关于《英语国家概况》课程方面的辅导材料很少。现在又面临课程改革，薄薄的旧版本换成了700多页的厚本，实在是让人挠头。在这种情况下，我总结了自己的学习思路与具体的学习方法。
思路共分三步：
第一步：粗读。先看大纲，然后把课本翻看一遍，大纲没涉及的内容也要看。
第二步：精读。要面面俱到，读完每一章后，要做练习册上的题，除此之外，把自己总结的题也要掌握，然后重读这一章。历史要一字不漏地看，其它的内容可参阅大纲，只抓重点部分看。
第三步：记重点。在熟悉习题的基础上，要通读全文，要看重点，依据题型去套书中的内容。
具体的学习方法如下：
一、 通读全文，掌握框架
读书也要讲大将风范，有了具体的思路之后，还要在头脑中形成清晰的框架，从整体入手，然后，再把具体的重点加上去，这样，掌握起来，就不至凌乱。
二、 找准重点，理清线索
熟悉课文内容是任何一科都必不可少的。《英语国家概况》比其它课要难，英国与美国的历史部分占很大篇幅，要作为重点去掌握，但这部分内容看起来又是那么宠杂，因此理清线索，摸清脉络之后，我们理解起来就轻松多了。
如：英国历史部分可整理成这样一条线索：early settlers——Roman invations——Anglo-Saxons——the Viking and Danish Invations——the Norman Conquest——William’s Rule——the Great Charter——the Hundred Year’s War——the English Reformation——the English Renaissance——the Civil War——the Glorius Revolution——the Industrial Revolution——in the two World Wars
美国历史部分可整理成这样一条线索：the war of Independence——the War of 1812——territorial expansion and Westward Movement——the Civil War——in the two World Wars——the Cold War——the Berlin Blockade——the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s——the Vietname War
每个要点之后都分别有重点，尤其每次战争的背景、时间、起因、结果都需要全面了解。
三、 对比分析，找出差别
在自学过程中，我对这种方法应用最多。可以说对比无处不在。例如，每个国家的政体有共同点，也有差别，差别就需要记住。因为这往往是选择题里要出的内容。下面就把这个政体的比较列表呈现给大家:
Country Party system Houses
Britain The conservative Party, The House of Commons
The Labour Party The House of Lorbs
The U.S. The Democrats, The Senate,
The Republic The House of Representatives
Ireland Fianna Fail, The Senate,
Fine Gael The House of Representatives
Australia The Labour Party, The Senate,
the Liberal and National Party The House of Representatives
New Zealand The National Party，
The Labour Party The House of Representatives
Canada The Liberal Party, The Senate,
the Progressive Conservative Party The House of Representatives
四、 依据大纲，，做好习题
习题既包括练习册上的题，又包括在精读课文时自己总结的题。要从出题老师的角度去分析，依据大纲会在哪一细节上命题。例如，依据上面提到的对比分析可出这样的题：Canada’s political party system is not____?A.one party rule B.two party rule C.one and a half party rule D.no party rule.
经济方面的内容也不容忽视，容易出综合性试题，例如：New Zealand is the world leader in ____.
A.leather industry B.fish industry C.new industries D.shipbuilding industry.
又如：Which is faulse in the following kinds of saying about Britain’s agricultural?A.Farming is one of Britains most important industries. B.It’s highly mechanized. C.People engaged in farming have increased lightely over recent years. D.it’s the source of most of the food and many of the raw materials of the country.
如果没有经过认真看书，就不能总结出类似的试题。因此，自学过程中要不断积累总结知识点，自己给自己出题，加之练习册上的习题，经这样反复演练，对付考试就易如反掌了。
一.自然资源
英国:Compare with many other countries,Britain has comsiderable reserves of coal.Today British coal mining is called a "sick" industry.
Natural gas and oil was discovered in 1965 and oil in 1970 under the North Sea.
Britain was the first nation to build a large iron and steel industry.Rich deposits of iron ore were found in central England.
As with the coal industry,Britain's steel industry is declining.
美国:Fertile soil is one of the most important natural resouces in the United States.
America's forest resources are among the world's largest.
Another natural resource that contributes to the welfare of the country is water.
America is the leaders in production of Coal,iron ore,cpper,oil,sulfur,lead and zine.
But short for tin,manganese,and nikel.
爱尔兰:Ireland is now the largest producer of lead and zinc concentrates in Europe.
While Ireland lacks sizeable oil deposits,it has a valuable energy source in the peat,or turt,bogs that cover extensive areas of the country.
加拿大:Water is one of the most important natural resources in Canada.
Almost half of the land area of Canada is covered by forests. Canada ranks third,in the production of lumber and other forest products in the world.The largest producer of newsprint in the world.
Canada is a primary world producer of nickle,zine and asbestoes,and comes second in potash,third in gold and fourth in copper.
Canada is a major world supplier of uranium.
Experts believe that the cold fields of Canada may be among the largest in the world.
A great deposit of petroleum was discovered south of Edmonton in Alberta. About two thurds of Canada's petroleum and about four fifths of its natural gas come from Alberta.
澳大利亚:Australia is one of the world's biggest producers of minerals and metals.
It has major deposits of bauxite,mineral sands,diamonds,and black and brown coal,and large reserves of ores containing gold,lead,zinc,iron,copper,nikel,manganese and uranium. It is the world largest exporter of coal,and a major exporter of uranium.
新西兰:There is an increasingly large share of energy comes from local resources:natural gas,crude oil,hydroelectricity and geothermal steam. Coal is of growing importance.Solar energy,vegetable oils and ethylalcohol from fermentation make small contributions.
二.农业
英国:The Britain were pioneers in modern agriculture and were among the first to bring science and machinery to farming.The new farming has been called "agribusiness".There are mainly six farming types in Britain.They are arable farning,dairy fariming,stock farming,mixed farming,hill farming and market gardening.
Because of the cool climate,apples,pears and plums grwo very well in Britain.
The North Sea has very good fishing grounds.
美国:Yet the United States grows nearly one fourth of the world's grain and supplies a half of all the exports of grain in the world.
It ranks first,second,or third in the production and export of corn, wheat, rice, soybeans, oranges, meat,milk, apples,oats,cotton,tobaoo, peanuts,and edible vegetable oil.(具体的在什么地方种什么东西可以参照书上P289-291)
爱尔兰:Agriculture generates anestimated 11% of the Ireland GNP,employs 17% of the labour force and produces 25% of total exports.
The most signigicant recent development in Irish agriculture has been membership in the European Community.
加拿大:The land used for agriculture makes up only 7% in Canada. Canada farms specialize in producing wheat,food crops for animals dairy products,and fruit.Fishing and mining are quite important.
The Canada Prairie is the centre of a rich wheat belt.
Eastern Canada is noted for a variety of farm products.
Dairying is in the lowlands of Quebec and Ontario.
Fruits are grown in Western Nova Scotia.
澳大利亚:Today,agriculture is the nation's largest and most diverse industry.Australia is one of the world's leading producers of food and natural fibres.Australia is the world's largest exporter of wool,the second largest exporter of meat,the third largest exporter of wheat and a major international supplier of sugar,dairy products,fruits,cotton and rice.
Australia's agriculture importance has declined in recent years.
新西兰:Vineyards produce international award-winning red and white wines.
三.制造业,工业
英国:The textile is one of Britain's oldest.Textiles were on of the country's most vauluable exports.
Britain became a world leader in shipbuilding during the middle of the 19th century.The two main centres for shipbuilding were on the River Tyne near Newcastle,England and on the Clyde near Glasgow in Scotland.
The Britain motor industry now dominated by four firms(Ford,the Rover Group,GM-Vauxhall,and Peugeot)
There are three areas in Britain which have seen some high-tech industrial growth. Scotland has Europe's largest collection of foreign-owned chip factories.Over 90% of the companies are from the U.S.A.,Japan,the Netherlands and germany.
美国:The untied States ranks first,second,third or fourth in the world in the production of crude steel,passenger cars,commercial vehicles,chemicals,radio sets,television sets,and other manufacturing goods.Manufacturing accounts for about one quarter of the GDP,about one quarter of the national income,and over one fifth of the work force.
The industrial regions are the Midwest(the nations's leading centre of heavy industry) round the Great Lakes,the Middle Atlantic states,the South,and the Pacific Coast.
爱尔兰:Since the 1961s,manufactuing has become the mainstay of the Irish economy.
Of industrial employment,66% are employed in manufacting.
加拿大:Manufacturing is the mst important economic activity in Canada.Food processing is the leading industry. The manufacture of transportation equipment ranks second. The production of paper and paper related products ranks third. metal products are also important.
澳大利亚:The mining industry in Australia has faced new problems in recent years.
Australia's service sector is the fastest-growing sector of industry.It has been growing in importance in recent years.
新西兰:There are two steel comanies:New Zealand Steel which uses iron sands from the west coast of North Island,and Pacific Steel which reuses scrap iron.New Zealand is a world leader in the CNA(compressed natural gas) industry.Garments,fabrics and carpets are exported.
The fishing industry has expanded greatly and is now the 4th largest export earner.
四.对外贸易
英国:Britain is the fifth largest trading country in the world.Napoleon called it a "nation of shopkeepers".
Britain's foreign trade is mainly with other developed countries.which accounts for 79% of exports and 85% of imports.About half with EC.
Traditionally,Britain has had a deficit on visible trade and a surplus on invisible trade.
美国:Currenty U.S. exports are about 15% of the world's total.The Unites States imports about 13% of all world imports.
Canada is the largest single source og goods imported by the U.S.,accounting for nearly 30% of the total. Outside of North America,Europe is the largest source of imports with about 30%,Asia provides about 18%,with smaller percentages from Latin America,Africa,and Australia.
爱尔兰:Successive Irish governments have adopted a consistent and postive approoach toward attracting overseas investment.
The new foreign firms now account for over 70% of manufactured exports.
Ireland is new an industrial exporter.
Manufactured goods account for about two-thirds of total wxports.
加拿大:A total about four fifths of all foreign investments in Canada are American.
澳大利亚:Australia is a middle-level trading nation.
The main feature of Australia's trade is that it has always involved the exchange of raw materials for finished products.
Australia's trade relations with China have been developing rapidly in recent years. China accouts for about 3% of Australian total exports.
新西兰:Trade is New Zealand's linelihood.Foreign investment is increasing and financial markets are active.
Western Europe and particularly Britain have traditionally been New Zealand's major export market.
The main imports are industrial raw materials,capital equipment and consumer goods.
New Zealand is the world's largest exporter of lamb and mutton as well as dairy products.
五.当今面临的问题
英国:Britain is the oldest industrial country in the world.The term "Britain disease" is noew often used to characterise Britain's economic decline.
The Evolution of the Britain Economy since the War:1.Steady development in the 50s and 60s.2.Economic recession in the 70s.3.Economic recovery in the 80s.
这里有一部分是撒切尔的宏,微观措施比较重要(P91-92)
美国:The Untied States has a free-market economy with a dominant private sector. So the economy system of the United States is principally privately owned.But today,many of American people still live under the poverty line.
Unemployment,inflation,finacial deficit,and trade deficit are the troubles that always face the United States.
爱尔兰:The value of imports generally exceeds that of exports. That's why Ireland has a chronic negative balance of trade.
Continuing dependence on imported oil is one of the reasons for the high import bill.
加拿大:In the past few years however,Canada's unemployment rate has been high.But what is worth nothing is that the cost for manufacturing has increased while the productivity per worker has decreased as compared with the United States or with its ten trading partners.
While Canada has one of the world's highest standards of living,not all regions of the country have enjoyed the same degree of prosperity.
Some measures have been taken by the Federal government to help those slow grownth regions.
澳大利亚:Problems of Australia economy:1.Over-reliance on commodity exports.2.Failure to share in the expansion of international trade.3.The decline of manufaturing industries and the effects of tariffs.