佛罗里达州小档案：
人口：约1700万
面积：约151670平方公里，排名第22位
州府：塔拉哈西Tallahassee
佛罗里达州的名称来自西班牙语Florida，其意义是“多花的地方”。
1万多年以前，印地安人来本州之内居住。1513年，西班牙人首先来到本州。后来，法国人与英国人也向此地殖民，均未成功。1821年列入美国领土。1845年3月3日成为美国第27州。1861年退出，1868年又重新加入美国。以橘花作为州花。州的别名叫做“阳光之州”Sunshine State。本州箴言：“信赖上帝”In God We Trust 。
本州交通甚便，有200个多飞机场，本州最著名的都市是迈阿密，差不多都是崭新的建筑物。最大都市是杰克逊维尔Jacksonville。本州州府叫做塔拉哈西Tallahassee，位于本州西北部。坦帕Tampa是半岛西部墨西哥湾岸大港，主要输出品是磷灰岩。
本州有9所大学。其中以佛罗里达大学为最大，创于1853年，位于根斯维Gainesville，在本州中部。
本州特征有三：第一，它是美国大陆最偏南之州。州的南端已具有热带气候性质；中部及北部是副热带气候，温暖无冬。出产蔬菜、文旦、柚，所产柑橘超过加州，列第1位。第二，年产磷灰岩2千多万吨，在各州之中也列第1位。磷灰岩是制造磷肥的主要原料。第三，本州中部东岸之肯尼迪角Cape Kennedy，是美国太空人飞往月球的基地。也就是人类把地与月两个天体初步联络的大站。第四，本州人口增加的百分比最高。近年来，依然迅速增加。因为它是美国东岸各州之避寒胜地。退休之后的老年人，喜欢来此地居住。
本州气候，冬暖夏热，雨量丰沛，植物繁茂，多天然森林。除有飓风灾害外，一年四季，都可以旅游。每年旅业收入之多，可达50亿美元，为本州一大收入。
Introduction简介
全书共50册，分为美国各州的小知识，七彩缤纷的音符，优美好看的小散文，开心时分的短文，经典流传的寓言，超级高效的短句，实际有用的词汇等等在这些书中，备有单词解释，相关简介，或中文翻译，便于同学们更好的阅读和理解，真正进入文字的内涵当中，准确地和文字进行交流。本册主要介绍佛罗里达州、乔治亚州、夏威夷州和爱达荷州的概况、州长、州鸟、州花、州旗、州歌以及相关资料，附有话里话外部分，主要介绍美国标志性建筑和美国节日。
People first reached Florida at least 12，000years ago．The rich variety of environments in prehistoric Florida supported a large number of plants and animals．The animal population included most mammals that we know today．In addition，many other large mammals that are now extinct（such as the saber－tooth tiger，mastodon（［古生］乳齿象，庞然大物），giant armadillo（犰狳），and camel roamed the land．
Written records about life in Florida began with the arrival of the Spanish explorer and adventurer Juan Ponce de Leon in 1513．Sometime between April 2and April 8，Ponce de Leon waded（跋涉）ashore on the northeast coast of Florida，possibly near present－day St．Augustine．He called the area la Florida，in honor of Pascua florida（“feast of the flowers”），Spain’s Eastertime celebration．Other Europeans may have reached Florida earlier，but no firm evidence of such achievement has been found．
On another voyage in 1521，Ponce de Leon landed on the southwestern coast of the peninsula，accompanied by two－hundred people，fifty horses，and numerous beasts of burden．His colonization（殖民）attempt quickly failed because of attacks by native people．However，Ponce de Leon ’s activities served to identify Florida as a desirable（合意的，悦人心意的）place for explorers，missionaries（传教士），and treasure seekers．
In 1539Hernando de Soto began another expedition in search of gold and silver，which took him on a long trek through Florida and what is now the southeastern United States．For four years，De Soto’s expedition wandered，in hopes of finding the fabled wealth of the Indian people．De Soto and his soldiers camped for five months in the area now known as Tallahassee．De Soto died near the Mississippi River in 1542．Survivors of his expedition eventually reached Mexico．
No great treasure troves awaited the Spanish conquistadores（西班牙征服者，征服者）who explored Florida．However，their stories helped inform Europeans about Florida and its relationship to Cuba，Mexico，and Central and South America，from which Spain regularly shipped gold，silver，and other products．Groups of heavily－laden Spanish vessels，called plate fleets，usually sailed up the Gulf Stream through the straits that parallel Florida’s Keys．Aware of this route，pirates preyed on the fleets．Hurricanes created additional hazards，sometimes wrecking the ships on the reefs（暗礁，收帆）and shoals（浅滩，鱼群，大量）along Florida’s eastern coast．
In 1559Tristan de Lunay Arellano led another attempt by Europeans to colonize Florida．He established a settlement at Pensacola Bay，but a series of misfortunes caused his efforts to be abandoned after two years．
Spain was not the only European nation that found Florida attractive．In 1562the French protestant（新教徒）Jean Ribault explored the area．Two years later，fellow Frenchman Ren Goulaine de Laudonnièe established Fort Caroline at the mouth of the St．Johns River，near present－day Jacksonville．
French response came two years later，when Dominique de Gourgues recaptured San Mateo and made the Spanish soldiers stationed there pay with their lives．However，this incident did not halt the Spanish advance．Their pattern of constructing forts and Roman Catholic missions continued．Spanish missions established among native people soon extended across north Florida and as far north along the Atlantic coast as the area that we now call South Carolina．
The English，also eager to exploit the wealth of the Americas，increasingly came into conflict with（冲突）Spain’s expanding empire．In 1586the English captain Sir Francis Drake looted（抢劫，劫掠）and burned the tiny village of St．Augustine．However，Spanish control of Florida was not diminished．
In fact，as late as 1600，Spain’s power over what is now the southeastern United States was unquestioned．When English settlers came to America，they established their first colonies well to the Northwest Jamestown（詹姆斯敦）（in the present state of Virginia）in 1607and Plymouth（普利茅斯（英国港市））（in the present state of Massachusetts）in 1620．English colonists wanted to take advantage of the continent’s natural resources and gradually pushed the borders of Spanish power southward into present－day southern Georgia．At the same time，French explorers were moving down the Mississippi River valley and eastward along the Gulf Coast．
The English colonists in the Carolina colonies were particularly hostile（敌对的，敌方的）toward Spain．Led by Colonel James Moore，the Carolinians and their Creek Indian allies attacked Spanish Florida in 1702and destroyed the town of St．Augustine．However，they could not capture the fort，named Castillo de San Marcos．Two years later，they destroyed the Spanish missions between Tallahassee（塔拉哈西［美国佛罗里达州首府］）and St．Augustine，killing many native people and enslaving（奴役）many others．The French continued to harass（烦恼）Spanish Florida’s western border and captured Pensacola in 1719，twenty－one years after the town had been established．
