<正> The United States And Its People The United States covers a large part of the North___continent. When this land first became a nation, after ___ itsindependence (独立) from England, it had thirteen states.Each of the states had a star on the American ___. Asthe nation ___, new states were added and new stars ___onthe flag. ___ a long time, there were 48 states. In 1959,however, two ___ stars were added ___ the flag, standing forthe new states of Alaska (阿拉斯加) and Hawaii (夏威夷).