English-speaking country (the USA)

The United States of America, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand are large English speaking countries. They are located in various parts of the Globe and differ in many ways. Each country has its own history, customs and traditions, national holidays etc. But they have a common language. From the British Isles the English language spread all over the world.

I’d like to tell about The United States of America (also referred to as the UnitedStates, the U.S., the USA, or America). It is situated mostly in central North America between the Atlantic Ocean in the East and the Pacific Ocean in the West. Canada in the North and Mexico in the South are the only countries that have borders with the USA. It also has a sea border with Russia. It is washed by the Arctic Ocean in the North, and by the Caribbean Sea in the Southeast. There are many rivers in the country: the Mississippi (the longest one), the Missouri, the Columbia, and others. The U.S. also has many lakes. I am sure everybody knows the Great Lakes.

The highest mountains are the Rocky Mountains, the Cordillera, the Appalachians, and the Sierra Nevada. The USA is a big country and the climate conditions are very different in different places.

The USA consists of three parts. They are the continental (the main) part in the centre of the North American continent; Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and Alaska. The total area of The USA is over 3 million square miles (over 9 million km²). The United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by population. The USA population is now over 300 million. The U.S. is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, due to immigration from many countries. There are many big cities in the United States: New York, Philadelphia, Houston, Chicago, San-Francisco, Detroit, and Los Angeles.

There are fifty states in the USA. They are different in size, population and economic development. The smallest state is Rhode Island and the biggest is Alaska. Each state has its own capital. The capital of the USA is Washington. It is located in the federal district of Columbia. The forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C. (District of Columbia) lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Caribbean sea and Pacific.

The United States was founded on July 4, 1776. Thirteen colonies of Great Britain located along the Atlantic seaboard issued the Declaration of Independence (a document declaring the US to be independent of the British Crown). The Declaration of Independence proclaimed their right to self-determination and their establishment of a cooperative union. The document was signed by the Congressional representatives of thirteen states, including Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams.

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic headed by the President who is the Head of state, Chief Executive and Commander-in-Chief. The head of state and other officials are representatives of the people and must govern according to existing constitutional law. The current United States Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787. The Bill of Rights, comprising ten constitutional amendments guaranteeing many fundamental civil rights and freedoms, was ratified in 1791.

According to the US constitution, the powers of the Government are divided into three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative power belongs to the Congress (the elected group of politicians that is responsible for making the law) consisting of two chambers. The Congress consists of the House of Representatives and a smaller upper house Senate. The president of the Senate is the Vice-President of the U.S. There are 435 members in the House of Representative and 100 senators (two senators from each state). The executive power is headed by the President. The seat of the U.S. federal government is in Washington. The judicial branch is made up of federal district courts and the Supreme Court. The President appoints federal judges for life. Federal courts decide cases involving federal law, conflicts between citizens of different states. States are free to organize their individual governments any way they like, so long as they conform to the sole requirement of the U.S. Constitution. States can also organize their judicial systems differently from the federal judiciary, as long as they protect the constitutional right of their citizens.

Topical vocabulary

Exercise1.

Match the highlighted words or word combinations in the text with their definitions.

1. the national legislative body of the USA;

2. a unit of distance equal to 1760 yards or approximately 1.6 kilometers;

3. a group of five large interconnected lakes in central North America, consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario;

4. gradually reach or cause to reach a wider area or more people;

5. a culturally diverse population;

6. the process by which a country determines its own statehood and forms its own government;

7. relating to a system of government in which several states form a unity but remain independent in internal affairs;

8. the lower house of the U.S. Congress including most U.S. state governments;

9. sharing a common border; touching;

10. a major river of North America, one of the main tributaries of the Mississippi.

Exercise2.

Give a one-minute talk on the situations:

· New York is a typical example of the melting pot (a place where different peoples, styles, theories, etc. are mixed together).

· Mayor Giuliani's zero-tolerance policy (политика "нулевой терпимости" (сурового наказания за любой, даже незначительный проступок) has brought New York City's crime rate down. Give your reasons.

· If I have some money left I could visit Fifth Avenue, Broadway, Manhattan, Central Park, etc.

Exercise3.

Try to match the names of the States with the empty spaces at the map of the USA. Work with your partner. Ask each other questions about geographical features of the USA.

AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MD,MA,MI,MN,MS,MO,MT,NE,NV,NH,NJ,NM,NY,NC,ND,OH,OK,OR,PA,RI,SC,SD,

TN,TX,UT,VT,VA,WA,WV,WI,WY.

Exercise4.