英语国家概况复习笔记 The USA.doc

THE USAGeography and People1. The United States of America (Since 1775) 2. The National Flag： The Stars and Stripes(星条旗) OR popularly known as the Old Glory美国国旗的爱称3. The National Anthem：The Star-Spangled Banner 星条旗之歌4. Capital City: Washington, District of Columbia (The District of Columbia was named after Christopher Columbus and the city Washington was named after George Washington. The city is governed directly by the Federal government. 哥伦比亚特区以克里斯托弗.哥伦布命名，华盛顿以华盛顿命名。这个城市是由联邦政府直接管辖的。)n Famous architectures: U.S. Capitol Hill 国会山; Pentagon（五角大楼the U. S. Defense Department and the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are in it）; White House; Lincoln Memorial m'mrl林肯纪念堂，etc.5. Size：the 4th largest country in the world 6. Administrative Divisions: America consists of 50 states and a federal district, the District of Columbia. Two of the 50 states, Alaska and Hawaii, are separated from the continental America, which are the youngest states of the United States. 7. Largest state: Alaska (the 49th state )Smallest state：Rhode island美国罗德岛州Largest city: New York8. Landforms:Three major divisionsn Easthighlands：（Appalachian Range阿巴拉契亚山脉） n Westmountains：high plateaus'plæt高原 (Cordillera,kd'ljer山脉Range: the Coast Range-the Sierra Nevada-the Cascades-the Rocky Mountains) 山脉范围:海岸山脉的林区的内华达州,Cascades-the洛基山脉n In betweena vast plain region一个广阔的平原地区: The Great Plains大平原9. Highest point: The Sierra-Nevada内华达山脉: Mount Whitney惠特尼峰4418m(14,495 feet)the highest peak in the continental US（the highest peak of the USA is the Mount McKinley (20320 feet) in the south of Alaska） Lowest point: Death Valley死谷: in eastern California, 85 meters below sea level, the lowest point in the whole of N. America北美洲10. RiversThe Mississippi River, the most important and longest river in the US. This river is known to some native American Indians as “the father of waters”. 父亲河The Missouri River密苏里河:Since the river runs through the dry west, it carries a large amount of topsoil表层土, so it is sometimes called as “the Muddy泥泞的 River”.11. The Great Lakes n The Great Lakes are composed of five lakes: Lake Michigan'miin密歇根湖, Lake Superior苏必利尔湖, Lake Erie'iri伊利湖,Lake Huron'hjurn休伦湖 and Lake Ontarion'triu安大略湖. n Among the five lakes, only Lake Michigan belongs to the US completely while the other four are shared by the United States and Canada. n Lake Superior (82,414 km2 ), is the largest freshwater lake (by surface area) in the world. 12. Natural Resources1) Large supplies of fresh water has played a very important part in Americas growth2) Rich in lumber resources3) The United States is also rich in mineral resources. “Gold Rush” : A rush of migrants 'marnts 移民者 to an the western where gold was discovered in California in 1848 13. Principle Cities:Now York: The Statue of Liberty a gift from the French people in 1886, was placed on Liberty Island，The United Nations headquarters stands along the East River at 42nd Street in the city. 联合国总部位于沿着城市东河的第四十二条街上Philadelphia fl'delfj 费城 the seat of the Continental Congress大陆会议所在地. n The First and Second Continental Congresses (1774 and 1775-1776) and the Constitutional Convention制宪会议(1787) met in the city, which served as the capital of the United States from 1790 to 1800. n Independence Hall: It was in this hall that the American Declaration of Independence美国独立宣言was signed on July 4, 1776 and Constitution of the US was framed美国宪法框架San Francisco: The Chinatown in San Francisco is the largest Chinese settlement in the US.The Golden Gate Bridge Detroit底特律d'trt ：the largest center of the automobile industry in the US and is known as “the Motor City”汽车城Houston hju:stn休斯顿: “Space City, USA.” 太空城14. Population Distribution人口分布: Uneven不均匀 &High urbanization15. From the “ Melting Pot大熔炉”-a country of many racial and ethnicenk民族 groups from different parts of the world , who came to the New World to seek for freedom in politics or religion. To the “Salad Bowl沙拉碗” - However, this country is tolerant and allow people with different cultural background to keep their own distinct culture and custom. 16. The different ethnic groups: Native Americans -American IndiansWhite Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) - the dominant ethnic group占主导地位的民族Black People -African American-the largest ethnic-racial minority groupHispanics西班牙裔- the largest ethnic minority Asian Americans have always been a small community.17. P.107Immigration Act of 1924 (restrict further immigration particularly from Europe)Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments移民与国籍法修正案18. P.107 The dominant American culture The dominant American culture is English-speaking, Western European, Protestant and middle-class in character. The first immigrants formed the lands basic cultural values as freedom, equality and desire to work hard for a higher standard of living. (占美国文化主导地位的是说英语的人们，包括了西欧，新教和一些中产阶级。第一批移民形成了土地的基本文化价值观，自由，平等，渴望更高水平的生活。)19. Festivals: Independence Day：on the fourth Thursday in November (11月第四个星期四)Thanksgiving: on the 4th of July and is Americas patriotic petritk 爱国holiday 20. MediaNewspapers P.157Television & Broadcast: The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) 国家广播公司Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) 哥伦比亚广播公司The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) 美国广播公司The Cable News Network（CNN）美国有线电视新闻网- a cable television network The Voice of America (VOA) 美国之声American Economy1. The United States, a highly industrialized and monopolized mnplaz垄断 country, has experienced 3 stages in the development of its economy:n A. Commercial capitalism-dominant mode of production in the British colonies in the 17th century以英国殖民地的商业资本主义主导模式n B. Industrial capitalism工业资本主义n C. Corporate capitalism企业资本主义: The formation of the trust corporation marks the beginning of corporate capitalism era or imperialism帝国主义mprilzm era.（托拉斯公司的形成标志着企业资本主义时代或帝国主义时代的开始）n D. Now the enormous, diversified da'v:sfad多元化, multinational monopolistic mnplstk垄断 corporations dominate the US economy：ITT国际电话电报公司(International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation)；Dupont Chemical 杜邦化学公司；General Electric 通用电器公司； General Motors通用汽车公司2. Industries Main industries: computers; electrical products; chemicals; food; beverage饮料；tobacco；petroleum productsThree Industrial Regions:l The Industrial Northeast is the oldest and most important industrial region l The South has now become the newly developed industrial regionl The West is an important mining area and is at present the most rapidly growing section of the country.3. Agriculture Agribusiness(农业企业) vastness of the land in partgenerosity denrsti 慷慨of naturelarge capital investments and increasing use of highly trained laborBiotechnology bateknldi生物技术Computers4. Foreign Trade：Why does America try to reduce trade barriers? P.146 To advance Americans economic development, enhance its domestic stability as well as relationship with other nations.Political System1. GovernmentThe system of government is established on the basis of the Constitution of the US. The Constitution was framed in Philadelphia fl'delfj 费城 in 1787 and ratified in 1789.The Constitution follows two principles: the federal system and the “separation of powers政权分离.” Federal Systemn The US is a federal union of 50 states. n The federal system means that the states have the right to self-government. In other words, there is a division of powers between the federal government and the state governmentSeparation of Powersn A division of powers among the three branches of the federal government: n The legislative branch-Congress-the legislative powern The executive branch-The President-the executive powern The judicial branch-The Supreme Court-the judicial power n Independent of each other, but each checks the other two so that no one can get all the power. -Separation of Powers or “Checks and Balances” 政府机关彼此之间的相互制衡2. Congress: the Legislative Branch n Powers: Congress has the power to check the other two branches of government: the executive branch and the judicial branch. It has the power to make any laws that are considered “necessary and proper.” n Two parts of it: & The House of RepresentativesThe Senate Senator: 2 for each statePresident of the Senate: Vice President of the US Powers: ratify all treaties with foreign countries, and approve the Presidents nominees for high level official positions The House of RepresentativesFixed at 435 in total Powers: propose bills for raising money; Impeachments should be proposed by the House but decided on by the Senate 3. The Executive Branchn The President: The head of the state, the head of the government & the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. All the government department, agencies and offices are led by the President and are responsible to him. n The Cabinet, made up of the heads of the government departments, only advises the President and does not make any decisions. The President is free to consult or ignore their advicen The Veto Power of the PresidentThe President has a veto vi:tu否决权 power over bills passed by Congress. (If a bill is vetoed by the President and returned to Congress, it can be passed again by a two-third vote of the full membership of both houses of Congress. With this power he can easily reject any bill he dislikes. )4. What is the relationship between the president and the congress?n In theory, Congress and the President are independent of each other. Their relationship is one of “checks and balances,” that is, the powers of one limit those of the other. But in reality, there is close cooperation between the two branches of government. 5. Impeachment Under the Constitution a sitting President may be removed from office before his term expires only by impeachment process whereby the House of Representatives, upon sufficient evidence, brings a “bill of impeachment” approved by two-thirds of its membership. Next comes a trial in the Senate, with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court as the judge and the Senators as the jury.（根据宪法，现任总统可能被免职之前他的任期届满的众议院弹劾过程，在足够的证据，使一个“比尔弹劾”由其成员的三分之二的批准。下一步是参议院的审判，最高法院首席大法官和陪审团的首席法官。）Andrew Johnson安德鲁·约翰逊- failedNixon尼克松: the Watergate scandal水门事件- resigned Bill Clinton比尔克林顿- failed6. The Federal Court System: the supreme court最高法院, the courts of appeals上诉法院, the district courts区法院The Judicial Branch of the government is headed by the Supreme Court政府司法部门由最高法院领导. The powers of Supreme Court:to interpret laws解释法律to hear appeals from any federal court laws听取任何联邦法院的上诉to hear appeals from the state court cases that involve the Constitution or national laws审理涉及宪法或国家法律的国家法院的上诉may declare a law unconstitutional可以宣布一项法律违宪may declare a presidential act unconstitutional可以宣布一个总统法案违宪It has the Power of Judicial Review司法审查权 interpret the Constitution and declare a law passed by Congress to be “unconstitutional违宪”.7. The Party Politicsn The Federal Party and The Democratic- Republican Party were the oldest parties in American historyn Two Political parties emerged over the issue of Slavery Democratic Party 民主(1828) -keep the slave system Republican Party共和 (1854) -abolish the slavery system (Abraham Lincoln)n Two Parties Today: Democratic Party (donkey dki驴), Republican Party(elephant)8. Presidential Electioncontrolled and managed by: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party 5 steps in choosing a President n 1 The Primary: election of delegates to the national conventions of the two parties in each state from February to June of the Election Year每一个国家的代表参加二月至六月的选举年的全国代表大会的代表n 2 The National Conventions: 1 discussion and acceptance of the party platform, a very general statement of the partys policy for both domestic and foreign affairs ; 2 choose the presidential and vice presidential candidates 1讨论和接受党的纲领，对党的政策的一个非常一般的声明国内和外交事务；2选择总统和副总统候选人n 3 The Election Campaign Time: from September to NovemberCharacters: presidential candidates of the two parties Task: travel all over the country, trying to win the support of the voters in the election with the help of the machinery of their party全国各地的旅行，试图赢得选民的支持，在选举中帮助他们的党n 4 The Election Day - Popular votes投票Who will be elected?The voters do not vote directly for the President and Vice President. They vote for presidential electors (总统选举团) who are named by the two parties. The electors will certainly vote for the presidential candidate of their own party. Winner-takes-all胜者得全票规则: The party that has won a majority of the popular votes in a state on the Election Day will get all electoral votes of that staten 5 Casting the Electoral Vote - A Formality选举投票-一种形式Electoral votes: the electors vote the President and the Vice-President n 6. The newly elected President takes up office on January 20th of the next year. 新当选总统在明年一月二十日上任。History1. The earliest inhabitants最早的居民- The American Indians: They had come over from Asia. 2. The Discovery of the New WorldBackgroundn 1. Feudalism was finally established in Britain.封建制度最终在英国建立n 2. The bourgeoisie bw:zi:资产阶级 was just beginning to grow. The growing bourgeoisie began to look for new market. n 3. Marco Polo马可波罗: Influenced by His Travels of Marco Polo, kings, lords and merchants in Western Europe were eager to explore sea routes to the Far East.The Discovery n Christopher Columbus krstf klmbs 哥伦布discovered the New World in the year of 1492. n Amerigo Vespucci An Italian sailor sailed for the new continent in 1497. In 1507, a German pr