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1、Unit 2 Background to America,England and America are two countries separated by the same language. -George Bernard Shaw, Readers Digest, November 1942,Warm up the United States positive negative,Expressing your opinion,If you ask me , I think The way I see it , To my mind , What I reckon is You know
2、 what I think? I think I should think I suppose it could be I think it or something like that Hard to tell, it could be ,Land of promise and opportunityLand of miracles and achievements,The Statue of Liberty,The Statue of Liberty, once one of the first sights to welcome immigrants arriving in the Un
3、ited States, continues to be a symbol of freedom and a favorite New York City tourist attraction. Liberty stands more than 93 m tall on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. The statue, designed by French sculptor Frdric Bartholdi, was presented to the United States as a gift from France for the first
4、centennial of the U.S. independence from Britain.,Disneyland,Named for its creator, Walt Disney, an American cartoonist and film producer, Disneyland attracts millions of visitors each year. The theme park opened in Anaheim, California, in 1955. Sleeping Beauty Castle is pictured here.,The Gate Way
5、of St. Louise,The skyline of the city of St. Louis, Missouri, is dominated by the stainless steel Gateway Arch, rising 192 m high. It was designed by Eero Saarinen and completed in 1965, after the famed architects death. St. Louis lies on the banks of the Mississippi River.,The Golden Gate Bridge,Th
6、e Golden Gate Bridge links the city of San Francisco with Marin County to the north. Since the suspension bridge opened in 1937, it has been one of the principal landmarks of both San Francisco and California.,Hoover Dam,The Hoover Dam is an arch-gravity dam on the Colorado River. As an arch-gravity
7、 dam, it depends on its shape and its own weight for stability. Hoover Dam, a 221-meter-high arch-gravity dam, blocks the flow of the Colorado River in Black Canyon. The dam created Lake Mead, one of the worlds largest human-made lakes, which stretches 180 km upstream. Hoover Dam controls flooding,
8、produces electric power, and provides water for use by agriculture, private homes, and industry.,Manned Space Craft Center,The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center near Houston, Texas operates the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations manned space flight program. Scientists and aerospace engineer
9、s at the centers mission control supervised the first astronaut landing on the moon in 1969. Since then, they have controlled dozens of space missions from the 656-hectare (1620-acre) complex.,Barbie Doll,The large wardrobe of the Barbie doll is reminiscent of the extensive wardrobes of fashion doll
10、s popular in Europe in the late 19th century. However, while clothes designers in the past used fashion dolls to showcase their new creations, Barbie dolls, created in 1959, function mainly as toys. Manufacturers now more commonly produce ethnically diverse dolls, like this black Barbie.,Land of odd
11、ities and absurdities Land of inequality and injustice,Las Vegas,Bright neon lights shine through the night in Las Vegas, Nevada, advertising casinos, hotels, clubs, bars, and other businesses. Las Vegas was a small town until gangster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel changed the citys character forever by c
12、onstructing its first lavish hotel-casino in 1945. Now known as the “Entertainment Capital of the World,” Las Vegas attracts tourists from all over the world.,Please Listen to -,Another Day in Paradise,Flag of the United States,Flag of the United States consists of 13 horizontal stripes, 7 red alter
13、nating with 6 white, and in the upper corner near the staff, a rectangular blue field, containing 50 five-pointed white stars. The stripes symbolize the 13 colonies that originally constituted the United States of America. The stars represent the 50 states of the Union. White signifies Purity and In
14、nocence; Red, Hardiness and Valor; and Blue, Vigilance, Perseverance and Justice.,The essential design of the American flag can be traced to a resolution passed by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. This resolution stated that the flag should represent the 13 original states with 13 alternat
15、ing red and white stripes and 13 stars on a blue field. From 1795 to 1818 additional stars and stripes were added to the flag to represent Vermont and Kentucky.,In 1818 the U.S. Congress reduced the number of stripes to 13 and established the policy of adding an additional star for every new state.
16、The design was not standardized until 1912, and many variations of the flag were common during the 19th century. The current flag dates from 1960, when a 50th star was added for Hawaii, the 50th state.,Bald Eagle,The bald eagle was designated as the national bird of the United States in 1782. Its name does not imply a lack of feathers, but instead is derived from the word piebald, meaning “marked with white.” The bald eagle reigns as the second-largest bird of prey in North America.,Rose more th
