My topic is the Constitution of the United States. Every year thousands of tourists visit the National Archives in Washington D.C., to view the original document, which is on permanent display. （31）______. I shall deal with the background of the Constitution, the great Convention of 1787 that produced it, some of its leading principles and provisions, and the means by which （32）______.

In 1775 the thirteen British colonies that were to become the United States stretched along the Atlantic Coast of North America. （33）______ . Over the years the colonies had developed greatly. In 1775 they had a population of more than two millions. They enjoyed a large measure of self-government. Each colony had its own legislature （34）______. Each colony was separate from the others. They had in common a British cultural and political heritage, and all were subjectto laws passed by Parliament and owed allegiance to the British Crown.

  （35）______. The American Revolution came because the colonies had grown stronger and were in less need of British support, and because the people in them were less like Europeans than their ancestors had been, (36)______ , Beginning in 1775 the Revolution continued for several years. With the aid of France the colonies won the war, and in 1783 Great Britain signed a treaty recognizing their independence. (37) ______.

    Before the war ended, these thirteen states realized that they would need to work together in peacetime (38)______. In 1782 they put into effect a plan for unity under a federal system. This meant that each of the states would remain independent in many ways but would join with the others in a government that would be able to do things (39)______. Unfortunately this plan did not provide for a federal government strong enough to enable it to do what needed to be done. This became clear after a few years of experience. In 1786 a call went out to all the states inviting them to send delegates to a meeting (40)______. This meeting was the Constitutional Convention, a great turning point in American History.

 (From The Constitution of the United States)

 A.that individual states could not do by themselves with success

 B.The first had been established in 1607, the last in 1732

 C.to be sent to the thirteen states for approval

 D.composed of two houses and modeled after the British Parliament

 E. and because to the colonists it seemed that the British government meant to assume more and more control over them and to restrict their liberties

 F. This is the document that has shaped our national life for more than 180 years

 G. to be held in Philadelphia in the spring of 1787

 H. Meanwhile the thirteen new states had created the United States of America

 I. no more important meeting has been held in America

 J. it has been adapted over so long a time to the needs of a changing society

 K. as they had been forced to do in wartime

 L. Then came a revolt against British rule

（31）