unit__america_as_a_collage

1、Ryzsard Kapuscinski II Born in 1932 in eastern Poland, Ryszard Kapuscinski has spent most of the post World War II years reporting on war and revolution in Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. He has written a trilogy (三部劇) on dictators that covers Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, Idi Amin of Ug

2、anda, and the last Shah of Iran. Being away from the United States frequently and being acquainted with social, ethnic, and racial conflicts in many cultures has given Kapuscinski a broader perspective on the social pressures facing the United States in the future. In this essay, commissioned (被委任)

3、by The New Perspectives Quarterly (季刊), Kapuscinski finds the changing composition of the American melting pot not a source of social problems but a sign of positive future and of the continuing vitality (活力) of the democratic experiment represented by the people and the government of the United Sta

4、tes. The USA is situated in the central part of _with its two youngest states-_ in the northwestern part of north America and _in the central Pacific. The country is bounded by _on the north and by _on the south with _on the east and _ on the west. North AmericaAlaskaHawaiiCanadaMexicoPacific oceanA

5、tlantic oceanthe Stars and Stripes In December 1620, a group of English puritans sailed aboard the May Flower to the new land where they could enjoy their religious freedom to the full, and they became the dominant group in the colony. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE Torch Statue of Liberty American

6、 societyAfrican AmericansIndiansAfrican AmericansHispanicsEuropean immigrantsEuropean immigrantsHispanicsAsian AmericansLos Angeles is the second largest city in the Unite States, and is the largest city in the state of California and the Western United States. Often known by its initials, L.A., and

7、 nicknamed the City of Angels”. Los Angeles is a world center of business, international trade, entertainment,culture, media, fashion, science, technology, and education. As the home base of Hollywood it is known as the “Entertainment Capital of the World”. According to the 2000 censusL.A.s populati

8、on:white 46.9%Black 11.2%Asian 10%Native Americans 0.8%Native Hawaiians and other pacific islands 0.2%People of mix heritage or not reporting ethnicity 30.9%Content Questions 1. What evidence does the author produce in support of his statement that America is not in decline? 2. What thesis does Paul

9、 Kennedy advance in his book The Rise and Fall of Great Powers? What does the author think of it? 3. What does the author mean by “a new Pacific civilization”? What does he think characterizes the new civilization? 4. Why does the author mention Los Angeles when portraying the new civilization he en

10、visages? 5. In what way does the change in the composition of LAs population anticipate the general trend in that of mankind? 6. What has made the personal computer company in Orange County highly successful? 7. What is characteristic of the new relationship between development and underdevelopment?

11、 8. What is the difference between the Western and non-Western concepts of time? 9. Who was Jose Vasconcelos? What did he write about in the book mentioned in the text? 10. What is the common aim that will harmonize competing cultures in a place? 11. In what way is the combination of culture and spa

12、ce important to immigrants to America? 12. What does a person feel if he fails in a stagnant society? Why? 輔音字母在單詞中不發(fā)音 debt doubt comb bomb muscle exhibition ghost bridge sign design knee knock autumn listen castle soften wrong write fight light rhythm rhyme總結來說，character 側(cè)重人格,品質(zhì) characteristic 性格，特

13、點，特性 personality 側(cè)重個性，風度 nature 側(cè)重人的天性，本性 It is the _of a dog to bite. Imperialism will never change its aggressive _. He has character but no _. I find all _ in his new play amusing and interesting. He is a public _ of the city. That man has a firm _ now, but in his youth, his _ was weak and unstab

14、le. Honesty is his most salient _. paralyze The atomic bomb can be used to paralyze if not destroy a nation. The electricity failure paralyzed the train service.the Stars and Stripes Content Questions 1. What evidence does the author produce in support of his statement that America is not in decline

15、? 2. What thesis does Paul Kennedy advance in his book The Rise and Fall of Great Powers? What does the author think of it? 3. What does the author mean by “a new Pacific civilization”? What does he think characterizes the new civilization? 4. Why does the author mention Los Angeles when portraying

16、the new civilization he envisages? 5. In what way does the change in the composition of LAs population anticipate the general trend in that of mankind? 6. What has made the personal computer company in Orange County highly successful? 7. What is characteristic of the new relationship between development and underdevelopment? 8. What is the difference between the Western and non-Western concepts of time? 9. Who was Jose Vasconcelos? What did he write about in the book