[originaltext]W: The Americans came from America. That’s easy, isn’t it?M: I’m

W: The Americans came from America. That’s easy, isn’t it?
M: I’m sorry to say you are wrong! The Americans came from almost every part of the world. That’s to say, mare than 230 million people now call America home, but most of them can trace their families back to other parts of the world. That’s why America has long been known as a "melting pot". It is believed that the first to arrive were the American Indians. They came titan Asia in very ancient times, more than 10,000 years ago. There used to be millions of them, but today they only number about 850,000. Half of them live on special land of their own in 31 states, while the others have "melted" in with the rest of America’s 230 million people.
W: Do the American Indians have anything to do with the Indians of India?
M: No, nothing. As a matter of fact, the American Indiana came from Siberia.
W: Then, why do people call them Indians?
M: Because when Christopher Columbus made his historic voyage in 1492, he expected to reach India. So he called the people of the New World "Indians" and Indian is the name that has remained till now.