英美概况知识点

1 What are the main principles of American political system?

Federalism, separation of powers and national supremacy.

2 What is the composition of population in the USA?

The Indians, African Americans, the Hispanics, the Asians and the

Jews.

3 What are the two major parties in the USA?

The Democratic Party and the Republican Party.

4 Name one of the two major mountain ranges in the United States

The Rocky Mountain System.

5 Which city in the USA has the largest Chinese settlement?

San Francisco, California.

6 What kind of political system does the United States have?

Federalism.

7 What is the economic system does in the USA?

Free enterprise system.

8 What does Capital Hill usually refer to?

The United States Congress.

9 Why do US. People name Washington D.C. the District of

Columbia?

In honor of Christopher Columbus.

10 What are the three geographical divisions in the USA?

The Atlantic Coastal plain, the Interior Lowlands and the Pacific

Coast.

11 What kind of economic system does the United States have?

12 In what fields does the USA take the lead in modern science?

The fields of computer, space and atomic nuclear.

13 How many states did the USA have before 1959? How many

does it have now?

48 states ;50 states.

14 When and where the was the first English colony in the America

founded?

In 1607 and James town.

15 What are the principal functions of American higher education?

Teaching, the scientific research and the economic development.

Research public service.

16 What is the judicial body in the USA?

The Supreme Court.

17 How many presidential electors in the process of president

election?

538.

18 When does Valentine`s Day fall?

February 14.

19 What is a typical US family usually composed of?

Parents and two children.

20 How many states are there in the USA?

21 Which river is the longest one in the USA?

The Mississippi River.

22 What is the symbol of the republican party?

Elephant.

23 What is the original name of the Democratic Party?

The Anti-federalisms.

24 When does the Thanksgiving Day fall?

The last Thursday in November.

25 Who are the second largest ethnic group in the USA?

The blacks.

26 Who advanced a “new deal” during the “great depression ”?

Franklin D. Roosevelt.

27 What was America named after?

Amerigo Vespucci.

28 Which country did America ally with during the war of

independence?

France.

29Who were the first settlers of the New England Region?

Puritans.

30 Who issued The Emancipation Proclamation during the

American civil war?

Abraham Lincoln.

31 Why did the writers of the Constitution worked out the checks

and balances?

In order to prevent the exclusive exercise of those powers by any

one of the three branches.

32 What does the first period of the party system refer to in

America?

Federalists and Anti-federalists.

33 Which branch of the US government has the power to interpret

the constitution?

The Judicial branch.

34 Which state is the smallest one in USA in terms of area?

Rhode Island.

35 Who is the presiding officer of the Senate?

The vice president.

36 Who sailed to the New World in a ship called “Mayflower ” in

1620?

The Pilgrims.

37 which city is the financial, manufacturing and transportation center of the United States?

New York.

38 Under what circumstance can an act passed by congress and

signed by the president still be cancelled?

The majority rule that the law in question violates the Constitution.

39 What are the qualifications for becoming a candidate for president in USA?

The candidate must be a natural-born citizen, at least thirty-five years old, who has lived in the United States for a minimum of fourteen years.

40 The New Deal

It was a series of compromises and a reformation advanced by President Roosevelt to recover the bad economy from the Great Depression.

41 Chinatown

The area of a city where many Chinese people and there are Chinese shops and restaurants.

42 Veto

It is the presidential right to stop a law from being passed or a decision from being taken.

43 The second continental congress

It was a convention of delegates from the twelve colonies that started meeting on May 10 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after warfare in the American Revolutionary War had begun.

The Congress acted as the national government of what become the United States, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4 , 1776.

44 The jury

The sworn body of people convened to render a important verdict officially submitted to them by a court, of to set a penalty of judgement.

45 Federal system

It is the American government system in which the individual states of the country have control over their own affairs, but are controlled by the central government for national decisions, etc. 46 Checks and balances

In the US the principle of government by which the President, Congress and the Supreme Court each have some control the others.

47 The Confederate states of America

It refers to the eleven southern states of the US which left the United States in 1860, starting the American Civil War.

48 The Great Depression

It was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in 1930 and lasted

until the late 1930s of middle 1940s. it was the longest, most widespread, and deepest depression of the 20th century.

49 UPI

United Press International founded in 1958 is one of the major news agencies in the US, playing an important role in newspapers operation.

50 VOA

Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States government established in 1942, broadcasting in 41 languages round the clock in Washington D.C.

51 Semester system

It refers to one of the two periods that the school or college year is divided into in the US.

52 Melting pot

It refers to a place or situation in which large numbers of people, ideas, etc are mixed together in the US.

53 Make a composition between the higher education in China and that in USA

A Educational ideas: US`s education aims to build such an education to raise the creativity with less study less and more thought. China`s education aims to build the foundation of education with more study and less thought.

B Schools: Americans judge the quality not from the perspective of public and private schools, but from its teachers, courses and history. Many Chinese believe that private schools can`t be matched with the public schools, and they are belting or making a exclusion of private school in heart.

C Styles of inspecting student`s result: American schools emphasize more on the ability to analyze and solve the question but mot the ability of memory of description. In the Chinese universities, many teachers still adopt old teaching ways thus take a test which needs mechanical memorizing.

54 How do the three branches of US federal government check and balance each other?

The system of checks and balances grew out of the separate institutions that share power under the Constitution of the United States. By the system of checks and balances, each branch of government exercises some control over the other branches. There are several ways this can be done. The executive can veto legislation passed by Congress, however, can override a veto by a two-thirds vote of each house. The federal courts can rule on the constitutionality of a law. The President can influence the courts by the people and appoints to the judicial branch. The Senate must approve such appointments.

55 How do you read the difference between Chinese communist party and the two parties in the USA?

A Different classes: Chinese Communist Party is a proletarian party; The two parties are bourgeois parties.

B The belong of power: Chinese Communist Party is legally allowed to hold effective power and requires other parties to accept its leadership; One of the two parties in the US dominates that electoral success under the banner of any other party.

56 Why is USA called a “melting pot”?

Because there are many immigrants to the USA and there are many cultures and nationalists. So it is a place in which people, ideas, etc of different kinds gradually are mixed together.

57 Two-party system

A two-party system is a system where two major political parties dominate voting in nearly all elections at every level of government and, as a result, all or nearly all elected offices are members of one of the two major parties.