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CROSSROADS
Lærer Crossroads 2006

The USA

Welcome to America

  • Cornfields in Iowa

    © Darcy Maulsby/iStockphotos

    Photo of cornfields and farm houses in Iowa

  • The Badlands, South Dakota

    © Bambi L Dingman/dreamstime

    Photos of rock formations in the Badlands National Park, South Dakota

  • Tropical beach in Hawaii

    © Michael Fitzsimmons/iStockphotos

    Photo of a tropical beach and palm trees in Hawaii

  • Mountains in Alaska

    © Galyna Andrushko/Shutterstock

    Photos of mountains in Alaska

  • Manhattan, New York

    © Songquan Deng/Shutterstock

    Photo of skyscrapers in New York City

  • The American Dream

    © Marcl Schauer/Shutterstock

    Photo of the Statue of Liberty and the American flag

  • The melting pot

    © bikeriderlondon/Shutterstock

    Photo of people with American flags

  • Flag in classroom

    © Ellen Glimstad

    Photo of an American flag in a classroom
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Welcome to America

Welcome to America

You’ve probably seen many American films and TV series. You probably listen to American music most days. And you definitely use things like smartphones, PC’s, Google, Facebook and Snapchat. All of these were designed in the USA.

The USA became independent in 1776. At that time there were 2.5 million people living there. Now there are about 320 million spread over 50 states. It is a very large country – 10 million km2. There are nine time zones, and it takes 5–7 hours to fly coast to coast. There is a lot of variation in the climate and geography, too. There are tropical beaches in Hawaii and snowy mountains in Alaska, for example.

The USA is a young nation. A lot of people want to move there, partly because they have heard of the American Dream. This is the idea that everyone can be a success if they work hard enough. However, not everyone can find work and some work is very badly paid. Working in a fast food restaurant, for example. Native Americans and African-Americans face extra difficulties, too, because of their history.

So what holds this country together? What does a farmworker in Texas have in common with a computer engineer in California? Maybe it’s patriotism. People feel great pride in being American, and many believe that the USA is the greatest place on earth.

Getting the gist

What do these numbers in the article refer to? Try to use your own words in your answers.

  1. 320 million
    answer_s.gif
  2. 10 million km2
    answer_s.gif
  3. 50
    answer_s.gif
  4. 5–7 hours
    answer_s.gif