ut

o
=
Y

o
o
o

Irl

tlF

31

T hePitg rimFa thers

Th c r r r r nr cA m er ic a ' c o me s fro m a n l ta l i a n busi nessman
called Amerigo Vespucci, who sailed to South America
between 1499 and 1502. But he was not the first European
to make the dangerous journey across the Atlantic. The
Mkings came to'Vinland' (probably Canada or New England)
frorl Sc:rnclirrrrvilaround AD 1000, but they did not stay.
'l 'l rc r r , ir r l4c ) 2, r r l ' rr:tv cItrtl i rtn s rri l o r c a l l e c l C hri stopher

1607. They hoped to find gold there, but life was very hard

(l o l rr r r r l' r t rrsc r r c lr c rltl rc (,rrri b l ' rc rrnw l ri l c h c w rrs l ooki ng for

rl sc r l r ( ) ut c f r or r r I' .rrro 1 ' re
to l n c l i rr. (,o l u rn b n s cal l ed the

during the first winter. Then Pocahontas, the daughter of a

Nrrtiv c A nr c r ic r r r rs' l n c l i a rrs 'l rc c rru s eh e th o r.rghtthat he had

rcachccllnclia. When Colr,rmbusretumed to Europe he told

for them. There was very little food, and many of them died
Native American chief, became a friend of Captain John
Smith and helped him and the other English people. She

about his adventuresand other sailors like Cabot and

1'rcogrle
Cartier followed him acrossthe Atlantic. EuroDeanscame to

later married a man called John Rolfe and went to Er-rgland

fish the rich seasof America too.

easyto grow tobacco i n Vir ginia, and sr nokit . r gwit s bccot t r it t g

But it was only in the

with him. Luckily, tobacco saved the young colony. It wrs

very fashionable. People irr thc colotry stol'rpctl looking, for

sevellteenthcentury that the

gol d and began t() gr()w t o[ r r r cco,wlr iclr t hcy solr l it t I : t t r o1'r c.

French, the Dutch and the

S oon they startecl to b r ir t g 1'r coplcf r ot r t Af licr t t ( ) w( ) r k r ls

their slavesand help thctl to gr()w nr()rc rrttcltrtorc.

Bri tis h all c am e t o l i v e i n

North America: tl-rcFrcttch
i rr Q ue bc c , t hc l )u tc l r i rr
N cw Y r lk enc lt lr c l l ri ti s l r i n

John Smith travelled nortlr in 1674t<t the plrt of Alncricrt

that he called New England. When he returned to London,
he told people that it was a good place to live. In 1620,

Vi rginir r r r t r t l Nc w I' .rrg l ru rtl .

another group of 101 English men, women and childrerr

Tw o v c r y c lif f c r c rrt g r' ()l rl )s

irrrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts.These people are callecl

o f E nglis h pc oplc c ro s s c rl
th e A t lant ic . ' l' h c fi rs t

the 'Pilgrims' or 'Pilgrim Fathers', and they had very str()rts

g ro up began t he co l o rry o f

l'rccausethey did not agree with the English chttrch, so tlrcy

sai l cd to A meri ca i n a ship called t he M nllr t t t , r 'r . - l'lr cy

Ja m es t own in V i rg i rri a i rr

ideas about religion. They did not want to live in Englerrcl

l,-

ll

I b r IIS A

l .rrrn r ' t l t lr t l. r nt l , rrr.l tl rc y [' ro trg h t:rrrrl s o l rl rrrri nrl l ski r.rs.

TheWarof
In d e p e n d e n c e

l l rt'r t lr , r r t llr t t lr r r trrl l p c o p l e w c rc c (l r.rrrl

ru ttl s o tl rcy di cl not
It,trt' r l, t v t ' s .
l lr . . l' ilgr ir r r s t ( )o w e re o fte n i l l rrrrc l ru rrg ry,rrrrclnearl y
l r:rl l t , l llr c r r r r lic c l i n th e fi rs t y e a r. B u t th c y h r rrl hcl p from
so rr r t 'ol' t hc Nat iv e A rre ri c i rn s , p a rri c u l .l rl y i l nr:l n cel l ed
Sr;tr r r r r t o.
Hc went t o E u ro p e a s a p ri s ()l ' l c ri n 1 6 0.5,
anclspenr
s()nr cy c r r r sin E ngla u d , s c lh e s p o k e s c l n reErrg l i sh.H e show ed

More and morc l l ri ti sl r pcol't lccr ur let ( ) livt 'or r t lt c c: t st cor r st

th c l) ilgr inr show t o h n n t a n d g ro w c o rl l .

< l f N orth

Irr thc ilr.rtr.nrnof 1621, tl-rePilgrirns had a big dinr-rert<r

q i vt' t lr r r r r li.lir
s l t hc fi rs t fo < l ctll rrrtth e y l ra d g rc l wnthemsel ves.
l l rrs t l. r r ' \ \ ' : ls ( r r l l t' tl l h :rrrk s g i v i u g , i u d

Amcri car-rssti l l

A meri ca i rr t lr c scvcnt ccr ) t l) ccr lt t r r y, st : r r t ir lg

col oni es i t' r Maryl ar.rd , Rhocle lslr r r r cl,( lt lr r r r cct ict r t ,New
Hampshire, North and Sor"rrhCarolir.ra, Ncw Jersey, :rrtcl
Pennsylvania. Georgia followed in the eighteenth ccntury,

,.'t'l t' lt r . r t t ' il

t ' r ' t ' r ' r ' \' (' .1()n
r, tl rt' l i rrrl tl r' T -h rrrs c l ay
cl f N ovember.

took New Yrrk and Delaware from thc

when the British als<-r

l t rr or r t ol t lr t ' r n o s t i trrp o rt.rrrtl ro l i tl rry si tr t hc yc:rr, l rncl

Dutch. By 1770, thcrc were thirteen colonies alor-rgthe e:rst

Pt',P lt ' ' llt ' t t t r r r r ' ,.'nl rrl ttr l tu tttl rt' tl s' l ' l i i l o rrre trc s to be w i th
tl rcir ' l: r r r ilit ' s . I lr t' t' t' :rt :r l ri r.l i rrrrc l w ,i tl r tw o oi thc f< rocl s

coast o[ North Americrr, rncl they were all gclverrrcdby

tl r:tt t lr r ' l) r lgr ir r I i :ttl tt' rsl o rrn tl i n Arrt' ri c rt, trlrkcy rrrrclpi c

the col oni es bccame angr y at t he high t axes t hat t hc

fi Il c . l u, it lr pr r nr pl< i rr.

government rnadc them pay. In December 1773 tt gror.rpof

Britain. But Britain was a long way away,attcl the pcople of

men thrcw 342 boxes of tea into the sca at lJostott lrcc:lttse
they di d not w ant to prr y t lr c llr it ish t i. t x( ) lt it . - f lr is wr ls t hc
'Bostor.rTca Party'.
The B ri ti sh g()vcnrn lclr tw: ls r l( ) w : lt t llr y t ( ) ( ) ,r r r r clilr Apr il
177.5sonrc A trcri carts f ought r r ! {r ( ) r r pt lf l}r it ish s<llclicr - s
at the t()wns of Lexirtgtott rrtrd Ootrctlrcl, ttcrrr l]<lst<lttitr
Massachusetts.Mcl re and m or e At ner icat t sar r ived unt il t he
British soldiers had t<l move back to Boston. A few tnollths
latcr, after thc Battle of Bunker Hill, near Bostort, it was
clear that Britairr was at war with its Americatt cololties.
A riclr frrrrrrcrfrorrr Virginia, George Washirtgton, lrccrtttte
thc chi cf of thc A rrtcl icr r t rar r ly. Pcoplc t cll , r st or y: t bot t t
W ashi ngtort,to sh< twtlr r r t hc wr ls ilt l lt ot t cst t t t , t r t . l'lt cy s, t y
that w heu hc w as:t [rov he cr t t , . lowt tr l ll'e( 'r lll( lt lr is lr r r r t lchis

l rrtl rt ' r; ur gr ' 1:llr r r w l tc tt l ti s frttl rc rrrs l < e tl

Iri rrr. r lr t , utr t , hc t o l c l h i n -r,' l c a n r.ro tc
t ll
.r l i e, I e r r t t lown t h e tre e .'
l lr c c olor r ic s di d n o t s a y th a t th c y
u 'rrrr t c ctl o be f ully i n d e p e n d e n t u n ti l
tl rc s r r r r r r r r erof t 7 7 6 . A ma n c a l l e c l
'l'honras
Jeffersor-rwrote the famous
'l )cc lar at ion of I n d e p e n d e n c e ' w h e re
lre s:riclrl-rrtthe king, George the Third,
wils ll()t rr go<lclkir-rg because l-rehad
n ()t lc t his pc oplc h rtv c th e i r ri g h ts :
tl rr'r it - llr t t o lil' t ' , to frc c d < l rrrru tc l to
Itrtp pint ' s s .l' lr t ' t lr r l ' o l ' tl rc l )e c l rrrrrti < l rr
ol

lt t t lr ' P t ' nt lt ' nt t ' ,{ .l trl r' , ts rrrto th c r

i n tpor t r t nt A t t t t ' r ic :tttl ro l i tl rrr:
'l ' he
A r r r c r r c r r r r lsi n rrl l l ' \!' ()n tl l c w rl r'
()c
t
ol'
r er lT lJl, rrn rl tr,r,ov e ,rr. rfto '
in

tl rrrt,t hey wer e f r e c to g ()v e n )th e rl s e l v e s .Itr l 7 u9 rl rey nrade

men travelled 13,000 kilometres between 1804 and 1f106.

George Washington their first presider-rt.

Although he wanted

They found many animals, plants, and fish that we rc ncw to

to go back to his farm at Mount Vernon and enjoy a qlliet

life-he stayed president vntll 1797. He died in 1799, just two

E uropeans, and they m ade m aps of t he r ivcr s, r r r or r r r t r lir r s,

years after he returned home.

Th e nam es ' Un i te d S ta te s o f A m e ri c a ' a n d A meri can'

and land that they crossed.

In 1819, the U S A borr ght Flor iclr rir or r r Spr r ir r . 'llr t 'I I r r it , . 't l
r lTli L Ant l by'
S tatesw as rrow tw i cc rr s lr ig r r s it lr , r . l l'r r '. 'rin

were first used,at the tin'reof the War of Independence.The

1848, after i t w otr Tcxrt s: t r t r lt lt c Sor r llt r vcstlr ot r t l\ 4r 'xieo,it

tl-rirteerrcolonies became the first thirteer.r states of the

had grow n agai u. It rr ow r cr r eh. 't l; r ll t lr t 'wr t y l'r ot t t t hc

tl n i tc c l S t at c s . I r r l l l 0 .l , rrfrc r .fc ffc rs o n [rc c rrnrethe thi rd

p rcsic lc r r t ,lr c [ r or rg h t i l l i l rl ]c rrrc ,ro f l rrrrrli rr tl rc Mi dw est

l<ilor r r t 'lr cs.

A tl anti c to the P aci fi c,o vcr . 5, ( XX)

fro ur F r r ur c c .lt w: rs fi v c ti rrrc srrs l ri g rrs l ;rl u rcc,rrncli t onl y

w est of C anada from Russir rir r lf i( r 7 lor 7. 2 r r illion r lollr r r s

and i t became the state of Al, r sk, r ir r 1959. 'lhe Ar r r cr icr r n

co st l- 5 nr illir lr r t lo l l rrrs ..fc ' fl ' c rs otl

rrrc rr s c rrt tw o brave men,
Me ri wer her Lc wis rrrrrl W i l l i ru rr (l l rrrk , to trarvel across

Fi nal l y, the A meri can g( ) vcr nnr ( 'ntlr or r glr tt lr c lr r r r clr r or t h-

America all the wr'ry to tlrc l'ecific. With a your-lg Native

fl ag, know n as the' S tars ancl Sr r ipcs', lir st r r ppcr r r errl r t t lr e

' W ar
ti me of the
of Indepenclcncc.lt h: t s r t str ipc lir r t 'r t cltof

American woman callccl Srrctrgrrwcrr

to help them, the two

the fi rst thi rteen states ,and a st r r r w, r s: r r lt lcclcver y t inlc r r

10

The USA

The Oit'il \t/,tr

tl

which did not want people to have slevcs.()n 24 December'

South Carolina said that it wantec'lto bc irrdependent and

to pri son. S ome years l at er , in 1858,he bcc, r r r r cpr r . sit lt . r r r

the other southern states soon followecl. Thc fighting begar-r

P resi dent Li ncol n w as sh ot at t he t heat r e by a r r r r r r r . . r ll. , l

on 12 April 1861, at Fort Sumter.

The South had some of the best solcliers- orle was the

John W i l kes B ooth, w ho h at ed Lincoh- rand was angr y r r l, or r l

the war. After Lincoln's death, the new presidcut w:rs n()l

famous Robert E. Lee - and they had plerlty of money from

selling their cotton to Britain. But the North had more men

strong enough to bring the North ar-rdthe South togcrlrt'r',

and more factories. They also had Lincoln' oue of the best
presidentsthat the USA has ever had. He was boru on a farm

peopl e.

S adl y,on 14 A pri l 1865 ,f ive days af t er t hc cr r r lol'r lr t . r r '. r r ,

arr-rdpeople continued to argue about the rights of blrr.li

During the Civil War Louisa May Alcotr wrote her fartrotrs
book Little 'Vlomen about a family of f<rur girls living ar

in Kentucky but he worked hard in order to leartl as much as

he corrld. Lincoln made the Republican Party strong and

home in the North with their morher while their farher wrrs

spokc a["rout rights utd freedom. A very in-rportant battle

wrl s won by t hc s < tl d i e rso f th e N o rth a t G ettysburg i n

rrway at the war. Another very famous book (and later filur)

Pe n ns y lv r t niain lU 6 .l . L i n c o l l l s p o k e th e re a fte rw ards about

thc brrrve soldiers who hrrd died. This became known as

the story of Scarlett O'Hara, a rich young girl who is living

the Gettysburg Address and contains the famous words:

'. . . government of the people, by the people, for

clestroyed by the war.

about the w ar i s Gone w i t h t be- \ Y/ indwr it r en in 1936. lt t ells

comfortably in the southern srare of Georgia when her life is

r-.-FF.q
t

th e people. '
Two famous soldiers helped the North to win
the war. General Sherman is remembered in a
famous song that tells the story of how he took
60,000 of his soldiers on a loLrrney of 400
kilometres from Atlar-rta irr (ie orgia to the
Atl a nt ic c oas t . I n th i s w .ty h c c ttt a w i d e p ath
tl.rrougl.rthc sOuthcrtl strltcs,,rrrclrftcr that lt was
h rrr t l f or t lr c r t r t t t i c s< l f tl rc S ()tl thto i o i rl to g e th er
e n c l f iglr t t hc No rth . A ftc r th e w a r, S h e rm an
b cc r r r nc hc r r c l of tl rc A n tc ri c i l n a rm y . Ge n eral
Ul ys s es S . ( ir r t rrt rc p rc s c ttte d th e N o rth at
wlren the Sor.rth,under Lee'
Appomattox in lt'16.5
accepted that tlrcy hecl lost the war. Grant was
very fair to Lee's solcliers, who did not have to go

1u

The USA

Irrrrrrigrrrnts
from Europe arrived at Ellis Island in New
Vrrk, whcrc they were all checkedfor diseaseand for other
problcrrrs.Close to Ellis Island is the Statue of Liberty
(lilrcrty nreans'freedom'). On it are thesefamous words:
'(iivc nre your tired, your poor . . .' The statuewelcomed
thc poor, tired immigrants who hoped for a happier life in
the USA.
The Chineseimmigrants who arrived in the'West of the
LJSA also found prejudice. Many people came to live in
(lelif<rrniaafter gold was found there in 1848,and among
rhcrrrwerc 300,000Chinese.Many of the Chinesestayedto
work buiklirtgthc trewririlways.Like blackpeopleand Native
Arrrcricirns,
tlrc (llrirrcsclrrrclrro civil rights and after 1882,
tltcy wcrc tto krttgct rtlkrweclto cuter the USA. But in the
twcllticthccntrlry(llrincscpcoplcstartedto arriveagainand
ttow tlrcciticsof thc wcstcollstl'rilvclnrgenumbersof Chinese
'I'hc writcr Anry Tan tclls storiesabout life as a
frrnrilics.
(llrirrcscArrrcricirrr
in'lbe Joy Luck Club andother books.
Ttrclay,
most immigrantsto the USA come from Spanishspeakingcountrieslike Mexico and PuertoRico. More than
six million havearrivedsince1980and Spanishhas become
the secondlanguageof the United States.
The Irish, Italians and Eastern Europeansusually stayed
in the big cities of the East or the Midwest, Iike New York,
Boston or Chicago, and worked in the factories. Although
most of them learnedEnglish and becameAmericans,they
also wanted to keep their own way of life. So in many cities
you can find places called Little Italy or Chinatown, for
example,wherethe restaurantshaveItalian or Chinesefood.
In New York, Boston,and Chicago,St Patrick'sDay is a big
celebrationfor the Irish on 17 March and ChineseNew Year
is a hig celebrationin SanFrancisco.

5l0P

20

Bta ckAm e r i c ans

Todayabout 39 million of the 300 million peoplein the USA

are black.They usedto live mostly in the South,working in
the cotton and tobaccofields.A story about the hard life of
slaves,Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet BeecherSrowe, was
very popular in the mid-nineteenthcentury It made a lot of
people see that keeping slaveswas wrong, and it told the
excitirrg story of how a slave family escaped,using the
'Urrclcrgrourrcl
Railway'. Tlris was not a real railway but a
numbcrof plrrccswherc slirvcscould find help.peoplein each
houscc<>uld
sh<lwthcrr thc wiryto the next safehouse.
Harriet Tubrnarrar-rdFrederickDouglass were famous
slaveswho helped many other slavesto escapefrom the
Southto the North usingthe UndergroundRailway.Frederick
Douglass escaped in 1838 and started ro work for the
freedomof other black people.He had understoodthat in
order to be free he neededto learn to read and write and he
wrote a book about his life. After this he travelledto Europe
to speakabout slaveryand later retumed to New york and
started severalnewspapers.Durirrg thc Civil War he told
black nrerrto join rhc rrrrry ro fight f<rrthc North and after
the war hc worl<cclf<lrthc g()vcnlnrcr.lt.
Harriet Tuburan travelled140 kilonrerresto freedom in
1849with the helpof white peopleand freeblacks.Although
it was dangerous,she returned in order to help her family,
and shebravelysaid,'I can only die once.'ln the 1g50sshe
helpedmore than 300 slavesescape.
After the Civil \il/ar, white southemers were angry that

they had lost the war and angry that slaveswere now free.
They showed a lot of preiuclice ag:rilrst black peoplc. Sotrrc
w hi te peopl e j oi ned tl ' rc Ku Klt r x Klat t , gr oups of t t t ct t wlr <r
dressed in white. covcrcclthcir fltccs, attcl wctrt ()ut t() l)crlt
and murder bl ack peoplc. l] lack nt cn cot t kl t t ot vot c t t t t t il
1870, and even after thcy got tlre right t() votct tlrcy oftcrr dicl
not use it becausethey were frightcncd. Thc ['rook 'llt Kill ,r
Mocking Bird by Harper Lee tells the frighte ning story of rt
black man, Tom Robinson, in 1930s Alabama. Although
Tom has done nothing wrong, people easily believe that hc
is a criminal - just becausehe is black.
In the twentieth century, black people began to travel t<r
the cities of the North to look for work, so there are uow
more black people in the North than in the South. Bttt cvctt
in the North, they lived separately.In the South thcy h:rtl to
sit separatelyon busesand eat in separateparts of rcstau rrlI rl s.
Until 1954, they also had to go to different schools.

Blttck Ante ricttns

thei r ri ghts ar.rclMarti n Lut her King was given t l- r eNobel

P eaceP ri ze. B ut i n 1958, he was m ur der ed in M er nphis r r nt l
fighting started in more than a hundred citres.
Dr-rringrhe 1970sar-rd1980s,prejudice agairrstblack peoplc
slowly began to apperr less often, and many l"rlackpeople
uow havc good jol"rsir.r br.rsinessand govcrrrr.rrent.A blrrck
womall like CondclleezzaRice can represent tlrc Anrclicrrn
goveruffIentin other coutrtries ancl perlrel-rscvcn think rrlrout
becomi ng presi dent. B u t t hcr c ilr c st ill plohlcr r r s. Wlr cn
H urri c:rtreK rrtri nrrcl cstro vecl
t hc cit y oi Ner r '( ) r 'ler r r rrsr rl( X) 5,
most of the pl eopl cu,ho lost t hcir houscs r r 'cr clr lr r cl<.l\ , lr r r r v

ti ll

l h c r r ir r t hc lc ) .i 0 s ,rr c h u rc h rrrrrrrc rrl l c tl i V {erti rr Luther

Ki n g lr c gr r r rr t > f igh t fo r th e c i v i l ri g h ts o f b l eck pcopl e.
(i ro L rpsof bllc k peo p l c s ta rrc c lto b re a k th e l a w , bnr r.rori rr
rr
vi .l cl rt wir y . I ' 195 5 i n M c l n tg o n re ry , A l i rl ra mrr, rl w ()rrrl '
cellecl Rclsa Prrrks becrrmc farnous wher.rshc rcfuseclto givc
her seat on a bus ro a whitc man. Then r.noreblrrck people
re fu s edt o us e t he bn s e s ,a n d th e b u s c o mp a n i e s l ost rr l ot of
mo n ey . B lr r c k peopl e a l s o s ta rre d to g o i r.rto ' n' hi tcs orrl y'
r(]sIau ra ltts.
ln Augr.rst 196.3200,000 pcoplc uret iu \X/:tslrirrsroniutcl
hcrrrclMartin Lr-rtherKing spelk rrborrr rlrc ncecl for lrlack
people to be eqr-ralwith white peotrrlc.Hc bcgrrn w'ith these
r,r,r,rcls,
which l.ravebecor.nefrlrl()us: 'l lrrrvc rr dream
.'
ri
rrrr
lly
, 1961, a la rv w rrs p e s s c rlrv l ri c h
f
in
g rrv eb hck peoprl c

of them waited l lclr.rSi

tiurc for hclp fronr the sovernurent.
Was it becausethey were black? A lot of ;reople thir-rkso.

The gouernmentof the USA

TheWhite House
to help themselves,and so they think that taxes shoulcl bc
low. The Democrats think that the government should hcl;r
--__*t

the poor and so it needs taxes. But the difference betweell

the two is not always clear. After the 2000 election a map
showed that the Democrat stateswere on the north-east and
west coasts and arour-rdthe Great Lakes in the North, but
the Republican stateswere acrossthe centre arrd in thc S<ttrtlr
of the USA.
A meri cans are happy t hat t lr cy r l<l r r ot hr t ve r t kir r gi or
queen and they siry tlrrrt rlrry()rrcc,rtr l'rcctltrtcltrcsiclerrt.l]trt
you need a l ot of nrone y t <l r cll pcoplc alr olt t yot r r sclf lr t d
your ideas, so it is easier to becorne president if you come
rrl so s r r y ' r r o' r o

l ri rtr), rtn c l h e c h o o s e s th e j udges for the

Srrp11' 1111' ( . orllr rt.
c l rv c s rrn c lw o rk s i n th e tWhi te H ouse i n

from a rich family. The second and sixth presidents, John

Adams and John Quincy Adams, were father aud son, and

Wrts lr ingt or rI ) ( , .
'l he
S r r pr t ' r r r e( , o rrrf i s th c rn o s t i rtrp l < trtantcourt i n the
; c i r j o b i s to d e ci de w hat the
c()u nt r y r r r r , .lrl r r sr r i n c j rrc l g c sth
l ,rw s r r r c r r r r l'
. lr c y c rrrrl rl s o s :ryth rr O o n g re s sh as made a l aw

in modern times the Bush family has had two presidents.

From 1989 to 1993 George Bush was presidet-rt,and in 2001
his son George \X/.Bush became president too. At the same

wh i c h is wr ong, o r th a t th e P rc s i c l e n rh a s d o ne somethi ng

time Jeb Bush, the brother of George'!il. Bush, was head of

the government of Fl orida. Som e <lt hcr f lm ilics hr t ve als<r

w r()nli.

nearl y had tw o presi c lent s.Pr csidcnt Kcnnct ly's br <t t hcr

As well as the government in \X/ashington,each srare has

R obert hoped to l rcconrcpr csiclcntl'r t r thc was killeclir t 1968,

lts own government. Laws can be very different from one

state to the next. They say very different things abour, for

and many peopl c thi nk that Hillar y Clint on will f ollow her

example, how old you must be to get married, or ro drive

a car. Different states punish criminals differently too; in

president.

some states, you must die if you murder someone, but in

others you only go ro prison. The island of Puerto Rico in
the Caribbean is not a state, but it is not independent either.

people. Ronald Reagan, the fortieth president, could do this

People from Puerto Rico do not pay American taxes and

cannot vote in American elections.
There are two important political parries: the Republicans
rrnclthe Democrats. The Republicans want people to work

husband Bill. If slre does, she will be the first woman

A president must also be able to speak well to crowds of
because he used to be an actor. He became head of the
fovemment of California in 1967, and was president front
1981 to 1989. Another actor, Arnold Schwarzeuegger,lls<r
l"recamehead of the government of California in 200.1arrcl
some people believe that film stars will beconte sttcccssl-rrl
pol i ti ci ans more often i n f ut ur e.

3l

The USA

Liuingin the USA

irr Ncw Vrrk (EasternTime),it is 11 a.m.in Kansas(Central

'l'inrc),l0 a.m. in Arizona (MountainTime), and 9 a.m. in
Scattlc(PacificTime). And the time in Alaska is 8 a.m. and

JesseJacksonhaveworked very hard for the rights of black

people.One largereligiousgroup is the Latter Day Saints,or
Mormons, who live mainly in Utah. They have very strong

irr Hawaii7 a.m.

The picturesby the artist Norman Rockwell tell storiesof
the life of ordinary families from the 1920sto the 1970s.
Although they are often too h"ppy to be true, they give us

ideas about how to dress and are against alcohol and

an idea of life in small towns that has not all disappeared

yet. Two-thirds of Americansown their homes,often with a
garden.At least85 per cent of familieshavea car and more

ordinary family watchesmore than sevenhours a day.There

are over 10,000TV stations,and most <lf them belorrgto
not to thegovemlllent.AurcricarrTV pr<lgrirmmes
businesses,

than 7.5per cent of Americans drive to work. They also use

tlrcir clrr t() g()to 'drive-in'restaurants,coffeeshops,or even
barrks.llcrrry F<lrd,who made the famous Ford cars, was
bonr irr Michigrrn,ttcar l)ctroit. His 'Model T' (1908)was

are sold all over the world. There are more than 1,500daily
newspapersbut most of them are just for one city.The most
popular newspaper is USA Today, which sells five million
copies a day You can buy papers like the New York Times
and the -WashingtonPosf
everywhere,aswell asthe magazines

30

tlrc lirst cilr thxt wrts clrcrrpcnough for ordinary people.

'Arryorrccrtttdrivc it l'irrcl,'tlrcy said, and by 1918half the
cirrs irt thc LJSAwcrc Moclel Ts. Now
drivc very big
ttt<lrcitttcltrtorcAntcric:rrrs
carscallcdSUVs.
Thc USA doesnot havea statereligion,
and no religion is allowed in schools.
Insteadeverymorning Americanstudents
make a promise to the American flag. But
over 80 per cent of Americansbelong to a
Christian church and Christianity is very
important, particularly in the South of
the USA. In some statesbooks are not
allowed in schoolsif they say something
different from the Christian story of the
beginning of the world. Some churches
are just for black people and black
churchmenlike Martin Luther King and

tobacco.
If they do not want to go out, Americanscan stay at home
and watch television. Nearly all families have a TV and an

Time andNewsweek.

Tbc USA

)t-

r\r r t l,oi c ( ) u[ s e ,Ame ri c a n s l o v c to s h o p ; tl tc sttperrnarket

Liuirt g, itt t Itc ( I ,\A

3.i

mi d-w est, pl ayecl by l ( evir r ( . ost n( 'r ', who clr eam s of t he

l i l st : r ppc r r r c cin
l Ame ri c a , a n d n o w n l ru ry s h o ps i rre opeu

C hi cago W hi te S ox tcrrn rr lr r . lr r r , r lit 's

, r [ r , r sc[ r : rfllielc]f or t hem

trr',.' r r t , v - t ir ur
hour s a d a y . S o m e o f th e b i g g est shoppi ng
cr'n t r c s in r he wor l d a re i n th e U S A - M a l l o f A meri ca i n

i n a fi el d on hi s farur. llr r st 'h. r llis Plr r vt 't lb1, r wo t eam s of

ni ne peopl e. E tch pl .rvc r 'lr onr t lr . 'lir sr r t 'r r ntt r ics t o hit t he

Mi rrn c r r pr olishas o v e r 5 0 0 s h o p s a n c l c o v e rs 1.25 mi l l i on

bal l and rrttr rotrnrl l r l ri g st lu; r r t 'lr or u ( ( ) r 'n( 'r 'loc<lr ner .The

s(fr.rrrrenretres.You could put thirty-two Boeing 747 planes

pl ayers frorl the sceott r lt ( 'ilnl lr \ l( ) ( . r t . lr llr t 'l'''r r ll.Pllyer s

i rrto it !

try to get al l tl -rew at' rot t n. l t lt t 'sr lr r , r r tl, t 'lor t 'llr t ot he r t cr r n. r

Ar-nericanshave to pay if they visit a doctor or go to

can l etthe bal l to r' lc()n lcr . A l t t 'r t lr lt r . ; 11. (11

r s g( ) '( ) ut ', it is

l.rospital,but they do not usually pay to go to school. Schools,

the tttrr-rof the sccorr. lt cr lnl t ( ) lr it t lr . lr r r ll. S<, r r r t 'lr r r r r or r s

likc the laws, are different from state to state, but ir-rmost

teams are tl .re[-os A rrgc lesl) ot lsels, t lr c Nc'u, \ ir r 'l<) '; r r r l<ccs,

plrrccs,cvcryone goes to school for about twelve years. The

ar-rdthe B ostorrl {cd S ox . l'cr lr r r l'rtshe gr cr r t cstbescballplr r ycr '

\'(';u' sr llr ' c r r llc c l' g ra d e s ' : g ra d e s 1 to 5 a re ' el ementary

i n hi story w as B i rbc R u t h. Hc was bom in 1895 ar - r dplayecl

s. l rool' , ( r t o li r r r c' r rri tL l l es c h o o l ' , a r-rd9 to 1 2 ' hi gh school ' .

with the Boston Red Sox and then the New York Yankees.

r\l r'r r t S 5 P 1' 1'. ' t ' rtt o i s tu d c n ts fi n i s h h i g h school and

tr'l t'lr t ; t t t ' r v it lr , r l ):l rl v l (tl ()w t1i ts i t' trtrt> tn ' .

He died in 7948 but he is still remembered today.

I l r.'r' , r ls . rr r r . r li,.tt' ' r' t;tr l ro o l < ' ;tl ri s h rrsp l ro to s

Basebatt,America'sfavouritesport

.rl ,rll t lr r ' \ t u( l( ' r r l s i rr th e i r c l ,rs s ;tn c l s o n re

i rrl o t nt r t tiot t r t lr ottt e,te l t p ers o n . l ' i l rrts l i k e
t\tttc r ic t ut ( ) r t llit i rtn c l ' l ' b e Bre d k fd s t C l u b
h a vc s hown what l i fe i s l i k e a t a n Ame ri c a n
high school. About half the students who
tinish high school go on to study for another
two or four years. Harvard and Yale in the
east and Berkeley in California are among
America's famous universities.
Mos t A m er ic ans e n j o y s p o rts , a n d b a s e b a l l ,
['rasketball,and football are popular. American
f<rotballis a very different game from European
footl'rall; players carry the ball more thar-rthey
usc their feet. But the favourite sport in the
tl SA is bas eball. T h e fi l m F i e l d o f D re a m s
tr.'l l st hc s t or y of a fa rme r fro m Io w a i n th e

34

Eating and drinking tbc Amcrican tr',rl

E a ti n gan ddrin kin g

theAmericanway

t)

one of the best-known words in the world. You can also fin..l
excellent American wine from the west coast, parriculrrrly
California. But Americans are not allowed to buy alcohol
until they are 2L. In many states you canl-lot smokc in
places like bars, restaurants,and places of work. Frorn 1920
to 1933, during Prohibition, it was against the law t<>drirrk
al cohol at al l i n the U SA, but m any people st ill w: r r r t cclt o

Whrrt do Americans eat? American 'fast food' is sold in

rcstaurants in almost every country of the world. The most

dri nk i t. S o cri mi nal s l i ke Al Cr r l- r oncblot r ght r t lcolt ol ir r t o

farnous examples are probably hamburgers, hot dogs, and

chil'rs,which are called 'french fries'. A lot of Americans are

In A meri cr-u1rcstrl ur r lnt sy( ) u cr ur cir t r r ll l<in. ls ol. t r t st v

food from di fferent court t r ics:( . hir r csc,M cr ic: t t t , r r r r dlt : r li: t n,

f,rt, 1'rcrhrrl'rs
becausethey eat too much fast food. These days
rrr;rrr yf r t nr ilies in A m e ri c a d o n o t s i t d o w n to eat di nner

for exampl e. The i mmi gr ant s who cllulc t ( ) t lt c LI SA blought

to g t'tlr c r ' br r tc r r t r r l o rree v e ry fe w h o u rs a l l th ro ugh the day.

Srvt't ' tlir ot ls , lik c p i c s rrn c li c e -c re a m,a re v e ry popul ar too.
'l
l rt'lr ur r or r sller r r r rrtl.fc rry ' s i c c -c re rrms ta rte d i n V ermont i n
N t'w lr r r gl: r r r r l.llr r t n ro re :trrtl rrro rc 1 ' rc o p l ea re interested i n

the couutry atrcltrrrrclcrt lot of nt()ncy.

their own favourite foods with them. These ther.rchanged

into new styles of cooking that are special to the USA. For
example Tex Mex (Texan Mexican) food is like Mexicar-rbut
uses more meat. Cajun food is spicy food from Louisiana

h crrl t lr yc r r t ir r g,s o t l rc y c h o o s c fo o c l sth rrt i rrc l retter for them

with unusualnameslike'gumbo'and'jambalaya'
'Soul food' is the food that black families like

o r th c y c lc c i. let ( ) s t()l )e a ti n g rn e a t.

to cook in the South. It is usually meat or

lf you visit the USA you will be able to enjoy an American

brcakfast. Eggs are cooked in a lot of different ways; 'sunny

and corn bread, perha ps wit h

sicle r.rpr'means with the yellow on top, 'over easy' neans

with the yellow underneath but still sofr. With your breakfasr

6sh with green vegetables,sweetpotatoes,

oie afterwards.

you can drink as much coffee as you want, all for the same
prrice.In fact, you can drink coffee all day in the USA. It is of
course the home of Starbucks, which since the 1990s has
chiruged the way everybody drinks coffee. Now all over the
world you can go to a coffee shop and choose from a very
long menu of coffees.
Whrt else can you drink that is really American? Coca(l o l e wr r s f ir s t m ad e i n 1 8 8 6 b y a n Ame ri c a n cal l ed
John
l)c'ntbcrton. Today it is sold in 195 countries and CokerM is

'Fastfood'

lr

CaLiforn ia
More peopl e l i vc i n C alif <>r niat han in r r r t yot her st r t t c ( ) vcr
30 nri l l i on of thetn. It is t hc biggcst st r r t c: lf t cr 'li'r r t s r t nt l

*a-

t
,

h, . 'lr iulr t str r r r lr ilt t . lir r

A l aska and i f i s a strtc of r lif f cr cr r ct 's. '1

Iow est, cl ri cst pl rrce rn t hr 't lSA: l) t ': r t h V: r llt 'r , r r 'lr i. lr r s f i( r
metres l ow cr thrrn thc s ce. lt is vcr v hot t her c ( . 56. 7( , ot t t lt t '

_ ' j. '

r Nlt , t nt t \ \ 'lr it r r t r t t t t lt t . . , t r t , , 1
i n thc LIS A otttsi tl r' A l :rsl<ris
the stl rtc; i t i s -1,.{ 10nr ( 'lr . ( 'slr iqlr . , \ n( l ( . . llil( , r r r i, r lr , r r llr t '

h()ttestcl ay,i rr l 9l 3) and ir . tsr lnr eyear s it clocsnot r ein et : r ll.

B r-rtthe north of tl rc str r t eis auit e c<lldar r d wct . This is whcr c

it was the home of new music from bands like PearlJarn and
Nirvana. Bill Gates of Microsoft, clne of the richcst men in
thc world, was born in Seattle. Films and TV prograr.r.rmes
,rrc r r r r r t lcebout 1-rc o p l w
e h o l i v e i n S c a ttl e . A ci ty that w as
o rtcc t ; t r iet lr : r sl- t c c < l rl c ro w c l c c l n c l rrro rce x p errsi ve.
l .:t s V t ' gr r sir r llr r ' h o t, tl ry s trrtco f N c v rrtl rrrs frrl l < l f casi nos.
l )to p l1' win : ur t l lo s t. tl ro rrs :rn rl so l ' tl o l l rrrs th cre, pl ayi ng
c,tt'.lsor ot lr t ' r 1i: r rrrt' sItt.o
p l t' :rl s o g o tl re rc to get marri ed
.
tl L ri c l< lvr r nt l t ' , r s il y .l l y o rr w i l n t, rl n rrrn d re s sed l i ke E l vi s
l )rcs lc yc : r r rlr t r lt y ()u r w r.tl tl i rrg !

Sr

h
p,
;,4

F .f

fur

Calif it nt i, r

w ore bri ght cl otl -res,haci long hr ir , r ncl wr ur t c( l r r r r ', , r l, llr r ll

of peaceand l ove. 1967wr c t he 'sum ur er of lovc', u'it lr s, , nr '. '
that tal ked about peaceand love r nd t cllc'lyor . lugpeoplt , 'll
you g() to San Francisco,wear a flower in your hrrir'.
SrrrrFrlncisco is rrlso farnous for the Golden Girre Britlqt .
w hi cl r w as br-ri l ti n 1937and ioins t he cit y t o M ar ir - rCour r t r .
More than 40 mi l l i on j our r . r eysr r e m ede acr ossit ever v ve. r r .
It is 2.7 kilometres long :rncl67 urctrcs rtbovethe wilter. Fr()nr
the bri dge you can see t he islancloi Alcat r ir z, which u'r r sr r
pri son uuti l 196-1.
thc grcrrt reclwood trees !ar()w- the tallcst trees iu the world.
'l 'h e
biLl{ r c s tis I 1. 5 .-5m e tre s h i g h . A l s o i rr tl -renorth i s thc
N ,r;t, rV ; rllt ' y r rr c r r ,w l rc rcc rc c l l c n t w i n e s rrrcm :rd e.C a l i forni a
q r'()\\ ' snr or t ' llr r it , r rrrlv c g c trr[rl c th
s a n l rn y o th e r state i n the
I l Sr\ lr r r tit is ; r ls o l: rrrro rrsl o r i ts c o n tl ' l u tc rfa c tori es.H ew l ett
;rrrtll' r r c l< : u'st lt illt ( ' (l tl rt' i r b rrs i rrt' sisrr (,rrl i t< rn r i a,and A ppl e
l r:rve'
t lr c ir lt t ' , r . 1ol li c t' st l rc rc .
Sr ur J ilr r r r c is c ois, rrrrrrryl .rc o p l cth i n k , < l n c of the urost
l 'rcrrut if ulc it ic s in t h c w o rl c ]. In Il J 4 9 , p e o p l e camc here to
look fclr gcllcl rrncl they becrrrlc known as 'Forty-Niners'.
ir.r San Frrtncisc<>
by Levi Strauss in
Jeaus wcre first r-r-racle
thosc days. Thc city grew fast but wns uerrrly clcstroyed in
1906 by an carthquakc and the fire which followecl ir. There
wl rs r u' r ot herbig ea rth q u a k e i n 1 9 8 9 w h e n 6 2 pcopl e di ed,
rrrrclcvcry<>r.re
kn<lws th:rt olte clay there will be allorher. Iitt
ti (X), ( X XA)nt c r ic r r r rsc ()l l ti l l u c l i v i n g i n Sa rrF rrrn ci scobecause
l i l t tlr t ' r t ' is l- r r r rS. r t nl j rrrrrc i s c ()
w rl s tl tc n l c c ti n l l p l rrccfor tw < t
1 l t()tt l) \ol P 1';1P l1' u ,l t()\\' :l l l l (' (lrt l i l ' t' tl l rl t \,v i l sc li ffcrcnf fronr
tl rt' lilt ' ol or t lir r : u\ Pt' o Pl t' . l rr tl re 1 9 .5 0 sth ere w crc tl te
'b crr t r r ilis ' ( |ili, n' r i rt' rr ,\| l t' rr (i i rrs l rc rg rrn c l
J i r ck I(cror-rac),
w h o r , r , r , rl,
t l. r t li . ln (l \\' (.r' (.rroitrrtc rc s te ciln m o n ey and j obs.
TI.rc t t in t llr ' l' ) ( ' O\ ' l ri p p rr.' * 'c i y l c t() S rrp F ri rrrci sco.They

Los A ngel cs i s thc sc cor r clbiggesr cit y in t he USA, wit lr

3.8 mi l l i on peopl e. It cr'r nt r ke hour s t o dr ive f r om or - r esiclc
to the other - and peop le : r lr r r clstalways dr ive! The nnm lr cr
of cars l reans that the cit y has a pr oblem wit h dir t y air ; ir r

The fitm wortd of Hottywood

48

The USA

s()nrcl)rlrts<lf the city crime is a problcnrt()o.Ilut visitors

still conrcto seeplaceslike Hollywood attclBeverlyHills.
'f 'frc first film was made in Hollywood in 1911 in a place
wlrcrcorangetreesusedto grow The first films, with actors
likc l{udolf Valentino,Charlie Chaplin, and Buster Keaton
wcre silent, but then in1927 films got sound. In the 1930s

l( ,

-&
m

Be a u t if upLt a c e s
to visit

and 1940sfamousstarslike Clark Gable,Humphrey Bogart,

and KatharineHepburn appearedin films like 1l Happened
One Night, Casablanca,and The PhiladelphiaStory.Some

The U S A has some o f dr e biggcst cit ics ir r r lr r , wor 'lr l, , ur t l

of the greatestfilms of the time camefrom the crime stories

of the famous Californian writers Dashiell Hammett and

Thi s means that rhcrc r r r c r r lso s( ) llr e ver y cnll) t y l) lr lces,

w hi ch havc n< l t chrrrr geclr r r r r clrsir r cc t hc f ir st l, . r r r o1'r clr r r s

l{rryrr-rond
Chandler. Chandler wrote about the detective
f)lrifilr Mrrrlowc,who was played by Bogart in The Big
,\lcc1t.
'lirtlrry,
- it costsmillionsof dollars
lilnrsrrrcbig brrsincss

arri ved. The government has kcpt sonr c of t hcnr ir s nat ionill

lo rrrrrl<r'tlrcrrr,
[rrrttlrcycrrrrrnekcmilliclnsof dollarsmore.
()n llollywoocl lirulcvrrrtly<ltrcrrrrvisit Mann's Chinese
'l'hcatrc,whcrcfilnrstrrrshrrvclcft thc sl'rlpcsof their hands
rrnclfcct itr tlrc ground. Yru can visit PararnountStudios
in Hollywood, where the Godfatber hlns were made, or
LJrriversal
Studios outside the city, where you can feel an
errthquake or seeKing Kong and JurassicPark. In Beverly
Hills you can drive past the homesof famous stars.
'$7alt
Mickey Mouse first appeared in 1928 in films by
Disney.Disneydied in t966,but his companycontinuesto
rnake very popular films like Pirates of the Caribbean.
l)isneylandis the top placefor touristsin California.It is in
Orar-rgeCounty in the south of the state. If you visit
l)isrreyland,you will meet Mickey Mouse and his friends
wrrlkingaround the park. You can visit the castleof Sleeping
llerrrrty,riclc on a river boat, or have an Indiana Jonesor
'I rrlzlrrr
ltclvcr-rtttre.

more than three-qurrr t cr solt it s pcol'r lr livc

'
ir r r 'it it . s( ) t 't ( ) wns.

parks, beautiful natural places where people are not allowed

to build housesor factories. Many artists have photographed
the beautiful parks of America. One of the most famous is
Ansel Adams, who was born in San Francisco a few years
before the earthquake of 1906. Two of his favourite placcs

Tbe USA

50

rvt'rt ') ir s r ' r r r it cr n n o rth e rr-rC a l i fo rn i rr, w h i c h h r s been a park

si rret ' lf i90, . r nc lt he c o a s t o f C a l i fo rn i i r.
l i r n' ellir r g nor t h fro m C a l i fo rn i a , y o u c o m e to Oregon
rrrrrlt lr c r r W as hing to n . T h e s e s ta te s a re c o o l and w et, bl l t
vcry lrcrrutifr.rl,with big forests and high rronntains. Here
yo u will f ind a nur n b e r o f n a ti o n a l p rrrk sl i k e Mount R ai ni er
e n cl Cr at er Lak e.
The wonderful Rocky Mountairrs are ir.r rhe states of
Wyor ning, M ont au a , C o l o ra d o , Ic l a h o a n d U tah, and are
grcrtt for holidays. Walking, climbir-rg,fishing, hr.rnting,ar.rd
h o rs c - r ic lingr r e s o me o f th e th i n g s v i s i to rs e n j oy here. Y ou
c,rn , r ls o c njoy wi n te r s p o rts i r-rg rl a c e sl i k e A sper-r,w here
th t'r ' t ' is r r lot of s rro rv .T l rc o n l y b i g c i ty i n the R ocki es i s
l )t'rrv t ' r 'r.\ ls o in t lr t ' l { o c k y I\l o trn te i n s i s Y e l l o wstoneP ark i n
tl rt's t r r t t ' s ol lt lr r lro , W v o rri n g , rrn rl Mo rrtrrn a . It i s famons
l i rr rlr t ' lt ( ' \ ' s ( ' r ' r ; r l l t' tl()l tl l i :ri tl rfu l th l t s h o c l tshot w ater up
tttto t lr t ' , t it , t t 1't o 5 5 tn t' tre sh i q l r. Srrl t L rrk e C i t y, the capi tal
ri n ol ( lt r r lr , r s nc\t t() rr l rrk e th rrt i s n ru c h s rrl ti erthan rhe
scrt. li y ( ) u t ly t o s w i n r i n th i s l :rk c , y o u w i l l fi ncl that you
crl n n( ) ts t : . r yunc lc r tl re w a te rl
So ut lr of t he R o c k i e s i s th e h o t, d ry s ra te o[ A ri zona,
where the lancl has fantastic colonrs: not just brown ar-rd
g rccn, but r ed, pin k , o ra n g e , a n d b l u e . T h e m ost fal nous
p l rrc cin A r iz ona is th e G ra n d C a u y o n . T h i s d e ep ri ver val l ey
was made by the Colorado River cr.rttingthrough the rock
nlrury thousands of yexrs ago. Today it is 1,600 metres deep,
.{46 kilometrcs long, and lretweeu 0.4 and 24 kilometres
w i clc wit h r oc k s in e x tra o rd i n a ry s h rrp e sY. o u c an w al k dow rr
to thc river, but it will take you two days ro ler there ancl
l rrtc k ,r r r r cy] ou m ust ta k e p l e n ty o f w a te r to d ri n k.
Nc x t t o A r iz ona , N e w Me x i c o i s a n o th e r h ot, dry state,
rr,l rt' r 'l:
t ' r r r r r ir r llis d i fl i c L rl t i rrrdth e o rd i n a ry p e o pl e are poor.

TheG r andCanyon

l l c d u t i l 'nl l tl tca s !o t,tsi t

nrctrcshi gh. V l u ci ur l ook r r t t hcm f r or r t l. r ct op f r onr ( , r r r r : r t l: r

()r thc LISA, or y()u crln takc r.rb<x.rttrip ancl sec thcnr frorrr
bel ow .-Ii l gcther,Lakes L,ric,O r r t ar io, HLr r on,M ichigr r n, r r r r cl
S trpcri < rrc< xer 244,108 squar c kilonr et r cs - nr ( ) r et han r t ny
othcr group of l akcs i tr th c wor lcl. I f you ! o r hcr c in r he
sunl ner, i t i s al nrost l i ke go ing t o t he sea;y( ) u calr lic ( ) n t hc
bcach or sai l a boat. B ut i n wint cr it is vcr l colr l.
Thousarrcl sof ki l onrctrcs s( ) r . r t lr
ol. t ht '( ir . t ': r t l. r r l<t sr s t hr '
state of Loui si rrrra,w l ri ch rr st 't llo lr t ' l; r -rt r t lr l lr t \ lissisr il, pi
R i ver i s.l ,778 l < i l ornctrcsl or r q, r r r , lin llr t r r r r r lt
t ( nt lr ( ( r ) t ur '\ ,
i t w l rs :rtt i l nportrtrtt r' orrtt'l r c't\ \ ( 'r 'r rl lr t ' Nor - tlr . rr r . l t lr t S,r r r tlr .
li rrl rn :u r vilr t is t s hev ea l s o c o n re fro u r o th c r p rrrtso f A rrrcri ca

Mark Tw rri n w r()tc w orrdcr f ul st or ics : r t r or r t lr lc or r r r r r t l

rrroufrd the ri vcr: The A du cnt ur cs of 'llt nr St t t , ) t cr ( lS76) ,

t , l i rt' i n : r nc lar onnc lS a n trrF e a u c lT a o s . O n e o f th e l i rst w rrs

( ,t',r'uirr O'Keeffe and thcrc is a n.ruscur.r-r
of l-rcr work in

a,nd Huckleberry Finn (1884). Ncxt t<-rLouisirrnrr, the statc

\ .rrrl :r l rc .

l i kc TertnessecW i l l i :rnrsan d William Faulkner .

of Mi ssi ssi ppi w as al so thc hom e of sever al gr ear wr it cr s

l rr tl rc [ ] r r c llr r nc ls
Nr rti < l r.rrrl
Prrrk o f So u th D a k c l t rrvi si tors

Ttrgethcrthe statesof M aine, New H: r m pshir e, Vcr m ont ,

r , rrt'rrrb c rt hc S i< luxr vh o fo u u h t ,rn c lc l i c c lrrt W< l rn d cclI(nec,

Massachnsetts,C or.rnecti c utar r clRhode I slar r dar e known r ls

lrrrl tl rc lllac k Hills < l i D a k o trr rrrc frrn ro u s for Mount

N cw L,ngl and.A utumn, or'f all'as t he Am er icans cr ll it , is r r

l(rrsl rrrr or c ,wlr er e t hc frrc c s o f fo u r A n rc ri c a n p r csi cl cnts,

\\'.rslri rrqr()u, Jeffcrsor.r,Lirrcol n, rrncl Tl'reocl<lrcRcloscvclt

g(x)clti me to vi si t N ew E n gland, bcc: r uset lr c lcevcsor r t lr t '

trees tunr yel l ow rrnd orang e ancl r ccl lncl golr l. ( ) ct obcl r s r r

\ \( l ( cu t ir r t hc r oc k . l t to o k fc l u rtc c n y e rl rs ,fro r. n l c)27 to

g()oclmorl th to sec the col ( ) ur sr r t t hcir br 'st ,

l ') | | . Yru c lln s ee t lr cn i n th c H i tc l -rc o c k

li l rrrNo r. / / , lnt
, Nor t hwe -s /,w h c re C a ry (i ra n r
rr,.rrl r l .: r llsf r or r t he r.n o u rrtrri rr
whilc he il r \ ilrr'. l() ( ' s c l t p e .

(,u r:rt l: r r r r r c lt hc U S A n rc c t a t tl rc fi v c
( ,rr'.rt I , r lic s ,r . l, lr ic hr lr c i l l t i n rp rl rtl trrt rc l rtc
l,'r ,.1 1 111r
t r r r v t ' llir r gf r c l rl th e Atl a n ti c to th c
r \| r,l rrt s t , r l, , nst lr c S t l-a w re rrc cS c ' rtw rry
T h. e
l,rn r'u \ Ni: lc ; lr ' : l lir r ll s e rc b e tw c c n [-l rk c s
( )rrt,rrrrr, r r r r l I r it ' . I hc s c w rl tc rfa l l s a rc .5I

54

16

Ho ta n dc otd,
b i ga n dsmatL

Florida in the far Southeastis called the 'SunshineState'

becauseit is so warm and sunny.Orangesgrow there, and
visitors come to enjoy beachholidays.They can also visit
'Wirlt
Disney tWorld and the Kennedy SpaceCenter. Florida
Irrrsthc Everglades,an areawhich is not like any other place
in tlrc USA. Tlrc larrclis vcry wet ar.rdhas many trees,plants,
rrrrinrrrls
rrnrl birclsth:rt rlrc rrot found ir-rother parts of
Antcricrt.llrrt l;lolirlrris vcry populrrrwith olderpeoplewho
wilnt t() livc sorrrcwhcrc
wilnn. This meansnew housesand
ttrrlcls,
rtrrclbtrilclirrg
tlrcrr hrrsclcstroyed
a lot of the land.
'fhcrc arc rrls<lrrr<lrcrrrrclnr()rc[rrct()ries,and some people
arc iurgrythat this bcar.rtiful
strrtcis losingrnrrnyof its wild
lrirdsarrdanimalsbecause
of its dirty air and water.
Cold, lonely Alaska is the largeststate in the USA, and
Canada stands between it and the other states.Fishing
irnd hunting used to bring money to Alaska, and gold
was found there too. But today it is important for its oil.
North America'shighestmountain,Mount McKinley (6,1.94
rrretres),
is in Alaska. A great way to travelthere is by boat
fr<lrnSeattle.Most visitors go in summer; in winter it is
very cold, and it is dark for most of the day becauseit is
so far north. However, if you are lucky you will see the
Northern Lighrs (aurora borealis),which fill the sky with
fitrrtlrstic
colours.
'lcxrrsis the secondbiggeststateafter Alaska. There are

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p .=

rrlso u,ritcs ve rv itttr n. v c t ' it - t t cb< t ok s .

I' hc ho licle i'islrrr t c ls r lf Het ' r r ii ir r c it l( ) llg u'r u 'f r o t l

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P relcr, lrttsr e itr o t t ; r t ic t ll. lt t ( ) t ) ill ; t , r r - lt .e, r lc l I ll ( ) L l l l t l l i l l s o r

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60

6l

A C T IV IT IES

ACTI VI TI ES

BeforeReading
I Here are six famous places. Match the names with the photos.

I ! GrandCanyon
2 n Hawaii
3 E LasVegas

4 E Mo.rnt Rushmore

While Reading
Read Chapters 1 to 3. Are these sentencestrue (T) or false
(F)?Rewrite the false sentenceswith the correct information.

5 E New York

1 The first Americans came frorrr Asirr.

6 I

t lr : r r rNir t ivt ' Ar r r t 'r it : r nsin

2 There are morc H i spar r ic1'r coplc

SanFrancisco

the U S A .
3 P ocahorrtrrs
rrrrrrri ctl.f ohn Sr uit h.
rs u scr lsl, r vcst o f r r r r r rt ht ' lr r r r t l.
4 The P i l gri m Frrtl re
g Novcr nbcr .
5 A meri car.rs
cel ebratcT'lr r ur ksgivir rin
6 Men in Bostorrthrew boxcs of teir int<l thc scrrbecrruscthcy
wanted to drirrk coffee.
7 The chief of the American army was Thomas Jefferson.
8 The thirteen colonies becamethe first statesof the USA.
9 The last state to join the United Statesof America was
U tah.
Read Chapter 4. Choose the best question-words for these
questions and then answer the questions.
'V{hatlWhich lWbo l'Why
1

did South Carolina decide to leavethe Unitccl Statcs?

was the South's most famous soldier?

3 4 -

farm boy from Kentucky becirnrcprcsidcrrt?

?
happenedat Gettysburg irr I ll(r.3

di ci .fohrrW i l kcs lJoot lrslt ool l't 't 'sit lt 't tIl ir r tr t lr r /
5 r r ll
tcl l s tl tt' s t or y ol , t r i, .lr Sot t t lt t 't r 11r
6 -book

2 Whichof theseplaceswould you most like to visit?Why?

(rz
^(.

uvt'uF.s:Whilc Reading

Rcatl Ohaptcrs .5irnd 6 and match thesehalvesof sentences.

I l;rrrrrrcrswho came to live in the West . . .

ACuvt't II:.s:Vlhile RctLling

Read Chapters 9 to 11 and complete thesesentenceswith thc

correct words.

2 Wlrcrr lctters were carried by the Pony Express,they . . .

1 In the USA the PresidentI Congress makes the laws.

.l Mrrrry Native Americans either died of disease. . .

2 The longest time that anybody can be presidentis four I

4 Without the buffalo . . .

.5 After the Battle of Wounded Knee . . .
6 The Hopiand Z w ,.

..

a) took ten days to cross the country.

b) Native Americans could not follow their usual way of life.
c) nrake beautiful jewellery.
d ) o r wc r c k illed in b a ttl e .
c) Nat iv c A nr c r ic a n sh a c lt< l l i v e i n ' re s e rv a ti o n s' .
f) g r c w f ir ot l or r t lr c i r n c w fa rn rs .
l{crrclOhrrlltcrs7 rurcl[l and irnswerthesequestions.

(rl

eight years.
3 The Republican Party is more popular in the South I North
of the U S A .
4 The presidentsfron.rthc Bush farrily rc flrtltar and son I
brothers.
5 l n40 I 60 per ccttt of At ncr icat rf ar r r ilics,t lr c ht r sbr r r t trlt r t cl
wife both work.
6 To A rneri cans,the dat e'ninc eleveu'm eans11 Selt t em ber/
9 Nouember.
7 Most Americans walk I driue to work.
8 The most popular sport in America is football I baseball.
9 Califorr-riais famous f<>rits wine I coffee.

I W hat happc r r c tll o i rrrrrri g r:rrrts

l t F l l l i sIs l a n d ?
2 Whic h lar lic gr ou p o f i rru rri g rrrn rs
mrrd cth e i r homesi n the

10 Corn bread belongsto the style of food called Caiun I soul

food.

West?
3 \X/hichlanguagedo most of today's immigrants speak?
4 Where did most black slavesuse ro work?
'What
5
was the'Underground Railway'?
5 Before 1954, how were the lives of black peJple different in
th e S out h?
7 Why did Martin Lurher King win the Nobel PeacePrize?
l l W lr r r tdic l Hur r ica n e Ka tri n a d o i n 2 0 0 5 ?

Read Chapter 12. Match the music with the places.

1 blues

a) Nashville

2 soul

b) New Orleans

3 i azz
4 country

c) M ississippi
d) New York

.5 rrrp

e) Detroit

64

Acrtvtrl ES: W h i le Reading

6.5

Read Chapters 13 and 14. Then choosethe correct words to

conlpletc the sentences.

ACTI VI TI ES

After Reading

Altdtraz, Boston, Cambridge, Chicago, Death Valley,

I)isneyland, Hollywood, Las Vegas,New York, Washington DC

I Harvard opened in _
in 1636.
2
was the home of the Kennedy family.
J

Central Park is a green place in the centre of

Match the people with the sentences.Then use the sentences

to write a short description of each person. Use pronouns
(he, she) and linking words (and, because,but, then, uho).

4 The president lives in

5
is called the 'rWindy City'.
6 People go to _
to win - or lose - lots of money.
7 Nowhere in the USA is lower than

Johnny Casb I Martin Luther King I PocahontasI General

Sherman I Haruiet Tubman I Oeorge Wasbington
1 -

w as the daughterof a Nat ive Am er ican chief .

ti
9

w as know n as' The M an in Black'.

3 4

fought for the civil rights of black people.

5 6 -

fought for the North in the Civil \Var.

7 8 -

took his soldiersfrom Atlanta to the sea.

used to be a prison.
is the film capital of the USA.

l0 Tlrc rnost popular place for rourists in California is

Rcnd Chaptcrs 1.5and 16. Here are some untrue sentences.
Ohangc thcnr into truc sentences.
I Arrs c lA danr swr o tc [T o o k sl b o n t th e n a ti o n a l o arks of the
USA.
2 Oregon and Washingtonhave hot, dry weather.
3 Old Faithful is in Denver.
4 The Grand Canyon is 1,600merreslong.
5 Mount Rushmoreis in Arizona.
6 The Great Lakes lie between the USA and Mexico.
7 Tom Sawyer wrore about life on the Mississippi River.
8 Most people visit Alaska in the winter.
9 Texas is rich becauseof its forests.
10 Hawaii is famous for its supermarkets.

was a slave.
was a rich farmer from Virginia.
escapedfrom slaveryin 1849.

9 -helped
the English people in Jamestown.
10 became the leader of the US army after the Civil
rJVar.

IT
T2

was a famous country singer.

13
t4

helped other slavesto escapefrom the South.

15

later went to England with her husband, John Rolfe.

went back to his farm in 1797.

1,6
17
18

became the first President of the USA.

won the Nobel PeacePrize.

sold millions of records.

w as ki l l ed i n Mer nphis ir r 196f i.

66

1(i/rv/'//r1.\'..
After Reading

AC.I'
tv t'I'tF.s
: Aft er Re d d i n g

liirrd thcsc words in the box below and draw lines through
thcrrr.'l'hc words go from left to right and from top to
l)()tt()rrr.
tlcoltol, area, colony, corn, elect,equal, hwnt, immigrant,
jtrdgc, lrtw, museum, oil, right, sepdrdte,slatte,spicy, state,
Ittx, t<tbacco,turkey
G

E
L

U A
A W E

E
T

M
M

U N
E S P

E A

T
X

K E
T C
A T

T U
E M
A E

T
S
E

Now write down all the letters that do not have lines
through them, beginning with the first line and going
acrosseach line to the end. You should have 44letters
which make a sentenceof 10 words.
I rVhat is the sentence?
2 \)flho said it, and where?
.l W hat had jus t h a p p e n e d ?

67

Choose a place in the USA and write an e-mail to a friend

about it.

tsE0ffiRn
From:
Subject:

Hi

H ow are you? l ' m havi n ga wonder f ult im e in

Yesterdaywe went to _
and we saw
.That w as gr eat ,but t he m ost excit ingt hing
.Todaywe'r e going t o
. I hope l'll be able t o
That's in
l ' l l tel l you al l about i t i n m y next e- m ail.

Now choosea place in the USA that you would like to visit a city, a state, a national park, or perhaps a place like Niagara
Falls or Mount Rushmore. Find out more information about
it, then make a poster or give a talk about it to your class.
Find answers to these questions:
What do you krrow about the history of the place?
What can visitors seeand do there?
'What
is different or specialabout it?
Is there a famous food, kind of music, person, or building
that you can find in this place?
Why woulcl you like to go there?
Mi rny strrtcsrrrrdci ti cs havc wcbsit cs( c. g.www. cit . govlir r
(l al i forni a, w w w .w rtshi rr gl( ) r l. ( ) lir
r g r Wir shi r r gtor r | ) ( ) .)
l t t li, sis. t t www. r t pr , govlpit l'ks.
Ittfortttal i orrrthottl tti tti o r t ; tpr

70

7l

l' llh ( ) X l' O R D BOOK WOR M S

L IBR A R Y
( ; I { A DI NG
A N D S AMP L E EX T R A C TS

sTA C I--

preseut simplc- prcsentcontinuous- impcretivecanlcannot,must - going /o (future)- simplegerunds...

Her phone is ringing - but where is it?

Sally gets out of bed and looks in her bag. No phone.
Shelooks under the bed.No phone. Then shelooks behind
the door. There is her phone. Sally picks up her phone and
answers it. Sally'sphone
STAG E 1 r 4[ oo HEAD\ ?O RDS
... pasrsimple- coordinationwith and, but, or srrlrrrrtlirr:rriorr
with before,after, uben, because,
so ...

I kncw lrirrr irr l)crsirr.He was a famous builder and I

workcclwith lrirrrrlrcrc.Firr a rime I was his friend, but
not for long. Wlrcrrlrc c,rnrcto Plrris,I came after him I wantedto watclrlrinr. Hc wrlsrl vcry clcvcr,vcry dangerous
man. ThePltantomof tbeOpara
S T A CIt

/OO

HtlAl) W( ) t{ t) S

. . . present perfect - will (futurc) - (clon't ) ltt t't' l o, ntttst ilot, could -

rOOO

l l l i A l )w ()l { l )s

... sboul d, may - prcsct-ttpc rfc c t c onti nuous - l r-.r' r/to - pl s t perfec t
- causati ve

S T A R T ER . Z 5 O H EA D \U O R D S

rehti vc c l aus c s - i nc l i rec t s ti ttentc l tts ...

Of course, it was most important that no one should see

Colin, Mary, or Dickon enterin!the secretgarden. So Colin
gave orders to the gardeners that they must all keep away
fronr that part of the garden in future. The SecretGarden
S TA GE 4' l4ooHEADwO RDS
... past pcrfcct conti nuous - pas s i v e (s i rnpl e forms ) u,oul tl c<l ntl i ti orr:tl c l i rus es- i nc l i rc c t quc s ti otts rcfati vcs w i tb tt,l taral rt,l x ,1- gc l rl c l s eftc r prc pos i ti orrs /phrrts c s...

I was glad. Now

H y c l c co ttl cl tto t sl r o w l r i s f,tcc ttt tl tc w o r l cl

a g a i n . I f h e d i d , c v c r y l t o r r csf r ttr ttr i tt l ,o tttl o tt w o ttl tl l r c p r o tttl

t o r e p o r t h i m t o t h c p o l i cc. D r .l ckvl l d u d M r l l w l c
S T A ( ; l : 5 . tl l o o

l l l i Al ) \\'( ) l tl ) \

... ftttttrc c()rl trtl tt()tts l ttl ttt-t'pt' tl ttt

prrssi vc(trr otl el s ,c ottti ttttotts tot' ttts )
uoul d haue condi ti onel c l rtus c s - rl odrrl s * pc rfi ' c t i nl i rri ti v e ...

If he had spoken Estella'sname, I would havehit hint. I wrts s<r

angry with him, and so depressedabout my futurc, that I cotrld
not eat rhe breakfast.Instead I wettt straight to the olcl h<lttsc.
Great Expectations

c o m p a r i s o r r o f a d j e ctive s,

sim p lc i/cl;r u scs

l) .lst c()nti nuous r a g q u e sr io n s- a sklte ll * ir r tir r itivr ....

\fhile I was writing these words irr rrry cliary,I decided

what to do. I must try to escape
. I shall rry ro gerdown the
wall outside.The window is high rll)ovcrlre ground, but
I have to try. I shall take sornc of rhc golcl with me - if I
escape,perhapsit will be hclpFull:tter. Dracula

S TA GE 6.

Z5O O HE, ADWO RDS

... passive (infinitives, gerunds) - advanced modal meanit-tgscl ausesof c ouc es s i on, c ondi ri orr

\X/henI stcppcd up to thc pirrtro,I was corrfiderrt.It was rts if I

siclcof r r ) cr c: llly t licl exist . Ar r t l wlr cr rI
kncw thet tl rc pr< > cl i gy
startcd t< tpl i ty,I w :ts so cr t r t glr tlt l) ill ll( ) w lovt 'lv I lool<t 'ttl lr r t t
I di dn' t w orry l tow I w orr lt lst , t t t r t l.'l'ln. lt wl. u& ( llult