单选题 The basic flag of the United States is one of the world"s oldest national flags. Only the basic flags of Austria, Denmark, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland are older.
During the discovery and settlement of what is now the United States, the flags of various European nations were flown over the land, as symbols of possession. Later, in the Colonial (殖民的)and Revolutionary War periods, flags representing famous persons, places, and events were flown in the American Colonies.
The first official flag of the United States was created by Congress (国会) on June 14, 1777. It consisted of 13 alternate red and white stripes and 13 white stars in a field of blue, representing the 13 colonies that had declared their independence in 1776. Congress adopted a new flag of 15 stars and 15 stripes in 1795, to give representation to the two new states admitted into the Union, Vermont and Kentucky.
By 1817, there were 20 states in the Union, and it became apparent that adding one stripe for each new state would destroy the shape of the flag. As a result, Congress in 1818 restored the original design of 13 stripes and provided that each state was to be represented by one star. In 1912 President William H. Taft made the first official provision for the arrangement of the stars. He ordered that there be six even rows of eight stars each. Previously the arrangement of the stars had been left to the flagmaker"s desire.
The evolution of the Stars and Stripes reflects the growth of the United States. After the admission of Hawaii into the Union in 1959, the flag was officially changed for the 26th time since its creation.
There are many government flags flown in the United States in addition to the national"s flag. Among them are the president"s and vice-president"s flags and those of the federal departments and some federal agencies. Each state in the Union has an official flag.
单选题 Why were only the flags of various European nations flown over the land, during the discovery and settlement period?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 从第二段的第一句话可以知道，之所以在美洲发现和有人居住之初那里飘扬着各种不同的旗帜，是因为不同的旗帜代表着不同的占领者。可见美国当时所在的地方是被不同的国家占领着的，是分裂的。所以答案是B。
单选题 The first national flags of the United States ______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 第三段的第二句话指出“美国的第一面国旗上的13道条纹代表着于1776年宣布摆脱殖民统治的13个州”。因此正确答案是A。
单选题 Where the stars were placed on the national flag in 1818 and 1912?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 从第四段的最后三句话可知，在1912年，塔夫总统正式以法律文件的形式规定从那以后，美国国旗上的星星以一共六排平均每排八颗的形式排列。在此之前，国旗上的星星的排列主要是依照制旗者的想法。所以D是正确的。
单选题 How many states entered the Union between 1818 and 1912?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 第四段的第一句话指出“1817年，美国有20个州”，而第四段的倒数第二句话告诉我们，1912年，美国的国旗上已经有代表48个州的48颗星了，因此，期间有另外28个州加入了美国的版图。所以答案是B。
单选题 Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 第五段的最后一句话说“1959年夏威夷并入美国的版图致使美国国旗的第26次改变”，即意味着在1959年前美国国旗已有过25次改变，因此A项是正确的论断，可以排除。另外，最后一段提到每个联邦部门都有自己的官方旗帜，因此B也是正确的论断，也可以排除。而C项说1959年以后美国国旗上有26颗星跟第四段指出的1912年美国国旗上就有48颗星不相符合。因此答案是C。