unit 1 American.ppt

Rivers and Lakes The Mississippi密西西比河: It lies between the Appalachian Mountains and the Rocky Mountains. It is one of the world‘s great continental rivers. The Mississippi rises in the lake region in North Minnesota密尼苏达州 and flows south to the Gulf of Mexico. It is 3,782 kilometers long. These rivers are very important in American life. The Mississippi has been called “Father of all Waters or “Old Man River”. Mark Twain vividly described it in his famous novel “Life on the Mississippi” The Mississippi River is one of the longest rivers in the world. It has many tributaries. The most important one in the west is the Missouri Rover 密苏里河 that has its source in the Rocky Mountains and enters the Mississippi at St. Louis圣路易斯. In the east, the Ohio River （俄亥俄河）is the most important tributary, which serves as the dividing line between the North and the South in the old days when slavery existed in the South. The Ohio River has its own tributary, the Tennessee River. Americans built a lot of dams on the Tennessee River during the Great Depression for better navigation and flood control. Today it generates a large quantity of electricity. Ohio River Missouri River Five Great Lakes五大湖 The most important lakes in the United States are the Great Lakes. They are Lake Superior (the largest fresh water lake in the world), Lake Michigan (the only one entirely in the U.S.), Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. They are all located between Canada and the United States, except Lake Michigan. 五大湖（Great Lakes）是位于加拿大与美国交界处的几座大型淡水湖泊，按面积从大到小分别为：苏必利尔湖（Lake Superior）、休伦湖（Lake Huron）、密歇根湖（Lake Michigan）、伊利湖（Lake Erie）和安大略湖（Lake Ontario）。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。 Benefits of the Topography The United States is a varied land of forests, deserts, mountains, plateaus and fertile plains. The long and irregular seacoasts provide many excellent harbors. The mountains are rich in mineral resources. The fertile gently rolling plains are easy t