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Look through the text and find English equivalents for the following Russian phrases.
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Западное полушарие; достичь какой-то земли; обычаи и традиции; изначально употребляться во множественном числе; географические особенности; на противоположных сторонах; международные договоры; наложить вето; проводить законы в жизнь; пересматривать законы; богатые природные ресурсы; основные торговые партнеры; в возрасте пяти лет и старше; количество штатов в настоящее время; складывать особенным образом.
Complete the sentences according to the text.
1. The United States is situated in … 2. The USA has the area of … 3. The country stretches from … 4. The country also has a sea-boarder with ….. 5. America was discovered by Christopher Columbus in … 6. The capital of the USA is situated in … 7. Because of the United States' large size and wide range of geographic features, nearly every type of.…. 8. The federal government is composed of three branches: legislative, executive and ….. 9. About 215 million, or 82% of the population aged five years and older, speak only ….. 10. The people of the state are a mixture of …
Choose the right answer.
1. The country borders on … in the north and on Mexico in the south.
a) Russia b) Canada
c) Columbia d) Alaska
2. Christopher Columbus was born in ….
a) Spain b) France
c) Italy d) Russia
3. The highest mountains are the Rocky …, the Cordillera and the Sierra Nevada.
a) Hills b) Mountains
c) Mounds c) Plains
4. The Grand Canyon is formed by the ….
a) Colorado River b) Mississippi
c) Missouri d) Rio Grande
5. The largest state is ….
a) California b) Alaska
c) Texas d) New Jersey
6. The United States is a ….
a) constitutional monarchy
b) constitutional government
c) constitutional republic
7. The Congress is made up of the Senate and ….
a) the House of Lords
b) the House of Representatives
c) the House of Commons
8. The commander-in-chief of the military is ….
a) the President b) the Prime Minister
c) the Cabinet d) the Queen
9. The first 10 amendments are called the Bill of ….
a) Rights b) Lefts
c) Privileges d) Taxes
10. The national language in the USA is ….
a) British b) English
c) Spanish d) Russian
Make sentences using the given words.
1) the people, of, a mixture, different, are, nationalities, of the United States, many.
2) derive, of America, the recipes, dishes, of, immigrants, various, characteristic, from.
3) a park, a square, it, open, in Washington, or, is, area, to find, any, a monument, without, difficult.
4) in size, the United States, Washington, than, is, the largest, smaller, cities, of.
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Are these sentences true or false?
1. The United States is situated almost entirely in the western hemisphere. 2. The total area of the USA is about eight and a half million square kilometers. 3. The people of the United States are only from America. 4. The Great Lakes on the border with Canada are the largest and deepest in the USA. 5. The United States is a monarchy. 6. The leading export commodity of the USA is mine equipment. 7. The US national flag – Stars and Stripes – is red, white and blue.
Answer the following questions.
1. Where is the USA situated?
2. What countries does the USA border on?
3. What territory does the USA occupy?
4. Does it border on Russia?
5. Who discovered America?
6. Did Columbus know what land he had reached in 1492?
7. What is the climate of the country?
8. Why is climate different in the United States?
9. What is the political system of the USA?
10. What American dishes can you name?
11. What three branches is the government of the United States composed of?
12. What is the capital of the USA?
13. How many stars are there on the American flag?
Translate the sentences into English.
1. США включают южную часть Северной Америки, Аляску и Гавайи. 2. Страна расположена в западном полушарии. 3. США на юге граничат с Мексикой. 4. Столица США – Вашингтон. 5. Из-за большого размера Соединенных Штатов и разнообразия географических особенностей в стране представлены почти все типы климата. 6. Соединенные Штаты Америки являются конституционной республикой. 7. В стране нет официального языка, но некоторые законы считают стандартным английский язык. 8. Президент США назначает кабинет министров. 9. Кулинарное искусство Америки напоминает кулинарию других западных стран. 10. Американцы должны знать многое о своем флаге, например то, что его следует складывать особым образом.
Read the text to know more about the USA.
SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE USA
Halloween. On October 31, Americans celebrate Halloween. Halloween means “holy” (hallow) “evening” (een). This is the evening before the Christian All Saints Day. On All Saints Day, Christians remember the saints. But Halloween is even older than Christianity.
Before Christianity, people in Europe believed that on October 31 ghosts of dead people came back. To scare the ghosts, people dressed like devils and were very noisy. They also made big fires to keep the ghosts away. Later, people did not believe in ghosts, but they kept the day of Halloween for fun.
Immigrants came from Europe to America and brought with them
the custom of Halloween. Halloween has some strange symbols. One
symbol is the jack-o’-lantern in the window. The jack-o’-lantern is to scare the ghosts. People cut the pumpkin, throw away all of the inside, and cut a face in it. Then they put a candle inside of it.
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Today, in the United States, Halloween is very popular with children. They wear masks and special costumes. They want to look like skeletons and ghosts. They go from house to house and say, “Trick or treat!” People give them candies, cookies, or fruit. When people give nothing, the children sometimes play tricks on them.
Popcorn. Not all corn pops. A seed or kernel of corn must have 14 percent water in it to pop. Other kinds of corn have less water and do not pop. When you put a kernel of corn on a fire, the water inside makes the corn explode. This makes a “pop” noise. That is why we call it popcorn.
The American Indians popped corn a long time ago. The Indians knew there were three kinds of corn. There was sweet corn for eating, corn for animals, and com for popping. The Indians introduced corn to the first settlers, or Pilgrims, when they came to America in 1620. One year after they came, the Pilgrims had a Thanksgiving dinner. They invited the Indians. The Indians brought food with them. One Indian brought popcorn!
Since that time, Americans continued to pop com at home. But in 1945 there was a new machine that changed the history of popcorn. This electric machine popped corn outside the home. Soon movie theaters started to sell popcorn to make more money. Popcorn at the movies became more and more popular. Today, Americans continue the custom of eating popcorn at the movies.
Americans use 500,000 pounds of popcorn every year. Many people like to put salt and melted butter on their popcorn. Some people eat it without salt or butter. Either way – Americans love their popcorn!
ORAL PRACTICE
4.1. Using additional information make a short presentation about:
1. The situation of the United States of America
2. The structure of the USA
3. The surface of the USA
4. Rivers in the USA
5. The USA is a constitutional republic
6. The economy of the USA
7. American cuisine
8. The population of the USA
9. American symbols
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