The USA-Unit 1 the country

TheUnitedStatesofAmerica:ASurvey2014Unit1:TheCountry•Whatdoyouknowaboutthecountry–theUnitedStatesofAmerica?•Watchthefollowingvideoclip,whatimpressiondoyouhaveabouttheUnitedStates?Unit1:TheCountry•SizeandPosition•NationalFlag,GreatSealandNationalAnthem•Geographicalfeatures•Climate•GeographicalregionsUnit1:TheCountrySizeandPositionWithatotalareaof9,363,123squarekilometers,theUnitedStatesisexceededinsizeonlybyRussia,CanadaandChina.The48contiguousstatesliebetweentheAtlanticandPacificOceans,CanadaandMexico.Thetwostatesthatsharenoboundarieswiththerestofthecountry,AlaskaandHawaii,arelocatedinthefarnorthwestcornerofthecontinentandthemiddleofthePacificOcean,respectively.WidelyseparatedpossessionsintheCaribbeanandthePacificaddanother17,600squarekilometerstoAmericanterritory.MapofUSAUnit1:TheCountryNationalFlag13equalhorizontalstripesofred(topandbottom)alternatingwithwhite;thereisabluerectangleintheupperhoist-sidecornerbearing50small,white,five-pointedstarsarrangedinnineoffsethorizontalrowsofsixstars(topandbottom)alternatingwithrowsoffivestars;the50starsrepresentthe50states,the13stripesrepresentthe13originalcolonies.Nicknamesfortheflagincludethe“StarsandStripes”,“OldGlory”,and“TheStar-SpangledBanner”.Unit1:TheCountryGreatSealoftheUnitedStatesTheGreatSealoftheUnitedStatesisusedtoauthenticatecertaindocumentsissuedbytheUnitedStatesfederalgovernment.TheGreatSealwasfirstusedpubliclyin1782.TheobverseoftheGreatSealisusedasthenationalcoatofarmsoftheUnitedStates.ItisofficiallyusedondocumentssuchasUnitedStatespassports,militaryinsignia,embassyplacards,andvariousflags.Since1935,bothsidesoftheGreatSealhaveappearedonthereverseoftheone-dollarbill.GreatSealoftheUnitedStatesUnit1:TheCountryGreatSealoftheUnitedStatesInthecenterofthesealisabaldeagle白头海雕,thenationalbird.ItholdsinitsbeakascrollinscribedEpluribusunum,whichisLatinmeaning“outofmany,one”(合众为一)andstandsforonenationthatwascreatedfrom13colonies.Inoneclawisanolivebranch,whiletheotherholdsabundleof13arrows.Theolivebranchandarrows“denotethepowerofpeaceandwar”.Unit1:TheCountryGreatSealoftheUnitedStatesTheseal’sreversesideissometimesreferredtoasthespiritualside.Itcontainsa13-steppyramidwiththeyear1776inRomannumeralsatthebase.AtthetopofthepyramidistheEyeofProvidenceandaboveisthemottoAnnuitCoeptis,meaning“Itisfavorabletoourundertakings”or“Hefavorsourundertakings”(认可我们开始).Belowthepyramid,ascrollreads,NovusOrdoSeclorum,meaning“NewOrderoftheAges”(时代新秩序).Itrefersto1776asthebeginningoftheAmericannewera.NationalAnthem:TheStar-SpangledBannerUnit1:TheCountryGeographicalfeaturesAsfarasgeographyisconcerned,therearefourrecognizableanddefinabletopographicregionsintheUnitedStates.Theyare,viewedfromeasttowest:(1)theAtlanticandGulfCoastalPlain;(2)theAppalachiansandtheirfoothills;(3)theInteriorLowlands;and(4)theCordillera,whichincludesbothmainmountainrangesandavarietyofintermontanevalleys,basins,andplateaus.Unit1:TheCountryGeographicalfeatures:RiverstheMississippiRiver–thelongestandmostimportantriver;flowsfromtheGreatLakestotheGulfofMexico;calledas“OldManRiver”and“fatherofwaters”;twolargetributaries:theMissouriRiver;theOhioRiver;Unit1:TheCountryGeographicalfeatures:TheGreatLakesTheGreatLakesliesbetweentheboundaryofCanadaandtheUnitedStates,includingLakeSuperior(thelargestfreshwaterlakeintheworld),LakeMichigan(theonlyoneentirelyintheU.S.),LakeHuron,LakeErieandLakeOntario.•NiagaraFalls:locatedontheU.S.ACanadianboundarybetweenLakeErieandLakeOntario;Unit1:TheCountryClimateTheUnitedStatesismainlysituatedinthenortherntemperatezone.But,owingtoitslargesizeandvariedlandforms,ithasdifferenttypesofclimateindifferentregions.ClimaticregionsoftheUnitedStatesUnit1:TheCountryClimatetypes:subtropicalandtropical;features:1.northeast(NewEngland):humidcontinentalclimate–hotinsummer,coldinwinter,muchrainandsnow;2.south&southeast:humidsubtropicalclimate–hotinsummer,mildinwinter,adequaterain;3.thecentralplain:continentalsteppeclimate–hotinsummer,coldinwinter,muchsnow;4.theintermountainregion:continentaldesertclimate;5.ThePacificCoast:northwest:maritimeclimate;southernpartinCalifornia:Mediterraneanclimate–warm,drysummers,moistwinters;Unit1:TheCountryGeographicalregionsPresently,theUnitedStatesiscommonlydividedintofourmajorregions:Northeast,South,Midwest,andWest.Unit1:TheCountryGeographicalregions:TheNortheastStretchingfromMainesouththroughMarylandandwesttotheborderofOhio,thewholesectionisknowntobedenselypopulatedandhighlyurban,andonlyrecentlybecomeseconomicallytroubledduetoitsdecliningoldindustries.Infact,theNortheastisstillarguablythenation’seconomicandculturalcenter.SincethisareaisoneofthetwoearliestsettlementsbyBritishcolonists(theotherbeingVirginia),Americanstendtotracemanyofthenation’scorevalues(WASP)totheregion.Oneoftheregion’sgreateststrengthsinitseconomiccompetitionwithotherregionsisitslongtraditionofsupportforeducation,whichdatesfromthe17thcentury.Unit1:TheCountryGeographicalregions:TheSouthTraditionally,thesouthernregionreferstotheelevenstatesthatlefttheUniontoformtheConfederacyduringtheCivilWarp