Ernest Hemingway William Faulkner John Steinbeck Ralph Ellison J. D. Salinger The Sun Also Rises A Farewell to Arms For Whom the Bell Tolls The Sound and the Fury The Grapes of Wrath Invisible Man The Catcher in the Rye Education
Every child in America is guaranteed up to 13 years of education Elementary School usually means grades kindergarten through 8
Secondary School generally means grades 9-12 called “high school” Higher education
Successful applicants : high school records
Recommendations from high school teachers Impression during interviews Scores on SATs Four categories : the university The college
The technical training institution Community college Harvald University is the oldest in America
Both public and private colleges depend on 3 sources of income:
student tuition, endowments, government funding
Social movement
The Civil Rights Movement
The spontaneous action of one woman, Rosa Parks, was the beginning The strongest leadership Martin Luther King The Youth Movement resented traditional white male values Anti-War Movement against the war in Vietnam The Women’s Movement
Groups : professional women
White housewives and mothers The Feminine Mystique Young activists
The accident was a word in the Civil Rights Act add “sex” into
Social problem
Racial problems the Afro-Americans used to be the largest of the racial and ethnic minorities in the US, but recent, they after the Hispanics
Drug Abuse crime, automobile accidents, effects on individuals, economic losses Crime
The Abuse of Power
Poverty
Way of Life
310 million people 3rd largest population
Melting Pot & Salad Bowl & Mosaic & Kaleidoscope
Technology
Inventor Eli Whitney Samuel F. B. Morse Alexander Graham Bell Thomas Alva Edison Frederick Winslow Taylor Henry Ford Thomas B. Watson, President of IBM Steve Jobs Bill Gates Robert Hutchings Goddard Invention the cotton gin telegraph wires Morse Code telephone Motion pictures Phonograph Electric light Scientific Management assembly line semiconductor Personal computer DOS rockets Taylorism and Fordism combine to make the American system of manufacture in the 20th century the dreary, mindless, alienating way of working Nuclear energy is the most significant technology
Scenic spots
The Grand Canyon America’s most famous scenic wonder Mt. Rushmore the Middle West
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt Hawaii the only state that is not on the North American continent Alaska the largest state of the US by area
Canada
10 provinces and 3 territories
The traditional northern economy hunting and trapping animals for food and pelts British Columbia (BC) has the most valuable forestry industry in Canada Quebec the first colonists settled in the heartland of French Canada Ottawa the capital city located in Ontario
Toronto the center the largest city located in Ontario
Montreal second largest city, located in the mainly French-speaking province of Quebec More than half of Canada’s population live in Ontario and Quebec
History
French colonists first settled Canada British
Europeans 17th
Battles fought between Indian tribes and the French and British entrepreneurs in 18th Canada was born when 4 provinces joined together
Government
Two major foreign influences : its legacy as a former colony of Britain
The powerful influence exerted by its neighbor, the US
Canada’s system of government was based on the British system of parliamentary democracy Monarchy both Queen and the Governor General occupy roles which are largely ceremonial The first political community to combine federalism with a British system of government Parliament : the House of Commons (a lower house) & The Senate (an upper house) Leader : Prime Minster
4 major political parties : the Liberal Party, the Conservative, NDP, BQ
Mosaic
The first Canadians used to be called “Indians”
“the First Nations” first : they are the original inhabitants of the country
Nations: there are many “nations”, or tribes, which have different languages, customs and beliefs
Now make up about 3.8% of the Canadian population, and their numbers are increasing due to high birthrates
3 special groups of aboriginal peoples : the First Nations, the Inuit, the Metis The Metis are different in appearance and economic development
Canada’s aboriginal peoples were vital to the fur trade and thus played a huge role in Canada’s economic development, but they were treated very badly by their white Europeans who came to colonies Canada. While in recent years their situation had improved, and they have become more politically active
Vancouver is the second largest Chinese community in North American, after San Francisco
Economy
3 main groups: natural resources, manufacturing, service industries
The export of primary resources remains the backbone of the Canadian economy
An exporter of Raw resources, an importer of manufactured goods, logging, oil industries 10th economy
英美国家概况知识点整理
