VI. READING. Part 2

Read the text and make sure you know the translation of the highlighted words and phrases.

The USA. Social life

1. The United States has a capitalist mixed economy, which is fueled by abundant natural resources, a well-developed infrastructure, and high productivity. The U.S. dollar is the world's primary reserve currency.

2. It is the world's number one producer of electrical and nuclear energy, as well as liquid natural gas, sulfur, phosphates, and salt. The United States is the world's top producer of corn and soybeans. Coca-Cola and McDonald's are the two most recognized brands in the world.

3. The United States has the highest rate of per-capita vehicle ownership in the world, with 765 vehicles per 1, 000 Americans. About 40% of personal vehicles are vans, SUVs, or light trucks. While transport of goods by rail is extensive, relatively few people use rail to travel. Bicycle usage for work commutes is minimal. The civil airline industry is entirely privately owned, while most major airports are publicly owned. The three largest airlines in the world by passengers carried are U.S.-based; Delta Air Lines is number one.

4. The United States life expectancy of 78.4 years at birth ranks it 50th among 221 nations. Approximately one-third of the adult population is obese and an additional third is overweight.

5. English is the de facto national language. Although there is no official language at the federal level. In 2010, about 230 million, or 80% of the population aged five years and older, spoke only English at home. Spanish, spoken by 12% of the population at home, is the second most common and the most widely taught second language.

6. American public education is operated by state and local governments, regulated by the United States Department of Education through restrictions on federal grants. Children are required in most states to attend school from the age of six or seven (generally, kindergarten or first grade) until they turn eighteen (generally bringing them through twelfth grade, the end of high school); some states allow students to leave school at sixteen or seventeen. About 12% of children are enrolled in parochial or nonsectarian private schools. Just over 2% of children are homeschooled.

7. The United States has many competitive private and public institutions of higher education. According to prominent international rankings, 13 or 15 American colleges and universities are ranked among the top 20 in the world (according to world university ranking in 2011 Harvard University is #2, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is #3, Yale University is #4, etc.). There are also local community colleges with generally more open admission policies, shorter academic programs, and lower tuition. Of Americans twenty-five and older, 84.6% graduated from high school, 52.6% attended some college, 27.2% earned a bachelor's degree, and 9.6% earned graduate degrees. The basic literacy rate is approximately 99%.

8. According to a 2007 survey, 78.4% of adults identified themselves as Christian, protestant denominations accounted for 51.3%, while Roman Catholicism, at 23.9%, was the largest individual denomination.

9. Baseball has been regarded as the national sport since the late 19th century, while American football is now by several measures the most popular spectator sport. Basketball and ice hockey are the country's next two leading professional team sports. College football and basketball attract large audiences. Boxing and horse racing were once the most watched individual sports, but they have been eclipsed by golf and auto racing, particularly NASCAR. Soccer is played widely at the youth and amateur levels. Tennis and many outdoor sports are popular as well.

10. While most major U.S. sports have evolved out of European practices, volleyball, skateboarding, snowboarding, and cheerleading are American inventions. Basketball was invented in Massachusetts by Canadian-born James Naismith. Lacrosse and surfing arose from Native American and Native Hawaiian activities that predate Western contact. Eight Olympic Games have taken place in the United States. The United States has won 2, 301 medals at the Summer Olympic Games, more than any other country, and 253 in the Winter Olympic Games, the second most.