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1、Chapter II,The United States Of America 美利坚合众国,Learning Goals (学 习 目 的), To learn and know some ABC of the American geography, history, economy, education, people and their culture, etc. 【学习了解一些有关美国地理、历史、经济、教育、文 化等方面的基本常识。】 To get to know some interesting food culture of the Americans. 【了解一些有趣的美国饮食文
2、化。】,Part A,Exploring The United States Of America 探 访 美 国,Questions to ask: 1. What will come to your mind first when you hear the name of the United States of America? 【你听到美国国名时，首先你会想到什么？】 2. Can you say something about the following pictures? (p22) 【你能谈谈下面这些图片的内容吗？】,The Statue of Liberty 自由女神像,Geo
3、rge Washington 乔治 华盛顿,The Capitol (=Congress Building) 美国国会大厦 (亦称作“国会山”),The White House 白宫,全美闻名的拉什莫尔山 (Mount Rushmore) 耸立在南达科他州巴登兰以西不远的 地方，山上雕刻着美国四位著名总统的巨大头像 (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln )。 从左至右：开国元勋华盛 顿、独立宣言的主要起草者杰佛逊、奠定20世纪美国之基础的西奥多罗斯 福和解放黑奴的领导者林肯。,T
4、he statue of four Presidents 美 国 四 总 统 雕 像,好莱坞,The National Flag of the USA 美国国旗,Bald Eagle the national bird of the USA, which symbolizes courage and power. It is also the main design of the US emblem. 白头海雕 (俗称“秃头鹰”) 是美国的国鸟，象征勇气和力量。,The National Emblem of the USA 美 国 国 徽,Text A,A Brief Introduction
5、 Of the USA 美国概况简介,A Map of the World (popular overseas) 世界地图 (国外流行的版式),美国分州 地 形 图,A Topographic Map of the USA 美国地形图,A map of American states 美 国 分 州 地 图, Geography & Environment,The USA lies in North America with its two youngest statesAlaska on the northwest tip of the continent and Hawaii in the
6、 central Pacific. The continental United States stretches 4,500 km. from the Atlantic Ocean on the east to the Pacific Ocean on the west. It borders Canada on the north, and Mexico on the southwest. Its coastline runs 19,924 km. The total area of the USA is 9,372610 sq. km., which makes it the 4th l
7、argest country in the world. (p22),【美利坚合众国（简称“美国”）地处北美洲中部，东临大西洋，西滨太平洋，北接加拿大，南靠墨西哥及墨西哥湾。所属阿拉斯加州位于北美洲西北部，夏威夷州中太平洋北部。总面积937.3万平方公里，海岸线长1.99万公里，面积为世界第四大国家。】 The USA comprises 50 states, of which 2 are overseas ones (Alaska and Hawaiian archipelago). Geographically speaking, the (large territory of the)
8、continental USA (including 48 states) is divided into 3 basic areas: (p23) 【美国由50个州组成其中两个为海外州 (阿拉斯加和夏威夷一个群岛)。从地理上讲，（占大部分面积的）美国本土（包括48个州）分为 3 个基本区域：,A. The Atlantic Seacoast west to the Appalachians 【大西洋至阿巴拉契亚区，亦称作“阿巴拉契亚以东区”】 B. The Mississippi Basin 【密西西比河盆地区】 C. The Rockies west to the Pacific 【落基山
9、脉至太平洋沿岸区；亦称“落基山脉以西区”】 The Appalachian Mountains (阿巴拉契亚山脉) in the north-east divide the eastern seaboard from the Great Lakes (大湖区) and the grasslands of the Midwest. The Mississippi (-Missouri) River, the worlds 4th longest river system, runs mainly north-south through the heart of the country. The
10、flat, fertile prairie (北美大草原) of the Great Plains (大平原),stretches to the west. The Rocky Mountains (落基山脉), at the western edge of the Great Plains, extend north to south across the country, reaching altitudes (海拔) higher than 14,000 feet (4,300m) in Colorado (科罗拉多州). Farther west are the rocky Great
11、 Basin and deserts such as the Mohave/ Mojave (莫哈维沙漠). (p23) 【东北部阿巴拉契亚山脉将沿海地区 与 大湖区和中部的草原区隔 开。世界第四大河流密西西比河主要由北而南流经美国的心脏地 带。平坦肥沃的大草原 (在美国中部) 向西部延伸。位于大平原 西部边沿的落基山脉由北向南横穿美国，其在科罗拉多州的海拔 达4300米。再往西就是洛基大平原和莫哈维等大沙漠。】, American Population 据2009年美国官方数据， 截止2009年2月，美国的人口为3亿600万），由68个不同国家的种族构成，其中白种人为2.29亿，黑种人340
12、0万，西班牙裔人为3300万，亚裔人等为1000万。1990-2000年间人口增长率为13.1%。多种族局面的形成主要归因于移民。 美国人口密度分布图显示，黑种人集中分布在东海岸沿线，黄种人集中分布在西海岸沿线。美国人口最多的州是加尼福尼亚州，3900万；人口最少的州是怀俄明州，50万人。,A Map of US Population Distribution 美国人口分布图, Main points to remember in this section: 【本节记忆重点】 A. The US is the 3rd most populous nation in the world, nex
13、t only to China and India. 【美国是继中国和印度之后世界上第三大人口国。】 (1) Prior to 1875 any one from any foreign country could enter the US freely and take up permanent residence there. 【在1875年之前，来自外国的任何人都可自由进入美国，并取得 在美国的永久居住权。】 (2) The first US census (人口调查) was taken in 1790; the over 3 million of early Americans we
14、re mostly of British ancestry. 【美国的第一次人口普查是在1790进行的。早期300多万美国人口中的大多数为英国人的后裔。】,B. Races (种族) (1) The people of the US are mainly white and the most powerful and influential group is the White Anglo-Saxon protestants. 【美国人口中的大多数为白人，其中最有权势和最有影响力群体 为白种盎格鲁撒克逊新教徒的后裔。】 (2) The black people (黑人) a. The firs
15、t blacks arrived in Jamestown (in the state of Virginia) in 1619 as indentured servants (契约雇佣工) but soon after 1619 they were brought to colonies as slaves. 【第一批黑人是作为契约雇佣工于1619年到达弗吉尼亚州詹姆斯 敦的，但在同年不久就被作为奴隶带到殖民地去了。】,b. The blacks were formally freed in 1865, but continued to suffer the racial segregati
16、on (种族隔离) for about a century, for the official racial segregation continued to be the law of the US until 1964. 【黑人在形式上已于1865年被解放了，但又遭受了约一个世纪的 种族隔离之苦因为官方作为法律的种族隔离政策一直持续 到1964年才告结束。】 c. Today many blacks still live in the south. Some have entered the middle class, but one-third of all the black fami
17、lies still live below the poverty-line (贫困线). 【今天，许多黑人任然生活在美国南方。他们中的一些人已经成 为中产阶级，但三分之一的黑人家庭仍生活在贫困线以下。】,(3) American Indians live mainly in the South. They have been cruelly treated and they were driven to the “Indian Reservations” (印第安人保留区). 【美国的印第安人主要居住在南方。他们被残酷对待， 赶入了“印第安人保留区”。】 (4) American Hispa
18、nics (美籍西班牙人) are mainly from Mexico, Cuba and Puerto Rico. 【美籍西班牙人主要来自墨西哥、古巴和波多黎各。】,(5) The Chinese Americans have proved to be industrious and intelligent. They are viewed as a “model minority” in the US. According to the 1990 US census, there were over 1.6 million Chinese Americans living in the
19、US. This figure was more than twice what it was in 1980. It is said that the Chinese Americans are now over 3 millions. 【美籍华人被证明勤劳而富有智慧。他们在美国被看做 是“模范少数民族”。根据1990年的美国人口普查，生 活在美国的美籍华人有160多万，这个数字比1980年翻 了一番。据说现在美国拥有300多万美籍华人。】,C. Population Distribution (人口分布) (1) The most densely populated region in t
20、he US is the northeastern part of the country, which includes the states of New England, the Middle West and the Middle Atlantic. 【美国人口密度最大的地区是东北部包括新英格兰13州、东中部和中大西洋沿岸诸州。】 (2) Texas is the 2nd most populous state in the US, next only to California. 【美国人口最多的两个州分别为加尼福尼亚州和德克萨斯州。】,By 2002, over 80% of th
21、e American people live in cities and towns. 【截止2002年，美国人口的80%以上居住在城镇。】 According to the statistics of 2001, about 84% of Americans are Christians; 2% believe in Judaism (犹太教) , 4% in other religions, and 10% do not believe in any religions. 【根据2001年的统计数据，84%的美国人信仰基督教，2% 的人信仰犹太教，4%的人信仰其他宗教，还有10%的人 无宗
22、教信仰。】, A Brief Introduction of the US History & Background: 【美国历史简介】 The US consisted of only 13 colonies of the UK in the beginning before its Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, which was made possible by its Revolutionary War (also called the American Independent War) with the British ar
23、my in the 1770s. In 1783, the signing of the Treaty of Paris officially recognized its independence from Britain. From the late 18th to the middle of the 19th centuries, the US extended its territory from the coast of the Atlantic (east) to that of the Pacific (west). The size was four times than th
24、at of it at the time of its independence, or, in other words, it was increased by 3 quarters (75%). The US mainland as we know today was almost complete by 1848. The 2 overseas states of Alaska & Hawaii were both admitted in 1959. (p24),【在1776年7月4日独立之前，美国仅由英国所拥有的13块殖民地所组成。18世纪70年代与英国军队进行的“独立战争”(亦称为“
25、美国独立战争”) 使美国获得独立。1783年签订的“巴黎协议”使英国正式承认了美国的独立。从18世纪末至19世纪中叶，美国从东部的大西洋沿岸向西部的太平洋沿岸扩张领土，其领土面积达到了独立时的四倍，或换言之，增加了75%。我们今天所知的美国大陆面积的扩张至1848年基本完成。“阿拉斯加”和“夏威夷”两个海外州均于1959年加入美国。】,The US political system was established on the basis of the three main principlesfederalism (联邦制), the separation of powers (分权制) a
26、nd respect for the constitution and the rule of the law (依据宪法和法律运行). According to the US Constitution (ratified in 1788 & went into effect from 1789), neither the central nor the state government receives its powers from the other. They both get their powers from a common sourcethe Constitution. (p2
27、5) Federalism: The division of powers by constitution between the central government and the state government is called federation. It operates only on two levelsthe national and the state. Units of government within a state enjoy no inde- pendent existence.,【美国的政治制度建立在三大原则基础上：联邦制、分权制 和 依据宪法和法律运行。根据
28、美国宪法 (1788年通过，1789年开始执行)，联邦政府 (即美国政府) 与各州政府之间互不从对方获取权利，它们的权利来自同一地方美国宪法。】 联邦制：根据美国宪法对联邦政府和州政府进行分权的制度被称作“联邦制”。“联邦制”只在国家和州两个层级实行。州政府之内的各部门不能独立运行。, Separation of powers: (1) Constitutional division of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches; (2) This principle means more than allo
29、cating (分配) legislative power to Congress, executive power to President, and judicial power to the Supreme Court (最高法院). It also means giving each branch constitutional and political independence and checks and balances that ensure (确保) each of the three branches a sufficient role in the actions of
30、the others. (3) The branches must work together so as to perform the government business. The Supreme Law of the Land (国家的最高法律): (1) the US Constitution; (2) Treaties (条约) under the authority of the United States; (3) Laws to ensure the constitutional power to be practiced. (p24), 分权制： (1) 宪法上对立法、行政
31、和司法的权力进行了划分； (2) 这一原则不仅仅是把立法权授予给了议会，把行政 权授予给了总统，把司法权授予给了最高法院。还 意味着给予每一分支宪法和政治上的独立权力和相 互制衡的权力，以确保这三个分支在相互的运作中 都能发挥足够的作用。 (3) 三方工作中必须齐心协力，以确保履行政府职能。 国家的最高法律: (1) 美国宪法。 (2) 以美国政府名义签订的各种条约。 (3) 各类确保宪法权利得以付诸实施的立法。,Many forms of social progress started in the 19th century. Those advancements have been wid
32、ely reflected in the Constitution. Slavery was abolished in 1865 by the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution; the following 14th and 15th Amendments respectively (分别) guaranteed citizenship for all persons naturalized (使入籍) within the US territory and voting for people of all races. Later civil rig
33、hts (民权) were extended to women and black people as the result of the nationwide civil right movement (民权运动) (in the 1950s & early 1960s) against the racial discrimination led by Martin Luther King, Jr. (马丁路德金), a social reformer and clergyman, who advocated (提倡；鼓吹) the philosophy of nonviolence (非暴
34、力主义) and his famous speech “I Have A Dream” (on August 28, 1963) made him even more famous. He was honored the Nobel Price for Peace in 1964 for his effort to fight discrimination. (p24),【美国的多种社会进步始于19世纪。这些进步在宪法中得到了广泛的反映。1865年通过的宪法第13条修正案废除了奴隶制；随后的第14和15条宪法修正案分别给予美国本土上所有入了籍的人以公民权和所有种族公民以投票权。20世纪50-6
35、0年在美国全国兴起的反对种族歧视的“民权运动”，使得妇女和黑人享有民权。这一运动的领袖 马丁路德金 (Martin Luther King, Jr. 1929-1968) 是位社会改良主义者和牧师， 提倡非暴力主义。 他的著名演讲 “我有一个梦想”(1963年8月28日) 使其更为著名，并于1964年获得了“诺贝尔和平奖”，以表彰他为反对种族歧视所作出的努力。】,(Unfortunately, he was assassinated (暗杀) by the white racialists (种族主义者) on April 4, 1968.) In “The Civil Rights Act”
36、 (民权法) passed in 1964, racial segregation (种族隔离) in public places was officially done away with (废除). 【(不幸的是他于1968年4月4日被白人种族主义者暗杀。) 在1964 年通过的“民权法”中,在公共场所实行的“种族隔离”政策被 正式废除。】 The fast economic growth in the US lasted some 60 years from the mid 19th century to the 1920s (which was called the Roaring T
37、wenties). Yet the sudden collapse of the Stock Market in New York on October 24 (Black Thursday), 1929 brought a sudden end to the US prosperity. Since then farm prices and industrial production fell. Unemployment rose rapidly. Thousands of banks and small business failed.,From 1929 to 1932 there wa
38、s a steady decline in all major areas of American economy. Consequently, the US govern-ment headed by F. Roosevelt established the New Deal (新政), a series of reform programs to assist those greatly affected by the Depression. The main aims of Roosevelts New Deal were to raise commodity prices by lim
39、iting production, devaluating (贬值) the dollar, maintaining high tariffs (关税) on foreign goods, & to carry through a modest inflation (通货膨胀) by providing money at low rates of interest to farmers and to industry. Its kernel content is Reform (改革), Recovery (复兴), and Relief (救济). (p24),【在从19世纪中叶至20世纪2
40、0年代的约60年时间里，美国的经济快速发展。但是在1929年10月24日(星期四常被称作“黑色星期四”)，纽约的股票市场突然崩盘，从而突然结束了美国的繁荣。 从此农产品和工业产品大幅跌价，失业率骤升，数以千计的银行和小企业倒闭。 从1929年至1933年，美国所有主要经济领域持续下滑。因此，罗斯福领导的美国政府采取了“新政”，出台了一系列旨在帮助那些受到此次大萧条重创的领域进行改革的方案。罗斯福“新政”的主要内容为通过限定生产来提高商品价格、贬值美元、对外国商品征收高额关税、通过给农业和工业提供低息贷款以达到适度通货膨胀。其核心内容为 “改革”、“复兴”和“救济”(在美国通常被称为“3R”政策
41、)。】,The major and important measures Roosevelt took were: 【罗斯福“新政”所采取的主要和重要措施如下】 (1) To issue The Agricultural Adjustment Act (全国农业调整 法) in 1933; (2) To issue The National Recovery Act (全国产业复兴法) in 1933； (3) To issue The Social Security Act (联邦紧急救济法) in 1935. The New Deal turned out to be of great s
42、uccess, which made F. Roosevelt very famous. 【“新政”取得了巨大的成功，这使罗斯福名垂青史。】,The US was dragged (拖入) into the WWII in December, 1941 right after Japan attacked the Pearl Harbor (珍珠港). The US economy recovered quickly by selling munitions (弹药；军火) to countries involved in the war. It replaced the UK after a
43、nd since the WWII. It was one of the two superpowers (超级大国) from the late 1940s to the early 1990s (the other one being the former Soviet Union). With the end of the Cold War marked by the collapse (垮掉) of the former Soviet Union at the beginning of the 1990s, the US became and remains the only one
44、superpower in the world today. (pp24-5) 【在日本偷袭珍珠港之后不久的1941年12月，美国被拖入第二次世界大战。美国经济靠向卷入战争的国家出售军火而得到快速复苏，并从二战之后取代英国成为世界第一强国。从20世纪40年代末起美国成为世界上两个超级大国之一(另一个为前苏联)。上世纪90年代初前苏联的解体标志着冷战的结束，美国从此成为世界上唯一的超级大国。】, Government & Political Parties 【政 府 及 政 党】,The US is a federal constitutional republic. It is the wor
45、lds oldest surviving federation. A constitutional republic is a state where the head of state (元首) and some other top officials at different levels are elected as representatives of the people, and must govern ac-cording to the existing constitutional law that limits the governments power over citiz
46、ens. The govern-ment is regulated (制约) by a system of checks and balances (制衡) defined by the US Constitution, which serves as the countrys supreme legal document. The governing of the US federal system is of three levels: federal, state, and local (which is also called district).,【美国 是一个联邦制宪共和国 是世界
47、上现存时间最长的联邦制国家。在宪法国家，国家元首和其他层级的高官被选为人民的代表，并根据现行约束政府对于公民权利的宪法法律来施行管理。政府的管理受到美国宪法所设置的制衡体系的约束 而美国宪法被视为美国最高的法律文件。美国联邦体系的行政管理分三个层级：联邦、州 和 区。】 (p25),In almost all cases, executive & legislative officials are elected by citizens (by district). The most impor-tant election is the electing of President once e
48、very 4 years. Federal and state judicial and cabinet officials are almost all nominated (提名) by the executive branch and approved by the legislature (立法机构). The US legislature is the Congress (国会), which is made up of the House of Representatives (众议院) and the Senate (参议院). There are many parties in
49、 registration in the US, yet only two parties (the Republican Party & the Demo-cratic Party) are strong enough to compete for power in the US politics. By now no any candidate from any small independent party has been elected President in the history of the United States. (p25),【在几乎所有的情况下，行政官员和立法官员都是分区 民选，其中最重要的是每四年一次的总统选举。联邦 和州的司法及内阁官员由政府提名，立法机构批准。 美国的立法机构为国会，由众议院和参议院组成。 美国注册登记的党派很多，但只有两个党派 (共和党和 民主党) 有能力在美国的政治中进行角逐。在美国历史 上，迄今尚无任何来自弱小党派的候选人在总统的角 逐中成功当选的案例。】,Magell