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1National flag:The flag of the United States consists of 13 equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing 50 small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars. The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 states and the 13 stripes represent the 13 original colonies. The United States flag is commonly called "the Stars and Stripes" or "Old Glory," with the latter nickname coined by Captain William Driver, a Salem, Massachusetts shipmaster.2.The National Anthem :"The Star Spangled Banner"2.International allegiencesBecause of the size and large population of the country, America is often described as a nation of joiners who tend to self-associate with non-familial groups. Individuals tend to perceive themselves as "free agents" rather than bound by family or clan ties.Group allegiances are sometimes regional, but can also be related to a professional or fraternal organization. For example, residents of North Carolina are proud to be "Tar Heels," Indiana residents are "Hoosiers" and Texans are notorious for an especially prominent state pride often compared to nationalism. Many cities have a strong sense of civic identity, often reinforced by an innocuous but deeply felt rivalry with another local city. An example of such a rivalry exists between the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. A strong rivalry that continues to this day involves the cities of Boston and New York, which is centered around the historic baseball rivalry between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.Recent immigrants tend to congregate with other immigrants from their country of origin, often establishing neighborhoods (sometimes called ethnic enclaves) in cities with popular names like "Chinatown", "Poletown", or "Little Saigon." Second- and third-generation descendants of immigrants tend to have looser affiliations with their ethnic groups.America has tens of thousands of clubs and organizations, and if a group has a charitable or service orientation, Americans may volunteer their time through those groups. Examples of these groups include the Rotary Club, the Boy Scouts of America, Little League, etc.3 FoodA hamburger is a famous food in the United States.EnlargeA hamburger is a famous food in the United States.The types of food served at home vary greatly and depend upon the region of the country and the family's own cultural heritage. Americanized versions of these cultural foods, such as American Chinese cuisine, sometimes appear. Recent immigrants tend to eat food similar to that of their country of origin. Families that have lived for a few generations in the U.S. tend to eat some combination of that and the food common to the region they live in or grew up in, such as New England cuisine, Midwestern cuisine, Southern cuisine, Tex-Mex cuisine, and Californian cuisine.4.Popular cultureThe United States is known around the world for the films, shows, and musical performances that it produces. The biggest centers of popular American culture are New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Florida, and Las Vegas. Smaller venues such as Branson, Missouri and Nashville have become popular, but most cities host travelling productions of popular Broadway shows.5.EducationIn the American educational system children are generally required to attend school from the age of five or six until age 16, with the majority continuing until they are at least 17 or 18, or have graduated from high school. The public education systems vary from one state to another but generally are organized as follows: * Age five: Kindergarten * Ages six-11: Elementary school. Children start in grade 1 and advance to grade 5 or 6. * Ages 12-14 or 11-14: Junior high school or middle school (usually grades 7-8 or grades 6-8, respectively). * Ages 14-18: High school (usually grades 9-12 or 10-12, depending on whether the community uses middle schools or junior high schools).The entire span of primary and secondary education, from Kindergarten to grade 12, is often abbrieved in the US as K-12 or K12, which in spoken American English is rendered as "K through 12" or "K 12."Additionally, many children attend schools before they reach the age of five. These pre-schools are often private and not part of the public educational system although some public school systems include pre-schools.Work and jobsAn American highway in Atlanta, GeorgiaEnlargeAn American highway in Atlanta, GeorgiaMost people commute to work using automobiles rather than mass transit; the effect of the automobile on the United States and its prominence in American life cannot be underestimated.Most jobs are based on a 40-hour work week; that is, five days (Monday through Friday), eight hours per day. The United States has minimum wage laws requiring a minimum wage for many employees, though a number of employment sectors are excluded. Minimum wage differs from state to state; some states have higher minimum wages than the wage mandated by the federal government.Vacations are usually two weeks. Other company benefits may include sick days and/or personal days. Americans usually retire at the age of 65, but may retire earlier if their pension plans/financial status permits it.[edit]HousingImmediately after World War II, Americans began living in increasing numbers in the suburbs, belts around major cities with higher density than rural areas, but much lower than urban areas. This move has been attributed to many factors such as the automobile, the availability of large tracts of land, the increasing violence in urban centers (see white flight), and the cheapness of housing. These new single-family houses were usually one or two stories tall, and often were part of large contracts of homes built by a single developer. The resulting low-density development has been given the pejorative label "urban sprawl."

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 industry. 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、美国国旗美国的伟大象征之一是国旗，长方形布上13道红白相间的条纹表示美国原来的州数，蓝色一角上印着的50颗白星代表50个州。现在是四处都能看到国旗，“是什么让我们如此骄傲。”那表示世贸中心事件与每个美国人息息相联。美国各小城镇的前廊悬挂着的国旗体现出“身为美国人的骄傲”。有些房子仿佛就是为了挂国旗而建的。没有国旗便不完整；挂上后便完美了。“我们也是美国人”--这是斜贴在这所市内公寓窗外的国旗传达出的信息。处处洋溢着爱国宣言，从小处看最能让人信服这一点，比如，有些人认为挂一面国旗还不足够。洛克菲勒中心高高飘起150面美丽的美国国旗，景象令人叹为观止，但这并不说明此处的管理者就比只挂出一面国旗的小商店店主更爱国。安宁国旗公司出产全美大部分的国旗。现在他们的生意是应接不暇。但要买国旗并不非得到安宁公司。街角也有出售国旗的摊子。对于那些偷偷售卖国旗的街贩，钱比国旗更重要。美国国旗的颜色、星星的数目、横条都是规定好了的，但尺寸大小就没有限制。有中国制造的小签国旗。纽约一栋大楼外的国旗巨大得要转弯接着挂起。消防局的墙上挂着一面国旗。如果不想挂脏国旗就像他们一样拿去清洗吧。人人都想跟国旗扯上关系：美国和耶鲁、美国和圣公会教徒、美国和摩根、美国和万胜、美国和丽晶大厦。难免也有人摆出爱国姿态而非真正爱国。他们在爱国主义和商业间徘徊。随处可见对国旗感兴趣的商家∶卖鞋和修鞋的，女士的裙子。美国国旗吸引顾客到外国餐馆用餐-日本餐馆、意大利餐馆、甚至阿富汗餐馆。政府有国旗用法的规定，但常给人们忽视了：国旗不能拿来当餐布，不能做遮篷、檐篷或汽车贴条。美国国旗按规定是不能用来设计服装的--有些人却觉得难以抵制此诱惑，我们比他们还更乐在其中。美国国旗应当高挂在旗杆上，自由自在地在美国领土的上空美丽庄严地飘扬。CE1) stripe [straip] n. 条纹2) correspond to 等于3) rectangular [rek5ANgjulE] a. 矩形的4) “What so proudly we hailed”The Star Spangled Banner”5) porch [pC:tF] n. 门廊，走廊6) inelegantly [in5eligEntli] adv. 不优美地 7) patriotic [pAntri5Ctik] a. 有爱国心的8) persuasive [pE5sweisiv] a. 善说服的9) furtive [5fE:tiv] a. 偷偷摸摸的10) banner [5bAnEr] n. 旗帜，横幅 11) ordained [C:5dein] a. 注定的，规定的12) episcopalian [ipiskE5peiliEn] n.美国圣公会教徒13) J.P. Morgan，是在世界上享有盛誉的一家综合性金融公司。14) 美国Maxell公司是一家生产高品质录音和录象录制品和辅件的企业。15) proximity [prCk5simiti] n. 接近，亲近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. 车篷21) decorative [5dekErEtiv] a. 装饰的22) irresistibly [7iri5zistEbli] adv. 无法抵抗地23) fashionable [5fAFnEbEl] a. 流行的，时髦的24) spangled [5spANgEl] a. 闪烁的25) majestically [mE5dVestikli] adv. 庄严地，壮丽地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 produced 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.