Skimming. Work in pairs. Skim read the text and match the pictures with some of the most important events from the history of the USA
1. Before 1620The Native Americans had lived in America before the English and other Europeans arrived. Christopher Columbus called them ‘Indians’ because he thought that he had reached India.
A
2. 1620In November the first English came to America and landed in Massachusetts. They had left England because of the religious problems they had in their native country. They were called the Pilgrims or Pilgrim Fathers.
В
3. 1773The Boston Tea Party was a political protest by the Americans in Boston against the tax policy of the British government. It was the beginning of the war with Britain.
C
4. 1776On July 4 the Americans signed the Declaration of Independence that had been written by Thomas Jefferson (later the 3rd American president). Now the day Independence is an important holiday in the USA.
D
E
5. 1781 In October the Americans won the war with the British government and America became an independent country. The names ‘United States of America’ and ‘American’ were first used at
the time of the war (1776-1781). The Stars and Stripes of the American flag, also first appeared at that times. It has a stripe for each of the first thirteen states and a star was added when a new state joined. So there are now fifty states and fifty stars.
6. 1788George Washington the leader of the American Army during the war became the first American president.
F
7. 1861-1865In the country that was known as a Union in fact there was serious misunderstanding because of slaves who were used in the South and were not allowed in the North. In 1861 the Civil War broke out. The leader of the North was President Abraham Lincoln. The government won the war and abolished slavery.
G
8. 1886Dr Pemberton made one of the most famous drinks in the world ‘to help the brain’.
9. 1908An American, Henry Ford, produced the first car: the Model T Ford. After Ford’s invention people said: ‘Anyone can drive a Ford’ because it is the first car cheap enough for ordinary people.
H
10. 1963Martin Luther King, the leader of the black Civil Rights movement in the USA, made his famous speech that started with the words ‘I have a dream…’ He wanted black and white people to be equal.
I
11. 1965-1967America fought in Vietnam for ten years to help South Vietnam against North Vietnam. The Americans lost the war.
J
12. 1969The first people on the moon were three American astronauts: Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Ed Collins.
K
13. 2001Two airplanes crashed into the World Trade Centre known as the Twin Towers. This terrorist attack killed thousands of people and made thousands and thousand unhappy.
L
14. 2009Barack Obama became the first African American to hold the office.
M
N