The United States of America. Study the words and expressions

Study the words and expressions

to hold – держать

opportunity – возможность

Melting Pot – плавильный котел

to refer – ссылаться

dominance – превосходство

to border – граничить

size – размер

branch – ветвь

legislative – законодательный

executive – исполнительный

judicial – судебный

donkey – осел

four-year term – 4-летний срок

leap year – високосный год

Chief Justice – главный судья

to be appointed for life – быть назначенным пожизненно

to adopt – принимать

distribution - распределение

A Read the text and put these sentences in the correct order 1 – 8 according

to the text.

a Cities. 1

b The Congress. 2

c The government. 3

d Where is it? 4

e The President. 5

f It’s position in the world. 6

g It’s parts. 7

i The Supreme Court. 8

A After its 200^th birthday the United States of America still holds the leading position in the western world. A country that inspired many appelations – “Land of Opportunity, ” “Melting Pot, ” “God’s Country, ” is still referred to us as a land of superlatives – “the richest, ” “the greatest, ” “the most.”

What makes the USA the leader of the western world is its economic, political and military dominance over other countries.

B The United States lies in the central part of the North American Continent between the two oceans: the Atlantic Ocean to the East and the Pacific Ocean to the West. Friendly Canada to the north and friendly Mexico to the south are the only countries bordering it.

C The USA consists of three separate parts. They are the Hawaiian Islands, situated in the central part of the Pacific Ocean, Alaska separated by the Canadian territory and the rest major part of the USA. The states differ very much in size, population and economic development.

There are many big cities and towns in the USA: New York, San Francisco, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles are the biggest of them.

D The United States of America is a parliamentary republic. The government is divided into three branches: legislative (the US Congress), executive (the President and his Administration) and judicial (the US Supreme Court).

E There are two main political parties in the USA: the Democratic (symbolized by a “donkey”) and the Republican (its symbol is an “elephant”). The US President is both head of state and government. He is elected for a four-year term. Presidential elections are held every leap year on first Tuesday after first Monday in November. The President is assisted by Secretaries who are the heads of the executive departments.

F The Supreme Court consists of Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices who are appointed for life. It is supposed to decide whether a law of the Congress or an executive order of the President is constitutional or not.

The form of US government is based on the Constitution of September 17, 1787, adopted after the War of Independence.

G The Congress of the United States is composed of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate represents the states and the House represents the population according to its distribution among the states.

B Read the text again and choose which statement refers to which paragraph.

There is an example at the beginning [ 0 ].

You won’t find similar states. [ 0 – C]

He serves for a term of four years. [ 1 - ]

Two states are geographically separate. [ 2 - ]

The USA is stronger than other countries in most important areas. [ 3 - ]

It is the equivalent of the British Parliament. [ 4 - ]

They are not elected. [5 - ]

The country is ruled by three independent organs. [6 - ]

Good neighbour is a safe border. [7 - ]

C Find a word or a phrase in the text that means:

1 everything is mixed up in it 2 superiority 3 neighboring

4 it works out laws 5 it puts laws into practice

6 a year with 366 days 7 for ever 8 accepted

USA

Read the text and answer the questions.

1 Is the USA the largest country in the world?

2 When is the American national holiday?

3 What historical events in America are well-known?

STATISTICS. 237 million people live in America. The capital is Washington D.C. It’s the fourth largest country in the world. It has the fourth largest population. Africa is three times the size of America. America is 12 times the size of the UK. Over half the world’s tin cans come from the USA.

FACTS AND FIGURES. The USA is federal republic. It has 50 states and one Federal District – the District of Columbia. Forty-eight of the states are joined together. Alaska is separated by Canada and Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. Each state has its own governor and its own laws. People in the States also obey national laws.

THE FIRST AMERICANS. Prehistoric people came from North East Asia into America 37, 000 years ago. These became the ancestors of the American Indians. 1000 years ago Vikings arrived from Scandinavia. In 1492 Christopher Columbus ‘discovered’ America. He arrived in the Bahamas on the 12^th of October 1492.

HISTORY IN BRIEF.

1607: The Pilgrim Fathers from England landed in New England.

1664: The British captured the town of New Amsterdam from the Dutch and

named it New York.

1775: The American War of Independence began.

1776: America became independent on the 4^th of July.

1789: G. Washington became the first president.

1848: They discovered gold in California. The ‘Gold Rush’ began.

1865: It was against the law to keep slaves.

1890: The Americans finally beat the Indians at the battle of Wounded knee.

Sum up the most interesting facts in the history of America.