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USA

Unit 2. The USA

Tell me about British Writers, Please

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1 Parliamentary Monarchy

Student: As far as I know Britain is a parliamentary monarchy. How’s

that?

Teacher: It’s simple: there is the King, or the Queen, and there is a parliament enjoying the right to pass laws and elect the government.

Student: I see. And speaking about the British Parliament how many

chambers are there in it?

Teacher: There are two of them – the House of Lords and the House of

commons?

2 Are the Seats Hereditary?

Student: The seats in the Parliament are hereditary, aren’t they?

Teacher: Not exactly. The seats are hereditary in the House of Lords, but as to the members of the House of Lords, but as to the members of the House of the Commons, they are elected every five years.

Student: Which chamber is more important and how many members are there in each of them?

Teacher: The House of the Commons is surely considered more important. As to the members, it’s like this. There are 635 MPs (MP – Member of Parliament) in the House of the Commons (as far as I remember). But the number of peers is considerably greater.

A: Who are the most popular writers in Great Britain at present?

B: It’s a difficult question. Tastes differ, you know. I’d say the most popular fiction writers are Graham Greene, Iris Murdock, and Alan Sillitoe, to name only a few.

C: As the Graham Greene, Iris Murdock and Alan Sillitoe I’ve read some of their books in translation. They impressed me greatly. I especially liked Graham Greene’s novels “The Comedians” and “The Honorary Consul”. I wonder whether John Galsworthy, Bernard Shaw, Somerset Maugham and Arnold Bennett are as popular as they used to be.

D: I don’t think so though many of their books are republished. Galsworthy is my favorite writer: He’s a classic. I hear most of Galsworthy’s novels were translated into Russian.

E: Oh, yes. I think I’ve read all the books that were translated.

F: I’m surprised at you, Russians. You seem to know English literature better than we do.

Word list

fiction [ ] художественная литература, беллетристика

in translation в переводе

impressed

especially [ ] особенно

“The Comedians” “Комедианты”

“The Honorary Consul” [ ] “Почётный консул”

wonder желать знать, удивляться, интересоваться

(be as popular) as they как были раньше

used to be (как бывали)

Прочтите текст 1“США”. Составьте план

The United States of America (USA) is situated in the southern half of North America. The area of the USA is 7.839.000 kms without Alaska. The area of the United States is much larger than that of Europe, but almost three times smaller than that of Russia. The population of the USA is 246.8 (1989) million people.

The United States of America is a federation of states (now there are 50 states) which was established by the Constitution in 1787. Each state has its own government and its own capital city and within each state there are smaller subdivisions, of local government such as countries, townships, cities and villages. The capital of the USA is the city of Washington in the District of Columbia.

Stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, the USA borders on Canada in the north and on Mexico in the south.

The territory of the United States may be divided into three main parts: the Appalachian Mountain system in the east; the Cordillera system – in the west and the Central Plain between them.

The Great Lakes, situated on the US-Canada border, are the world’s largest fresh water basin. They are five in number, namely: Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario.

The biggest river of the United States is the Mississippi with its tributaries – the Ohio, the Missouri, and the Arkansas Rivers.

The territory of the United States is rich in natural resources. The reserves of coal, oil and metals in the USA are very large. The main iron ore deposits are concentrated near Lake Superior.

The main cities of the United States are New York, which together with its suburbs has a population of 12 million people, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Detroit.

Прочтите текст 1(b). Составьте схему федерального управления

The federal government of the United States is divided in to three main branches: the legislative, the executive and the judicial. The legislative branch of the government is the Congress. It is composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The term of the Congress is for two years.

The US Senate has 100 members – two from each of the 50 states. Each Senator is chosen by a majority of voters in the entire state, and his job is to represent the whole state. Members of the Senate are elected to six – year terms.

The Constitution says that a Senator must be at least 30 years old, a citizen of the U.S. for nine years, and a resident of the state from which he is elected.

The US House of Representatives has 455 members. The member of Representatives which each state sends to the House depends on its population. The Constitution says that each state, no matter how small in population, must have at least one Representative. A Representative must be at least 25, a US citizen for seven years, and live in the state from which he is elected.

The business of Congress is to make laws. The US Constitution also gives Congress the power to:

Raise money by means of taxes or borrowing. Make rules for trade with foreign countries and between states. Set up post offices and federal courts below the US Supreme Court Organize the Armed forces.

Declare war.

Congressmen do work long and hard. But most of their work is done in committee meetings. Here bills are studied, exports heard, and recommendations are made to the whole House or Senate. There are very many Senate and House Standing Committees such as:

1 Aeronautical, Space, Science.

2 Agriculture and Forestry.

3 Armed Service.

4 Foreign Affairs.

5 Rules and Administration and others.

Joint Committees consist of Congressmen from both the Senate and the House.

These may be permanent or temporary, depending on the specific purpose of the committee.

… is situated on (in) …

The population of … is …

The historical places in … are … was founded in …

Washington is a center of …

Washington, D. C. – Capital of the USA

Washington was created to be the seat of government of the USA. You know that the flag of the USA, the Stars and Stripes, has fifty stars on a blue background. Each of these stars represents one of the fifty states. But the City of Washington is not in any of these states. It occupies the District of Columbia, abbreviated into D. C. and the name of the capital always goes with this abbreviation not to be mixed up with another Washington, which is a state on the Pacific Coast. The District of Columbia is between the states of Virginia and Maryland, on the Potomac River not far from the Atlantic Ocean.

It is one hundred square miles. This area is not a state and is not municipality, but Federal land. President Washington in whose honour the city was named took an active part in selecting the area of the District of Columbia. He called upon a famous French engineer named Pierra Charles L’Enfant. The population of Washington, D. C., is about 756.000 and together with the Suburbs its population is over 2.800.000.

Washington is like no other city of the USA. New York is a centre finance, of shipping, of fun; New Orleans deals in Cotton; Chicago will sell you wheat and a hundred heads of cattle. But Washington’s only industry is government. The White House here the US President lives and works, the Capitol, the home of the US Congress, and the Supreme Court are all in Washington, D. C. Washington’s street seems at first to be complicated, but it is not so bad as it seems and, in fact, is quite orderly and logical once a few basic rules have been learned.

The first is that the Capitol Building is the city’s central point. From this centre the City is divided into four sections or quadrants: North West, North East, South West and South East which are usually abbreviated N.W, N.E., S.W. and S.E. The Capitol is also the point from which the city’s streets are numbered or lettered. The streets east and west of the Capitol are numbered 1^st Street, 2^nd Street and so on. Similarly the Streets to the north and the south are named for letters of the alphabet. G Street, K Street, etc.

This simple plan of numbered and lettered streets is made somewhat more complicated by a handful of broad avenues, all named after the original thirteen American States.

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