B. On a personal note. Write about one of these topics.

Write about one of these topics.

1. If you had lived in the seventeenth century, would you have left your country and come to America? Explain why or why not.

2. Pretend you are John Alden or Priscilla Mullens. Write a letter to a friend telling about your life in Plymouth.

3. Find a recipe (in a cookbook, magazine, or newspaper) for something traditionally eaten on Thanksgiving. Try the recipe. Then write a paragraph about your experience cooking it. (Did it taste good? Did you make any mistakes?) Exchange recipes and paragraphs with four classmates.

Two Presidents and Two Wars

BEFORE YOU READ

Discuss

1. What do you know about Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln?

2. What is a revolutionary war? What is a civil war? What causes these types of wars?

3. What sections of the present-day U.S. fought in the American Revolutionary War? In the American Civil War? Point these areas out on a map of the U.S.

Guess

Try to answer the questions. Then look for the answers in the reading.

1. Which of these former presidents has an American state named after him?

Check (Ö) one:

____ George Washington ____ Abraham Lincoln

2. Whose portrait is on these coins?

the penny_________ the quarter _________

3. Who's on these American bills?

the $1 bill______ the $5 bill _______

Two Presidents and Two Wars

George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are the only American presidents whose birthdays are widely celebrated as legal holidays. Why are these two presidents espe­cially honored? Without their wise leadership, the United States of America would probably not exist today. Both men lived during critical periods in American history, and both met the challenge of their times with great courage and wisdom. Washington faced the dangers of a revolutionary war to help the 13 American colonies win their inde­pendence from England. Less than 100 years later, Lincoln declared war on the south­ern states to keep the young nation from dividing in two.

But Washington and Lincoln are remembered not only for their political accomplishments. Both men are American heroes. They are symbols of traits and ideals that are greatly admired by Americans. Among these admirable traits are honesty, courage, and love of freedom.

Дата добавления: 2015-08-27