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З англійської мови
на тему:
“ The United States of America ”
учениці 10-ЕЛ класу
школи-ліцею №7
Подлубної Тетяни
Вінниця 2001
PLAN
1. The USA
2. American symbols
3. The US government
4. What are americans fond of?
5. The capital of the usa
6. places of sightseeing
7. holidays in the usa
8. famous people of america
The united states of america.
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
USA borders on Canada in the north and on Mexico in the south. It also has
a seaboarder with Russia.
The USA is made up of 50 states and the District of Columbia, a
special federal area where the capital of the country, Washington, is
situated. The population of the country is about 250 million.
If we look at the map of the USA, we can see lowlands and mountains.
The highest mountains are the Rocky Mountains, the Cordillera and the
Sierra Nevada. The highest peak is Mount McKinley, which is located in
Alaska.
America's largest rivers are the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Rio
Grande and the Columbia. The Great Lakes on the border with Canada are the
largest and deepest in the USA.
The climate of the country varies greatly. The coldest regions are in
the north. The climate of Alaska is arctic. The climate of the central part
is continental. The south has subtropical climate. Hot winds blowing from
the Gulf of Mexico often bring typhoons. The climate along the Pacific
coast is much warmer than that of the Atlantic coast.
The USA is a highly developed industrial country. It is the world's
leading producer of copper and oil and the world's second producer of iron
ore and coal. Among the most important manufacturing industries are
aircraft, cars, textiles, radio and television sets, armaments, furniture
and paper.
Though mainly European and African in origin, Americans are made up
from nearly all races and nations, including Chinese and native Americans.
The largest cities are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia,
Detroit, San Francisco and others.
The United States is a federal union of 50 states, each of which has
its own government. The seat of the central (federal) government is
Washington, DC. According to the US Constitution the powers of the
government are divided into 3 branches: the executive, headed by the
President, the legislative, exercised by the Congress, and the juridical.
The Congress consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. There
are two main political parties in the USA: the Republican and the
Democratic.
American Symbols
The American flag is often called “The Stars and Stripes”, it is also
called "Old Glory". It represents the growth of the nation. It has 13
horizontal stripes, 7 red and 6 white which stand for the original 18
states. In the top left hand corner there are 50 white stars on a blue
background: one star for each state. The national anthem of the United
States is “The Star Spangled Banner". The words written during the Anglo-
American war of 1812-1814 and set to the music of an old song. Every state
has its own flag, its own emblem and its own anthem too.
The eagle became the national emblem of the country in 1782. It has an
olive branch (a symbol of peace) and arrows (a symbol of strength). You can
see the eagle on the back of a dollar bill.
The Statue of Liberty is the symbol of American democracy. It stands
on Liberty Island in New York. It one of the first things people see when
they arrive in New York by sea. This National Monument was a present form
France to the USA. France gave the statue to America in 1884 as a symbol of
friendship. Liberty carries the torch of freedom - in her right hand. In
her left hand she is holding a tablet with the inscription "July 4,1776" -
American Independence Day.
The US Congress
The Congress of the United States is composed of two houses: Senate
and the House of Representatives. The Senate presents the states and the
House represents the population according to its distribution among the
states. Each state is guaranted at least one representative in the House.
The remainder are apportioned among the states according to their
population. The Senate of US is composed one of the hundred members – two
being elected from each state. Senators are chosen for six years, one-third
retiring or seeking is re-elected every two years. Two senators from the
same state never finish their terms at the same time, one of them is called
"Senior Senator" and the other - "Junior Senator".
The presiding officer of the senate is the Vice-President of the
United States, The Vice-President is not a member of the chamber over which
he presides and he sometimes is not a member of the party in power.
The work of the US Congress is done mostly in different committees.
The mostly important Rules, Appropriation Foreign Relations, Finance, Armed
Services.
In the House of Representatives the most important are Rules,
Appropriation, Ways and Means, Judiciary, Agriculture.
The chairmen of the standing committees are considered the real rules
of the Senate and the House.
what are americans fond of?
Americans are very fond of sport. The most popular sports in the USA
are football, which is played from April to October , baseball, played from
September to December, basketball, played from October to April and ice
hockey, played in most nor then cities from October to March.
American football derives from the English game of rugby. It started
at Harvard University in the 1870's. It is a game for two teams of eleven
men on the field. The object of the game is to have the control of the ball
and to score points by carrying it across the goal-line.
Baseball is a team game derived from the English game of cricket. It
is played with a bat and ball by two teams of nine players each, on a field
with four bases. Baseball is the national game in the USA and it is very
popular in Canada too.
Basketball is a game which nowadays is popular all over the world. It
was invented in 1891. During the ’20s the first US league championship was
organized. In the ’70s American Championship was divided into two leagues:
the ABA (American Basketball Association), which does not exist any longer
and which played with a blue, red and white ball and the NBA (National
Basketball Association).
There are more activities which Americans take part in such as golf,
swimming, tennis, aerobics, wrestling, etc.
The capital of the usa
The beautiful city of Washington D.C. is the capital of the United
States and the centre of its government. The capital was named after the
first president George Washington and was founded in 1790. It is situated
on the Potomac River in the District of Columbia. Washington is not the
largest city in the USA. It has a population only 900000.
Washington D.C. has nothing characteristically American in it, as its
conception is purely French. It has long wide avenues, gardens, beautiful
parks and no skyscrapers at all. Washington is the residence of the
President and the Congress of the USA. The White House is the President’s
residence, the Capitol – the seat of the American Congress. The largest and
the tallest among the buildings is the Capitol with its great House of
Representatives and Senate Chamber. There are no skyscrapers because no
other building must be taller than the Capitol. All american presidents
except George Washington (the White House was not yet built in his time)
have lived in the White House. It was built in 1799.
Washington is a large scientific and cultural centre, where there are
many research institutes, five universities, the National Academy of
Science and the Library of Congress.
There is one more well-known building in Washington – Pentagon, the
residence of the US Military department. It is situated in the suburbs to
the south of the Potomac.
places of sightseeing
The Pentagon is a building in Arlington, Virginia, near Washington,
D.C. It has the offices of the U.S. Department of Defense. The Department
of Defense includes the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard.
The word pentagon comes from the Greek penta, which means “five”. A
pentagon is a figure with five sides. The Pentagon has five rings. The
rings are inside each other. Each ring has five sides. How tall do you
think the Pentagon is? The answer is easy. Each ring is five stories tall.
The Pentagon is the largest office building in the world. It has
seventeen miles of halls. People can get lost in the Pentagon. So the walls
on each floor are a different color (brown, green, red, gray, and blue).
This helps people to know where they are. There are also many maps in the
halls.
The Pentagon is so big that it is like a city. Almost 30,000 people
work there. The Pentagon has its own doctors, dentists, and nurses. It has
its own banks and stores. It has a post office, a fire department, and a
police department. It also has an important center for communications. This
center guards the country. It is hundreds of feet under the ground. The
Pentagon even has its own radio and TV stations.
New York
New York is one of the largest cities in the world and the biggest
seaport. It's the financial capital of the country. It’s the business
centre of the United States. The city is situated in New York State, at the
mouth of the Hudson river. It’s population is over eight million. In early
times the New York area was populated by Indians. It is here in Wall street
many business offices, banks and world famous New York stock exchange are
situated.
New York is an industrial and cultural centre of the country. The most
important branches of industry are those producing vehicles, glass,
chemicals. New York is also a great cultural centre. It has many museums,
art galleries, theatres, ballet. There are two world-famous streets in New
York – Broadway and Fifth Avenue. Broadway is the centre of the theatres
and night life. Fifth Avenue is the great shopping, hotel and club avenue.
The Empire State Building is at Fifth Avenue. It's a 102-storeyed
building, was built in 1931. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is at Fifth
Avenue. It includes hundreds of world famous masterpieces and attracts many
visitors.
The Statue of Liberty is the symbol of American democracy. It stands
on Liberty Island in New York port. Liberty.
Today New York City is informally called “The Big Apple”, The origin
of this name is unknown , but it is popular all over the world.
BEVERLY HILLS
Most visitors to Los Angeles, California want to go and see Beverly
Hills. This is where you find the homes of the movie stars. But Beverly
Hills is not Los Angeles. It is h small city next to Los Angeles.
All kinds of celebrities live in Beverly Hills. These celebrities may
be movie stars, television stars, sports stars, or other people in the
news. Tourists can buy special maps for the homes of the stars. These homes
are very beautiful. They usually have swimming pools and tennis courts. But
some times you cannot see very much. The homes have high wall or trees
around them.
Beverly Hills is also famous for Rodeo Drive. This is one of the most
expensive shopping streets in the United States. Rodeo Drive started to be
an elegant street in the 1960s. Many famous stores were opened on the
street. People liked all the new styles and fashions they could buy. Today,
you can find the most expensive and unusual clothing, jewelry, and
furniture in the world on Rodeo Drive. Rodeo Drive is a very special
street. When you want to park your car in public parking, an attendant will
come and park your car for you.
Beverly Hills is really a small city. Only about 35,000 people live
there. But during the day more than 200,000 people come to Beverly Hills to
work or to shop.
Holidays in the USA
There are no national holidays in the United States. Each of the 50
states has jurisdiction over its holidays. In practice, however, most
states observe the federal (“legal”) public holidays, even though the
President and Congress can legally designate holidays only for federal
government employees.
Ten holidays per year are proclaimed by the federal government. They
are as follows:
New Year's Day (January 1)
Martin Luther King Day (third Monday in January)
George Washington’s Birthday (third Monday in February)
Memorial Day (last Monday in May)
Independence Day (July 4)
Labour Day (first Monday in September)
Columbus Day (second Monday in October)
Veteran's Day (November 11)
Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday in November)
Christmas (December 25).
There is no many traditional holidays, observed by a large number of
Americans, which are neither legal nor official. Among these are
Valentine’s Day, St. Patric’s Day, Mother’s Day and Halloween (the last day
of October).
Valentine’s Day has had a long and romantic history. February 14 was
the Roman date of the festival, where were games and dancing and then each
young man drew from an urn the name of the girl who would be his sweetheart
for the coming year. In the seventh century the festival began to be called
St. Valentine’s Day.
Valentine’s Day is the sweet-hearts holiday when people in love
express affection for each other in different ways. The young people can do
it though a small gift or a card.
HALLOWEEN
On October 31, Americans celebrate Halloween. Halloween means "holy"
(hallow) “evening” (een). This is the evening before the Christian holiday
– All Saints Day. On All Saints Day, Christians remember the saints. But
Halloween is even older than Christianity.
Before Christianity, people in Europe believed that on October 31
ghosts of dead people came back. To scare the ghosts, people dressed like
devils and were very noisy. They also made big fires to keep the ghosts
away. Later, people did not believe in ghosts, but they kept the day of
Halloween for fun.
Immigrants came from Europe to America and brought with them the
custom of Halloween. Halloween has some strange symbols. One symbol is the
jack-o'-lantern in the window. The jack-o’-lantern is to scare the ghosts.
People cut the pumpkin, throw away all of the inside, and cut a face in it.
Then they put a candle inside of it. Jack-o’-lanterns usually look scary,
too.
Today, in the United States, Halloween is very popular with children.
They wear masks and special costumes. They want to look like skeletons and
ghosts. Then they go from house to house and say, “Trick or treat!” People
give them candies, cookies, or fruit. When people give nothing, the
children sometimes play tricks on them.
Independence Day
On July 4 the Americans celebrate their national holiday –
Independence Day. The United States gained independence as a result of
gradual and painful process. By the mid 1700’s,it became difficult for
thirteen British colonies in the New World to be ruled by a king 3.000
miles across the ocean. The British empire imposed high taxes upon the
colonies.
In 1774, the First Continental Congress drew up a list of grievances
against the British crown. This document was the first draft of the
document that would formally separate colonies from England. In 1775, the
Revolutionary War began July 2,1776, the Second Continental Congress
presented a second draft of the list of grievances. On July 4 the
Continental Congress approved the Declaration of independence. But the
War of independence lasted until 1783. After the war Independence Day
became an official holiday.
On July 4, Americans have holiday from work. People have day-long
picnics with favorite foods like hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, baked
beans. Lively music is heard everywhere. People play baseball or compete at
three-legged races. or pie-eating or water-melon-eating contests. Some
cities have parades with people dressed as the original founding fathers
who march to the music of high school bands. In the evening people gather
to watch firework displays. Wherever Americans are around the globe they
will get together to celebrate Independence Day.
Thanksgiving
In1620, a religious community sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to
settle in the New World. They settled in what is now known as the state of
Massachusettes. Their first winter in America was difficult. They arrived
too late to grow a rich harvest. Moreover, half the colony died from
desease. The following spring the Iroquois Indians taught them how to grow
corn. Indians showed them also how to grow other crops and how to hunt and
fish.
In the autumn of 1621 they got a beautiful harvest of corn, barley,
beans and pumpkins. The colonists had much to be thankful for, so they
planned a feast. Local Indian chief and ninety Indians were present. The
colonists learned from Indians how to cook cranberries and dishes of corn
and pumpkins.
In following years many of the colonists celebrated the harvest with a
feast of thanks. After the United States gained independence, Congress
recommended one yearly day of thanksgiving for the whole country. Later,
George Washington suggested the date November 26 as Thanksgiving Day.
Then, after the civil war, Abraham Lincoln suggested the last Thursday in
November to be the day of thanksgiving.
On Thanksgiving Day, family members gather at the house of an older
relative, even if they live far away. All give thanks for everything good
they have. Charitable organization offer traditional meal to the homeless.
Food, eaten at the first thanksgiving, have become traditional. The
traditional thanksgiving mean consists of roast turkey stuffed with herb-
flavoured bread, cranberry jelly, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie. Other
dishes may vary as to region: ham, sweet potatoes, creamed corn.
Christmas
Christmas is Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus
Christ. No one knows the exact date of Christ’s birth but most Christie
celebrate Christmas on December 25. People in the United States decorate
their homes with Christmas trees, wreaths and ornaments. City streets are
filled with colored lights; the sound of bells and Christmas carols can be
heard everywhere.
Children write letters to Santa Claus and tell him what presents they
would like to get. Many department stores hire people to wear a Santa Claus
costume and listen to children’s reguests. People send Christmas cards to
relatives and friends.
A Christmas tree is one of the main symbols of Christmas in most
homes. Presents are placed under the tree. On Christmas Eve or Christmas
morning, families open their presents. Some children hang up stockings so
Santa Claus can fill them with candy, fruit and other small gift.
In many parts of the United States groups of people walk from house to
house and sing Christmas carols. Some people give singers money or small
gifts or invite them for a warm drunk.
Many people attend church services on Christmas Eve or Christmas
moning. They listen to readings from Bible and singing Christmas carols.
A traditional Christmas dinner consists of stuffed turkey, mashed
potatoes, cranberry sauce and a variety of other dishes. Some families have
ham or roast goose of turkey. Pumpkin pie, plum pudding, and fruitcake are
favourite desserts.
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