The United States of America
The United States of America
Реферат
З англійської мови
на тему:
“ The United States of America ”
учениці 10-ЕЛ класу
школи-ліцею №7
Подлубної Тетяни
Вінниця 2001
PLAN
1. The USA
2. American symbols
3. The US government
4. What are americans fond of?
5. The capital of the usa
6. places of sightseeing
7. holidays in the usa
8. famous people of america
The united states of america.
The United States of America is the fourth largest country in the
world (after Russia, Canada and China). It occupies the southern part of
North America and stretches from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. It also
includes Alaska in the north and Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The total
area of the country is about nine and a half million square kilometres. The
USA borders on Canada in the north and on Mexico in the south. It also has
a seaboarder with Russia.
The USA is made up of 50 states and the District of Columbia, a
special federal area where the capital of the country, Washington, is
situated. The population of the country is about 250 million.
If we look at the map of the USA, we can see lowlands and mountains.
The highest mountains are the Rocky Mountains, the Cordillera and the
Sierra Nevada. The highest peak is Mount McKinley, which is located in
Alaska.
America's largest rivers are the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Rio
Grande and the Columbia. The Great Lakes on the border with Canada are the
largest and deepest in the USA.
The climate of the country varies greatly. The coldest regions are in
the north. The climate of Alaska is arctic. The climate of the central part
is continental. The south has subtropical climate. Hot winds blowing from
the Gulf of Mexico often bring typhoons. The climate along the Pacific
coast is much warmer than that of the Atlantic coast.
The USA is a highly developed industrial country. It is the world's
leading producer of copper and oil and the world's second producer of iron
ore and coal. Among the most important manufacturing industries are
aircraft, cars, textiles, radio and television sets, armaments, furniture
and paper.
Though mainly European and African in origin, Americans are made up
from nearly all races and nations, including Chinese and native Americans.
The largest cities are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia,
Detroit, San Francisco and others.
The United States is a federal union of 50 states, each of which has
its own government. The seat of the central (federal) government is
Washington, DC. According to the US Constitution the powers of the
government are divided into 3 branches: the executive, headed by the
President, the legislative, exercised by the Congress, and the juridical.
The Congress consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. There
are two main political parties in the USA: the Republican and the
Democratic.
American Symbols
The American flag is often called “The Stars and Stripes”, it is also
called "Old Glory". It represents the growth of the nation. It has 13
horizontal stripes, 7 red and 6 white which stand for the original 18
states. In the top left hand corner there are 50 white stars on a blue
background: one star for each state. The national anthem of the United
States is “The Star Spangled Banner". The words written during the Anglo-
American war of 1812-1814 and set to the music of an old song. Every state
has its own flag, its own emblem and its own anthem too.
The eagle became the national emblem of the country in 1782. It has an
olive branch (a symbol of peace) and arrows (a symbol of strength). You can
see the eagle on the back of a dollar bill.
The Statue of Liberty is the symbol of American democracy. It stands
on Liberty Island in New York. It one of the first things people see when
they arrive in New York by sea. This National Monument was a present form
France to the USA. France gave the statue to America in 1884 as a symbol of
friendship. Liberty carries the torch of freedom - in her right hand. In
her left hand she is holding a tablet with the inscription "July 4,1776" -
American Independence Day.
The US Congress
The Congress of the United States is composed of two houses: Senate
and the House of Representatives. The Senate presents the states and the
House represents the population according to its distribution among the
states. Each state is guaranted at least one representative in the House.
The remainder are apportioned among the states according to their
population. The Senate of US is composed one of the hundred members – two
being elected from each state. Senators are chosen for six years, one-third
retiring or seeking is re-elected every two years. Two senators from the
same state never finish their terms at the same time, one of them is called
"Senior Senator" and the other - "Junior Senator".
The presiding officer of the senate is the Vice-President of the
United States, The Vice-President is not a member of the chamber over which
he presides and he sometimes is not a member of the party in power.
The work of the US Congress is done mostly in different committees.
The mostly important Rules, Appropriation Foreign Relations, Finance, Armed
Services.
In the House of Representatives the most important are Rules,
Appropriation, Ways and Means, Judiciary, Agriculture.
The chairmen of the standing committees are considered the real rules
of the Senate and the House.
what are americans fond of?
Americans are very fond of sport. The most popular sports in the USA
are football, which is played from April to October , baseball, played from
September to December, basketball, played from October to April and ice
hockey, played in most nor then cities from October to March.
American football derives from the English game of rugby. It started
at Harvard University in the 1870's. It is a game for two teams of eleven
men on the field. The object of the game is to have the control of the ball
and to score points by carrying it across the goal-line.
Baseball is a team game derived from the English game of cricket. It
is played with a bat and ball by two teams of nine players each, on a field
with four bases. Baseball is the national game in the USA and it is very
popular in Canada too.
Basketball is a game which nowadays is popular all over the world. It
was invented in 1891. During the ’20s the first US league championship was
organized. In the ’70s American Championship was divided into two leagues:
the ABA (American Basketball Association), which does not exist any longer
and which played with a blue, red and white ball and the NBA (National
Basketball Association).
There are more activities which Americans take part in such as golf,
swimming, tennis, aerobics, wrestling, etc.
The capital of the usa
The beautiful city of Washington D.C. is the capital of the United
States and the centre of its government. The capital was named after the
first president George Washington and was founded in 1790. It is situated
on the Potomac River in the District of Columbia. Washington is not the
largest city in the USA. It has a population only 900000.
Washington D.C. has nothing characteristically American in it, as its
conception is purely French. It has long wide avenues, gardens, beautiful
parks and no skyscrapers at all. Washington is the residence of the
President and the Congress of the USA. The White House is the President’s
residence, the Capitol – the seat of the American Congress. The largest and
the tallest among the buildings is the Capitol with its great House of
Representatives and Senate Chamber. There are no skyscrapers because no
other building must be taller than the Capitol. All american presidents
except George Washington (the White House was not yet built in his time)
have lived in the White House. It was built in 1799.
Washington is a large scientific and cultural centre, where there are
many research institutes, five universities, the National Academy of
