Читайте также:
|
1. The United States of America is the fourth largest country in the world after Russia, China and Canada. 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 9, 629, 047 square kilometers. Alaska is the largest of America’s 50 states. The USA borders on Canada in the north and on Mexico in the south. The south-eastern coast of the country is washed by the Gulf of Mexico and the US also has coasts on the Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The USA has a seaborder with Russia.
2. The USA is made up of 50 states and the District of Columbia where the capital of the country, Washington, is situated. The population of the country is about 260 million people. Some states are more densely populated than the others. It is not surprising that most of the people of the United States live in the eastern half of the country although California on the West Coast is the most populous state. It is to the East Coast the first settlers from Europe came when they crossed the Atlantic. They were attracted by the fertile lands of the Atlantic coast in the southeast and inland beyond the eastern Appalachian Mountains. This part of the country gets enough rainfall for crops, has valuable forests and most of the country’s riches in iron and coal deposits. As America expanded westward, so did its farmers and ranchers, cultivating the grasslands of the Great Plains and finally the fertile valleys of the Pacific Coast. Today American farmers plant spring wheat on the cold western plains, raise corn, wheat and fine beef cattle in the Midwest, and rice in the damp heat of Louisiana. Florida and California are famous for their vegetable and fruit production, and the cool, rainy northwest states are known for apples, berries and vegetables.
3. The land varies from heavy forests covering 2,104 mln hectares, to barren deserts, from high-peaked mountains (the highest peak is Mount McKinley in Alaska) to deep canyons (Death Valley in California is 1,064 meters below sea level). The highest mountains in the USA are the Cordilleras that run the length of the west coast and include the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada.
4. America’s largest rivers are the Mississippi with its tributary Missouri, the Rio Grande, the Ohio and the Columbia. The broad Mississippi River system runs 5,969 kilometers from Canada into the Gulf of Mexico and is the world’s third longest river after the Nile and the Amazon. The USA is famous for its five Great Lakes: Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, Lake Huron, Lake Superior and the Michigan the first four lakes are on the border with Canada and are the largest and deepest in the USA.
5. The USA is rich in mineral resources; their wealth provides a solid base for American industry. It has major deposits of oil and gas in Texas and Alaska, coal in Virgin and Ohio, gold in Alaska and California, silver in Nevada, non-ferrous metals in Arkansas and Colorado.
6. The largest cities of the USA are New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago Philadelphia, Detroit and some others.
7. The United States is a democracy. The Constitution, laws and traditions of the United States give the people the right to determine who will be the leader of their nation, who will make the laws, and what the laws will be. The Constitution guarantees individual freedom to all.
8. The Constitution sets the basic form of government: it has three branches – legislative, executive and judiciary. Congress, the legislative branch of the federal government, is made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Congress makes all laws, and each house of Congress has the power to support or reject a bill offered by the other. When they both pass a bill on which they agree it is sent to the president for his signature. Only after that a bill becomes a law.
9. The members of the House of Representatives are elected for two years. Each state, regardless of the population, has two senators, while the House of Representatives has more members from more populated states. The president of the USA is elected every four years to a four-year term of office, with no more than two full terms allowed. The President is the chief executive of the United States and also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama became the forty-fourth President.
10. The judiciary branch is represented by the Supreme Court and federal courts at the national level.
11. Today the United States has two major political parties: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. Both these parties have support among a wide variety of Americans.
Ex. 9 Find in the text and put down English equivalents to the following word combinations:
Сукупна територія; густонаселений штат; перші поселенці; родючі землі; отримувати достатню кількість опадів; поширюватися в західному напрямку; культивувати (розробляти) пасовиська; саджати ярицю; вологе тепло; вирощувати кукурудзу, пшеницю; неродючі землі; нижче рівня моря; широка річкова система; бути багатим на корисні копалини; забезпечувати надійну основу; кольорові метали; право визначати; приймати закони; законодавча влада; підтримувати або відхиляти законопроект; палата представників; термін на чотири роки; головнокомандувач збройних сил; Верховний Суд.
Ex. 10 Give Ukrainian/Russian equivalents to:
occupy expand
fertile vary
inland gold
deposit power
plain oil
Ex. 11 Insert the suitable words and word combinations given below into the following sentences:
1. The USA … Canada in the north and on Mexico in the south.
2. Some states are more … than the others.
3. Florida and California are famous for their vegetable and fruit …, and the cool, rainy northwest states are known for apples, berries and vegetables.
4. The highest mountains in the USA are the Cordilleras that … the length of the west coast and … the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada.
5. The USA is rich in mineral …; their wealth … a solid base for American industry.
6. The Constitution, laws and traditions of the United States give the people the … to determine who will be the leader of their nation, who will …, and what the laws will be.
7. Congress, … of the federal government, is … of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
8. The … is represented by the … and federal courts at the national level.
| make the laws; judiciary branch; made up; rich; production; provides; right; include; legislative branch; densely populated; resources; run; Supreme Court; borders on |
Ex.12 Find in the text and put down the answers to the questions in Ukrainian/Russian:
1. What is the geographical position of the United States?
2. Do the natural resources of the country enrich the economy of the USA?
3. Why is the United States a democracy?
4. What is the structure of the political system of the United States?
Дата добавления: 2015-01-05; просмотров: 115 | Поможем написать вашу работу | Нарушение авторских прав |