Directness, openness and honesty

Americans are more direct and open than people from other countries. They will not try to mask their emotions, as Scandinavians or Japanese tend to do. They are much less concerned with «face» than most Asians are. To them, being honest is very important.

They will often speak openly and directly to others about things they dislike, especially in a work situation. «If I dislike something you are doing, I should tell you about it directly so you will know, clearly and from me personally, how I feel about it».

They will try to do so in a manner they call «constructive», that is, a manner the other person will not find offensive. If they do not speak openly about what is on their minds, they will often show their reactions in other ways (through facial expressions and gestures). They do not think it impolite to show their feelings.

Looking to the future

Americans are less concerned about history and traditions than people from older societies. «History doesn't matter», many of them will say. «New things are better than old things». «It's the future that counts». They look ahead. They set goals for the future and work systematically towards them. Children are often asked what they want to be «when they grow up»; college students are asked what they will do when they graduate; and professors plan what they will do when they retire.

American education never stops. If 72-year-old Ann Smith wants to learn creative story writing, or Italian art, she can go to the nearest college and take a course in it. And millions of Ann Smiths are doing just that. Americans are usually optimistic about the future.

Change and progress

Americans believe in change and progress. They feel confident that they know what is going on and that they can change things that don't work. A bad president can be voted out. A bad doctor can be taken to court. A bad soldier can be punished. It may be this that gives them so much confidence in their system.

An old World War II poster expressed it well: «The difficult takes a while. The impossible takes a little longer». Of course, things can go wrong, as they do everywhere else in the world, but at least people feel that they can do something about it. «Where there's a will, there's a way», they say.

Achievement and success

People in the US want more than anything to be successful. They admire achievers and despise losers. To start with nothing, to work hard, and then to make a fortune – that's the American dream. Americans never seem to stop working. Some even hold two full-time jobs at the same time. This means that there is not much time for the good things in life, such as hours spent with one's family. Few families play games together, go for walks together, or even sit down every evening for a home-cooked meal.

Competition and free enterprise

Americans believe in competition and free enterprise. They think that competition and free enterprise have made their country «the best in the world». In the US you will see competition everywhere – in the American home and in the American classroom (even on the youngest age level). They even compete with themselves! They feel good when they «beat their own record» in a sports event or other types of competition. Americans believe that competition brings out the best in any individual!

TEXT 6. Read and translate the text. Answer the questions below.

Washington, DC

Washington is the capital of the United States of America. It's situated in the District of Columbia and is like no other city in the USA. It's the world's largest one-industry city. And that industry is government. The White House, where the US President lives and works, the Capitol, the home of the US Congress, and the Supreme Court, are all in Washington.

Washington was named after the first US President George Washington. He selected the place for the capital and Pierre L'Enfant, a French engineer, designed the city. Washington was first settled in 1790 and since 1800 it has been the federal capital.

In the very centre of the city rises the huge dome of the Capitol — a big white dome standing on a circle of pillars. The Capitol is the building where the US Congress meets. The Senate meets in the North side and the House of Representatives in the south side. This impressive building is seen from any part of Washington. It is also a museum of American art and history.

Not far from the Capitol is the Library of Congress, the largest library in the States. It contains more than 13 million books, more than 19 million manuscripts, including the personal papers of the US presidents.

The White House is the official residence of the US President. He works in the Oval Office.

One can hardly find a park, a square or an open area in Washington without a monument or a memorial. The most impressive and the best-known ones are the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson memorial and the Washington Monument. The Washington Monument is the highest monument in the US capital. It is 170 metres high and is made of granite covered with white marble. One of the newer national monuments is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It consists of the Memorial Wall and two sculptures. The Wall was designed by a 20-year-old student of Yale University, Maya Lin. The design is simple and powerful: a V-shaped black sunken wall with over 58 000 names of all American men and women who lost their lives in the Vietnam War. Today this is the most visited place in Washington.

There are some important museums in Washington where you can see famous paintings and sculptures, the dresses of Presidents' wives, the original of the Declaration of Independence, etc.

There are no skyscrapers in Washington, because they would hide the city's mo-numents from view. No building in the city may be more than 40 meters high (it’s a law).

 

Questions

1. Where is Washington situated?

2. Who is the city named after?

3. What governmental buildings are there in Washington?

4. What sights can you visit in the US capital?

5. Why are there no skyscrapers in Washington?

TEXT 7. Read and translate the text. Retell it.

New York

Although New York is not the capital of the United States (and not even of New York State), it is the biggest and most important city of the country. Situated at the mouth of the deep Hudson River, it has always been the gateway to the USA. But it is more than just a door: it is also a window through which the life of the whole nation may be observed.

New York is many things to many people. It's the financial and media capital of the world. It's the headquarters of the United Nations. It's the centre of American cultural life. It's the national leader in fashion and entertainment.

The «Big Apple», as New York City is nicknamed, is a city unlike any other. It has everything for everyone. It offers the best, the biggest and the brightest of everything. It is a place of excitement, beauty... and contradictions. There is, for example, no canal on Canal Street, Battery Park is not a power station, and Times Square is a triangle. As they say, only in New York!

New York is known as a «melting pot», because people of different races and nationalities make up its population. About 13 of every 100 people in New York were born in another country. More than 80 languages are spoken throughout the neighbourhoods and streets of the city. There are places where the English language is hardly ever heard.

When people say «New York City» they usually mean Manhattan. It is the real centre of the city. The Empire State Building, Rockefeller Centre, the United Nations building, tremendous traffic, dazzling advertisements, Central Park, Times Square, Broadway, Harlem, Chinatown, the most famous avenues and streets – all these are to be found in Manhattan.

The map of Manhattan seems unusual to a European eye. It is crossed from north to south by avenues and from east to west by streets. Only one avenue, Broadway, runs east to west. Each avenue has either a name or a number. The streets are numbered from one to over a hundred. Only a few of them have names.

Wall Street in Manhattan is the financial heart of the USA and the most important banking centre in the world.

Broadway is the symbol of American theatre, as Hollywood is of American cinema.

The intersection of Broadway and Seventh Avenue forms world-famous Times Square, the heart of the New York Theatre District. It is one of many New York City «squares» that are actually triangles. New Year's Eve celebrations always start here and at midnight a large red ball is lowered down to show that the New Year has begun.

Park Avenue represents luxury and fashion because of its large expensive apartment houses.

Madison Avenue is known as the centre of advertising industry. Fifth Avenue is the most famous shopping centre. If you want to have a good view of New York City you can do it from the top of the World Trade Center (110 stories) or from the Empire State Building (102 stories).

The Empire State Building is no longer the world's tallest building, but it is certainly one of the world's best-loved skyscrapers. Today more than 16,000 people work in the building, and more than 2,500 000 people a year visit the 86th and 102d-floor observatories. At night the top 30 stories are illuminated with colours appropriate to the season: red and green for Christmas, orange and brown for Halloween.

Not far from the Empire State Building there is an interesting architectural complex – Rockefeller Centre. It is a city-within-a-city. It was begun during the Great Depression of the 1930s by John Rockefeller and was built according to one general plan. Rockefeller Centre consists of 19 skyscrapers. It houses all kinds of offices, enterprises, banks, theatres, music halls, restaurants, shops, etc. All parts of the complex are linked by underground passageways.

New York is often called the cultural capital of the USA. There are more than 800 museums in New York. One of the best known is the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is the largest art museum in the United States. Its magnificent collection of European and American paintings contains works of many of the greatest masters of art world. The second best known is the Museum of Modem Art. The reputation of the «Moma», as the museum is nicknamed, rests on its wonderful collections of modern art and photography. The Guggenheim Museum of Modern Art contains an impressive collection of modem artists ranging from impressionists to abstractionists. The unusual circular building of the museum was designed by F.L. Wright.

No other city in the world offers as much theatre as New York where there is a daily choice of almost two hundred productions. You can see the newest plays and shows on Broadway. But away from the bright lights of Broadway are many smaller theatres. Their plays are called «off-Broadway» and «off-off-Broadway» and they are often more unusual than the Broadway shows.

The Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Centre (the Met) is known throughout the music world. International stars sing here from September until April. The Carnegie Hall is the city's most popular concert hall. It was opened in 1891 with a concert conducted by P.I. Tchaikovsky.

New York is famous for its festivals and special events: summer jazz, one-act play marathons, international film series, and musical celebrations from the classical to the avant-garde.

There are a lot of colleges and universities in New York, among them such giants as Columbia University, the State University of New York, the City University of New York, New York University and others.

The New York Public Library is the largest library of the city. You can see a lot of interesting things here: Gilbert Stuart's portrait of George Washington, Charles Dickens's desk, and Thomas Jefferson's own handwritten copy of the Declaration of Independence.