WASHrNGTON D.C.

Words

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

The United States of America lies in the central part of the North American Continent between the two oceans: 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.

The USA consists of three separate parts.'They are the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean, Alaska and the main part. There are fifty States in the USA. They are very different in size, population and economic develop-ment.'The smallest state is Rhode Island and the biggest' is Texas. The total area of the USA is about 9 million square kilometres. The population is about 230 million people.

The USA is a big country and the climate conditions I are very different in different places.

There are many big cities in the United States: New York, Philadelphia, Houston, Chicago, Detroit, Los An­geles are the biggest of them.

The USA economically is the most powerful country in the world.

' The USA is a parliamentary republic The government has three branches: the Congress, the President and the Supreme Court.

There are two political parties in the United States: the Democratic Party, their Symbol is a donkey, and the Republican Party, their symbol is an elephant. The pres­ident is elected for a 4-year term and not more than two times.

The Congress has two houses; the Senate and the house of Representatives. The Supreme Court is the highest court in the country.

borders— границы separate— отдельные

climate conditions— климатические условия parliamentary republic— парламентская респуб­лика

branches— ветви

donkey— осел

term — срок

House of representatives — палата представителей

Supreme court— Верховный суд

Questions

1. What is the size of United States?

2. What is the smallest state in United States?

3. What is the largest state in US?

4. What are the biggest cities of the Unites States?

5. What are the three branches of US government?

6. What is the political system of United States?

 

Washington, the capital of the United States is situ­ated on the Potomac River in the District of Columbia. The district is a piece of land which does not belong to any one state but to all the States. The district is named in honour of Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of America. It is very interesting that Americans never say simply «Washington». They always add «D.C». as the indication of the location. It is important because there are many towns with the same name all over the country and even one large^state in far north-west.

Washington was founded in 1791 as the capital of the United States of America. Washington is quite a new city. The population of the city is nearly one million peo­ple. It is not a very large city, but it is very important as the capital of the USA. There is a law in Washington against building structures higher than the Capitol.

Washington has many historical places. The largest and tallest is the Capitol, where the Congress meets. It is a very beautiful building with white marble columns. Not far from the Capitol is the Library of Congress. It holds five million books.

The White House, the residence of the president is the oldest public structure in the capital and one of the most beautiful. It was built in 1799. It is a two storied white building. Not far from the Capitol is the Washington monument, which looks like a very big pencil. It rises 160 metres and it is empty inside. A special lift brings visitors to the top in 70 seconds, from where they can enjoy the view of the city.

The Jefferson Memorial was built in memory of the third President of the USA Thomas Jefferson, who was also the author of the Declaration of Independence. The Memorial is surrounded by cherry trees.

The Lincoln Memorial is devoted to the memory of the sixteenth President of the USA, the author of the Eman­cipation Proclamation, which gave freedom to Negro slaves in America.

Words

District of Columbia — округ Колумбия piece of land — участок земли nearly — около, приблизительно marble — мраморные two storied — двухэтажный

Declaration of Independence — декларация незави­симости

Questions

l.When was Washington D.C. founded?

2.Where is Washington situated?

3.What state does the District of Columbia belong to?

4.What are the most important places of interest in Washington?

5.What is the nickname of the Washington memorial?

6.What is the design of the Lincoln memorial?

7.What is the population of Washington? .

8.Are there any specific laws about building of the structures in Washington D.C?