听力练习

精听建议：

先完整地把一条新闻听一到三遍，争取掌握大意。然后，一句一句精听，力争每句话都听明白。遇到实在不懂的地方，再听写。

下面的文本材料中空缺部分里面要填的词都很简单，不过是一些值得注意的连读或者典型的美式发音哦，有些语速比较快。试试看，你能不能全部写对？

（参考文本，欢迎指正^^）

Lesson49 This is the USA

The United States of America — the richest and one of the biggest countries in the world — has several names. People call it "the United states", " 1 ", "America", or just "the USA" or "the US".

There are fifty states in the USA (including Hawaii) with a population of over 2 . There is no "American climate" or "American countryside". Every part of the country is different, from Alaska in the north, covered with 3 , to tropical Florida in the south.

Who are the Americans? Where did they come from? Why did so many people go across the sea to the New World?
The American Indians were the first people to live in this vast land. They had a fascinating ancient culture, and a rich tradition of language and customs. When Christopher Columbus arrived, in 1492, there were probably about 4 Indians in North America. Then, the immigrants came. By the early nineteenth century, the immigrant population was more than 17 million. Most came from Europe, but there were also many from the Middle East and the Far East, as well as millions of Africans, caught in the terrible slave trade.

5 continued. In 1907 alone, one and a quarter million people arrived. By 1914, the population was 92 million. Now there are more than 25 million British Americans (nearly half the population of Britain), about 23 million African Americans, 25 million German Americans and more Irish Americans than the whole population of Ireland.

■填空答案■

中文翻译

这就是美国

美利坚合众国是世界上最为富有的国家和国土面积最大的国家之一，它拥有好几个名称。人们称之为“美利坚合众国”、“美国”、“USA”或“US”。

美国有五十个州（包括夏威夷），两亿多人口。没有什么“美国式气候”或“美国式乡村”，因为从北端冰雪覆盖的阿拉斯加，到南端炎热潮湿的佛罗里达，美国的每一个地方都不一样。

美国人什么样的人？他们从哪里来？为什么那么多的人漂洋过海来到这个新大陆？

美洲印第安人是这片广阔大陆上的最早居民。他们有令人着迷的古老文明和积淀深厚的语言及习俗的传统。克里斯托夫•哥伦布一四九二年到达北美时，那里大约有一百五十万印第安人。然后，有移民来到北美。十九世纪早期，移民人口已超过一千七百万，他们大多来自欧洲，也有许多来自中东和远东，还有罪恶的奴隶贸易带来的几百万非洲黑人。

移民潮持续着，仅一九零七年一年，就涌入一百二十五万人。到一九一四年，美国人口达到了九千两百万。现在，超过两千五百万的美国人是英国移民后代（几乎是英国人口的一半），非洲裔美国人大约两千三百万，德裔美国人两千五百万，还有数量超过爱尔兰总人口的爱尔兰裔美国人。

词汇讲解

1. tropical 热带(地区)的

Have you seen the brightly-coloured plumage of tropical birds?
你见过热带鸟类色彩斑斓的羽毛吗？

Her motherland is in the tropical region.
她的祖国位于热带地区。

2. immigrant 移民

Immigrant workers were classed as resident aliens.
移民来的工人已归入外侨类.

He admitted that he was an illegal immigrant.
他承认他是非法移民。

3. vast 广阔的,巨大的

A vast crowd turned out to watch the match.
大群的观众到场观看比赛。

The Pacific Ocean is a vast expanse of water.
太平洋是一片广大的水域。

4. fascinating 迷人的

The book is fascinating, despite its uninspiring title.
这本书很有意思, 虽然书名并不吸引人.

I find it extremely fascinating.
我觉得这非常迷人。