The White House

The Capitol

Представьте себе, что Вы экскурсовод и проводите экскурсию по городу Вашингтону. Расскажите о достопримечательностях столицы США, используя информацию, данную ниже, а также дополнительные страноведческие материалы (по желанию).

The Capitol is the seat of the government of the United States of America. George Washington laid the cornerstone of the Capitol on September 18, 1793. The Capitol was built to the plans of William Thornton, an amateur architect, whose design was selected by competition.

The Capitol is in the very centre of Washington. It is located on Capitol Hill, the highest point in the city. The Capitol is the highest building in Washington. There is a law in Washington not to build houses higher than the Capitol.

The Capitol is the seat of Congress, which consists of two Chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The Congress first met in the north wing, the Senate Chamber, which was first completed on November 21, 1800. The south wing for the House of Representatives was not under roof until 1807. In August 1814, the unfinished Capitol Building was partially destroyed by fire set by invading British troops. Finally, in 1827, the old Capitol was completed.

The marble south wing for the House of Representatives dates from 1857, and the Senate dates from 1859. The towering cast iron dome, capped by Thomas Crawford's bronze "Statue of Freedom", was finished in 1863. The 36 columns, which surround the lower part of the dome, represent the states of America at the time the building was designed.

The completed building measures 751 feet in length and 350 feet wide. The dome is 287 feet in height and 135 feet 5 inches in diameter at its base.

The Capitol Building is made of stone and marble. It contains 540 rooms.

The White House is a pleasant, whit-painted, neoclassical-style house in which the President of the United States lives and works. It is set close to Pennsylvania Avenue, easy to see over the railings, and cut off from passer-by only by lawns and trees. The President's House was first occupied in1800.

President George Washington decided that the President of the United States must have an official residence. It was he who selected the site - an orchard to the west of the site of the Capitol Building - and laid the corner-stone in October 1793. James Hoban based the building on a design.

Washington died in 1799, before the house was completed, so the first President to live in the new official residence was John Adams.

The White House has 132 rooms, 54 of which are reserved only for the private use of the First Family on the second and third floors. The visitors who line up in East Executive Avenue get to see just five, plus the entrance hall and corridors.

There was a time when any citizen could visit the White House and shake hands with the President. But times have changed and security is much tighter. Even so, the words written by John Adams to his wife in the first letter he wrote from the White House on November 2, 1800, are still apposite: "I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessing on this house, and on all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May nine but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof?"

The White House, official home of all US Presidents, is the major attraction in this part of Washington.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-07