America Becomes a Free Country
美國成為一個自由國家
Introduction
On July 4, 1776, thirteen American colonies decided to leave Great Britain. They wrote a paper to say they were now free states.
1776年7月4日， thirteen 個美國殖民地決定脫離英國。
Main Body
The leaders believed all people have basic rights. These rights are life, freedom, and happiness. They wanted a government that people choose.
領導者們相信所有人都有基本權利。這些權利是生命、自由與追求幸福。他們想要一個由人民選擇的政府。
The King of Great Britain was not fair. He took money from the colonies with taxes. He did not let the colonies make their own laws. The leaders asked for help, but the King said no.
英國國王並不公正。他透過徵稅從殖民地榨取金錢。他不允許殖民地制定自己的法律。領導者們請求幫助，但國王拒絕了。
This was a dangerous choice. The King was very powerful. Some leaders died or went to prison. But the colonies won the war and started a new way to rule.
這是一個危險的選擇。國王權力強大。有些領導者因此死亡或入獄。但殖民地贏得了戰爭，並開啟了一種新的統治方式。
Conclusion
The Declaration of Independence created the United States. This helped other countries start their own free governments.
《獨立宣言》創立了美國。這幫助了其他國家建立自己的自由政府。
Vocabulary Learning
THE 'ACTION' PATTERN
Look at how the story tells us what happened in the past. We use a simple change to the word to show the time is finished.
The Pattern: Base Word → Past Word
- decide → decided*
- write → wrote*
- believe → believed*
- want → wanted*
Wait! Some words are 'rebels' (they change completely):
- be → was*
- take → took*
- say → said*
- win → won*
Why this matters for A2: To tell a story about your life or history, you cannot use today's words. You must move the action backward.
Example from text: "The King was not fair." (He is not fair now, but he was then.)