American Society and Culture, a textbook designed for the English majors in four-year colleges and universities, aims at broadening the vision of students in their acquisition of the basic skills of English language at college. As a book of introduction to American society and culture, it covers a wide range of topics on early and modern American society and culture, so as to provide students with an overall view of the social and cultural life in the United States.

Chapter l The American Land: An Overall View
The United States of America, usually referred to as the United States, is a country full of diversity. It is so large and has so many kinds of land, climate and people. It stretches 2,575 kilometers from north to south, 4,500 kilometers from east to west. The mainland of the country lies in central North America, with Canada to the north, Mexico to the south, the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west.
There are 50 states in the United States. The two newest states, Alaska and Hawaii, are separated from the continental United States: Alaska borders on northwestern Canada, and Hawaii lies in the central Pacific. All the other 48 states are on the mainland.
The Face of the Land
Much of the geography and history of the United States was determined some 10,000 and 25,000 years ago. At that time the northern part of the Central Agricultural Basin--one of the richest farming areas in the world, was created through the movement of the ice cap. Next the face of the American land will be described.
American Society and Culture, a textbook designed for the English majors in four-year colleges and universities, aims at broadening the vision of students in their acquisition of the basic skills of English language at college. As a book of introduction to American society and culture, it covers a wide range of topics on early and modern American society and culture, so as to provide students with an overall view of the social and cultural life in the United States.
Different from other textbooks on the United States, American Society and Culture dwells not only on the traditional social and cultural issues of the United States, but also on other aspects of concern in American society and culture, such as American college life. In order to let students have some fresh air in the reading, the format of the book has been changed somewhat with each chapter beginning with an introduction followed by one to two pieces of selected reading from reliable sources. The contents of the book are so designed just to let students have more access to the latest information on the discussed issues and have a better understanding of the issues through different perspectives.

Chapter 1 The American Land: An Overall View
Chapter 2 Early Settlers in America
Chapter 3 Ethnic Minorities in the United States
Chapter 4 American Government and Politics
Chapter 5 American Economy
Chapter 6 Law and Judicial System in the United States
Chapter 7 Religion in America
Chapter 8 American Social Values
Chapter 9 American Media
Chapter 10 American Social Welfare
Chapter 11 Women in America
Chapter 12 American Family
Chapter 13 Marriage and Divorce in America
Chapter 14 Mass Leisure in America
Chapter 15 American Sports
Chapter 16 American Education
Chapter 17 American College Life
Bibliography

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