UNIT 3
1.What is an American? Comment on the answer to the question by Crevecoeur?
(1)American is either a European or the descendant of a European, hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country.
He is an American, who leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he holds
The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles.He must therefore entertain new ideas and form new opinions...this is an American.
(2)According to Crevecoeur, The American in those days had the mixed blood of Europeans or their descendants without taking into consideration other nationalities such as American Indians and blacks.But today, the picture of an American is more complex.
1.What is an American?
He is either a European, or the descendant of a European, hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country.He is an American, who leaving behind him his entire ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he holds....Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labors and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world....The American is a new man, who acts new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions.
2.How did modern development in Europe influence the settlement of North American colonies?
Some new and powerful social forces began to emerge which led to the awakening of Europe and the discovery of America.
The first new force was the development of capitalism, and it produced the bourgeois cla and the working cla.
The second major force was Renaiance, which was marked by a changing outlook on life.The third influential force was Religious Reformation, a religious reform movement that started form Germany.
3.What was the unique American phenomenon? How did it come into being? Do you think it still exists in today\'s American society?
on the one hand, the English and other Europeans went to North American for seeking freedom.But on the other hand, these very white people who were seeking and fighting for their own freedom deprived black Africans of their freedom
The two events combined constituted a unique American.First one is that on July, 30, 1619, the first meeting of an elected legislature took place in North American.The second one is a Dutch ship brought in over 20 Negroes, who were acted as servants for years.
Yes, I do.
4.In what way did Puritanism influence American culture?
The Puritans believed that governments should enforce God\'s morality.They strictly punished drunks, adulterers, violators of the Sabbath and other religious believers different from themselves.Roger Williams, one of the Puritans who protested that the state should not interfere with religion, was driven out of Maachusetts.In 1635, he set up Rhode Island colony, which guaranteed religious freedom and the separation of church and state.The Puritans also have left rich cultural heritage to future Americans.The American values such as individualism, hard work, and respect of education owe very much to the Puritan beliefs.
4.In what way did Puritanism influence American culture?
(1).Today, Puritans are no longer in existence.But their legacies are still felt in American society and culture.For example, the Puritans hoped to build \"a city upon hill\" an ideal community.Since that time, Americans have viewed their country as a great experiment, a worthy model for other nations.This sense of miion has been very strong in the minds of many Americans.
(2).The Puritans also have left rich cultural heritage to future Americans.The American values such as individualism, hard work, and respect of education owe very much to the Puritan beliefs.
Unit 4
2.What is a federal system? What are some of the major differences between a federal system and a confederation?
The Constitution set up a federal system with a strong central government.A federal system is one in which power is shared between a central authority and its constituent parts, with some rights reserved to each.The Constitution also called for the election of a national leader, or president.It provided that federal laws would be made only by a Congre made up of
representatives elected by the people.It also provided for a national court system headed by a Supreme Court.
3.What are some of the major powers of each of the three branches of the U.S.government? How are the three branches supposed to check and balance each other?
If Congre proposes a law that the president thinks is unwise, the president can veto it.That means the proposal does not become law.Congre can enact the law despite the president\'s views only if two-thirds of the members of both houses vote in favor of it.If Congre paes a law which is then challenged in the courts as unconstitutional, the Supreme Court has the power to declare the law unconstitutional and therefore no longer in effect.The president has the power to make treaties with other nations and to make all appointments to federal positions, including the position of Supreme Court justice.The Senate, however, must approve all treaties and confirm all appointments before they become official.In this way the Congre can prevent the president from making unwise appointments.
3.What are some of the major powers of each of the three branches of the U.S.government? How are the three branches supposed to check and balance each other?
(A) 1.-- the legislative branch is made up of elected representatives from all of the states and is the only branch that can make federal laws, levy federal taxes and declare war or put foreign treaties into effect.It consists of a Congre that is divided into the House of Representative and the Senate.The House of Representatives has 435 members who serve two-year terms.The Senate comprises 100 lawmakers who serve six-year terms.Each state, regardle of population, has two senators.
2.-- the executive branch is the president, who is elected to a four-year term.A president can be elected to only two terms according to an amendment paed in 1951.The president can appoint federal judges as vacancies occur.He is the commander in chief of the armed forces.The president has other broad authorities in running the government departments and handling foreign relations.
3.-- the judicial branch is headed by the Supreme Court with a chief justice and 8 aociate justices.The Federal courts have jurisdiction over cases arising out of the Constitution and other cases which do not arise out of individual states.The Supreme Court has the judicial review power, the power determining whether congreional legislation or executive action violates the Constitution.
(B) 1.If Congre proposes a law that the president thinks is unwise, the president can veto it.
2.If Congre paes a law which is then challenged in the courts as unconstitutional, the Supreme Court has the power to declare the law unconstitutional and therefore no longer in effect.
3.The president has the power to make treaties with other nations and to make all appointments to federal positions, including the position of Supreme Court justice.The Senate, however, must approve all treaties and confirm all appointments before they become official.In this way the Congre can prevent the president from making unwise appointments.
4．What is the Bill of Rights? Do you think that it was neceary to write the Bill of Rights explicitly into the U.S.Constitution?
The Bill of Rights: the first 10 amendments, collectively known as the Bill of Rights, were added within two years of the adoption of the U.S.Constitution.These amendments remain intact today, as they were written two centuries ago.The first guarantees freedom of worship, speech and pre, the right of peaceful aembly, and the right to petition the government to correct wrongs.The Bill of Rights and subsequent constitutional amendments guarantee the American people the fullest poible opportunity to enjoy fundamental human rights.
UNIT 6
2.What is the relationship between government and religion in America?
In some ways, the government supports all religions.Religious groups do not pay taxes in the United States.But government does not pay ministers\' salaries or require any belief—not even a belief in God—as a condition of holding public office.Oaths are administered, but those who, like Quakers, object to them, can make a solemn affirmation, or declaration, instead
4.What are some of the features in religion that are particularly American? What are some of the major differences between American religion and religion in Europe?
First of all, Americans with different religions live together under the same law.
Secondly, the religious beliefs of Americans continue to be strong with social progre.In Europe, scientific and economic advance and rising material prosperity have accompanied by a decline in religious observance in the US, this has not happened.
Thirdly, in the United States every church is a completely independent organization, and
concerned with its own finance and its own building.There has been little concentration on doctrine or religious argument such as in European history,
Unit 7
5.Why did Mark Twain win so many readers both at home and abroad?
Mark Twain was the first major American writer to be born away from the East Coast.He grew up in a small town on the banks of the Miiippi River and received only a basic public school education.He began working in a printer’s jobs in the Midwest and the West.Twin was a new voice, an original genius, a man of the people.And he quickly won readers.
UNIT 8
1.What is the goal of education in the United States? Discu the similarities and differences in Great Britain, the United States and China concerning the goals of education.
The goal is—and has been since the early decades of the republic—to achieve universal literacy and to provide individuals with the knowledge and skills neceary to promote both their own individual welfare as well as that of the general public.Though this goal has not yet been fully achieved, it remains an ideal toward which the American educational system is directed.The progre which has been made is notable both for its scope and for the educational methods which have been developed in the proce of achieving it.
3.What are the major characteristics of education in America?
(1) Different education laws for different states.
(2) Several levels of schooling：Elementary Schooling，Secondary Schooling and High Schooling.
(3) Curricula for students: there is no national curriculum in the United States.
(3) Compulsory education for all students.
(4) Equal education opportunities for minority groups.
(5) Strong demand for higher education.
(6) The complex system of higher education.
Some states play a strong role in the selection of learning material for their students.
Schools were asked not only to teach this new information, but to help students ask their own questions about it.The “inquiry” method of learning, focusing on solving problems rather than memorizing facts, became popular.
3.What are the major characteristics of education in America?
1.About 85% of American students attend public schools (schools supported by American taxpayers).The other 15% attend private schools, for which their families choose to pay special attendance fees.Four out of five private schools in the United States are run by churches, synagogues or other religious groups.In such schools, religious teachings are a part of the curriculum.
2.Each of the 50 states in the United States has its own laws regulating education.From state to state, some laws are similar; others are not.Education in the United States was to remain in the hands of state and local governments.
3.Americans have a strong tendency to educate their children about major public concerns—problems such as environmental pollution, nuclear iues, neighborhood crime and drugs.
