Not so long ago, writes Jeremy Paxman, the English were "polite, unexcitable, reserved, and had hot-water bottles instead of a sex-life". Today the end of empire has killed off the Bulldog Breed - "fearless and philistine, safe in taxis and invaluable in shipwrecks" - and transformed the great public schools. Princess Diana was mourned with the effusive emotionalism of an Italian saint. Leader-writers in "The Times" even praise the sexual skills of English lovers ...So what are the defining features of "Englishness"? How can a country of football hooligans have such an astonishingly low murder rate? Does the nation's sense of itself extend to millions of black, Asian and other immigrant Britons? Is it grounded in arrogant, nostalgic fantasy or can it form the basis for building a realistic future within Europe? To answer these crucial questions, Paxman looks for clues in the English language, literature, luke-warm religion and "curiously passionless devotion" to cricket. He explores attitudes to Catholics, th

Have you ever wondered what phrases such as 'square meal', 'load of old codswallop', 'egg on your face' or 'in the limelight' mean? Where do they come from? Have you ever taken a moment to wonder what we say actually means? The origins of hundreds of common phrases are explained in this irreverent journey through the most fascinating and richest regions of the English language. In a book that takes you all over the world, from nautical origins to food and drink terms, once you have learnt one phrase, you will be eager to learn them all! From the drop of a hat to the bitter end - you'll be surprised and intrigued and you'll never speak English in the same way again. 作者简介： Albert Jack is a writer and researcher in pop culture whose favourite phrase is 'doolally'. He is 39 years old and has two children.

This Gold Stars workbook has been speciaUg created to help develop earlg literacg skills. The author, Bettg Root, is a literacg expert in the field of primarg education. STARTING PHONICS includes helpful guidelines for parents,plus parent notes for each activitg. The clearlg designed pages and brightlg coloured pictures make learning both easg and fun.

52,000 words, phrases and meanings.

Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, TWILIGHT, NEWMOON, ECLIPSE, BREAKING DAWN and THE SHORT SECOND LIFE OF BREETANNER capture the struggle between defying our instincts andsatisfying our desires. This stunning set makes the perfect giftfor fans of this bestselling vampire love story.

This Gold Stars workbook has been specially created to help develop early literacy skills. The authors, Betty Root and Monica Hughes, are literacy experts in the field of primary education. ENGLISH FOR AGES 5-6 includes helpful guidelines for parents, plus parent notes for the activities.The clearly designed pages and brightly coloured pictures make [earning both easy and fun.

Anna Scott is an American film star. She is rich, beautiful and very famous. William Thacker is a shy man who has a small, unsuccessful bookshop in London. Their lives are different in every way, but they are both looking for someone special. Can a future together be more than a dream? Notting Hill is a wonderful- and very funny- love story.

'The English are sending a great army to Stirling Castle. Some say thereare ten thousand, some say twenty！And the Scots are coming down fromthe Highlands. Hundreds of them！' Braveheart is the story of the famousWilliarnWallace (1272-1305)and the battles between Scotland and England. Scotland at thattime belonged to the English king, Edward I (1239-1307). Thestory begins when William is a young boy. William's father andolder brother fight against the English army and they are killed.William grows up and becomes a rebel too. His story is one oflove for a beautiful Scottish girl and hope for his country. It is astory of rebel attacks and terrible battles, of a French princess,and of the English king who wants to hold onto Scotland. The Australian actor Mel Gibson made the film Braveheart in1995. Gibson starred as William Wallace, and Sophie Marceauplayed Princess Isabella. They made the film in Scotland andIreland. When they were filming, Mel Gibson said, 'This storycould happen anywhere.'T

Wendell Jaffe looks great for a dead man! He’s been six feet under for five years ago—until his former insurance agent spots him at a dusty resort bar in Mexico. Now California Fidelity wants its insurance money back. Can P.I. Kinsey Millhone get on the case? Just two months earlier, Jaffe’s widow pocketed $500,000 in insurance benefits after Jaffe went overboard. Was his “pseudocide” a last-ditch effort to do right by his beloved wife? Perhaps. But how would that explain the new woman in Jaffe’s second life? Kinsey is in for the long haul as she delves deeper into the mystery surrounding Jaffe’s life and death…and discovers that, in family matters as in crime, sometimes it's better to reserve judgment… 作者简介： SUE GRAFTON entered the mystery field in 1982 with the publication of 'A' IS FOR ALIBI, which introduced female hard-boiled private investigator, Kinsey Millhone, operating out of the fictional town of Santa Teresa, (a.k.a. Santa Barbara) California. 'B

Merriam-Webster's Pocket Guide to Synonyms is acomprehensive,easy-to-use guide to mastering the subtleties oflanguage by understanding the differences between words of closelyrelated meaning.

Prover, sayings, and other expressions are commonly used every day !They're words that are so familiar, however, that their real meanings have been either lost or confused over the years. For instance, who hasn't wished to be "as free ass a bird"?However, our feathered friends are not carefree.In fact, most birds are pretty anxious creatures with a lot of responsibility. When someone says, "One bad apple spoils the barrdl," it means that no mater how good you are, if someone bad enters your group, it's going to be spoiled. While this may not hold true for all people, it does for apples. When an apple starts to rot ,it produces a chemical called ethylene that cfauses the apple to decay. The other apples in the barrdl detect this chemical reaction and begin to produce their own ethylene, causing all the apples to spoil. "All that glitters is not gold."Anyone who has even seen pyrite, or fool's gold, knows this to be true. Has it ever really rained "cats and dogs"?In 1984,during a rainstorm, part of

Adeline Yen Mah's childhood in China during the civil war was a time of fear, isolation and humiliation. The cause of this was not political upheaval but systematic emotional and physical abuse by her step mother and siblings, and rejection by her father. Falling Leaves is the story of a 'Fifth Younger Daughter' and her determination to survive the pain of a lonely childhood。