美国文化与口语Chapter 1.docVIP

Part A Preview ■Here’s the US Map! Please refer to the map above the reading passage for the location and name of each state. ■A Geography Quiz Key: 1. The correct answer is A. According to “List of countries and outlying territories by total area”, Wikipedia, the United States has a total area of 9,629,091 square kilometers. This includes the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The total area is listed as 9,826,630 km2 by the CIA World Factbook. The total area is listed as 9,522,055 km2 by the Encyclopedia Britannica. Note: From the initial publishing of the CIA World Factbook in 1989 through 1996, the total area of the US was listed as 9,372,610 km2. The listed total area changed to 9,629,091 km2 in 1997, to 9,631,418 km2 in 2004, to 9,631,420 km2 in 2006, and to 9,826,630 km2 in 2007. 2. The correct answer is C. (About 4,500 km.) A fast train, traveling 96 kilometers an hour, takes more than 48 hours to cross the country. A jet plane crosses the continental United States from east to west in about five hours. 3. The correct order is: B, D, A, C. July 2007 estimate: New York—8.2 million residents; Los Angeles—3.8 million. 2006 estimate: Chicago—2,833,321; Philadelphia—1,448,394. 4. The correct answer is C. The United States consists of 50 states and Washington D.C. The last to join were Alaska on the northwest tip of the continent and Hawaii in the central Pacific. Both joined in 1959, Alaska on January 3rd and Hawaii on August 21st. That was the last major change to the American flag. 5. Alaska—Russia, Louisiana—France, Florida—Spain Alaska was bought from Russia in 1867 for only 7.2 million dollars. Alaska is less than 3 miles from Russia! In the year 1803, the United States bought at $15,000,000 from France the greater part of America lying between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains—nearly a million square miles. This “Louisiana Purchase” has been called an event “worthy to rank with the Declaration of Independence and the formation