《英语国家概况》美国篇,期末整理

The United States of America

Part 1The Country and The American Identity

Common-sense Knowledge

1、全称：The United States of America (美利坚合众国)

2、简称：the United States;the U.S.; America.

3、National Anthem：《星条旗永不落》 "The Star-Spangled Banner（同时可以叫做国旗）"1931年被美国国会正式定为国歌。

4、National Flower：Rose

5、Jet lag: About 16 hours (west of America), and 13 hours (east of America).（了解）

6、The Capital: Washington D.C.

为纪念美国国父乔治-华盛顿和发现美洲新大陆的哥伦布Christophe而定名

7、绰号：山姆大叔（Uncle Sam）

Location

1、Canada on the north；Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico on the south ；

Atlantic Ocean on the east；Pacific Ocean on the west.

2、The largest country in the world：Russia，Canada， China，America，brazil，Australia.

3、50 states in total

Alaska—the largest ；Rhode Island (罗德岛州)—the smallest ；Texas（德克萨斯州）—the largest on the mainland

4、著名城市Boston是Massachusetts马萨诸塞州的首府

5、两边两座山，中间一条河。

The eastern part—the highlands formed by the Appalachian Range (阿巴拉挈亚山脉).

The western part—Rocky Mountains（落基山）—the great backbone of North America

6、The Great Lakes

（1）Lake Michigan密歇根湖—wholly within the United States唯一全在美国境内

（2）Lake Erie伊利湖和Lake Ontario 安大略湖间有Niagara Falls尼亚加拉大瀑布

（3）Lake Superior 苏必利尔湖—世界上最大的淡水湖

（4）无特色的Lake Huron 休伦湖

Climate

1、Mainly temperate with some mild subtropical zones with only the southern Florida and Hawaii being tropical.大部分是温带大陆性气候。

2、The Northeast 东北部著名城市有：

（1）Boston 波士顿

（2）New York 纽约：

①Situated on three islands—Manhattan Island（曼哈顿岛）, Long Island（纽约长岛） and Staten Island（斯塔顿岛） at the mouth of Hudson River（哈德逊河）.

②Five boroughs—Manhattan（曼哈顿）, Brooklyn（布鲁克林）, Bronx（布朗克斯）, Richmond（里士满） and Queens（纽约皇后区）.

③the headquarter of the United Nations （联合国总部）

④The statue of liberty自由女神像The formal name is "Liberty Enlightening the World".

3、The South 南部著名城市有：

New Orleans(新奥尔良)；Miami（迈阿密）；Atlanta （亚特兰大）

4、The Midwest—the birthplace of the Republican Party共和党的诞生地中部著名城市有：

（1）Chicago—the windy city; second most populous city after New York（New York最多）

5、The West 西部著名城市有：

（1）San Francisco圣弗兰西斯科/旧金山有Golden Gate Bridge（金门大桥）

（2）Los Angels 洛杉矶有Hollywood（好莱坞）位于California加州

The American Identity (People)

1、人口构成复杂

The White 75%；Native Indians &Hawaiians0.9%（不到1%）；The Black 12%；The Asians 43%；Mixed Races2.5%.

The United States is a nation of many ethnic groups, making it a “melting pot”（大熔炉）.

2、Uneven distribution 人口分布不均

东北多西南少

The most densely populated region—the northeastern part

The Great Plains—a comparatively small population

The South—a population of almost 57.5 million people

The West—not densely populated

3、Civil Rights Movement 民权运动

Martin Luther King—“I Have a Dream”

4、Hispanics—the Spanish-speaking population of the United States 第二语言Spanish

Three major Hispanic groups: Mexican-Americans；Puerto Ricans；Cuban-Americans

Part2History

整理脉络：发现新大陆——殖民——独立战争——联邦政府的建立——内战——西部大扩张——两次世界大战中的美国——当下的美国

发现新大陆时期:

1、Mount Rushmore总统山/拉什莫尔山，位于南达科他州。

2、哥伦布Columbus发现新大陆。

3、Name的由来: Ameriga Vespucci（阿美利歌-韦斯普奇） proved that the land was not India, but a new continent.

Therefore, the land was named America after him.

4、Native Americans—the Indians

5、In 1565,the Spanish established the first permanent European settlement (移民地) in the continental U.S. at St.

Augustine, Florida.最早移民为西班牙人。

6、John Cabot was the first English explorer to travel to the New World and claimed the first piece of land for

England by the end of the 15th century.

7、最早有13个殖民地。1607-1733，英国在美国建立13个殖民地。

They were Virginia, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Georgia.

8、In 1620, A group of English Puritans(英国清教徒), now known as the Pilgrim Fathers（清教徒先祖/朝拜者）,

landed at Cape Cod（科德角）, near Boston, after ailing in the small ship the Mayflower“五月花号“ for months. Landed at now known Plymouth, Massachusettes.

注意：“五月花号”

9、Thanksgiving Day

1863年，美国总统林肯宣布每年十一月的第四个星期四为感恩节。首个庆祝的感恩节在1621年。

殖民地时期：

1、北美十三个殖民地

2、The reasons of Europeans‘ coming to America（看下即可）

(1) The need for increased trade;

(2) The zeal of Spanish priests to convert the native Indians to Christianity;

(3) The need of European religious and political dissenters for refuge from persecution in their homelands;

(4) The thirst for adventure of some individuals.

独立战争时期The War of Independence/ American revolution：

1、The Causes:

①With the development of economy, the people in the colonies wanted more power to determine their own business （自决权）. But the policy of the British government was to bring the development under control （把经济发展控于股掌）and collect more taxes from the colonies.

②The Boston Tea Party(波士顿茶叶事件): In 1773, several dozen Boston residents dressed as Indians boarded the ships of the British East India Company（登上英国东印度公司的船） and threw the tea into the harbor.

注意：波士顿茶叶事件The Boston Tea Party、1773年和英国东印度公司the British East India Company

2、The Continental Congress大陆会议，中英文会表达。以下表格很重要。

3、In September, 1783, the Treaty of Paris巴黎条约was signed. Britain recognized the independence of the United

States.

注意：巴黎条约的签订代表了美国的真正独立。

联邦政府的建立时期Establishment of a federal form of government：

领土扩张和西进运动时期Territorial expansion and the westward Movement：

1、Forced England to give up the Old Northwest（迫使英格兰放弃旧西北地区）

2、Purchased the Louisiana from Nepoleon.(1790’s) 向拿破伦购买路易斯安那州（使得国土面积变身原先两倍）

3、Forced Spain to cede Florida and the Gulf coast迫使西班牙放弃弗罗里达和墨西哥海岸

4、Texas added to the Union(1845) 1845年，德克萨斯加入联邦（1845年之前，德克萨斯属于墨西哥）

5、Obtained California and New Mexico from Mexico by the war with Mexico (1846-1848)从墨西哥战争1846-4848，得到加利福尼亚和新墨西哥。

6、The Gadsden Purchase(1853) another 30,000 square miles of Mexican land were added to the territory of the U.S.,

in return, the U.S. paid 10 million dollars.1853年的“加滋登购地”中，又有3万平方英里的墨西哥变成了美国领土，美国付了1千万美元的补偿。

注意：“加滋登购地”中英文

南北战争时期The American CivilWar：

Time: 1861-1865 ;当时在位总统是林肯 ;南北矛盾的焦点：奴隶制的存废

1、Cause: In the early 1800’s, black slavery disappeared in the north because of industry development. But it

continued to exist in the South. In the South, farming remained the most important way of making a living and the planter farmed a large area of land. Slave labors seemed best suited for producing these crops.

注意：解释原因时要全面；经济体制不同：北方是资本主义，南方是种植园经济体制。

2、①1862. 9. 22- issued the Emancipation Proclamation （解放黑奴宣言）granted freedom to about 4 million slaves.

②1863, The Gettysburg Address葛底斯堡演讲

注意：解放黑奴宣言和葛底斯堡演讲中英文

3、中英文表达plantations （种植园）和 Negro slaves（黑奴）

4、1865, the South surrendered. 最终北方胜利，南方投降。

5、The Thirteenth Amendment, which banned slavery, was added to the Constitution in December,1865.

注意：废除奴隶制的第十三修正案于1865年12月写入宪法。

5、Influence of the war

（1）Two achievements:

①realize the unification(统一) of the American nation

②end the slavery system

（2）Rapid Growth of Capitalism after the Civil War （内战后资本主义的迅速发展）

（3）After the war, the U.S. saw great developments in Industry, agriculture, science and technology, and

population.

①reasons:

a. a stable political environment after the war was over（战后稳定的政治环境）;

b. enough labor supply after black slaves were free; new immigrants（黑奴自由，新移民都提供了足够的劳动

力）;

c. Science and invention played a very important role in accelerating Americ a’s industrial development (科学

和发明在美国的工业发展中起到重要作用);

d. the federal government put high taxes on foreign imports(联邦政府对进口商品课以高税);

e. the Rich natural resources(丰富的自然资源)；

②consequences:

Both production and capital became increasingly concentrated(生产和资本越来越集中).

两次世界大战期间：

1、the Great Depression(1929-1937) and the New Deal 大萧条和新政，当时在位总统为富兰克林?罗斯福Franklin

Roosevelt

2、The Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan杜鲁门主义和马歇尔计划中英文

3、The Watergate Scandal（1976）水门事件

In order to find out whether Ted Kennedy, John Kennedys’ younger brother would run for presidency and other campaign activities, Richard Nixon approved of a plan to burglarize（夜盗） the Democratic National Committee （美国民主党全国委员会）, one of the offices in Watergate building. Five burglars （夜贼）were caught and the whole things came out. The congress impeached（控告，弹劾） the president and Nixon had to resign. The impact of the scandal: No citizen is above the Constitution, even president. The American public paid attention to the private life of the president.

注意：会用自己的话表达什么是“水门事件”，涉及到尼克松、夜盗、肯尼迪等关键词。

4、Civil Rights Movement民权运动

Part3PoliticalSystem

1、Comparison of the Political System

1787年召开；

1789年正式生效；

27条修正案27 amendments；

前十条称为《权利法案》The Bill of Rights became the first ten amendments.

4、制宪六个原则：

①Federalism

②Which would result in a different between the new Constitution and the Articles of Confederation, was the

need for a vigorous executive.

③To which many of the more influential framers were committed, was the necessity for a supreme national court

to police the constitutional structure they were erecting.

④The principle of checks and balances

⑤The farmers were deeply committed to the idea that the central government they were creating was to be a

limited government.

⑥The farmers intended to create a mixed government.

4、The Federal Government—the central government

Three equal and separate branches：The Legislative branch；The Executive branch；The Judicial branch

They are checked and balanced by one another.

本部分内容学会用自己的话表达。

5、什么是联邦制？具体看P157

Federalism means a division of powers between the federal government and state government.

6、州政府和联邦政府的职责

（1）Delegated（授予权力） powers of the Federal Government

①To take care of the welfare and defend the security of the whole nation:

to manage foreign affairs;

to raise and maintain armed forces（武装力量）;

to declare war and conclude peace;

to collect taxes;

to regulate foreign trade;

②To deal with problems concerning two or more states

（2）Powers of State Governments (P158)

①To pass state laws and maintain state police force;

②To levy taxes（课税，征税） to cover state expenditures;

③To maintain public schools and give financial help to state universities.

7、Legislative Branch 立法机构

The Congress is the Legislative branch. It is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Executive Agencies and Commissions

①Federal Bureau of Investigation 联邦调查局 ②Central Intelligence Agency 中央情报局

③National Aeronautics and Space Administration 国家航空和航天局 9、 Judicial Branch 司法机构

了解本图

The Supreme Courtis made up of 9 justices - the Chief Justice and 8 Associate Justices （首席法官和陪审法官）。 10、

Check and Balance

注意：怎么存在？为什么这样存在？举例说明如何制衡？ 制衡的意义何在？/为什么要相互制衡？

Checks and Balances 三权分立(监督＋平衡)

The system of checks and balances is an important part of the Constitution. With checks and balances, each of the three branches of government can limit the powers of the others. This way, no one branch becomes too

powerful. Each branch “checks” the power of the other branches to make sure that the power is balanced between them. 11、

Donkey & Elephant

The Supreme

Court 11 Courts of Appeals

91 District Courts

In 1847, American artist Thomas Nest drew a political picture with a donkey representing the Democratic Party and an elephant representing the Republican Party.

The Democratic Party—liberal;

The Republican Party—conservative.（均为相对的~）

Part4Culture

1、American Dream & China Dream

2、Some important birthdays

16-year-old can legally drive a car

21-year-old can legally drink alcohol

30-year-old know you are growing older

40-year-old become a senior citizen eligible for Social Security checks

65-year-old are considered to be middle aged

3、American wedding can be summarized as something new, something old, something borrowed and something blue.

4、节日分为官方、非官方和宗教节日三种

（2）非官方

注意：情人节（2.14）；母亲节（5月的第二个星期日）；万圣节（10.31）

（3）宗教

注意：圣诞节和复活节5、Holidays