1.What is the key to understanding America?
The most important key to understanding America is to know the history of the USA. If you look back on the grounds of today’s America, you can see that it had been influenced by the native features of the English, the Dutch, the French, the Spanish and other colonists discovering the continent. The most influential nation was obviously English. Thus, the legislatures of the states for a long period of time subjected to the king (queen) of the UK. So, many aspects of law and politics, as well as some cultural traditions are similar to those of the UK. When the boundaries were set and the USA became independent, it started to develop its own law and politics, moreover, drew up a set of principles of a democratic state.
So, the US is characterized by its historical roots and the consequent development of democracy. We know it as the most democratic, English-speaking and rather distinctive country.
2.Describe the flag of the USA
The flag of the United States of America consists of 13 equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing 50 small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows of five stars. The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 U.S. states and the 13 stripes represent the original Thirteen Colonies that rebelled against the British Crown and became the first states in the Union. Nicknames for the flag include the Stars and Stripes, Old Glory, and the Star-Spangled Banner. Because of its symbolism, the starred blue canton is called the "union". This part of the national flag can stand alone as a maritime flag called the Union Jack.
The flag of the United States is one of the nation's widely recognized and used symbols. Within the U.S. it is frequently displayed, not only on public buildings, but on private residences, and clothing ornaments such as badges. Throughout the world it is used in public discourse to refer to the U.S., both as a nation state, government, and set of policies, but also as an ideology and set of ideas.
Many understand the flag to represent the national government established in the U.S. Constitution.
Traditionally, the flag may be decorated with goldenfringe surrounding the perimeter of the flag as long as it does not deface the flag proper. Ceremonial displays of the flag, such as those in parades or on indoor posts, often use fringe to enhance the beauty of the flag.
3.Why is this area known as “the melting pot”?
The melting pot is an analogy for the way in which homogeneous societies develop, in which the ingredients in the pot (people of different cultures, races and religions) are combined so as to develop a multi-ethnic society.
Northeastern areas provided the young United States with heavy industry and served as the "melting pot" of new immigrants from Europe. Cities grew along major shipping routes and waterways. Such flourishing cities included Philadelphia on the Delaware River and New York City on the Hudson River. Dutch immigrants moved into the lower Hudson River Valley in what is now New Jersey and New York State. An English Protestant sect, the Friends (Quakers), settled Pennsylvania. In time, all these settlements came under English control. With the great shipping ports of Philadelphia and, secondly, New York City, the region continued to be a magnet for people of diverse nationalities.
Early settlers were mostly farmers and traders, and the region served as a bridge between North and South. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania midway between the northern and southern colonies, was the site of the Continental Congress, the convention of delegates from the original colonies that organized the American Revolution. The same city was the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the U.S. Constitution in 1787.
The Mid-Atlantic, with two of America's largest cities, New York City and Philadelphia, has been an industrial powerhouse and major center for international trade. With New York as the center of finance, it continues as important economically. A major center of finance, pharmaceutical industry, technology, universities (including four of the eight Ivy League universities), business, media, education, the arts, and cuisine, the area is one of America's most prominent regions. Many immigrants are attracted to the region. New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey are rich in immigrant culture. Still rich in cultures influenced by European heritage, the region has recently attracted more Asian and Hispanic immigrants. African immigrants also have many centers in urban and suburban areas.
4.Why is corn the most important of all American crops?
It would be difficult to imagine our lives without corn, and even more difficult to overstate the important role that corn plays in today’s world. The United States grows 40 percent of the world’s corn, but China and Brazil are also big producers.
Much of the remaining crop will be used to produce barrels full of corn sweeteners and ethanol fuels. Some will be used to create plastics from cornstarch in an industry that is relatively new, but already enormous and growing rapidly. Even the corn stalks and foliage left after the ears are harvested will be used to make vast quantities of silage food products for livestock and millions of gallons of syrup for human consumption.
There are two main reasons why corn has become the basic crop of American agriculture. One is that it grows so well. A hectare of corn requires only one-twelfth as much seed as a hectare of wheat, for instance. Yet the yield of grain from the hectare of corn is several times as high as that from the hectare of wheat.
The other reason is that farmers have worked out high-yield mechanized product ion methods in all the important corn-producing areas. The Corn Belt farmer uses machines for every step of his operation-planting, enriching the soil, cultivating, spraying, killing weeds, harvesting the ears, removing the thick natural wrappings, shelling the kernels from the long cobs on which they grow, and cutting the stalks. Because of this extensive use of machinery, the average farmer can cultivate as many as 140 hectares and care for a large herd of livestock with no more help.
5.What states are in the Southeast?
The US Southeast is the eastern portion of the Southern United States. The states in the Southeast are:Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama,Arkansas, Tennessee,Kentucky, Virginia.
6.What territory is often called the land of tragedy and promise?
The land of tragedy and promise is The Great Plains.
7.What is the climate in Great Plains?
Great Plains, physiographic region in central Canada and the United States. The region has a vast, generally high plateau, called the plains, extending from northwestern Canada through parts of the Northwest Territories. In the United States the plains continue south through sections of Montana, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. The region is bordered on the east by the Canadian Shield and the Central Lowland of the United States and on the west by the Rocky Mountains. The area of the Great Plains is 3.2 million sq km.
The Great Plains cover a wide area of the North American continent. In general, the Plains closer to the Rocky Mountains are drier because they are in the rain shadow of the mountains; these are the short grass prairies. Farther east, where it is more humid and there is more rain, there are tall grass prairies.
In general, the Great Plains have a wide variety of weather throughout the year with very cold winters and very hot summers. There is usually plenty of wind, too. The prairies support abundant wildlife in undisturbed settings, but people have easily converted much of the prairies for agricultural purposes or pastures.
8.How did agriculture begin in the Rockies?
The Rockies are among the earth’s youngest mountains. They have steep slopes and many peaks and picturesque valleys. The region is very sparsely populated. Most of the population is engaged in mining, cattle-breeding and farming. The Rocky Mountain region includes five states: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado.
Agriculture and forestry are major industries. Agriculture includes dryland and irrigated farming and livestock grazing. Livestock are frequently moved between high-elevation summer pastures and low-elevation winter pastures, a practice known as transhumance.
9.How is magnificent wilderness preserved?
Wilderness is generally defined as a natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by human activity. Wilderness areas and protected parks are considered important for the survival of certain species, ecological studies, conservation, solitude, and recreation.
The United States was the first country to officially designate land as "wilderness" through the Wilderness Act of 1964. Wilderness designation helps preserve the natural state of the land and protects flora and fauna by prohibiting development and providing for non-motorized recreation only. The first wilderness refuge designation was for the Great Swamp in New Jersey. Properties in the swamp had been acquired by residents of the area who donated it to the federal government as a park for perpetual protection.
Wilderness designations are granted by an Act of Congress for Federal land that retains a "primeval character" and that has no human habitation or development. Approximately 400,000 km² are designated as wilderness in the United States.
10.Into what regions is Alaska divided?
Alaska is the largest state of the United States of America by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait.
Alaska divided into:
- South Central Alaska is the southern coastal region and contains most of the state's population.
- The Alaska Panhandle, also known as Southeast Alaska, is home to many of Alaska's larger towns including the state capital Juneau, tidewater glaciers, the many islands and channels of the Alexander Archipelago and extensive forests.
- Southwest Alaska is largely coastal, bordered by both the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. It is sparsely populated, and unconnected to the road system, but very important to the fishing industry.
- The Alaska Interior is home to Fairbanks. The geography is marked by large braided rivers, such as the Yukon River and the Kuskokwim River, as well as Arctictundra lands and shorelines.
- The Alaskan Bush is the remote, less crowded part of the state, encompassing 380 native villages and small towns such as Nome, Bethel, Kotzebue and, most famously, Barrow, the northernmost town in the United States, as well as the northern most town on the contiguous North American continent.
11.Where is Hawaii?
Hawaii is a state in the United States, located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. The state was admitted to the Union on August 21, 1959, making it the 50th state. Its capital is Honolulu on the island of Oahu.
This state encompasses nearly the entire volcanic Hawaiian Island chain, which is made up of hundreds of islands spread over 1,500 miles. At the southeastern end of the archipelago, the eight "main islands" are (from the northwest to southeast) Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Maui, and Hawaiʻi.
1.What principles has the US been founded upon?
Principles of US foundation are:
- Representative government
- Equality before the law
- The legitimacy of private property
- Liberty and opportunity for individuals to prove their circumstances
2.Describe the seal of the USA.
The Great Seal of the United States is used to authenticate certain documents issued by the United States federal government. The phrase is used both for the physical seal itself, and more generally for the design impressed upon it. The Great Seal was first used publicly in 1782.
The design on the obverse of the great seal is the national coat of arms of the United States. It is officially used on documents such as United States passports, military insignia, embassyplacards, and various flags.
Since 1935, both sides of the Great Seal appear on the reverse of the one-dollar bill.
Obverse. The main figure on the obverse (or front) of the seal is the coat of arms of the United States, a bald eagle with its wings outstretched. From the eagle's perspective, it holds a bundle of 13 arrows in its left talon, (referring to the 13 original states), and an olive branch, in its right talon, together symbolizing that the United States of America has "a strong desire for peace, but will always be ready for war.". Although not specified by law, the olive branch is usually depicted with 13 leaves and 13 olives, again representing the 13 original states. The eagle has its head turned towards the olive branch, said to symbolize a preference for peace. In its beak, the eagle clutches the motto E pluribus unum ("Out of Many, One"). Over its head there appears a "glory" with 13 mullets (stars) on a blue field.
Reverse. The 1782 resolution adopting the seal blazons the image on the reverse as "A pyramid unfinished. In the zenith an eye in a triangle, surrounded by a glory, proper." The pyramid is conventionally shown as consisting of 13 layers of blocks to refer to the 13 original states. There are also 13 sides shown on the ribbon.
3.What do mottos can of the states express?
A motto is a phrase meant to formally describe the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottos of governments.
Ohio - With God, all things are possible
Hawaii - Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀinai ka Pono - The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness
Illinois - State sovereignty, national union
Montana - Oro y plata - Gold and silver
Alaska - North to the future
Colorado - Nil sine numine - Nothing without God's will
Florida - In God We Trust
New York - Excelsior - Ever upward!
California - Eureka - I have found it
Idaho - Estoperpetua - Let it be perpetual
Washington - Al-ki (unofficial) - By and by
Tennessee - Agriculture and commerce
Kansas - Ad astra per aspera - To the stars through adversity
4.Why is the US Northeast a good market area?
The North East is the cradle of America. The small rural villages of New England, where not much has changed from the 17th century, contrast with the sophisticated and historically rich cities of the coast, Boston, New York, and Washington. Northeast states: Vermont, New Hampshire, Boston, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New-York, Washington DC, Acadia, Maine.
Northeast is a good market area because it has such state as New-York that has a god industry (for example until 1970s years New-York was the nation’s foremost industrial state ranking first in virtually every general category). New-York has a very good stock exchange and it is one of the most expensive cities in the world. And it is also a financial centre of the USA.
5.What are the states of the central Basin known as?
States of the central Basin are:Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota.
6.What is the river curves through the Central Basin?
The river curve through the Central Basin is Missouri. It is a heart of Central Basin. The Missouri River is the longest river in the United States of America.
The Missouri begins at the confluence of the Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin rivers in Montana, and flows through its valley south and east into the Mississippi north of St. Louis, Missouri.
7.Why was there a conflict between the first homesteaders, Indians and cowboys?
There was a conflict between the first homesteaders, Indians and cowboys because the first homesteaders were settled on the Indian’s landsthat lived in North, South and Central America and cowboys grazed cattle there and also used the lands of the Indians as pasture.
8.Describe the climate in the desert region.
Deserts are areas where the rainfall is too low to sustain any vegetation at all, or only very scanty scrub. The rainfall in desert areas is less than 250 mm or 10 inches per year, and some years may experience no rainfall at all. The hot deserts are situated in the subtropical climate zone where there is unbroken sunshine for the whole year due to the stable descending air and high pressure. Such areas include the Sahara, Saudi Arabia, large parts of Iran and Iraq, northwest India, California, South Africa and much of Australia. Here, maximum temperatures of 40 to 45°C are common, although during colder periods of the year, night-time temperatures can drop to freezing or below due to the exceptional radiation loss under the clear skies.