| A | B |
|---|
| bards | singing poets |
| Britons | people who live in Britain |
| Industrial Revolution | a period of rapid industrialization in many Western countries. The Industrial Revolution began in the 1700s. |
| monastery | a community where monks live. A monk is a member of a religious order. |
| Protestantism | a branch of Christianity developed in the 1500s by Christians who broke away from the Catholic Church |
| scone | a small, round, bread-like biscuit popular in the British Isles |
| strike | to stop work, as a group, until certain demands are met |
| trade union | a labor union in Britain. A labor union is an organization of workers who are in the same industry. The purpose of a trade union is to improve its members' wages and working conditions. |
| wages | money paid to workers on an hourly basis |
| fleet | a group of ships |
| literacy | the ability to read and write |
| pension | money paid regularly to a person who has retired or grown too old to work |
| radioactive | giving off the kind of energy used in nuclear bombs and power plants |
| sagas | long, detailed stories or accounts of an event |
| capitalism | a system in which land, factories, and businesses are privately owned and run for profit |
| Cold War | the unfriendly competition between the SovietUnion and the West in the 45 years after World War II |
| composer | a person who writes music |
| currency | the type of money used in any particular country |
| dike | a barrier built to hold back sea water |
| passport | an official paper that identifies a person as a citizen of a certain country anad gives him or her permission to travel to another country |
| Reformation | the 16th-century religious movement that gave birth to the Protestant branch of Christianity |
| fascism | a form of government headed by a dictator who supports private property but strictly controls industry and workers. Fascist governments limit freedom, forbid criticism, and use force to stay in power. |
| marine | having to do with the sea |
| philosopher | a thinker who seeks knowledge and wisdom |
| Renaissance | a creative period in European history, lasting roughly from 1400 to 1600, marked by widespread new interest in exploration, invention, and the arts. |
| sewage | liquid and solid wastes carried away from houses in drainage pipes |
