Ameican Popular Culture(美国文化教材)

American Popular Culture (Exercises)

1. What is culture?

I.What Is Culture? (Spot Dictation)

?What is culture? Is it the clothes we ________, or the languages we _________? Is it the ________ we eat, or the _________ we don't? Is it the way we ________, or the art we __________? Is it where we live, or the ways we play?

?Culture is all of these things and more. Beyond _________, dances and dialects. It is the very scaffolding of our psyches. How we _________, what we ____________, how we ____________ to others, and who we think we are all _________ on the culture around us.

II.What is popular culture? (Reading Comprehension)

We spend our lives immersed in popular culture. There’s no escaping it. Like hydrogen atoms and common-cold viruses, pop culture is everywhere. You absorb it at home watching television, listening to the stereo, or reading a magazine or newspaper; passing billboards or listening to the radio on the street; chatting over coffee at work or having a burger with friends; going out to movies and dance clubs, health spas, fast-food restaurants, shopping malls and sports arenas; even noticing the graffiti that glares out at you on building facades and highway overpasses.

In fact, unless you’re isolated in a mountain cave, you can hardly avoid the influence of popular culture. Television, radio, newspapers, and magazines shape your ideas ad behavior; like family, friends, and school, pop culture is part of your learning environment, supplying ready-made images, ideas, and patterns of behavior that you draw from, consciously or unconsciously, as you live your daily life. Exactly how you learn and just what you learn may not be all that certain, but it is undeniable that popular culture is one of your most powerful teachers.

What do we mean by popular culture? The term may at first seem contradictory. Popular, in its broadest sense, means “of the people,” while we often associate culture with refinement and intellectual superiority, “the best which has been thought and said,” as Matthew Arnold put i t. We might ask how culture, traditionally reserved for the elite, the educated, and the upper class, can simultaneously belong to the common mass of humanity.

One way to resolve this seeming dilemma is to think of culture in an anthropological (人类学的) sense, as the distinct practices, artifacts, institutions, customs, and values of a particular social group. This is the way, for instance, that we distinguish the culture of the United States in the early twenty-first century from the culture of our great-grandparents or from that of societies in other times and places.

We can also define popular culture by distinguishing it from its counterparts: high culture and folk culture.

High culture consists of the artifacts traditionally considered worthy of study by university academics and other educated people: classical music by composers such as Beethoven and Brahms; “fine” art from the impressionists and expressionists; literature and philosophy written by the likes of Shakespeare and Sartre.

At the other end of the spectrum, folk culture refers to artifacts created by a specific community or ethnic group, usually a relatively isolated nontechnological society such as the pygmies (矮人)of Africa’s Ituri Forest or certain communities in our own Appalachian Mountains. While high culture is primarily preserved and studied in the academy, folk culture is generally transmitted through oral communication; both, however, place a high value on tradition, on artifacts produced in the past, and on the shared history of the community.

By contrast, popular culture encompasses the most immediate and contemporary elements in our lives—elements which are often subject to rapid changes in a highly technological world in which people are brought closer and closer by the ubiquitous (到处存在的) mass media. Pop culture offers a common ground, as the most visible and pervasive level of culture in a given society. If the Metropolitan Opera House represents high culture, then Madison Square Garden represents pop. If the carefully crafted knives used in Asian cooking rely on a folk tradition, then the Veg-O-Matic is their pop counterpart.

Several other terms help us establish a working definition of popular culture. Mass culture refers to information we receive through print and electronic media. While mass culture is often denigrated as juvenile (幼稚的) or “low”, it has to be treated as an important component of popular culture by virtue of the immense size of its audience. The terms subculture and counterculture, on the other hand, suggested a desire to resist the pressures, implied or explicit, to conform to a common culture. Minority groups in the United States might be called subculture, just as certain groups such as artists, homosexuals, lawyers, or teenagers can be thought of as having cultural markers distinct from the broader culture. A counterculture, on the other hand, is a group or movement which defines itself specifically as opposing or subverting the dominant culture. Hippies of the 1960s and punk rockers of the 1980s defined themselves as countercultural groups.

Although we may place ourselves in specific folk or high cultures, subcultures or countercultures, we are still aware of and immersed in the broader popular culture simply by virtue of living in a society. As Edward Jay Whetmore notes, “Popular culture represents a common denominator(共同特征), something that cuts across most economic, social, and educational barriers. “ If the notion of culture reflects a certain degree of social stratification (分层) and differentiation, then popular culture represents the elements of everyday life, the artifacts and institutions shared by a society, and a body of common knowledge.

Another distinguishing characteristic of popular culture is its transitory nature. New images appear on our TV screens, replacing the popular images of years or seasons before; new phrases supersede former favorites in our popular lexicon (词汇); unknown entertainers become celebrities overnight, while others fade just as quickly from the spotlight.

Interestingly, if an icon of popular culture survives, it can often make the leap into high culture. For example, Wilkie Collins’s nineteenth-century horror stories were read as avidly as Stephen King’s novels are today. His works survive among today’s elite audiences but are virtually

unknown to most popular audiences. We might ask then, what of contemporary popular culture might survive beyond the immediate here and now and ultimately speak to future audiences at a higher, more specialized level?

What, then, is pop culture? Although it’s notoriously difficult to define, some elements of a definition emerge from this discussion; pop culture is the shared knowledge and practices of a specific group at a specific time. Because of its commonality, pop culture both reflects and influences the people’s way of life; because it i s linked to a specific time and place, pop culture is transitory, subject to change, and often an initiator of change.

Notes:

1.Arnold, Matthew (1822-1888), English poet, whose work is representative of Victorian

intellectual concerns and who was the foremost literary critic of his age.

2.Brahms: 勃拉姆斯Johannes, 1833-1897, 德国作曲家

3.pygmy: 俾格米人(属一种矮小人种,身长不足5英尺)

4.denigrate: To disparage; belittle: 贬低轻视；贬低

5.punk rockers: A performer or follower of punk rock music. 庞克音乐的表演者或追随者

6.denominator: A common trait or characteristic. 共同特征或共同性质

III.Why Study Popular Culture

Though pop culture is increasingly accepted as a legitimate object of academic inquiry, educators still debate whether it should be studied. Some critics contend that it would be more valuable to study the products of high culture—Shakespeare rather than Spielberg, Eliot rather than Elvis. Their arguments often center on the issue of quality, as they assert that pop culture, transitory and often trendy, lacks the lasting value and strong artistic merit of high culture. Further, they argue that, because pop appeals to a mass audience rather than an educated elite, it is necessarily of low quality, no better than average. Although few critics of pop culture deny its pervasive influence, many argue that this influence should be considered negative, and they point to the violence and sexual explicitness of song lyrics, television programs, and movies, as well as to the triviality and downright foolishness of many popular trends. Pop culture debases us, these critics contend, turning us into passive recipients of low-quality goods, distracting us from high culture.

It’s important to note that very few proponents of pop culture—pop cultists, as Marshall Fishwick calls them—take a wholesale, uncritical approach and approve all things popular. Many, for example, accept the argument that products with many appeal are often qualitatively inferior to those intended for an educated, elite audience. However, pop cultists remind us that the gap between the two isn’t always so wide; that the same basic activities of creation, refinement, and reception are involved in both popular and high culture; and that, as we’ve noted, the “popular” works of one era can become the “classics” of another.

Moreover, pop cultists argue for the validity of studying MTV, The National Enquirer, video games, and the Miss America Pageant because such mass phenomena serve as a kind of mirror in which we can discern much about ourselves.

George Lipsitz, for instance, suggests that “perhaps the most important facts about people have alway s been encoded within the ordinary and the commonplace.” And as Ray Browne, a noted scholar of pop culture, puts it, “Pop culture is a very important segment of our society. The contemporary scene is holding us up to ourselves to see; it can tell us who we are, what we are, and why.”

We see reflected in pop culture certain standards and commonly held beliefs about beauty, success, love, or justice. We also see reflected there important social contradictions and conflicts—the tension between races, genders, or generations, for example. To find out about ourselves, then, we can turn to our own popular products and pastimes.

Another argument or studying popular culture focuses on the important influence it exerts on us. The media and other pop culture components are part of the fund of ideas and images that inform our daily activities, sometimes exerting a more compelling influence than family or friends, school or work. When we play sports, we mimic the gestures and movements of professional athletes; we learn to dance from the videos on MTV; we even name our children after popular television characters. More importantly, we discover role models; we learn lessons about villainy and heroism, love and relationships, acceptable and unacceptable behavior; we see interactions with people from other cultures. Even if popular culture is merely low-quality amusement or a means of escaping the demands of the “real” world, it delivers important messages that we may internalize and later act on—for better or for worse. We should examine and analyze pop culture, then, in order to assess—and sometimes resist—its influences.

IV.States and Capitols

V.State Nicknames (Spot Dictation)

Part I

1.Alabama is known as the ________________________ because it is in the very

middle of a group of states in the Deep South. "Dixie" itself is a nickname for _____________________. It started when Louisiana printed notes with the French word for "ten" on them. "Deece," or "D-I-X," led to "Dixie."

2.Way up north, Alaska is called _________________________ for understandable

reasons. Near the Arctic Circle, it was the final part of the nation to be explored and settled.

3.Arizona is __________________________________ because of the famous

winding canyon carved by the Colorado River.

4.The southern state of Arkansas is _____________________________. The state

legislature chose this nickname. Arkansas is rich in natural resources and has become a favorite place for older people to retire.

5.In a popular Spanish book, a fictional island called "California" was filled with

gold. Sure enough, plenty of it was discovered in the real California, in eighteen forty-eight. This started a gold rush unlike any other in American history in the _________________.

6.You would think Colorado would be known as the Rocky Mountain State. But its

nickname is _________________________. That is because it became a state in eighteen seventy-six, exactly one hundred years after the nation declared its independence.

7.Connecticut is called _________________ after a spice. Connecticut Yankees, as

people in this northeast state are called, are known to be smart in business. So smart that it was said they could sell wooden, meaning false, nutmegs (肉豆蔻) to strangers.

8.Little Delaware is called _____________________ because it was the first state --

the first to approve the new United States Constitution.

9.The Southern state of Florida likes to tell about its sunny days and fine beaches.

So Florida is ____________________.

10.Florida's neighbor to the north grows some of the sweetest fruit in America. So

Georgia is ______________________.

11.Hawaii, far out in the Pacific Ocean, is __________________. That is the

friendly greeting that means both "hello" and "goodbye" in the native Hawaiian language.

Part II

1.Idaho is known as _____________________. This is not because it has diamonds but

because it believes it is the jewel of the western Rocky Mountains.

2.Illinois is _________________________. It is named for Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth

president who led the nation through the Civil War in the eighteen sixties.

3.The midwestern state of Indiana is called __________________, but nobody is quite sure

why.

4.Iowa's nickname, ___________________, is in honor of Black Hawk, an Indian chief who

spent most of his life in neighboring Illinois!

5.Kansas also has a "hawkish" nickname: ___________________________. Jayhawkers were

free-state guerrilla fighters opposed to the pro-slavery fighters in the years before the Civil War.

6.Kentucky is _____________________. Bluegrass is really bright green but looks bluish from a

distance.

7.Louisiana is ____________________. A bayou is a slow-moving stream. Hundreds of them

flow through this southern state, and many are full of alligators!

8.Maine, in the nation's northeast, is _____________________________ because it is

covered in evergreen woods.

9.And directly across the country, on the Pacific Coast, is the state of Washington. It also has

lots of evergreen trees so, not surprisingly, it is __________________________________. 10.The eastern state of Massachusetts is _____________________. This body of water

separates most of the state from famous Cape Cod.

11.Michigan is ____________________. A wolverine(狼獾) is a small, fierce mammal.

12.The badger獾is a similar and equally fierce creature and Wisconsin is

________________________.

13.Neighboring Minnesota, "The Gopher State," is named for a much nicer animal that builds

hills and tunnels. However, "The Land of Ten Thousand Lakes" is written on Minnesota's vehicle license plates. (gopher: 囊地鼠)

14.North Dakota gets its nickname, "The Flickertail State" not from some bird, but from a little

squirrel. (flickertail: 金花鼠)

15.South Dakota takes its nickname, "The Coyote State," from an animal that thinks flickertails

are good to eat! (coyote: 一种产于北美大草原的小狼, 山狗)

16.And Oregon, "The Beaver State," borrows its nickname from the large, flat-tailed rodent

that uses trees to build dams. (beaver: 海狸)

Part III

1.The mid-Atlantic state of Maryland is called ____________________. A Baltimore

newspaper first called it that during the nineteen twenties when the manufacture and sale of alcohol were banned for a time. Maryland said it wanted to be free from this prohibition.

2.Mississippi is The Magnolia木兰State.It is named for a tree with big, beautiful white

flowers that grows in that hot, southern state.

3.The midwestern state of Missouri is called ___________________________. The people of

that frontier state were once famous for not believing everything people told them.

4.If you visit the western mountain and plains state of Montana you will know why it is known

as ____________________.

5.Nebraska is the only state to have a nickname that honors sports teams! The state

university's athletic teams are nicknamed Cornhuskers in recognition of one of the area's chief crops. The state borrowed the Cornhusker nickname from the university. 美国内布拉斯加州居民之绰号(意为剥玉米皮的乡巴佬)

6.The western desert state of Nevada is called ___________________. It was once home to

many silver mines and towns that grew up around them. Today, most of them are empty "ghost towns."

7.New Hampshire, in the northeast area called New England, is The Granite State because of

that colorful rock. 花岗岩

8.New Jersey is between the big cities of New York, New York and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

It got its nickname, ____________________, because New Jersey truck farms once provided vegetables to those big cities.

9.New York, which always thinks big, was called __________________________ because of its

natural wealth. The most famous Manhattan skyscraper got its name from the state. It is, of course, the Empire State Building.

10.If you get a chance to see a red sunset over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico,

you will know why that southwestern state is called __________________________________

11.North and South Carolina were one colony until seventeen twenty-nine. South Carolina's

nickname is the easier of the two: It is The Palmetto State because of a fan-leafed palm tree that grows there. (palmetto [植]美洲蒲葵(棕榈科植物)

12.North Carolina is the Tar Heel State.That is because many of the men who worked to

gather substances from trees wore no shoes. They would make turpentine松节油, 松脂from tar柏油and get the black, sticky tar on the heels of their feet.

Part IV

1.The state of Ohio is in the midwest. It is named _______________________ after a tree

that produces nuts similar to chestnuts.

2.The Great Plains state of Oklahoma is called _________________________. That is because

of a sale of land in eighteen eighty-nine. Some people arrived in the territory to claim their land earlier than they were supposed to. They cheated and got there "sooner."

3.Pennsylvania's nickname is ___________________________. Just as a keystone [建] 拱心石,

楔石holds together a stone arch, Pennsylvania was seen as holding together the young American republic. Pennsylvania is also sometimes called the Quaker State.Its founder, William Penn, and most of his followers, were members of the Protestant Quaker religion. 4.Rhode Island's nickname is _____________________ because of its size. The state is smaller

than the area around Los Angeles, California.

5.Tennessee got its nickname -- ______________________-- because of the bravery of its

citizens. They volunteered to join Tennessean Andrew Jackson to defend the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, against the British army in the War of Eighteen Twelve.

6.Texas is called ________________________. It gets its nickname from the single star on its

flag. This represents the short time Texas was an independent nation battling Mexico for self-rule.

7.The Beehive State of Utah has no more beehives than any other state. The nickname is from

the Mormon Church's symbol for hard work.

8.The eastern state of Vermont is proud of its beautiful Green Mountains so it calls itself

___________________________________.

9.The southern state of Virginia is called the Old Dominion.Long ago, King Charles the

Second of England added the colony's coat of arms to his shield. It joined his other

dominions of England, Ireland, and Scotland.

10.West Virginia broke away from Virginia in the eighteen sixties. It is called

simply______________________for the ancient Appalachian mountains.

11.And we have saved perhaps the most American nickname for last. The western state of

Wyoming was once an area where cattle were transported east. And where there are cattle, there are men -- and now women -- to move them. So Wyoming is

__________________________.

2. National Symbols

1.The Stature of Liberty (Spot Dictation)

1.In the waters of New York city, the statue of Liberty is probably the single most iconic

landmark in all of the United States. Known as ______________ this massive statue

has appeared in ______________ movies, TV shows, pictures and even a few songs.

2.Symbolizing ______________, it was originally a present from _______ in 1886.

3.It is made of _____________ and originally had the _________color of the metal,

and developed a green patina ( 绿锈）long ago.

4.It is designed after the Roman Goddess of Freedom with a torch of _________ and a

book of the________.

2.Mount Rushmore（Spot Dictation）

Each president represents important values in America. George Washington led the cause for _________. Thomas Jefferson represented the belief in _____________. Abraham Lincoln ____________________and ___________________. And Theodore Roosevelt was a _________________ and symbol of the _______________ spirit of America.

3.Uncle Sam (Cloze Test)

It is the nickname and cartoon image used to personify the U.S. government. It is __________ from the initials U.S. and was first popularized on supply containers during the War of 1812. The first visual representation or caricature of an Uncle Sam figure, __________ in stars and stripes, appeared in political cartoons in 1832. The character came to be seen _______a shrewd Yankee, possibly after the character Brother Jonathan in the play The Contrast (1787) by Royall Tyler. In the 20th century Uncle Sam has usually been _____________ with a short beard, high hat, and tailed coat. In 1961 the U.S. Congress _____________ the figure as a national symbol.

4.The bald eagle was chosen on June 20, 1782 as the emblem of the United States of America

because of its __________________________________________________. It is a symbol of _________________________________________________.

5.The seal pictures an American bald eagle holding a ribbon in its beak; the ribbon has the

motto of the USA, "E PLURIBUS UNUM," __________ “out of many, one." The eagle is __________ an olive branch (with 13 olives and 13 leaves) in one foot (symbolizing peace) and 13 arrows in the other (the 13 stands for the original 13 colonies and the arrows _______________ the acceptance of the need to go to war to protect the country.)

A shield is ____________________ the eagle; the shield ______ 13 red and white stripes

(representing the original 13 colonies) with a blue bar above it (it _____________the

uniting of the 13 colonies and _____________ congress). ___________ the eagle are rays,

a circle of clouds, and 13 white stars.

6.Flag of the United States, popularly __________ the American flag, the official national flag

of the United States. It consists of 13 horizontal stripes, 7 red _______________ with 6 white, and in the upper corner near the staff, a rectangular blue field, or canton, __________________ 50 five-pointed white stars. The stripes symbolize the 13 colonies that originally ______________ the United States of America. The stars _________________ the 50 states of the Union. In the language of the Continental Congress, which defined the symbolic meanings of the colors red, white, and blue, _______ used in the flag, “White ______________ Purity and Innocence; Red, Hardiness and Valor; and Blue, Vigilance, Perseverance and Justice.” Because of its stars, stripes, and colors, the American flag is frequently called the Star-Spangled Banner, the Stars and Stripes, or the Red, White, and Blue.

7.National Anthems

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light,

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,

Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,

In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:

'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave,

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

When our land is illuminated with liberty’s smile,

If a foe from within strikes a blow at her glory,

Down, down with the traitor that tries to defile

The flag of the stars, and the page of her story!

By the millions unchained,

Who their birthright have gained

We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained;

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave,

While the land of the free is the home of the brave.[1-2]

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore?

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion.

A home and a country should leave us no more,

Their blood has washed out of of their foul footsteps' pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave,

From the terror of flight and the gloom of the grave.

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand,

Between their loved home and the war's desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land;

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave,

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

8.Some have described the United States as a “melting pot” where racial and ethnic groups

have been ______________ into one culture./ The United States has been described as a melting pot where ethnic and racial groups _________ their specific traits and join with other Americans to create a new ___________ .

Others are inclined to see the United States as a “salad bowl” where various groups have remained somewhat ____________ and ____________ from one another, creating

a richly ____________ country.

Perhaps the United States will be described not as a “melting pot’ or a “salad bowl”, but as a “mosaic” -a picture made up of many tiny pieces of ______________ colors. If one looks closely at the nation, the individuals of different colors and ethnic groups are still distinct and recognizable, but together they create a picture that is uniquely American.

3. Geography

I.The location, size and regions of the United States (Spot Dictation)

Geographers often divide large territories such as the United States into smaller ________ to examine them more closely. In this program, we will examine the U.S. as a whole, and also take a more __________ look at our country’s special land areas, natural resources, waterways and people.

The United States encompasses some _________________ square miles. Over a quarter million square miles of U.S. territory consists of _______ of water such as the Great Lakes, and the Chesapeake Bay. Based on its area, the United States is the ________ largest country in the world. Only Russia and Canada are bigger. America consists of 50 states. And except for Hawaii which is _______ in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, every state is located in the Continental North America.

The “Lower Forty-Eight” states ________ much of the North American Continent. They are __________ by the Nations of Canada on the north and Mexico to the South. Each of these 48 states ____________ a border with at least with one other state.

Located in the _________________ region of the Continent, Alaska is not ____________ with any other states. Instead, it shares its eastern boundary with Canada. Of the 50 states, Alaska is by far the largest, encompassing a land area of nearly ___________________ square miles. In fact, Alaska is more than 500 times the size of Rhode Island, our smallest state. But even though Alaska’s land area is so much larger, Rhode Island’s population actua lly ___________ Alaska’s by over 400,000 people.

States in certain areas of the country are quite similar to one another, in terms of their general land ____________, their climate and the ________ of their plants and animals that ___________ there. Based on such similarities, geographers group states together into geographical ________ for purposes of study. The seven basic regions of the United States are the New England region, the Middle Atlantic region, the Southeastern region, the Midwestern region, the Mountain region, the Pacific region and the Southwestern region.

II.The Major Mountains (Cloze Test)

The Appalachians on the east ________ almost unbroken from Alabama to the Canadian border and beyond, running _________ to the east coast. They are old mountains (the highest elevation is less than 7,000 feet) with many coal-rich valleys between them, and are _____ back from the Atlantic by a broad belt of coastal lowland. While this coastal region ________ no very remarkable scenery, not much in the way of mineral wealth, it was here that the American nation was planted and took _______ in the 17th century.

The system is 2,400 km (1,500 mi) long and varies from 160 to more than 480 km (100 to more than 300 mi) in _______. Its altitude ___________ between 460 and nearly 2,040 m (1,500 and nearly 6,700 ft).

The Rocky Mountains are often said to be “the backbone of the continent,” and are

considered young mountains. The Rockies are high, rough, and irregular. The western United States around the Rockies, unlike the east, has no coastal plain, and the mountains along the Pacific coast __________ abruptly and often spectacularly into the sea. It is a peculiar and wonderful place—a land of impressive scenery, considerable environmental variety, and great mineral wealth.

______________ from central New Mexico to northeastern British Columbia, a distance of about 3220 km (about 2000 mi), the system ________ from 70 to 400 miles ___________ and from 5,000 to 14,433 feet _________.

III.The Mississippi River (Spot Dictation)

The Mississippi _____ from near the northern border of the United States south into the Gulf of Mexico. The river flows for more than ___________ kilometers through the center of the country. It is one of the longest rivers in the world. Only ____ rivers in the world are longer. They are the Nile in Africa, the Amazon in South America, the Yangtze in China and the Missouri in the United States.

The name, Mississippi, came from the Chippewa Indians who lived in what is now the north _______ part of the United States. Their name for the river was "maesi-sipu". In the Chippewa language this meant "____________________". The word was not easy for European _________ to say. So they began calling it the Mississippi instead. Today, it is often called "_____________".

The most famous city on the Mississippi is at the river's southern ___. It is the ____ city of New Orleans, Louisiana. French explorers first _______ there, naming the town after the French city of Orleans (Or-lay-onh). From its earliest days, New Orleans was an important center for national and international trade. During the War of Eighteen-Twelve a great ______ was fought there against British forces.

The Mississippi has always had an important part in American history. Today, the river is still an important part of the American _______. _____ are carried up and down the river to get to other parts of the country and the world.

Today, New Orleans continues to be an important center for business and international trade. But the city is probably most famous for its culture, music, and food. Many cultures _____ in New Orleans. The large black population of the city ________ strong influences from Africa, the Caribbean, and South America. French culture also has been very important since the time the city and large areas of North America ________ to France.

Human __________ on and along the Mississippi River have changed through history. But the great river just keeps flowing through the center of America. As the song "Old Man River" says: "It must know something. It don't say nothing. It just keeps rolling along."

IV.The Great Lakes (Spot Dictation)

10,000 years ago, glaciers ___________ deep valleys that were filled with icy waters. This was the _________ of the Great Lakes, the largest fresh water system on earth, _________ more than 94 thousand sq miles and _____________ one fifth of the world's fresh surface water.

When European settlers arrived, they found forests, prairies, wet lands and rivers _______ with wild lives. Eventually towering cities ________ out on the shores of Lake Michigan, Huron,

Erie, Superior and Ontario, a prosperity ______ by the region’s abundant natural resources, today these natural systems continue to provide. Northern forests fill to the air and water while _________ us with the central products. Coastal wet lands and _________ rivers support valuable fisheries. Fertile lands _______ a diversity of crops. And scenic coastlines give us a ________ of places to form family memories.

But __________ has come at a cost. Now many of the Great Lakes natural system have been ___________. The way that we ______ our lands and waters today will have a ________ effect on the future of the natural world.

4. A New Nation

1.Pilgrims ( Spot Dictation)

K ing Henry the Eighth of England had separated from the Roman Catholic Church. His daughter, Queen Elizabeth, established the Protestant religion in England. It was called the Church of England, or the Anglican Church. The Anglican Church, however, was similar to that of the Roman Catholic Church.

Not all Protestants liked this. Some wanted to leave the Anglican Church and form religious groups of their own. In sixteen-oh-six, members of one such group in the town of Scrooby did separate from the Anglican Church. About one hundred twenty-five people left England for Holland. They found problems there too, so they decided to move again...to the New World.

These people were called pilgrims, because that is the name given to people who _____________________________________________________________________________.

2.States’ rights vs. federal government (Cloze Test)

American political discourse has always __________ between the claims of states’ rights and individual freedom, on the one hand, and the claims of the nation and of society as a whole, ____________. The process of ___________ these rival claims is often painful, controversial, and messy.

3.Sectional Conflicts (Cloze Test)

T wo such organizations began to __________ during President Washington's first administration. One was ______ the Federalists. Its leader was Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. The other was called the Republicans. Its leader was Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. Each group ___________ the political beliefs of its leader.

Hamilton and the Federalists ______ a strong national government with a powerful president and courts. They _________ policies that helped bankers and wealthy businessmen. They did not like democracy, which they _________ as mob rule.

Thomas Jefferson and the Republicans _________ the Constitution as a plan of government. But they did not think the Constitution ____ the national government unlimited powers. They supported policies that helped the nation's farmers and small businessmen. And they ________ more rights, more democracy, for the people of the United States.

During the 1790s Jefferson’s main fear had been that Federalist economic policies were favoring northern commercial development _________________ southern agriculture. After 1800 Federalist opposition to the Louisiana Purchase and to the War of 1812 grew mainly out of concern that the now dominant Republicans were ___________ New England’s political and commercial interests to those of the South and West.

4.Territorial Expansion of the United States (Spot Dictation)

The history of the territorial expansion of the United States is the story of wars won in loss, the regions bought and sold.

When France lost the French and Indian War in 1763, it _____ most of its possessions in North America to Britain, __________ British domains beyond the original 13 colonies. Since Spain was an ally of France, it had to give East and West Florida to Britain, but was ____________ by France with a territory west of the Mississippi.

With the declaration of independence from Britain in 1776, the United States was ______ from the original 13 colonies but had to wage war with Britain to establish its ____________. The Treaty of Paris concluded the revolutionary war in 1783 with America __________ to the Mississippi River and Spain recovering Florida, since in this war it was an American ally.

But in 1800 Spain ____________ ceded the Louisiana Territory back to France when Napoleon was hoping to establish an empire in North America. When President Thomas Jefferson learned of this arrangement, he became ___________ with the potential threat of an aggressive empire builder. He sent envoys to France to ___________ New Orleans and West Florida for $10 million dollars. Instead they came back with the entire Louisiana Territory for $15 million. Napoleon had needed money for his war against Britain.

In 1810, American settlers led the _________ against the Spanish in West Florida, capturing the port of Baton Louge. The remainder of West Florida was _____________ later by President James Madison.

In the agreement after the war of 1812, Britain ceded the Red River Basin and the ____________ between the United States and British territory, what is now Canada, was set at the 49th parallel, with the Oregon territory to be _________occupied.

In 1821 Spanish cessions of East and West Florida were ____________, and Spain surrendered any claims to the Pacific Northwest. Later that year Mexico ______________ its independence and became another power in North America. Settlers had been moving ___________ into Texas and as in Florida fought for its independence, this time against Mexico. The Republic of Texas was declared in 1836. The slavery issue had kept Texas from being annexed for several years. With the threat of a Mexican invasion, President Polk ____________ its annexation.

American settlers moved into the Oregon Territory, causing border ___________. Rather than the risk of war in 1846, the border was extended along the 49th parallel as it is today. But to the South war _________ between Mexico and the United States over the Texas border. Mexico lost and ______________all claims north of the Rio Grande River as well as New Mexico and California. Diplomat James Gadsden _____________ additional Mexican territory for $10 million in 1853, establishing the present-day boundary.

In 1867 William H. Seward purchased Alaska for $7.2million from Russia, which had been ready to abandon its ___________ for an empire so far away. The same year, Canada gained its independence from Britain. The Spanish-American War of 1898 proved Hawaii to be of ___________importance to the US Navy and was annexed from Spain as well as the Puerto Rico.

By 1912 all the _____________ of the “lower 48” were admitted as states. Alaska and Hawaii joined the Union in 1959, completing the current formation of the United States.

5.A Nation Divided

I.American Civil War ( Spot Dictation)

The Civil War was a conflict _______ way of life. The plantation agriculture of the South depended upon slaves. So when Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860. His __________ to slavery was seen as a threat to the economic interests of the Southern states.

The South responded by ________ from the Union and founded the Confederate States of America in 1861 South Carolina was the first to secede on December 20, 1860. Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana soon followed in January withTexas seceding on February 1. Three days later, delegates from these states _______ a constitution of the Confederacy. Jefferson Davis, former Secretary of War and Senator from Mississippi, was ___________ as President on February 18 before Lincoln himself would be officially inaugurated.

In April, Confederate ______ fired the first shots on Ft. Sumter, gaining control of the port of Charleston, South Carolina. Lincoln called out 75,000 volunteers, __________ to suppress the insurrection. It was the beginning of the war.

Virginia, North Carolina, Tenessee and Arkansas seceded in the spring. The Confederacy had 11 states, the Union 23. The South had a population of 9 million, 3 million of them slaves, against 22 million in the North. Lincoln moved to keep the border states of Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland and Delaware _____ to the Union. West Virginia split from Virginia and became a state in 1863.

To cut off supplies, Lincoln ordered a naval blockade of over 180 harbors of the Confederacy. In June, Confederates were pushed out of the Union Strongholds in the North. On July 21, the two sides met in the first major engagement of the war, the Battle of Bull Run which ended in a Confederate victory. Confederate General “Stonewall” Jackson became a hero. And confidence in the South ______. To the west in February 1862, the Union had better luck when Union General Ulysses Grant took Ft. Henry and Donelson, driving the Confederates from Kentucky and central Tenesse.

As Grant advanced south, Confederate General A. S. Johnston concentrated his forces for a surprise attack at Shiloh Church, one of the worst battles of any American wars, the Battle of Shiloh raged for 2 days. At first, the South was successful, but with Union _____________, a counter attack forced their withdrawal. Both sides suffered almost equal losses. Shiloh would be a green harbinger of the carnage to come.

II.Reconstruction ( Dictation)

1.Reconstruction means _________________. The post-war years between ________ and __________ are called the Reconstruction period.

2.On _______________________________________, Lincoln issued his memorable Emancipation Proclamation. In it, he proclaimed that _____________________________________________________________________________.

3.The main issues of reconstruction:

(1)___________________________________________________________________________.

(2)___________________________________________________________________________.

(3)___________________________________________________________________________.

4.Lincoln believed in ______________ to the defeated southerners.

III.Jim Crow (Cloze Test)

Jim Crow, the system of laws and customs that ________ racial segregation and

discrimination throughout the United States, especially the South, from the late 19th century to the 1960s.

Crow was the name of a character in minstrelsy (in which white performers in blackface used African American stereotypes in their songs and dances); it is not clear how the term ____ to describe American segregation and discrimination.

IV.The History of the Ku Klux Klan (Dictation)

1.Riding hard to stop the wave of reform transforming the South, the Ku Klux Klan had

been using terrorism against ______________________________________ since

1865.

2.It was originally __________________ for six former confederate officers. The

organization became a refuge for both bigots and sadists.

3.The central mission of the invisible empire was the protection of the American way of

life for the ________________________________________________________.

Minorities not fitting the KKK ideal were actively persecuted.

4.The KKK’s power ___________ in 1924 when membership reached __________. That

year a resolution denouncing the clan was defeated at the democratic national convention.

5.Although the KKK has attempted to change its public ______________, the blazing cross

still _________________________________________________________.

V.The Gilded Age (Cloze Test)

Industrial expansion _________ a dramatic shift after the American Civil War, when industrialists bought up thousands of small companies and enterprises and ______ them into truly national companies and corporations. As a result, the profits of expanding industry became increasingly ____________in the hands of fewer and fewer people. It was a period labeled The Gilded Age by writer Mark Twain.

VI.The Progressive Era (Cloze Test)

The growth of industry and cities _______ problems. A small number of people ____ a large proportion of the nation’s wealth whil e others fell into poverty. Workers faced long hours, dangerous conditions, poor pay, and an uncertain future. Big business became closely ______ with government, and political machines, which offered services in return for votes, controlled some city governments. As the United States entered the 20th century, demand _____ to combat