Chapter 13 geography 地理位置
I. Location and size
1. The full name of the United States is the United States of America. The continental United States lies in central North America with Canada to its north, Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico to its south, the Atlantic Ocean to its east and the Pacific Ocean to its west.
Alaska and Hawaii are the two newest states in America. Alaska borders on northwestern Canada and Hawaii lies in the central Pacific.
阿拉斯加和夏威夷是最近加入美国的两个新州。阿拉斯加在加拿大的西北部，夏威夷位邻中太平洋。
2. The U.S has a land area of 9.3 million square kilometers. It is the fourth largest country in the world in size after Russia, Canada and China.就面积而言，美国是世界第四大国，就人口而言，美国是世界是第三大国。
3. Of all states of American, Alaska is the largest in area and Rhode Island the smallest. But on the mainland Texas is the largest sate of the country.
所有州中，阿拉斯加是面积最大的州，罗得岛最小，在美国大陆，最大的州是得克萨斯州。
II.Topography
1. Mountains
(1)The two main mountain ranges in American are the Appalachian mountains and the Rocky mountains. The Appalachians run slightly from the northeast to southwest and the Rocky mountains run slightly from the northwest to southeast.
阿巴拉契亚山脉和落基山脉是美国的两座大山脉。（本细节有考“一句话简答题”的可能）
(2)The Appalachians are lower than the Rockies because they are older. The Rocky Mountains are younger, so they are higher.
(3)The Rockies, the backbone of the North American Continent, is also known as the Continental Divide. 落基山脉是北美大陆的脊梁，也叫大陆分水岭。
2. Rivers and lakes
Rivers
(1)The Mississippi River is the largest river in American, over 6000 kilometers. The Mississippi has been called "father of waters” or "Old Man River"
密西西比河是美国最长河流，有被称作“众水之父”或“老人河”。
(2)Missouri river is the chief headstream of the Mississippi River 密苏里河是密西西比河的主要源头。
(3)The Ohio River has been called the American Ruhr. As in Germany, the area along the river is rich in valuable deposits of high-grade coking coal and is well known for its steel industry. The river provides cheap water transportation for raw materials.
俄亥俄河被称作美国的鲁尔河，就像德国一样，沿河有丰富的高品千周的焦煤，并且因其钢铁而著名。另外，该河还为原材料提供了廉价的水路运输。
(4)On the Pacific side there are two great rivers: the Colorado in the south and the Columbia, which rises in Canada.太平洋沿岸有两大河：科罗拉多河及哥伦比亚河。
(5)The Rio Grande River forms a natural boundary between Mexico and the United States.
格兰德河是美国和墨西哥之间的开然界河
(6) The most important lakes in the United States are the Great Lakes. They are Lake Superior, which is the largest fresh water lake in the world, Lake Michigan (the only entirely in the U.S.), Lake Huron, Lake Eire and Lake Ontario. They are located between Canada and the United States except Lake Michigan. 美国最重要的湖泊是五大湖：苏必利尔湖，密歇根湖，休伦湖，伊利湖和安大略湖，其中，苏必利尔湖为世界最大淡水湖，密歇根湖完全是美国境地内。
III. Climate
1、Different types of climate in different region
1) A humid continental climate湿润的大陆性气候is found in the north-eastern part of the country. (东北部)
2) In the south-eastern United States you can find a humid subtropical climate.(湿润的亚热带气候东南部）3）the continental desert climate of the Great Plains and the continental desert climate of the intermountain region. 湿润的大陆性气候带和湿润的亚热带气候带向美国西部延伸，一直到西经100°的地区。由此再向西，这种气候逐渐被大平原的大陆性草原气候和山区的大陆性沙漠气候所取代。
4）The Pacific northwest is favored with a maritime climate（海洋性气候--太平洋西北岸）
