英美概况美国复习部分

美国复习部分

1

，

Size and Location

In the central part of North America (except Alaska and Hawaii);

Canada on the north

Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico on the south

Atlantic Ocean on the east

Pacific Ocean on the west

total area

—

9,5 million square kilometers;

50 states and the federal district of Columbia

—

the seat of the Federal

Government.

2

，五大湖

（

GreatLa kes

）是位于加拿大与美国交界处的几座大型淡

水湖泊，按< /p>

面积从大到小

分别为：苏必利尔湖（

La keSuperior

）

、休

伦湖

（

LakeHuron

）

< br>、

密歇根湖

（

LakeMich igan

）

、

伊利湖

< br>（

LakeErie

）

和安大略 湖

（

LakeOntario

）

。

除密歇根湖属于美国之外，

其它四湖为

加拿大和美国共有。

这五个湖泊所组成的五大湖是世界上最大的淡水

水域，总面积达

245,660

平方公 里，有北美洲地中海之称。其中苏必

利尔湖是世界上最大的淡水湖。

3

，

The Top List

The largest state: Alaska

The smallest state:Rhode Island

The most populous state: California

The least populous state:Wy'oming

(1.

怀俄明州

(

美国州名

))

The

largest

cities

:New

Y

ork

City,

Los

Angeles,

Chicago,

San

Francisco, Philadelphia

4,top-ranking universities

Harvard

Y

ale

Massa'chusetts Institute of T

echnology (MIT)

5,The Western Region

including 11(8+3) states, like

Washington, Oregon and California,

etc.

Oregon-- wealth of beautiful forests and streams

California

striking natural features--central valley, high mountains, and hot dry

deserts.

notable cities

San Francisco

Los Angeles

San Diego

14

percent of American gross domestic product

predominant agriculture yielding

high- tech industry centre

6,Gulf War

fought

in

early

1991

between

Iraq

and

a

coalition

of

39

countries

organized

by

the

U.S.,

most

of

which

rely

on

Kuwait

and

Saudi

Arabia as primary source of petroleum.

7,When

talking

about

America,

is

there

any

city

that

you

are

familiar with? And why?

Tips:

New Y

ork

—

commercial and financial center of the United States

Washington D.C.

—

seat of the federal government

Los Angles

—

second largest city in the U.S.;

four times larger than San Francisco; important electronic center

known for the manufacture of tires, automobiles and aircraft.

center of atomic research .center of the movie.

Chicago

—

the windy city

▲

,history

1, Reasons that drew people to America:

in search of wealth

priests

spreading Christianity

refuge for

political dissenters

the thirst for adventure

2,What were the causes of the War of Independence?

The economy in the 13 colonies developed very fast

The

British

government

was

to

bring

the

development

under

control and to collect more taxes from the colonies.

“

No taxation without representation

”

(

无代表，

不纳税）

3,What

’

s the influence of the War of Independence?

The colonies

in

Spanish

America

rose

up

one after

another

to

overthrow Spanish colonial rules.

The French Revolution

After the War of Independence, capitalism got a chance for freer

development.

Terri'torial expansion

4,Review the American War of Independence

1. The outburst

：

The Battle of Lexington, 1775

2.

Founding the Continental Army and Navy

：

appoint the General George Washington, 1775

3. Founding the U.S.A

：

Declaration of Independence, 1776

4. Victory

：

General George Cornwallis surrounded at Y

orktown, 1781

5. The Treaty of Paris

：

Britain recognize the independence of the United States, 1783

ar of Independence

5,American Civil War

The cause of the war

1,There existed two economic systems in the North and the

South.

In the North, the importation of black slaves

outlawed in 1808, the

capitalist economy developed

rapidly. By 1860, American industry

had ranked fourth in

the world.

2,But in the South, things were quite different. The south had a large

number of plantations (

种植园

) on which Negro

slaves were made

to work. They grow cotton and tobacco, but there was little industry.

3he slaves in the South lived in small cabins near their

master

’

s big

house. They were often cruelly treated and the punishments on them

were rather severe. In 1852, a novel entitled

“

Uncle T

om

’

s Cabin

”

came out, the book described the cruel things that might happen to a

slave under a cruel master

.

4,The

Fugitive

Slave

Act

passed

in

1850

helped

Southerners

to

recapture slaves who had escaped to the free states.

Fitive Slave Act :

《

1850

年逃奴追缉法案 》

.

5,Plantation

owners

insisted

that

the

slavery system should

be kept

because they considered slaves to

constitute cheap labor

, while the

industrialcapitalists

of

the

North

free

labor

was

more

economical and

therefore

more

profitable

for

their

industry.

This

was the main cause of the conflict

and also the main cause of Civil

War between the North and the South.

6,Emancipation Proclamation

《解放黑奴宣言》

7,What was the significance of the Civil War?

1) abolished the slave system

2) swept the obstacles to the development of US capitalist production

8,Uncle T

om

’

s Cabin

antislavery

9,Great Changes of Modern America

1,

change

inpopulation.

The

number

of

American

population

increasingly grew due to a large number of

immigrants.

2.

Changes

in

the

cities

.

After

the

Civil

War

,

people

began

to

pour into the cities and the cities, therefore, grew larger and larger

.

Meanwhile

taller

and

taller

buildings

were

put

up.

About

1880,

elevators and electric lights were installed.

3.

Changes

in

industry.

During

this

period,

the

United

States

was

becoming the world

’

s leading industrial power

. Along with the rapid

development of the industry, competition

became more and more

acute.

Small

factories

were

swallowed

up

by

the

big

ones.

4.

Changes

in

education,

culture

and

social

life.

Education

became

greatly

improved

during

the

three

decades.

Many

new

colleges

were brought into being where the applied

sciences were taught,

such as bridge building.

Girls

began

to

be

admitted

to

colleges

including

the

early-established

men

’

s

colleges,

such

as

Harvard

and

Columbia. Women began to gain more rights during this

period.

They could control their own property. Many

women found

jobs. They began to depend more and more upon themselves.

10,The First World War (1914-1918)

Several causes made the U.S. enter the war

.

Firstly, the Germans announced that submarines were to

be used

to

sink

ships

going

to

England.

This

would

greatly

injure

the

American trade.

Secondly,

Germany

had

sent

many

spies

to

America

to

set

fire

to

factories and put bombs in ships that were carrying goods across

the

ocean.

Thirdly,

after

two

years

of

fighting,

the

both

sides

grew

weary.

This was a good chance to enter the war

.

Lastly, the

“

February Revolution

”

took place in Russia in 1917. The

American government thought that Russia might withdraw from the

war

and

the

Allies(

协约国

)

might

be

crushed,

and

this

would

greatly

harm

their

interests

of

American

capitalists

who

had

invested a huge deal of capital in the Allies.

11,The Great Depression of 1929-1933

The Great Depression, like a hurricane, shock the U.S. and the whole

capitalist world to its foundation.

On October

24, 1929---

“

Black

Thursday

”

--- a wave of panic selling of stock swept the New Y

ork

Stock Exchange.

(1) People who thought they were rich suddenly found they

had

become paupers.