美国概况（一）
   概述 General Introduction
 
1. Introduction(简介)
1）Official Name (官方国名）
The United States of America (美利坚合众国）
The United States of America is also called the States, the US or Uncle Sam.
2）American National Flag (美国国旗）
American national flag was originally set on July 14th, 1777. It consisted of 13 stripes, which represented the original 13 states. Now there are 50 stars on the flag representing America’s 50 states. In addition, there are three colors: white, red and blue.
3）Location (地理位置）
The United States is a country in the Western Hemisphere. It consists of 48 contiguous states on the North American continent, Alaska, and Hawaii. The continental United States lies in central North America with Canada to its north, Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico to its south, the Atlantic Ocean to its east and the Pacific Ocean to its west. The two newest states Alaska and Hawaii are separated from the continental United States: Alaska borders on northwestern Canada, and Hawaii lies in the central Pacific.(美国位于西半球,北美洲中部，由50个州组成, 领土还包括北美洲西北部的阿拉斯加和太平洋中部的夏威夷岛。美国北与加拿大接壤，南靠墨西哥湾，西临太平洋，东濒大西洋。）
4）Population (人口）
America is the third most populous country in the world after China and India. The population of the United States is a bit more than 272 million, about 13% of which are Black, 12% are Hispanic (拉裔美国人）, 4% are Asian and the rest are White Americans. (美国人口排名世界第三，仅次于中国和印度。）
2.  Geographical Regions (地理区域)
1）New England States
Much of the land is mountainous. New England is called the birthplace of America. It was the chief center of the American War of Independence.
It is also well known for its position in education, with many universities located there such as Yale, Harvard, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. New Englanders were originally known as Yankees (美国佬）. (新英格兰是美国的发源地，美国独立战争爆发于此。耶鲁、哈佛、麻省理工大学都坐落于此。）
2）Middle Atlantic Coast States
The nation’s capital city Washington D.C. is located there, so is New York.(华盛顿和纽约坐落于此。）
3）Middle Western States
It lies in the north part of the United States. The humid continental weather makes the Midwest America’s most important agricultural area.
It is also the country’s leading center of heavy industry.
Chicago, the largest and busiest port on the Great Lakes, is the largest industrial and commercial center of the area.
Detroit is known as the automobile capital of the world.
(这里是美国农业和重工业中心。芝加哥是这里的工商业中心，底特律是世界“汽车之都”。）
4）The South
The South is rich in mineral resources. It now contains 90% of the American textile industry. (这里有丰富的矿产资源。）
5）The American West
It can be divided into three parts: the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains and the Intermountain Basin and Plateaus. It is not heavily populated and labor is scarce.
Colorado has been called the steel city of the west. Denver is the largest city of the Great Plains, and it is also known as recreation center. (科罗拉多市被称作“西部钢城”， 丹佛市是大平原地区最大的城市, 也是著名的旅游区。）
There are many famous national parks in Rockies, such as Yellowstone National Park (黄石国家公园）, Rocky Mountain National Park (落基山国家公园） and Glacier National Park (冰川国家公园）. The Grand Canyon (大峡谷） in north western Arizona is one of nature’s most impressive sights.
6）The Pacific Coast
Los Angeles is the Pacific Coast’s largest and busiest commercial city; San Francisco is the second largest city in California.
7）Alaska (阿拉斯加）
Alaska, which occupies the north western corner of North America, extends northward into the Arctic Circle (北极圈). It is a frontier state rich in natural resources, which include minerals, forests, fisheries and wildlife. Today, oil is the most valuable mineral produced in Alaska. It is separated in the west from Russia’s Siberia (西伯利亚） by the Bering Strait (白令海峡）. Inuits (因纽特人）, who are often called Eskimos (爱斯基摩人）, live in Alaska.
8）Hawaii (夏威夷）
Hawaii is located in the Pacific Ocean. It has a humid tropical climate and fertile soil. Mauna Loa (莫纳罗亚山）, the world’s largest active volcano, is located in Hawaii. Sugar cane and pineapple are Hawaii’s two main crops. Tourism is Hawaii’s most important industry. Honolulu (火奴鲁鲁）is the capital of Hawaii.(夏威夷首都是火奴鲁鲁，支柱产业是旅游，甘蔗和菠萝是主要作物。）
3. Important American Cities (美国主要城市)
1）Washington D.C.(华盛顿）
美国首都华盛顿， 位于美国东北部，全称“华盛顿哥伦比亚特区” (Washington D.C.) ，是为纪念美国开国元勋乔治·华盛顿和发现美洲新大陆的哥伦布而命名的。华盛顿在行政上由联邦政府直辖，不属于任何一个州。
华盛顿是美国的政治中心，White House (白宫）、Capitol (国会大厦)、美国最高法院以及绝大多数政府机构均设在这里。国会大厦建在被称为“国会山”的全城最高点上，它是华盛顿的象征。
华盛顿有许多纪念性建筑。例如Washington Monument (华盛顿纪念碑）、杰弗逊纪念堂和林肯纪念堂。
2）林肯简介New York City (纽约市）
纽约市坐落在世界上最大的都会区——大纽约都会区的心脏地带，是国际级 的经济、金融、交通、艺术及传媒中心，更被视为都市文明的代表。此外，由于联合国总部设于该市，因此被世人誉为“世界之都”。
纽约是美国最大城市及第一大港，也是世界第一大城市，它一直是世界上最重要的商业和金
融中心。纽约市是一座全球化的大都市，也是世界级城市。纽约在全球的媒体、政治、教育、娱乐以及时尚界有着举足轻重的地位。纽约与英国伦敦、日本东京并称为世界三大国际都会。