The United States covers a large part of the North ___1___ continent（洲）, when this land first became a nation. After ___2___ its freedom（自由）from England, it has 13 states. Each of the states had a star on the American flag. As the nation ___3___, new states were formed and there ___4___ new stars on the flag. ___5___ a long time, there were forty-eight states. In 1959 two ___6___ stars were added（加）to the flag, standing for（代表）the new states of Alaska and Hawaii.

　　___7___ were the first people of the land and great number of people came from England. It is ___8___ that reason that the language of the U. S. is English and ___9___ its culture and customs（文化习惯）are more ___10___ those of England than any other country in the world.