美國文化的英語介紹英文怎麼說
⑴ 求一英語短文 介紹美國文化
South America broke off from the west of the supercontinent Gondwanaland around 135 million years ago (Ma), forming its own continent.[4] Starting around 15 Ma, the collision of the Caribbean Plate and the Pacific Plate resulted in the emergence of a series of volcanoes along the border that created a number of islands. The gaps in the archipelago of Central America filled in with material eroded off North America and South America, plus new land created by continued volcanism. By 3 Ma, the continents of North America and South America were linked by the Isthmus of Panama, thereby forming the single landmass of the Americas.[5]
⑵ 求美國文化的英文介紹,有中文對照,簡潔一點啦~~~
美國合眾國(USA)是一個由五十個州和華盛頓特區組成的憲政聯邦共和制國家,專美國面臨著東瀕大屬西洋,東臨太平洋,西,北至加拿大,南到墨西哥,阿拉斯加是位於北美大陸的西北部,夏威夷是太平洋中部的島嶼,波多黎各,北馬里亞納群島和海外領地。在1776年7月4日,大陸會議在費城通過的獨立宣言,宣布美國出生。美國是一個多元文化和多民族的國家,為世界上最熱門的移民國家,美國是聯合國安理會五個常任理事國之一。經過數十年的冷戰,後分手的蘇聯,成為世界上唯一的超級大國,其經濟,政治,科技,軍事,娛樂等許多
美利堅合眾國(USA)是50個州和華盛頓特區的憲政聯邦共和制的國家,美國東瀕大西洋,西臨太平洋,北靠加拿大,墨西哥,阿拉斯加南部的,位於北美大陸,夏威夷西北部的是太平洋中部的群島,在波多黎各,北馬里亞納和其他海外領土。 1776年7月4日,大陸會議在費城通過了「獨立宣言」,宣告美國誕生。美國是一個多元文化和多民族的國家,一個世界流行的移民國家,美國是聯合國安理會五個常任理事國之一的。經過幾十年的冷戰時期,蘇聯崩潰後,成為世界上唯一的超級大國,其巨大影響力的經濟,政治,科技,軍事,娛樂等諸多領域居世界領先。
⑶ 英語介紹美國的文化
The culture of the United States is a Western culture, and has been developing since long before the United States became a country. Its chief early influence was British culture, e to colonial ties with the British that spread the English language, legal system and other cultural inheritances. Other important influences came from other parts of Europe, especially countries from which large numbers immigrated such as Ireland, Germany, Poland, and Italy; the Native American peoples; Africa, especially the western part, from which came the ancestors of most African Americans; and young groups of immigrants. American culture also has shared influence on the cultures of its neighbors in the New World.
The United States has traditionally been known as a melting pot, but recent academic opinion is tending towards cultural diversity, pluralism and the image of a salad bowl rather than a melting pot.[1][2] Due to the extent of American culture there are many integrated but unique subcultures within the United States. The cultural affiliations an indivial in the United States may have commonly depend on social class, political orientation and a multitude of demographic characteristics such as race, ethnicity, sex and sexual orientation.[3] The strongest influences on American culture came from northern European cultures, most prominently from Germany, Ireland and England.[2] There are great regional and subcultural differences, making American culture mostly heterogeneous.[3]
Further information: Cultural history of the United States
What is culture?
Main article: Culture
Current political division in the US is an indicator of the vast degree to which American culture varies from across the nation.
While an overwhelming majority of Americans claim religious affiliation, those who do not constitute more than 10% in most states. In Blue states 20%+ of respondents did not claim religious affiliation; 15%+ in green states; 10%+ in orange states and less than 10% in red states.[4]Culture whether in the United States or general consist of beliefs and values learned through the socialization process as well as material artifacts.[5][6] American society features a very diverse culture that features numerous sub-cultures ranging from the Orthodox Jewish community in New York, to Chinatowns in many major cities to agnostic professionals residing in urban lofts. Yet even in the United States, certain cultural norms and values such as a belief in the virtue of honesty are generally shared by nearly all groups and cultures. Culture guides the social interactions between members of society and influences the personal beliefs and values that shape a person's perception of their environment.[3]
「 "Culture is the learned set of beliefs, values, norms and material goods shared by group members... Culture consists of everything we learn in groups ring the life course-from infancy to old age." - William E. Thompson & Joseph Hickey, Society in Focus, 2005.
」
Culture does not remain stagnant, it evolves. Culture changes with advances and changes in public opinion, technology, geopolitics, and science. The female beauty ideal presents itself as an excellent example. Before the turn of the 20th century the beauty ideal for women in the United States and most other western nations included someone who was somewhat overweight or plump. Today, American culture has changes alongside most other western cultures. The modern female beauty ideal in the late 20th century and early 21st century was a thin, tall woman with a somewhat athletic look. The relatively recent change in American culture concerning beauty among females is indicative of the manner in which culture and with it the manner in which person's perceive the world around them changes.[3]
Variations
Variations in the majority traditions occur e to class, racial, ethnic, religious, regional and other groups of people. Cultural differences in the various regions of the United States are explored in New England, Mid-Atlantic States, Southern United States, Midwestern United States, Southwest United States, Western United States and Pacific Northwestern United States pages. The western coast of the continental US consisting of California, Oregon, and the state of Washington is also sometimes referred to as the Left Coast, indicating its political orientation and tendency towards liberal norms, folkways and values. Strong cultural differences have a long history in the US with the southern slave society in the antebellum period serving as a prime example. Economic and social tensions between the Northern and Southern states were so severe that they eventually caused the South to declare itself an independent nation, the Confederate States of America; thus provoking the American civil war.[7]
Examples of the great variations in norms, values and beliefs found across the United States can be found in the legal policies of some states. The state of California for example has passed environmental reforms and regulations rivaling those of Western Europe. With recent legislation California has become the only part of the United States with mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emission.[8] Policy regarding human sexuality further indicated tremendous differences across the nation. In early 2003, 14 US states had sodomy laws, before the Supreme court declared them unconstitutional in Lawrence v. Texas.[9] Roughly one year later the Massachusetts allowed couples to obtain same-sex matrimony licenses.[10] As laws represent a society's most profound and strictly held social norms and mores, great variations in laws reflect cultural variations as well.[3]
Body contact and personal expression
The personal proximities generally utilized by Americans according to Edward T. Hall.In terms of body contact and personal space the United States shows considerable similarities to northern and central European regions, such as Germany, the Benelux, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom. The main difference is, however, that Americans like to keep more open space in between themselves and their conversation partners (roughly 4 feet compared to 2 to 3 feet in Europe).[11] Greeting rituals tend to be the same in these regions and in the United States, consisting of minimal body contact which often remains confined to a simple handshake. In the 1966 Anthropolgist Edward Hall identified four different zones of personal space Americans like to keep around them:[3][12][11]
Intimate distance: extends roughly 18 inches (45.7 cm) from the indivial and is reserved for family, pets and very close friends. Displays of affection and comforting are commonly concted within this space. The only strangers an indivial typically tolerates within his or her intimate space are health care professionals.
Personal distance: extends 4 to 5 feet (1.2 - 1.5 meters) is reserved for friends and acquaintances. A handshake will typically place strangers at least 2 to 4 feet apart, preserving the personal distance.
Social distance: extends from about 4 to 12 feet (1.2 - 3.7 meters) and is used for formal, business and other impersonal interactions such as meeting a client.
Public Space: extends more than 12 feet (3.7 meters) and is not guarded. Secret Service agents will commonly attempt to ensure 12 feet of open space around dignitaries and high ranking officials.
The toleration for body expression that deviates from the mainstream such as complete body tattoos or nudism is strongly linked to the sub-culture and location in which an indivial may find him or herself. Generally speaking the United States tends to be less tolerant towards nudity than Western Europe, even in more tolerant areas such as California. As stated above the tolerance shown for personal expression such as cross-dressing, piercing, etc... varies greatly with location and sub-culture and may completely appropriate in one venue while being taboo in another.[3] As a result a form of expression or behavior that might be completely acceptable in San Francisco's Castro District, might be offensive in a Wichita suburb. In early 2003 for example, the city of San Francisco and later the city of Portland allowed same-sex couples to express their mutual affection through the act of legally recognized marriage.[13][14] As these marriages deviated too far from the majority sentiment at the time, however, the issuing of gay marriage licenses was stopped through court order. These events in early 2003 illustrate the great differences in what is acceptable in different parts of the United States.
Social class
Class in the US, featuring occupational descriptions by Thompson & Hickey as well as US Census Bureau data pertaining to personal income and ecational attainment for those age 25 or older.
CNN 2004 election poll.[15]Main article: Social structure of the United States
Further information: American middle class and American upper class
Social class is the perhaps greatest cultural influence on persons in the United States.[3] Nearly all cultural aspects of mundane interactions and consumer behavior in the US are guided by a person's location within the country's social structure. While American society is commonly divided into three or five socio-economic classes, there may be many more distinct groups that could be identified as constituting social classes.[16][17] Social class is generally described as a combination of ecational attainment, income and occupational prestige. There are, however, no clearly defined class boundaries and the nature of any class limits remains arbitrary.[18]
⑷ 需要美國文化的英文介紹
American culture
The main content of American culture is the emphasize on indivials' value, the pursue of democracy and freedom, the promotion of deploitation(開拓, 經營) and competition and the need of realistic and practicality. Its core is indivialism: self first, personal need first, pursue of indivial benefit and enjoyment, emphasize on achieving indivial value by self-strive and self-design. This type of intentionally build up of personality and pursue customized indivialism has its pros and cons, it gives incentives to people and make them exert on their potential and wisdom and as a result accelerate the development of the entire race and nation; on the other hand it is difficult to keep good relationship among people if everyone is egocentric thus make the entire society lack of unity.
egocentric: .自我中心的, 利己主義的
American citizens emphasize on achievements and respect heroes. They have great sense in their hearts to praise success and heroes. Personal achievements are one of those with the highest value in Americans mind. Americans have very strong senses of success. Success is the pursuit of most Americans, it is their attractive future and the incentives for moving forward. They believe that one's personal value is equivalent to his achievements in his career. Some high achievers in their career such as entrepreneurs, scientists, artists and all kinds of super starts became modern heroes. The process and result of how they strived have become the frame of reference of social culture value and the real life text book for parents to ecate their children.
incentive: Serving to ince or motivate:
American society has great movements within itself. These movements are shown in two aspects: movements amongst locations and movements inside the society. The United States are relatively more open and have more freedom. Developed transport and the tradition of adventure and sporty makes a lot of American migrate from countryside to cities, from downtown to uptown; and from north to the southern sunny land, from one city to another. Unlike European countries, the social classes in America is not so stable. Further more, with the advocation of public ecation, movements upwards along the social ladder have become possible. Many people living in the states, no matter whether they are Native American or immigrants from overseas, have the same dream of changing their social class and make their lifetime dream come true through their own efforts. This is what they often called "American dream".
advocation:(=advocacy)擁護;支持
⑸ 「了解美國的文化」用英文怎麼說
了解美國的文化
Understanding American culture
註:
understanding
英 [ˌʌndəˈstændɪŋ] 美 [ˌʌndərˈstændɪŋ]
vt. 諒解; 理解,懂得; 熟知,通曉; 獲知,理解;
vi. 理解,懂得; 表示內同情或容諒解; 據說;
n. 諒解; 認識,了解; 知識;
[例句]They have to have a basic understanding of computers in order to use the advanced technology..
要想利用先進技術,他們必須先對計算機有個基本的了解。
⑹ 美國英語與美國文化的介紹
《美國英語與美國文化》是1998年湖南教育出版社出版的圖書,作者是鄭立信顧嘉祖。
⑺ 求一篇介紹美國文化的英語文章!要用!急急!
Jazz And The Essence of America
Considering how jazz is transcribed in Chinese (jueshi), you may be misledsintosassuming that it is an aristocratic cultural form. Nothing could be further from the truth. It originated among black Americans at the end of the 19th century, at a time when they occupied the very bottom of the American social heap.
So how has something that was created by a once downtrodden and despised minority acquired a central place in today's American culture? Mr Darrell A Jenks, director of the American Center for Ecational Exchange, and also a drummer in the jazz band Window, analyses the phenomenon for us here. Jazz: the soul of America
爵士樂與美國精髓
說到美國的爵士樂(jazz),你可能從它的中文譯名而推斷為那是屬於貴族的音樂。殊不知恰恰相反,它源於19世紀末的美國黑人,那時他們處於社會的最底層。
然而,來自當年被奴役受歧視的黑人的音樂如今卻進入到了美國文化的主流地位,原因何在呢?美國駐華使館教育交流中心主任(也是《天窗》爵士樂隊的鼓手)金大友先生為我們分析了這一現象。
Perhaps the essence of America is that you could never get two Americans to agree on just what that might be. After thinking about it for a while, we might chuckle and say, "Hmm, seems like being American is a bit more complicated than we thought." Certainly things like indivialism, success (the "American Dream"), innovation and tolerance stand out. But these things come together because of our ability to work with one another and find common purpose no matter how diverse we might be.
Some, like African-American writer Ralph Ellison, be-lieve that jazz captures the essence of America. For good reason,for in jazz all of the characteristics I mentioned above come together. The solos are a celebration of indivial brilliance that can't take place without thesgroupsefforts of the rhythm section. Beyond that, though, jazz has a connection to the essence of America in a much more fundamental way. It is an expression of the African roots of American culture, a musical medium that exemplifies the culture of the Africans whose culture came to dominate much of what is American.
說起美國的精髓,恐怕你找不到哪兩個美國人有著相同的看法。在對這個問題考慮一會兒之後,我們可能會笑起來並且說:「嗯,看來身為美國人比我們當初想的要復雜一點兒。」當然了,強調個性,獲取成功(即「美國夢」),創新以及包容是美國人突出的方面。但這些特點集中在美國人身上是因為我們有彼此協作的能力,而無論我們彼此會怎麼不同,我們都可以找到共同的目標。
有些人,例如美國黑人作家拉爾夫-埃里森,認為爵士樂抓住了美國的精髓,這么說是很有道理的,因為我上面提到的美國人的種種特徵在爵士樂中都體現了出來。爵士樂中的獨奏是對個人才氣的頌揚,但若沒有整個樂隊的節奏伴奏,個人才氣也無法展現。然而,除此之外,爵士樂還在更基本的方面與美國的精髓有著聯系,它表現出美國文化植根於非洲,通過音樂媒介證明了非洲人的文化已經支配了美國人的文化。
That's right, in many respects America's roots are in Africa. Read Ralph Ellison's perceptive description of the transformation of separate African and European cultures at the hands of the slaves:
"...the dancing of those slaves who, looking through the windows of a plantation manor house from the yard, im-itated the steps so gravely performed by the masters within and then added to them their own special flair,burlesquing the white folks and then going on to force the stepssintosa choreography uniquely their own. The whites, looking out at the activity in the yard, thought that they were being flat-tered by imitation and were amused by the incongruity of tattered blacks dancing courtly steps, while missing com-pletely the fact that before their eyes a European cultural form was becoming Americanized, undergoing a metamor-phosis through the mocking activity of a people partially sprung from Africa." (Ralph Ellison, Living with Music, pp 83-4).
的確,在很多方面,美國的根是在非洲。請讀一下拉爾夫-埃里森關於非洲與歐洲各自不同的文化在當年奴隸手中加以改變時所做的敏銳描述:
那些在院子里跳舞的奴隸們,透過庄園房子的窗戶,模仿著裡面主人們的莊重舞步,然後就把他們自己獨特的舞蹈才華加進去,以滑稽的動作諷刺白人,之後他們繼續將這些舞步加到他們獨有的舞蹈中。那些白人,看著窗外院子里的黑人,覺得被模仿是受到了恭維,那些衣衫襤褸的黑人跳著不協調的宮廷舞步讓他們感到好笑。此時,他們完全沒有看到這樣一個事實:就在他們眼前,一種歐洲的文化形式已經美國化了,它正通過來自非洲的一個民族所進行的嘲笑白人的活動而經歷著質變(節選自拉爾夫-埃里森的《與音樂共生》第83-84頁)。
Jazz brought together elements from Africa and Europe, fusing themsintosa new culture, an expression unique to the Americas.
而爵士樂則是把來自非洲與歐洲的音樂成分交融到一起,形成了一種新的文化,一種美洲所獨有的表現形式。
Out of this fusion came an idea that we Americans be-lieve central to our identity: tolerance. Both cultures repre-sented in Ellison's passage eventually came to realize each other's value. Americans acknowledge that in diversity is our strength. We learn every day that other cultures and peoples may make valuable contributions to our way of life. Jazz music is the embodiment of this ideal, combining elements from African and European culturesintosa distinctly American music.
Jazz reflects two contradictory facets of American life. On the one hand it is a team effort,swheresevery musician is completely immersed in what thesgroupsdoes together, lis-tening to each of the other players and building on their contributions to create a musical whole. On the other hand, the band features a soloist who is an indivial at the extreme, a genius like Charlie Parker who explores musical territoryswheresno one has ever gone before. In the same sense, American life is also a combination of teamwork and indivialism, a combination of indivial brilliance with the ability to work with others.
源於這種融合而產生的一個觀念就是包容,我們美國人認為這是我們特徵的核心。在埃里森所寫的片斷中提到的兩種文化最終都實現了各自的價值。美國人承認多樣化是力量所在;我們每天都在獲悉,其他文化、其他民族,都可能對我們的生活方式做出貢獻。爵士樂是這種觀念的化身,它把非洲和歐洲文化的內容結合到一起,成為了獨特的美國音樂。
爵士樂反映了美國生活相互對立的兩個方面,一方面爵士樂是集體行為,每一名樂手都完全沉浸到整個樂隊的演奏中,細心聆聽著其他樂手的演奏,並以每個樂手的演奏為基礎而創造出整體音樂;另一方面,一個樂隊又以獨奏手為特色,他是極具個性的,是像查理斯-帕克那樣的天才,他開創了前人從未涉足的音樂領域。在同樣的意義上,美國人的生活是團隊與個體的結合,是個人才氣與和他人合作的能力的結合。
We hope that many Chinese friends can bring their own unique contributions to our music, adding their own culture to our American heritage. As Ralph Ellison said of the US, "We have the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, and we have jazz."
我們希望眾多的中國朋友能夠將其獨特之處帶進我們的音樂,把他們的文化加入到我們美國人的文化遺產中,正如拉爾夫-埃里森說到美國時,「我們有民權法案和憲法,我們還有爵士樂。」 北京青年報
⑻ 急求美國的英語介紹!
On the American National Flag
One of our great symbols is the American flag, 13 red and white 1)stripes 2)corresponding to the number of original states on a 3)rectangular piece of cloth, one corner blue with 50 white stars for 50 states.
You see the flag everywhere now, 4) 「what so proudly we hail.」 It means the World Trade Center happened to all of us. 「We』re proud to be Americans,」 say flags on front 5)porches in small towns across the country. Some homes seem to have been built to fly the flag. This wouldn』t be complete without it; just perfect. 「We』re American too」 say the flags 6)inelegantly glued to the city apartment windows. The declaration of 7)patriotic intent is everywhere, the simplest as 8)persuasive as the displays where one was considered not enough. Rockefeller Center with 150 beauties is in show business, a stirring sight although it』s unlikely that management there loves our country more than the owner of the smallest small business, displaying just one.
The Annin flag company makes most American flags. They have more business than they can do now. You don』t have to go to Annin to buy a flag though. Flag sales are a street corner cottage instry. 9)Furtive operatives set up shop, to them the buck means more than the 10)banner.
The colors of our flag and the numbers of stars and stripes are 11)ordained, but there is no rule regarding dimension. There are tiny flags on sticks made in China. This grand flag is so big on a building in New York that it had to be continued around the corner. This beauty hangs from the side wall of a fire house. And you wouldn』t want a dirty flag so they wash theirs.
Everyone wants to be associated with the flag. America and Yale, America and 12)Episcopalians, America and 13)J.P. Morgan, America and 14)Maxell, America and the Ritz Tower.
There are inevitably people who are more anxious to appear patriotic than to be patriotic. They tread a fine line between patriotism and commerce. The flag is everywhere in close 15)proximity to a business interest. It sells shoes and shoe repair, women』s dresses. The American flag invites 16)diners to foreign restaurants, Japanese, Italian, even Afghan.
There is an official flag code but it is 17)routinely ignored. It is not proper to use the flag as a table cloth. It is not to be used as an 18)awning or a 19)canopy or plastered to the 20)hood of a car. The code says the American flag is not to be used as 21)decorative clothing. Some find it 22)irresistibly 23)fashionable though and we are more amused than they.
This is how the star 24)spangled banner was meant to be flown on the end of a pole of its own, free to wave 25)majestically in our own free air.CE
11、美國國旗
美國的偉大象徵之一是國旗,長方形布上13道紅白相間的條紋表示美國原來的州數,藍色一角上印著的50顆白星代表50個州。
現在是四處都能看到國旗,「是什麼讓我們如此驕傲。」那表示世貿中心事件與每個美國人息息相聯。美國各小城鎮的前廊懸掛著的國旗體現出「身為美國人的驕傲」。有些房子彷彿就是為了掛國旗而建的。沒有國旗便不完整;掛上後便完美了。「我們也是美國人」--這是斜貼在這所市內公寓窗外的國旗傳達出的信息。處處洋溢著愛國宣言,從小處看最能讓人信服這一點,比如,有些人認為掛一面國旗還不足夠。洛克菲勒中心高高飄起150面美麗的美國國旗,景象令人嘆為觀止,但這並不說明此處的管理者就比只掛出一面國旗的小商店店主更愛國。
安寧國旗公司出產全美大部分的國旗。現在他們的生意是應接不暇。但要買國旗並不非得到安寧公司。街角也有出售國旗的攤子。對於那些偷偷售賣國旗的街販,錢比國旗更重要。
美國國旗的顏色、星星的數目、橫條都是規定好了的,但尺寸大小就沒有限制。有中國製造的小簽國旗。紐約一棟大樓外的國旗巨大得要轉彎接著掛起。消防局的牆上掛著一面國旗。如果不想掛臟國旗就像他們一樣拿去清洗吧。
人人都想跟國旗扯上關系:美國和耶魯、美國和聖公會教徒、美國和摩根、美國和萬勝、美國和麗晶大廈。
難免也有人擺出愛國姿態而非真正愛國。他們在愛國主義和商業間徘徊。隨處可見對國旗感興趣的商家∶賣鞋和修鞋的,女士的裙子。美國國旗吸引顧客到外國餐館用餐-日本餐館、義大利餐館、甚至阿富汗餐館。
政府有國旗用法的規定,但常給人們忽視了:國旗不能拿來當餐布,不能做遮篷、檐篷或汽車貼條。美國國旗按規定是不能用來設計服裝的--有些人卻覺得難以抵制此誘惑,我們比他們還更樂在其中。
美國國旗應當高掛在旗桿上,自由自在地在美國領土的上空美麗庄嚴地飄揚。CE
1) stripe [straip] n. 條紋
2) correspond to 等於
3) rectangular [rek5ANgjulE] a. 矩形的
4) 「What so proudly we hailed」The Star Spangled Banner」
5) porch [pC:tF] n. 門廊,走廊
6) inelegantly [in5eligEntli] adv. 不優美地
7) patriotic [pAntri5Ctik] a. 有愛國心的
8) persuasive [pE5sweisiv] a. 善說服的
9) furtive [5fE:tiv] a. 偷偷摸摸的
10) banner [5bAnEr] n. 旗幟,橫幅
11) ordained [C:5dein] a. 註定的,規定的
12) episcopalian [ipiskE5peiliEn] n.美國聖公會教徒
13) J.P. Morgan,是在世界上享有盛譽的一家綜合性金融公司。
14) 美國Maxell公司是一家生產高品質錄音和錄象錄製品和輔件的企業。
15) proximity [prCk5simiti] n. 接近,親近
16) diner [5dainEr] n. 用餐者
17) routinely [ru:5ti:nli] adv. 例行公事地
18) awning [5C:niN] n. 雨篷
19) canopy [5kAnEpi] n. 遮篷
20) hood [hud] n. 車篷
21) decorative [5dekErEtiv] a. 裝飾的
22) irresistibly [7iri5zistEbli] adv. 無法抵抗地
23) fashionable [5fAFnEbEl] a. 流行的,時髦的
24) spangled [5spANgEl] a. 閃爍的
25) majestically [mE5dVestikli] adv. 庄嚴地,壯麗地
Americans celebrate the Fourth of July with family gatherings, parades, speeches and fireworks. They also celebrate with patriotic music.The official song of the United States is "The Star-Spangled Banner." Francis Scott Key wrote the words in eighteen-fourteen. At that time, America and Britain were at war. Francis Scott Key watched as British forces attacked Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland. Through the smoke and fire, he could see a huge American flag flying over the army base.
The next morning, after the battle, he looked to see which flag flew over Fort McHenry. It would tell which side had won. Key saw that the American flag still flew. He wrote a poem re-creating the event. Soon after, music was added to his words. The United States Congress made "The Star-Spangled Banner" the national song in nineteen thirty-one.
Americans sing it at the beginning of many public meetings and sports events. Here is America's national song, performed by Faith Hill.
Some people say "The Star-Spangled Banner" is difficult to sing. Others do not like the words. Some people have suggested that the United States change its national song. They say many other songs that celebrate America would be better.
One of these is called "America." It is also known as "My Country 'Tis of Thee." Samuel Smith wrote it in Eighteen-Thirty-Two. The music is the same as the British national song, "God Save the Queen." The Southwestern Christian College Chorus sings "America."
Ray Charles
Some people think "America the Beautiful" is one of the best songs that celebrates America. Katherine Lee Bates wrote the words in eighteen-ninety-three. Samuel Ward wrote the music. Many singers and groups have recorded "America the Beautiful." Ray Charles sings his version.
Many people think "God Bless America" is the best song that celebrates America. Irving Berlin wrote it in nineteen-seventeen. It became popular twenty years later when Kate Smith sang it on a national radio broadcast. Listen now to the young voices of the American Boychoir as they perform "God Bless America."
Other people would like America's national song to be "This Land is Your Land." Woody Guthrie wrote the words in nineteen forty. It became one of the most popular folk songs in America. Pete Seeger and the Weavers sing "This Land is Your Land."
Years ago, Lee Greenwood recorded a song called "God Bless the U.S.A." This song has gained new meaning and popularity since the terrorist attacks on the United States, September eleventh, two thousand one. Listen as Lee Greenwood sings "God Bless the U.S.A."
This program was written by Jerilyn Watson. It was proced by Caty Weaver. Our studio engineer was Keith Holmes. I'm Mary Tillotson.
And I'm Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another report about life in the United States on the VOA Special English program THIS IS AMERICA.
⑼ 美國街頭文化英文介紹
Graffiti - 塗鴉
Freestyle streetball - 街頭籃球
Rap music - 饒舌