United States of America

Britain's American colonies broke with the mother country in 1776 and were recognized as the new nation of the United States of America following the Treaty of Paris in 1783. During the 19th and 20th centuries, 37 new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the North American continent and acquired a number of overseas possessions. The two most traumatic experiences in the nation's history were the Civil War (1861-65) and the Great Depression of the 1930s. Buoyed by victories in World Wars I and II and the end of the Cold War in 1991, the US remains the world's most powerful nation state. The economy is marked by steady growth, low unemployment and inflation, and rapid advances in technology.

Task 4 Retell the text to a partner and to listen to him/her retelling the abstract. Who remembers more facts and is closer to the original text?

Task 5 Dictation

The origin of the word “America”

For a while after the first voyage of Columbus in 1492, America was called “New World.” Later, it was decided by map-makers in Europe to name the New World after a man named Amerigo Vespucci. He was an Italian merchant and adventurer who made three trips to the New World.

Columbus became the first explorer to reach the mainland of South America in 1498, but Amerigo Vespucci soon wrote a book in which he claimed to have gone there in 1497. This was not true, but people did not know for many years that Amerigo Vespucci was lying.

Task 6 Write an abstract using the given facts and all the info you have got

about the country.

Full Name Capital

United States of America (USA) Washington DC Population Currency

290, 000, 000 US Dollar ($US)

Languages Religion

English (essential) Protestant (50%),

Spanish (other) Roman Catholic (25%), Jewish (2%), Muslim (1%) Government Type constitution-based federal republic Government Leader B.Obama, President (head of state and government)

U.S. Government Facts The U.S. government is made up of three branches: the executive, legislative and judicial branch. The executive branch is headed by an elected president (George W. Bush). The legislative branch is made up of two parts: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The judicial branch is headed by the Supreme Court.

Task 7 Work in a group: read the abstracts aloud, choose the best one, add

what is necessary from the abstracts of other students getting a short

topic about the USA that could be retold at the exams.

H.T.

1) Pretend you’ve just got back from vacation in the U.S. and write a short letter like the one in Task 1 to a friend describing where you had been, how long you were there, what you saw and what you liked the most. The letter should be at least 2 paragraphs of 4 lines each.

2) Translate into English:

Утиные истории

Большой Бостон на Восточном побережии США поделён рекой на две части. На одном берегу Чарльз-Ривер - собственно Бостон, на другом – университетский город Кембридж. В любую погоду по воде и по суше снуют забавные разноцветные автобусы-амфибии подназванием “Duck tours”. Несколько раз на протяжении всего обзорного маршрута они то погружаются в воды Чарльз-Ривер, то снова выныривают и совершают свой неспешный ‘утиный тур’ по улицам. Экскурсия стоит $25. Её необычность искупает все тяготы поездки в ветренную погоду – стёкла в амфибии отсутствуют.