Unit 3-The Introduction of America(文本教案) - 副本.doc

Unit 3 The Introduction of the United StatesI. A Brief Introduction The USA is the short of the United States of America. The USA is made up of 50 states. It is in the North America. It lies between Canada and Mexico. The total area of America is about 9.5 million square Kilometers. It is the fourth largest country in the world. There are over 300 million people living there now. The capital of the USA is Washington, D.C. New York is the biggest city. The official language is English. Its National Day is on July 4th. America is a very young country. It only has about 200 years history. It is the most powerful country in the world today. II. The American flagJ Names: The American flag, The Stars and Stripes; Red, White and Blue; Old Glory; The Star-Spangled Banner J Use: National flag and ensign J Proportion: 10:19 J Adopted: June 14, 1777 (original 13-star version)J July 4, 1960 (current 50-star version)J Design: Thirteen horizontal stripes alternating red and white; in the canton, 50 white stars of alternating numbers of six and five per row on a blue field III. Great Seal of the United StatesJ The Great Seal of the United States is used to authenticate certain documents issued by the United States federal government. The phrase is used both for the physical seal itself (which is kept by the United States Secretary of State), and more generally for the design impressed upon it. The Great Seal was first used publicly in 1782.J The obverse of the great seal is used as the national coat of arms of the United States. It is officially used on documents such as United States passports, military insignia, embassy placards, and various flags. As a coat of arms, the design has official colors; the physical Great Seal itself, as affixed to paper, is monochrome.IV. American AnthemThe Star-Spangled Banner is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from Defence of Fort MHenry,1 a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by British ships of the Royal Navy in Chesapeake Bay during the Battle of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812.The Star-Spangled Banner was recognized for official use by the Navy in 1889, and by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916, and was made the national anthem by a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931 (46 Stat. 1508, codified at 36 U.S.C. 301), which was signed by President Herbert Hoover.V. The United States DollarThe United States dollar (sign: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$), is referred to as the U.S. dollar, or Federal Reserve Note. It is the official currency of the United States and its overseas territories. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents.VI. States of AmericaThe United States of America is a federal republic consisting of 50 states and one federal district (Washington, D.C.).States of AmericaOut of the 50 states, California is the most populous, with an estimated 38,041,430 residents as of 2012; Wyoming is the least populous, with an estimated 576,412 residents. The largest state by area is Alaska, encompassing 665,384 square miles (1,723,337 square kilometers), while the smallest is Rhode Island, encompassing 1,545 square miles (4,002 square kilometers). The first state to ratify the current Constitution was Delaware, which it did on December 7, 1787, while the newest state is Hawaii, which was admitted to the Union on August 21, 1959. VII. Major Cities in the USALos AngelesLos Angeles was founded on September 4, 1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence. In 1848, at the end of the MexicanAmerican War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4, 1850, five months before California achieved statehood.Hollywood Hollywood is a district in the central region of Los Angeles, California.It is notable for its place as the home of the entertainment industry, including several of its historic studios. Its name has come to represent the motion picture industry of the United States. Hollywood is also a highly ethnically diverse, densely populated, economically diverse neighborhood and retail business district.Disneyland Disneyland is the worlds largest general amusement. In 1955, it was founded in Los Angeles as the first Disneyland theme park by Walt Disney, the American animation master. It is divided into eight subject areas . Disneyland in Los Angeles located in the middle of the Orange County in Los Angeles and San Diego City, is a veritable dream paradise. San FranciscoSan Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.5 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland. The only consolidated city-county in California,it encompasses a land area of about 46.9 square miles (121 km2)on the northern end of the San Francisco Peninsula, giving it a density of about 17,179 people per square mile (6,632 people per km2).It is the most densely settled large city (population greater than 200,000) in the state of California and the second-most densely populated large city in the United States after New York City. San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the 13th most populous city in the United States, with a population of 805,235 as of the 2010 Census. The San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metropolitan area has a population of 4,335,391.The Golden Gate The Golden Gate is the North American strait connecting San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. Since 1937 it has been spanned by the Golden Gate Bridge. Technically, the gate is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, while the strait is the water flowing in between.New YorkNew Yorkis themost populous cityin theUnited States and the center of theNew York Metropolitan Area, one of themost populous metropolitan areasin the world.New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment. The home of theUnited Nations Headquarters,New York is an important center forinternational diplomacy and has been described as the cultural capital of the world.The city is also referred to asNew York CityorThe City of New York to distinguish it from theState of New York, of which it is a part.BroadwayBroadway is one of the avenues in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, United States, which runs through almost the entire length of Manhattan island and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest northsouth main thoroughfare in the city, dating to the first New Amsterdam settlement. The name Broadway is the English literal translation of the Dutch name, Breede weg. A stretch of Broadway is known worldwide as the heart of the American theatre industry.Famous Traveling Places in New York百老汇(Broadway) 布鲁克林大桥(Brooklyn Bridge）大中央车站(Grand Central Terminal) 帝国大厦(The Empire State Building)第五大道(Fifth Avenue) 华尔街(Wall Street)联合国总部大楼(United Nations headquarters)林肯中心(Lincoln Center) 曼哈顿格林威治村(Greenwich Village)美国自然历史博物馆(American Museum of Natural History)时报广场和麦迪逊广场花园(Times Square and Madison Square Garden (MSG)中央公园(Central Park) 自由女神像(The Statue of Liberty)Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally theDistrict of Columbiaand commonly referred to asWashington, the District, or simplyD.C., is thecapitalof theUnited States. On July 16, 1790, theUnited States Congressapproved the creation of afederal districtto become the national capital as permitted by theU.S. Constitution. The District is therefore not a part of anyU.S. state. It was formed from land along thePotomac Riverdonated by the states ofMarylandandVirginia; however, the Virginia portion wasreturned by Congressin 1846.The centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are located in the District, as are many of the nations monuments and museums. Washington, D.C., hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organization of American States (OAS), the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). The headquarters of many other institutions such as trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups, and professional associations are also located in the city. The symbol of Washington D.C.TheWhite Houseranked second on theAIAsList of Americas Favorite Architecture in 2007.TheLincoln Memorialis an American memorial built to honor the 16thPresident of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.TheJohn F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Artson the Potomac RiverTheUnited States Congresshas ultimate authority over the DistrictChicago Chicago is the largest city in the US state ofIllinoisand thethird most populous cityin the United States afterLos AngelesandNew York City. The city has around 2.7million residents . Its metropolitan area, sometimes called Chicagoland, is the third largest in the United States,with an estimated 9.8million people. Chicago is thecounty seatofCook County,though a small portion also extends intoDuPage County.Daley PlazaDaley Plaza withPicassostatue and City Hall in background. State law courts are in the building at right.Chicago BullsChicago Bullsare a professional basketball team based inChicago, Illinois, playing in theCentral Divisionof theEastern Conference in theNational Basketball Association(NBA). The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at theUnited Center. The team is well known for having one of the greatest dynasties in NBA and sports history during the 1990s, winning six championships in eight years with twothree-peats. All six of those championship teams were led byMichael Jordan,Scottie Pippen, and coachPhil Jackson.The greatest player in Chicago BullsIn the summer of 1984 the teams fortunes changed forever when it received the third pick of the1984 NBA Draft, after Houston and Portland. the Bulls grabbed shooting guardMichael Jordan. then Jordan has become the greatest player in NBA.VIII. A Brief Introduction of American cultureThe main content of American culture is the emphasize on individuals value, the pursue of democracy and freedom, the promotion of deploitation and competition and the need of realistic and practicality. Its core is individualism: self first, personal need first, pursue of individual benefit and enjoyment, emphasize on achieving individual value by self-strive and self-design. This type of intentionally build up of personality and pursue customized individualism has its pros and cons, it gives incentives to people and make them exert on their potential and wisdom and as a result accelerate the development of the entire race and nation; on the other hand it is difficult to keep good relationship among people if everyone is egocentric thus make the entire society lack of unity.American citizens emphasize on achievements and respect heroes. They have great sense in their hearts to praise success and heroes. Personal achievements are one of those with the highest value in Americans mind. Americans have very strong senses of success. Success is the pursuit of most Americans, it is their attractive future and the incentives for moving forward. They believe that ones personal value is equivalent to his achievements in his career. Some high achievers in their career such as entrepreneurs, scientists, artists and all kinds of super starts became modern heroes. The process and result of how they strived have become the frame of reference of social culture value and the real life text book for parents to educate their children. American society has great movements within itself. These movements are shown in two aspects: movements amongst locations and movements inside the society. The United States are relatively more open and have more freedom. Developed transport and the tradition of adventure and sporty makes a lot of American migrate from countryside to cities, from downtown to uptown; and from north to the southern sunnyland, from one city to another. Unlike European countries, the social classes in America is not so stable. Further more, with the advocation of public education, movements upwards along the social ladder have become possible. Many people living in the states, no matter whether they are Native American or immigrants from overseas, have the same dreamof changing their social class and make their lifetime dreamcome true through their own efforts. This is what they often called American dream.IX. Famous Universities in AmericaHarvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, whose history, influence and wealth have made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world.Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States.Princeton has been associated with 35 Nobel laureates, 17 National Medal of Science winners, 2 Abel Prize winners, 5 Fields Medalists, and 3 National Humanities Medal recipients.Yale University is a private Ivy League research university located in New Haven, Connecticut. Fifty-one Nobel laureates have been affiliated with the University as students, faculty, or staff. Yale has graduated many notable alumni, including five U.S. Presidents, 19 U.S. Supreme Court Justices, and many foreign heads of state.X. A Nation of ImmigrantsA look at the history of the United States indicates that this country has often been called “a melting pot”, where various immigrants and ethnic groups have learned to work together to build a unique nation. Even those “original” Americans, the Indians, probably walked a land bridge from Asia to North America some thousands of years ago. So, who are the real Americans? The answer is that any and all of them are! And you, no matter where you come from, could also become an American should you want to. Then you would become another addition to Americas wonderfully rich “nation of immigrants”.The United States is currently shifting from being a nation of immigrants of mainly European descent to one of immigrants from other parts of the world, such as Asia and Latin America. The number of recent immigrants has increased rapidly. They desire to escape economic hardship and political oppression in their native countries as well as the desire to seek a better education and a more prosperous life in America, “the land of opportunity”. Although there are frequent conflicts between the cultures they have brought with them from the “old country” and those found in America, most immigrants learn to adjust to and love their adopted land.For immigrants from all parts of the world, the United States has been a “melting pot” in which the foreigners have sometimes remained culturally and linguistically what they were in their native lands even as they move towards becoming citizens of the United States, a country whose people share a common cultural outlook and a set of values. All recollections of another way of life in another place are not melt away in the “melting pot” - nor should it. On the contrary, immigrants should maintain the languages, skills, religions, customs and arts of their own heritage, even while they are working towards entering the mainstream of American culture.XI. Thanks Giving The American Thanksgiving holiday began as a feast of thanksgiving in the early days of the American colonies almost four hundred years ago. In 1620, a boat filled with more than one hundred people sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to settle in the New World. This religious group had begun to question the beliefs of the Church of England and they wanted to separate from it. The Pilgrims settled in what is now the state of Massachusetts. Their first winter in the New World was difficult. They had arrived too late to grow many crops, and without fresh food, half the colony died from disease. The following spring the Iroquois Indians taught them how to grow corn, a new food for the colonists. They showed them other crops to grow in the unfamiliar soil and how to hunt and fish.In the autumn of 1621, bountiful crops of corn, barley, beans and pumpkins were harvested. The colonists had much to be thankful for, so a feast was planned. They invited the local Indian chief and 90 Indians. The Indians brought deer to roast with the turkeys and other wild game offered by the colonists. The colonists had learned how to cook cranberries and different kinds of corn and squash dishes from the Indians. To this first Thanksgiving, the Indians had even brought popcorn.In following years, many of the original colonists celebrated the autumn harvest with a feast of thanks.After the United States became an independent country, Congress recommended one yearly day of thanksgiving for the whole nation to celebrate. George Washington suggested the date November 26 as Thanksgiving Day. Then in 1863, at the end of a long and bloody civil war, Abraham Lincoln asked all Americans to set aside the last Thursday in November as a day of thanksgiving.Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November, a different date every year. The President must proclaim that date as the official celebration. Thanksgiving is a time for tradition and sharing. Even if they live far away, family members gather for a reunion at the house of an older relative. All give thanks together for the good things that they have.In this sp