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 Americans eat
a
lot. They have three meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Most of
Americans
don't eat home but prefer to go to restaurants. They can choose
from many kind of restaurants. There is a great number of ethnic
restaurants in the United States. Italian, Chinese and Mexican
food is very popular. |
After its 200th
birthday the United States of America still holds the leading
position in the western world. A country that has inspired many
names - "Land of Opportunity", "Meeting Pot", "God's Country" is
still referred to as land of superlatives - "the richest", "the
greatest", "the most". |
The Congress of
the United States is composed of two houses: the Senate and the
House of Representatives. The Senate represents the states. Each
state is guarantied at least one representative in the House. The
remainder are apportioned among the states according to their
population. |
The United
States
of America stretches from Atlantic Ocean across North America
and far into the Pacific. Because of
such a
huge size of the country the climate differs from one part of
the country to another. The coldest climate is in the northern
part, where there is heavy snow in winter and the temperature
may go down to 40 degrees below zero. |
The United States
of America is the fourth largest country in the world (after
Russia, Canada, and China). It occupies the southern part of
North America and stretches from the Pacific to the Atlantic
Ocean. It also includes Alaska in the north and Hawaii in the
Pacific Ocean. The total area of the country is about nine and a
half million square kilometres. |
The United States
is the worlds greatest economic power, measured in terms of
gross national product (GNP). The nations wealth is partly a
reflection of its rich natural resources and its enormous
agricultural output, but it owes more to the country's highly
developed industry. |
The unprecedented
outward sprawl of American urban settlement has created some
novel settlement forms, for the quantitative change has been so
great as to induce qualitative transformation. |
Do you want
to be
President of the United States of America? Maybe you can apply
for the post. Answer these
three questions. Are you a US citizen? Are you thirty-five years
old or older? Have you been a resident of the United States for
fourteen years or longer? |
By the US
Constitution the government of the nation is entrusted to three
separate authorities: the Executive, the Legislative and the
Judicial. The executive power is vested in the President, who
holds his office during the term of four years, and is elected
together with the Vice-President. |
California is
located in the southwestern part of the USA. It is estimated to
be the richest state of the USA that is why it is also called
the Golden State. |
The fifty states
have joined to make one nation. The United States did not always
have fifty states. At first there were thirteen. As the United
States grew, more states joined the union. The last two states
to join were Alaska and Hawaii. They both joined in 1959. |
In the federal
system there are 90 District Courts presided over by a district
judge, which hear criminal cases involving breaches of federal
law and civil cases on federal matters (disputes between states,
non-payment of federal taxes, etc). |
Christopher
Columbus discovered America in 1492. He was born in Italy. His
father and both grandfathers were cloth makers. Columbus was a
seaman and made many sea voyages. |
The American
Constitution is based on the doctrine of the separation of
powers between the executive, legislative, and judiciary. The
respective government institutions — the Presidency, Congress,
and the Courts — were given limited and specific powers; and a
series of checks, whereby each branch of government has certain
authority over the others to make sure these powers were not
abused. |
Americas heavy
industry depends upon three resources: iron ore from the Lake
Superior area, coal from western Pennsylvania, and
transportation across the Great Lakes District. |
The "Stars and
Stripes" is a popular name for the red, white and blue flag of
the United States. Another popular name is the "Star Spangled
Banner". This is also the name of the National Anthem of the
United States. |
Almost in every
culture in the world there is a celebration of thanks for rich
harvest. The American Thanksgiving began as a feast of
thanksgiving almost four hundred years ago. |
Texas is the 28th
American state, which is situated in the south of the country
and could be denoted as the southeast continental part of the
USA. Texas has border with other USA states: Arkansas, Oklahoma,
New Mexico and Louisiana. The State is washed by the Gulf of
Mexico. |
The Statue of
Liberty National Monument officially celebrated her 100th
birthday on October 28,1986. The people of France gave the
Statue to the people of the United States one hundred and
seventeen years ago in recognition of the friendship established
during the American Revolution. |
San Francisco is
a special place, very different from most American cities. It
lies on a small finger of land with the Pacific Ocean on one
side and a huge harbour on the other. San Francisco's population
is only about 700 000 but it is the biggest business centre in
the west of the USA. |
American's two
most popular and famous Presidents were both born in February.
|
The United States
of America is a federal republic consisting of 50 states. Each
state has its own government («state government*). In some ways
the United States is like 50 small countries. |
There are two
major political parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican
Party. Other parties have occasionally challenged these two but
without permanent success. One reason for their failure is that
in order to win a national election, a party must appeal to a
broad base of voters and a wide spectrum of interests. |
The United States
is rich in the variety of its native forest trees, some of
which, as the species of sequoia, are the most massive known.
More than 1,000 species and varieties have been described, of
which almost 200 are of economic value. |
Most visitors to
Los Angeles, California, come to see Beverly Hills. This is
where are situated the homes of the movie stars. But Beverly
Hills is not Los Angeles. It is a small city next to Los
Angeles. |
Philadelphia is
situated in the east of the USA. It is one of the few large
cities in the United States to have an old and well-preserved
city centre. |
The first voyages
along the coast of modern South and Central America were made by
Amerigo Vespucci. That is why, in the 16th century German
cartographer named this fourth part of the world after the
explorer. At the beginning of the 17th century European colonies
were founded on the territory of the modern USA. |
Nowadays USA is
world's third-largest country by size (after Russia and Canada)
and by population (after China and India). The total territory
of the USA is 9,630,000 sq km. It is about half the size of
Russia or lightly larger than China or Brazil. |
New York is the
largest city in the USA and the biggest seaport. It is the
business centre of the United States. New York is situated in
the mouth of the Hudson river. In comparison with such ancient
historical cities as, say, Rome, London, Moscow or Paris, New
York is quite young. It was founded in 1613 by Dutch settlers. |
I am going to
tell you about Los Angeles. Los
Angeles spans a widely diverse geographic area. Primarily a
desert basin, the area is surrounded by the San Gabriel Mountain
range and divided by the Santa Monica Mountains. Los Angeles
County has 81 miles of coastline. There are such rivers as the
Los Angeles, the Rio Hondo, the San Gabriel and the Ventura
rivers. |
Ice hockey is one
of the most action-paced of sports, demanding skillful skating,
expert stick-handling, and masterly puck control. The game
developed in the frozen expanses of North America, and a hundred
years ago became the national winter sport of Canada.
|
On July 4 the
Americans celebrate their national holiday — Independence Day.
The United States gained independence as a result of gradual and
painful process. |
There are a lot
of holidays in the USA. Many of them are associated with the
history of the nation. The main holidays of the USA are New
Year's Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving
Day and Christmas. |
There are about
3,000 colleges and universities, both private and public, in the
United States. They are all independent, offering their own
choice of studies, setting their own admission standards and
deciding which students meet those standards. The greater the
prestige of the university, the higher the grades required. |
Halloween is a
festival that takes place on October 31. In the United States
children wear costumes and masks and go trick-or-treating. Many
of them carve jack-o'-lantens out of pumpkins. Fortunetelling
and storytelling about ghosts and witches are popular
activities. |
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