珊瑚岛。它们富有特色、各擅其长，都是极受游客青睐的观光热点。

教育概况

  一般分为五个阶段。第一阶段是3岁到5岁的幼儿园教育；第二阶段是5-11岁的小学教育；第三阶段是11岁-16岁的中学教育。5岁-16岁为法律规定的强制教育阶段。适龄儿童必须入学，由国家负责必须的学费、书籍和必要的供应。16岁-18岁是中学高级班（或大学预备班），为中学至大学的过渡期；第四阶段为大学教育。一般从18岁开始，读本科需要3年-4年（医科为5年），可取得学士学位。硕士通常为1年-2年，博士为3年-5年；第五阶段为16岁以后的继续教育。包括青年和成人的职业教育（正规大学不算在内），方式有全日、半日和业余时间。学制的长短在各地、各部门、各专业均不相同。

    英国文凭介绍1.普通中学教育证书GCSE：16岁时参加这个考试，获得中学文凭。此课程一年至两年，为一般基础课程，然后升高中的继续读高级证书A-LEVEL及其他课程。准备就业的则进入职业培训学校。

    2.高级水平考试A-LEVEL：是准备进入大学深造的学生通过GCSE后的大学预科班。经过一年至两年的学习，通过A-LEVEL，即可申请读大学。A-LEVEL是中学和大学的衔接课程，其考试成绩也是中学升入大学的考核标准。

    3.国际基础课程文凭INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION DIPTOMA：部分大学设有该课程。这是针对不能直接进入学士学位课程的海外留学生设置的。完成该课程，就可直接读大专或本科。 4.高级国家文凭HND：相当于我国的大专文凭。一般用两年至三年（含一年实习）时间，读完后即取得高级国家文凭。如需要，再直接读本科最后一年，并可取得学士学位。