US test 3

1. The USA has a high level of economic development only due to its mineral resources.

a) true b) false c) not stated

2. America feeds a great many people in the USA with its farm products.

a) true b) false c) not stated

3. Silicon Valley in the USA is the only high tech production area in the world.

a) true b) false c) not stated

4. The USA is the world leader in high technology.

a) true b) false c) not stated

5. The war for independence started in Boston.

a) true b) false c) not stated

1. US POLITICAL SYSTEM

The United States of America is a federal parliamentary republic, consisting of fifty states and the District of Columbia. Each state has its own government (state government). In some way, the United States is like fifty small countries. Every state has its own governor, its own police, and its own laws. The present constitution was proclaimed in 1787 in Philadelphia.

The president is the head of the whole country and the government and is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. He makes the most important decisions and chooses the ministers, the members of his cabinet. But the president cannot do just what he wants. The Congress must agree first. The Americans elect a new president every four years. The residence of the president is the famous White House in Washington, the capital city.

The national government is divided into three branches. They are the legislative branch, the executive branch and the judicial branch. The legislative branch is represented by the US Congress. The US Congress (the American parliament) consists of two parts – chambers. They are the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Congress's main function is to make laws.

The government of the whole country (the federal or national government) works from Washington. This is where Congress is based. The Capitol is the seat of the USA Congress. The elections to the House of Representatives take place every two years. The election day is always in the month of November. Today any citizen who is at least 18 years old can vote. The Americans who are not yet 25 years old have no right to be elected to the House of Representatives, and those who are under 30 cannot be elected to the Senate.

The executive branch, the President and his Administration, administers the laws. The executive branch consists of departments and agencies.

The judicial branch is headed by the US Supreme Court. The judicial branch interprets the laws and makes sure that new laws are in accordance with the Constitution.

Each branch has certain controls over other branches. The US Congress makes laws, but the President can veto a law, and the Supreme Court can decide that the law is unconstitutional.

The main political parties in the United States are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.

The American flag. The United States' flag is called the " Stars and Stripes". It has thirteen stripes, seven red and six white, and fifty five-pointed white stars on a blue field in the upper left-hand corner. One star is for each state of the United States now (from 1959), and the stripes are for the first thirteen states of the union. Another national symbol is the Bald Eagle.

1. What is Columbia?

2. What kind of republic is the USA? Why is the republic called so?

3. What branches of the USA government do you know?

4. What powers has the president?

5. What parts does the US Congress consist of?

6. What can you tell about the American flag?