Years 1-2, age 5 to 7 Junior School or Primary School
Years 3-6, age 7 to 11 Secondary Education
Middle School, High School or Secondary School
Years 7-9, age 11 to 14 Upper School or Secondary School
Years 10-11, age 14 to 16 GCSE examinations
Upper School, Secondary School, or Sixth Form College
Year 12 or Lower Sixth, age 16 to 17 AS-level examinations
Year 13 or Upper Sixth, age 17 to 18 A2-level examinations.
GCSE (General Certificate of School Education) examinations determine whether the candidate will progress further. Both AS-levels (Advanced & Special) and A2-levels count towards A-levels, which determine whether the candidate will receive higher education.
The costs for a normal education in the United Kingdom are as follows:
• Primary: Free
• Secondary: Free
• Further (Secondary) Education in either a sixth form or college: Free (if under 19 in that particular academic year or on a low income).
• Higher/Tertiary Education (University): A tuition fee of up Ј3,000 per annum "Public Schools" are actually private schools and are not run by the State.
"Public" schools have generally ignored the government-imposed "Year x" format of year names. Many retain the traditional First Form to Upper Sixth nomenclature, once used in all English schools. Those which offer education from age 9 to 18 often use the following system:
First Form, age 9 to 10. Second Form, age 10 to 11. Third Form, age 11 to 12. Lower Fourth, age 12 to 13. Upper Fourth, age 13 to 14. Lower Fifth, age 14 to 15. Upper Fifth, age 15 to 16. Lower Sixth, age 16 to 17. Upper Sixth, age 17 to 18.
Most public schools also have a "House" system which is vertical (as opposed to the horizontal 'years'). The number of Houses varies by the size of the school -Hogwarts in the Harry Potter books has four Houses. Some schools name the years. This generally differs from school to school. "Shell" often signifies the First Form.
Eton left showing the students' uniform
All levels of education are provided by "Public" schools which charge by reputation. These fees can vary from Ј5000 per annum to Ј30000 per annum for Eton, for example.
There are 102 universities in England. The most famous two are The University of Oxford, situated in the city of Oxford, which is the oldest university in the English-speaking world and Cambridge University, which are sometimes referred to collectively as Oxbridge. The two universities have a long history of competition with each other.
The date of Oxford university's foundation is unknown, and indeed it may not have been a single event, but there is evidence of teaching there as early as 1096. When Henry II of England forbade English students to study at the University of Paris in 1167, Oxford began to grow very quickly. The foundation of the first halls of residence, which later became colleges, dates from that year. Following the murder of two students accused of rape in 1209, the University was disbanded (leading to the foundation of the University of Cambridge). In 1214, the University returned to Oxford with a charter negotiated by Nicholas de Romanis, a papal legate.
Both are collegiate universities, consisting of the university's central facilities, such as departments and faculties, libraries and science facilities, and then 39 colleges and 7 permanent private halls (PPHs) at Oxford and 31 colleges at Cambridge. All teaching staff and degree students must belong to one of the colleges or PPHs. These colleges are not only houses of residence, but have substantial responsibility for the teaching of undergraduates and postgraduates. Some colleges only accept postgraduate students. Only one of the colleges, St Hilda's, Oxford where Margaret Thatcher was taught, remains single-sex, accepting only women although several of the religious PPHs are male-only.
Cambridge has produced more Nobel prize laureates than any other university in the world, having 80 associated with it, about 70 of whom were students there. It regularly heads league tables ranking British universities, and a recent league table by the Times Higher Education Supplement rated it sixth in the world overall and first for science.
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Both Oxford and Cambridge are on rivers, Oxford is on the Thames (which is called the Isis on its way through the city) and Cambridge is on the Cam.
Punting is a traditional relaxation for students in both cities, the propelling of a small flat-bottomed boat by a long pole as shown right.
The colleges and PPHs of Oxbridge are effectively institutions independent of the university itself and enjoy considerable autonomy. For example, colleges decide which students they are to admit, and appoint their own fellows (senior members). They are responsible for the domestic arrangements and welfare of students and for small group teaching, referred to as supervisions.
Other notable universities include colleges of the University of London, such as Imperial College, one of the strongest homes of science in the world, the London School of Economics and such newer groups as the "Redbrick" universities, built in Victorian times, such as the University of Manchester and Birmingham University.
In 1969, the Open University was launched and is claimed to be the first successful distance teaching university. It arose as the result of social programmes by the Socialist Government of Britain at the time, to "break the insidious link between exclusivity and excellence" (in its own words).
The Open University (OU) was founded on the belief that communications technology could bring high quality degree-level learning to people who had not had the opportunity to attend campus universities. Many of its students tended to be older and had for a variety of reasons missed the opportunity of higher education in their youth.
Today the OU is large and takes on around 158,000 undergraduates every year for its 360 or so courses. It suffers from image problems, but as its website states: "The OU is the largest provider of management education in Europe, and one in five MBA students in the UK is studying with the OU". Many of its intake are now in their early twenties and in the latter half of 2005, a major image makeover costing Ј2m (about 20m UAH) was undertaken.
1.5.3 Law
English law, the law of England and Wales (but not Scotland and Northern Ireland), is known generally as the common law (as opposed to civil law).
The essence of the common law is that it is made by judges sitting in courts, applying their common sense and knowledge of legal precedent to the fact before them. Because common law consisted of using what had gone before as a guide, "ancient useage", common law places great emphasis on precedents. Thus a decision of the highest court in England and Wales, the House of Lords (the judicial members of which are referred to as Law Lords) is binding on every other court in the hierarchy, and they will follow its directions.
Precedent continues to be applied across both civil and criminal law to this, allowing for decisions made in one Court regarding a set of facts and their interpretation in law to be applied to like circumstances in the future. Civil law formalises the relationships between individuals or organisations, while criminal law punishes offenders.
Because of the principle of the common law, there is no Act of Parliament (the normal method for creating laws in the UK) making murder illegal. It is still a common law crime - so although there is no written Act passed by Parliament making murder illegal, it is illegal by virtue of the constitutional authority of the courts and their previous decisions. Common law can be amended or repealed by Parliament, for example, murder carries a mandatory life sentence today, but had previously allowed the death penalty.
A fundamental concept in any legal dealing in England is that a person or organisation is innocent until proved guilty and they do not have to prove their innocence.
The second key concept is that public figures and Civil Servants have a responsibility to set an example by examplary behaviour and any infringement of the law is dealt with harshly and in a very public manner. There is no "politicians' immunity", there are no 'special' ID cards and no cars have 'special' num-berplates. Some recent examples are: Cherie Blair, the Prime Minister's wife taken to court and fined for not paying enough money for her journey on the London Underground, The Queen's daughter Princess Anne taken to court and fined for not keeping her dogs sufficiently under control on the estate of Windsor Castle which is a public park, and the Chief Constable of Derbyshire taken to court and heavily fined in 2005 for driving at 97 mph (miles per hour) on a road where the speed limit was 70 mph.
However, while England and Wales retains the common law, the UK is part of the European Union and European Union Law is effective in the UK. The European Union consists mainly of countries which use civil law and so the civil law system is also in England in this form, and the European Court of Justice, a predominantly civil law court, can direct UK courts on the meaning of EU law.
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The Central Criminal Court, commonly known as The Old Bailey (a bailey being part of a castle), is a Crown Court (criminal high court) in London, dealing with major criminal cases for England and Wales, as well as Greater London. It is one of the most famous courts in the world. It stands on the site of the mediaeval Newgate Gaol, in the street also called Old Bailey.
The central dome of the building is capped with a statue of Justice, blindfolded and holding a sword and set of scales right.
Law enforcement
The British police are 49 similar but independent police services which operate in the United Kingdom. The largest is the Metropolitan Police Service in London, better known as the London Met or Scotland Yard, named after the original location of their headquarters.
Unlike the police in most other countries, the British police are not routinely armed, except in Northern Ireland, at airports, nuclear facilities, and on special protection duties.
Although the "Bobby on the Beat" is a popular image
that is still visible today (see photo in 2.2.3), the British po-
lice are today substantially helped by technology. There
are now over 4.5m CCTV (Closed Circuit Television)
cameras installed across the UK (see 2.2.3) and much rou-
tine traffic policing has been replaced by flash cameras.
. " "
1.5.4 Religion
Christianity arrived in Britain in the first or second centuries and existed independently of the Church of Rome after it was founded in the 5th century. Eventu-
ally the Christian Church of England came under Papal authority after the Synod of Whitby in 664, when King Oswiu of Northumbria decided to follow Roman rather than Celtic rituals and recognize the Pope as the head of the church. It then separated from Rome in 1534 during the reign of King Henry VIII, though it briefly rejoined during the reign of Queen Mary I in 1555.
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The Protestant Church of England, or Anglican Church, is the official state church in England. The British monarch must belong to it, but all other English people may worship as they choose. The spiritual head of the Church of England is the archbishop of Canterbury, known as the Primate of All England.
Canterbury Cathedral, left, dates back to Roman times, the first recorded part of the building being erected in 740 AD.
The archbishops of Canterbury and York and 24 bishops have seats in the House of Lords. This gives the Church of England a formal link to the British government.
The British monarch is the constitutional Supreme Governor of the Church of England. In practice, however, the effective leadership falls to the Archbishop of Canterbury. The worldwide Anglican Communion of independent national or regional churches recognised the Archbishop until 2005 when the USA and Canadian churches split from the English parent over the issue of homosexual priests.
Many English people belong to other Protestant churches, known as Free Churches. The largest Free Churches include the Baptist, Methodist, and United Reformed churches.
The Church of England has about 27 million members, but most of them do not attend services regularly. There are about 4 million other Protestants and about the same number of Roman Catholics in England. The Catholic church is headed by the archbishop of Westminster. England also has about 1 million Muslims, about 400,000 Sikhs, about 300,000 Jews, and about 300,000 Hindus.
On March 12, 1994 the Church of England ordained its first female priests.
1.6 Mass media
Regular newspaper publication dates from the mid 17th century. Prior to then it was believed that the 'reckless' reporting of news might endanger the Crown and the country. A limit was placed on the printing of news other than of events abroad, natural disasters, royal declarations and crimes; there were weekly newsletters published from the 1620s containing such news.
The Daily Universal Register began life in 1785 and was later to become known as The Times from 1788. This was the most significant newspaper of the first half of the 19th century, but from around 1860 there were a number of more strongly competitive titles, each differentiated by its political biases and interests. The Manchester Guardian was founded in Manchester in 1821 by a group of non-conformist businessmen. Its most famous editor, Charles Prestwich Scott, made the Manchester Guardian into a world-famous newspaper in the 1890s. It is now called The Guardian.
In England, newspapers used to be classified by distribution as local or national and by page size as tabloids and broadsheets. The principal newspapers of England and Wales are all nationals edited in London. There is often an implication that tabloids cater for more vulgar tastes than broadsheets. This distinction began to be blurred in October 2003 as two broadsheet newspapers - The Independent and The Times - began to trial tabloid editions in some parts of the U.K. Both changed format to what they prefer to call a compact edition in 2004.
There are daily paid local papers in most of the larger cities, and weekly paid papers in some other areas. These focus on local news and do not attempt to be a direct substitute for the London based national newspapers. Most areas also typically have one or more free local papers, with extensive classified advertising.
Today there are 15 major national daily newspapers that publish every day except Sunday and 8 major national Sunday papers.
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The media is dominated by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), which was established by a Royal Charter in 1927.
The BBC logo right
The BBC is an autonomous corporation run by a board of governors appointed by the government for a term of four years and it operates under license as the national publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. Each household with a TV set is obliged to pay an annual licence fee which funds the BBB, known colloquially as the "beeb".
BBC News claims to be the largest broadcast news gathering operation in the world, providing news through BBC network television and radio as well as BBC News 24, BBC Parliament, BBC World, BBCi, the internet and teletext. BBC News is based at the News Centre at Television Centre but operates regional centres across the UK and bureaux around the world. Political coverage is based in Westminster. The News Centre brought radio and TV news operations together for the first time and produces almost 100 hours of output every day.
On July 5 2004 the BBC celebrated 50 years of television news, the first bulletin -.vas broadcast in 1954.
There are two BBC "Free-to-air" analogue stations in the UK, BBC One and BBC Two, and there are currently seven BBC "Free-to-air" digital stations in the '_"!< The BBC's wholly-owned commercial subsidiary, BBC Worldwide.
The USA
2.1 Flag and National Symbols
The flag of the United States of
America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red representing the 13 original colonies and a blue rectangle with 50 small, white, five-pointed stars, representing the 50 states.
The flag is commonly called the Stars and Stripes and less commonly Old Glory left.
The name "Old Glory" was coined in the 1830s, and was of particularly common use during the era of the 48-star version (1912 to 1959). The flag has gone through 26 changes since the "new union" of 13 states first adopted it. The origin of the U.S. flag design is uncertain. A popular story credits Betsy Ross for sewing the first flag from a pencil sketch of George Washington who personally commissioned her for the job. However, no evidence for this theory exists beyond Ross's own records.
The Pledge of Allegiance is a promise or oath of allegiance to the United States, and the Stars and stripes. It is commonly recited in unison at public events, and es-
pecially in school classrooms, where the Pledge is a mandatory morning ritual. In its present form, the words of the Pledge are:
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
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The Great Seal of the United States, first used in 1782, is used to authenticate certain documents issued by the Government. The phrase is used both for the physical seal itself, and more generally for the design represented upon it.
Though the United States has never adopted any "national coat of arms", the image from the obverse of the great seal, shown right, is used as a national symbol, and is used on state documents such as passports.
2.2.1 Physical Geography
The area of the USA is 9,631,419 km2, making it the 3rd largest country in the world. It has three land borders, two with Canada and one with Mexico, and one territorial-waters boundary with Russia. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea, the Arctic Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean.
The United States landscape varies greatly: temperate forestland on the East coast, mangrove in Florida, the Great Plains in the centre of the country, the Mississippi-Missouri river system, the Great Lakes which are shared with Canada, the Rocky Mountains west of the plains, deserts and temperate coastal zones west of the Rocky Mountains and temperate rain forests in the Pacific Northwest.
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There are many highly dramatic landscapes with some of those often seen in Hollywood films, especially Westerns, familiar to many around the world. The Badlands of South Dakota and Colorado provide much unique scenery.
Mesas in the southwest of the USA
left
The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in southern Florida to tundra in Alaska. Most of the North and East experiences a temperate continental climate, with hot summers and cold winters. Most of the American South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semiarid shortgrass prairies on the High Plains abutting the Rocky Mountains.
Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the American Southwest from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of the American West, including San Francisco, California, have a Mediterranean climate. Rain forests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.
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The Great Lakes are a group of five large lakes on or near the United States-Canadian border, sometimes referred to as inland seas.They are the largest group of fresh water lakes on the earth, and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence system is the largest fresh-water system in the world. The St Lawrence river connects the Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.
2.2.2 Human Geography and Demographics
According to the US Census Bureau, the population estimate for 2005 was 295,734,134 and growing quite quickly, having increased nearly 15 million since 2000. The percentage of females was 50.9 %. Despite the post-war "Baby Boom" that has left most European countries with a high percentage of pensioners today, with the number rapidly increasing, over a quarter of Americans are under 18 as birth rates are still high. Immigration is still significant, with over 11 % of Americans born abroad.
Although many Americans are rich by any standards, 12.4 % live below the "poverty line". In 1999 the average per capita income was $21,587 and the median household income was $41,994.
Many such details may be read and digested on the US Census Bureau website, http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.htrnl but perhaps the strangest is the fact that in 2000, just under 50m Americans had a registered disability; physical, mental or emotional.
Americans, in part due to categories decided by the U.S. government, generally describe themselves as being one of five ethnic groups:
White, (also called Caucasian); 68.0 %
African American, (also called Black); 12.9 %
Hispanic, (also called Latino); 13.4 %
Asian American and 4.2 %
Native American 1.5 %
The states, with their U.S. postal abbreviations, traditional abbreviations, and capitals, are:
AL Ala. Alabama
AK Alaska Alaska
AZ Ariz. Arizona
AR Ark. Arkansas
CA Calif. California
Montgomery MT Mont.
Juneau NE Neb.
Phoenix NV Nev.
Little Rock NH N.H.
Sacramento NJ N.J.
Montana Helena
Nebraska Lincoln
Nevada Carson City
New Hampshire Concord New Jersey Trenton
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CO Colo.
CT Conn.
DE Del.
FL Fla.
HI ID IL |
GA Ga.
Idaho 111.
IN Ind. IA Iowa KS Kan. KY Ky. LA La. ME Maine MD Md. MA Mass. MI Mich. MN Minn. MS Miss. MO Mo.
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Denver
Hartford
Dover
Tallahassee
OR PA RI SC SD TN |
Atlanta
Boise
Springfield Indianapolis Des Moines Topeka Frankfort
Baton Rouge TX
Augusta UT
Annapolis VT
Boston VA
Lansing WA
Saint Paul WV
Jackso WI
Jefferson City WY
New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Santa Fe
Albany
Raleigh
Bismarck
Columbus
Oklahoma
City
Salem
Harrisburg
Providence
Columbia
Pierre
Nashville
Austin
Salt Lake City
Montpelier
Richmond
Olympia
Charleston
Madison
Cheyenne
Much of American culture is strongly contrasted to Canadian culture. A key example is that Canadians see their country as a mosaic of unique immigrant cultures, a large picture made up of many distinct pieces, rather than a melting-pot, in the way that American like to describe their society and culture. The USA heavily stresses that its immigrants fuse their various cultural identities together in this 'melting pot', rather than retain ethnic groups with their own clear identities. Obviously this will not always be the case and many anthropologists and sociologists have invented theories that modify the official view to offer a compromise that is nearer to reality. Two of these many theories are the "salad bowl" culture theory and the "pizza" culture theory.
2.2.3 Washington DC
Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia is the capital city and administrative district of the United States of America. Washington, D.C. is part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area, which also includes parts of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Washington, D.C. is near the East Coast. It should not be confused with the State of Washington, located in the Pacific Northwest.
The population of the District of Columbia, as of 2003 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, is 563,384.
The headquarters of all three branches of the U.S. federal government are in Washington, as well as the headquarters of most federal agencies. Washington also serves as the headquarters for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Washington, DC, was created to serve as the national capital from its inception. The original street layout was designed by Pierre Charles L' Enfant at the time of the city's founding. L'Enfant based his design on Paris, which incorporated a basic grid system, inter-cut with broad diagonal avenues radiating from circles and squares.
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To preserve the grandeur of the National Mall, the White House, the Capitol, and various other key locations, the entire city is subject to strict height limits. This limitation was placed in effect just prior to the 20th century when government officials realized that structural steel "skyscrapers" could overwhelm the city and so Washington has a relatively modest skyline in comparison to the majority of American cities-Washington has many national landmarks, museums, and sports teams, and is a popular destination for tourists.
The Washington Monument
is a large white-colored obelisk in the centre of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built as a memorial to George Washington, the first President of the United States and the leader of the revolutionary Continental Army, which won independence from the British.
The National Mall is the most important venue for celebrations, demonstrations and protests.
Left the Washington Monument from the air.
As the office of the President of the United States, the term White House is often used as a substitute name (metonym) for the President's administration, as in, "Today, the White House announced that..." The Secret Service codename for it is "The Crown." The property is owned by the National Park Service and is known by them as the President's Park.
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