Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Institutions

The city’s many institutions of higher education include American Univ., the National Defense College, the Catholic Univ. of America, Georgetown Univ., George Washington Univ., Howard Univ., and the Univ. of the District of Columbia. Among many cultural attractions are the National Gallery of Art, the Freer Gallery of Art, and the other centers under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution; the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; the Corcoran Gallery of Art; the Phillips Collection; and the Folger Shakespeare Library. Major visitor draws on the Mall include the National Air and Space Museum and the Holocaust Museum.

The U.S. Naval Observatory, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, the Smithsonian Institution, the Brookings Institution, the National Institutes of Health, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington are among the institutions dedicated to scientific research and education. Also in Washington are Walter Reed Army Medical Center, including the Army Medical School and Walter Reed Army Hospital, and the U.S. Soldiers Home (1851). Nearby are the National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, Md.) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture research center (Beltsville, Md.)

 

THE CAPITOL

The United States Congress works in the Capitol building. Visitors can watch members of Congress work on laws. There is a statue on top of the Capitol. It is the goddess of Freedom. When Congress meets, the statue has a light. Today, the Capitol has 540 rooms. It has restaurants, kitchens, post offices, a barbershop, and a prayer room. Visitors can see many of these rooms. They can also see hundreds of paintings and works of art in the Capitol. The House of Representatives and the Senate have offices in another building. Underground trains go from their office building to the Capitol.

 

Vocabulary notes

Ratify – одобрять, утверждать

take the oath - присягать

marsh - болото

hire - нанимать

bordering - граничащий

origin - происхождение

honor - честь

motto - девиз

wood thrush - лесной дрозд

confusion - путаница

headquarters - штаб

destination – место пребывания

particularly – в особенности

national landmarks – национальные достопримечательности

tributary – платящий дань

embassy - посольство

legation - представительство

Federal Bureau of Investigation - ФБР

Restore - восстанавливать

Residence – место проживания

Trail - след

Auspices – доброе предзнаменование

holocaust - самопожертвование

dedicate - посвящать

barbershop – парикмахерская (мужская)

cast - отливать

goddess - богиня

Famous cities

Biggest cities population

1 — New York, New York........................7,333,253

2 — Los Angeles, California.....................3,448,613

3 — Chicago, Illinois................................2,731,743

4 — Houston, Texas.................................l,702,086

5 — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania..........…..l,524,249

6 — San Diego, California.......................!,151,977

7 —Phoenix, Arizona......................…......1,048,949

8 —Dallas, Texas...................................... 1,022,830

9 — San Antonio, Texas............................. 998,905

10 — Detroit, Michigan.............................. 992,038

11 — San Jose, California........................... 816,884

12 — Indianapolis, Indiana........................ 752,279

13 — San Francisco, California.................. 734,676

14 — Baltimore, Maryland......................... 702,979

15 — Jacksonville, Florida.......................... 665,070

16 — Columbus, Ohio................................ 635,913

17 — Milwaukee, Wisconsin...................... 617,044

18 — Memphis, Tennessee......................... 614,289

19 — El Paso, Texas..................................... 579,307

20 — Washington, D.C............................... 567,094

21 — Boston, Massachusetts...................... 547,725

22 — Seattle, Washington........................... 520,947

23 —Austin, Texas...................................... 514,013

24 — Nashville, Tennessee.......................... 504,505

25 — Denver, Colorado.............................. 493,559

 

The most well-known cities

Anaheim, California

Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California, located 28 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Anaheim is known for its theme parks, sports teams, and convention center.

Founded by fifty German families in 1857 and incorporated on February 10, 1870, Anaheim developed into an industrial center, producing electronics, aircraft parts, and canned fruit. It is the site of the Disneyland Resort, a world-famous grouping of theme parks and hotels which opened in 1955.

Tourist attractions.

· Disneyland Resort:

o Disneyland

o Disney's California Adventure

o Downtown Disney

§ ESPN Zone

§ House of Blues

· Angel Stadium of Anaheim

· Honda Center

· The Grove of Anaheim, formerly the Sun Theater, formerly Tinseltown Studios

· Anaheim Convention Center

 

Atlanta, Georgia

Nickname: Hotlanta, The Big Peach, The ATL, A-Town, The 404

During the Civil Rights Movement, Atlanta stood apart from Southern cities that supported segregation, touting itself as the "city too busy to hate." The city's progressive civil rights record made it increasingly popular as a relocation destination for African Americans, and the city's population became majority-black by 1972. African Americans soon became the dominant political force in the city; since 1974, all of the mayors of Atlanta have been African-American, as well as the majority of the city's fire chiefs, police chiefs, and other high-profile government officials, then black majority has dropped from 69 percent in 1980 to 54 percent in 2005.

The city is also one of three cities in the United States to host the Summer Olympic Games, doing so in 1996. (St. Louis in 1904 and Los Angeles in 1932 and 1984 are the others).

Tourist attractions

Atlanta hosts a variety of museums on subjects ranging from history to fine arts, natural history, and beverages. Prominent among them are sites honoring Atlanta's participation in the civil rights movement. Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in the city, and his boyhood home on Auburn Avenue in the Sweet Auburn district is preserved as the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site. King's final resting place is in the tomb at the center of the reflecting pool at the King Center.

Other history museums and attractions include the Atlanta History Center; the Atlanta Cyclorama and Civil War Museum (a huge painting and diorama in-the-round, with a rotating central audience platform, that depicts the Battle of Atlanta in the Civil War); the Carter Center and Presidential Library; historic house museum Rhodes Hall; and the Margaret Mitchell House and Museum.

The arts are represented by several theaters and museums, including the Fox Theatre. The Woodruff Arts Center is home to the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Symphony, High Museum of Art, and Atlanta College of Art. Museums geared specifically towards children include the Fernbank Science Center and Imagine It! Atlanta's Children's Museum. The High Museum of Art is the city's major fine/visual arts venue, with a significant permanent collection and an assortment of traveling exhibitions.

Atlanta features the world's largest aquarium, the Georgia Aquarium, which officially opened to the public on November 23, 2005. The aquarium features over 100,000 specimens, including five whale sharks, in tanks holding approximately eight million gallons of water. One unique museum, which re-opened in its new location adjacent to the Aquarium on the Memorial Day weekend of 2007, is the World of Coca-Cola featuring the history of the world famous soft drink brand and its well-known advertising. Adjacent is Underground Atlanta, a historic shopping and entertainment complex situated under the streets of downtown Atlanta. While not a museum per se, The Varsity is the main branch of the long-lived fast food chain, featured as the world's largest drive-in restaurant.

The heart of the city's festivals is Piedmont Park. Next to the park is the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Zoo Atlanta, with a panda exhibit, is in Grant Park.

Just east of the city, Stone Mountain is the largest piece of exposed granite in the world. On its face are giant carvings of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson. It is also the site of impressive laser shows in the summer.

Boston, Massachusetts

Nickname: Bean town, The Hub (of the Universe), The Cradle of Liberty, City on the Hill, Athens of America

The city was founded in 1630 on the Shawmut Peninsula by Puritan colonists from England. During the late 1700s, Boston was the location of several major events during the American Revolution, including the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party. The city was the site of several firsts, including America's first public school, Boston Latin School (1635), and college, Harvard College (1636) in neighboring Cambridge, as well as the first subway system in the U.S.

With many colleges and universities within the city and surrounding area, Boston is a center of higher education and a center for health care. The city's economy is also based on research, finance, and technology — principally biotechnology.

Tourist attractions

Much of Boston's culture originates at its universities. The city has several ornate theatres, including the Cutler Majestic Theatre, Boston Opera House, The Wang Center for the Performing Arts, Schubert Theater, and the Orpheum Theater.

Because of the city's prominent role in the American Revolution, several historic sites relating to that period are preserved as part of the Boston National Historical Park. Many are found along the Freedom Trail, which is marked by a red line or bricks embedded in the ground. The city is also home to several prominent art museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. The University of Massachusetts campus at Columbia Point houses the John F. Kennedy Library. The Boston Athenaeum (one of the oldest independent libraries in the United States), Boston Children's Museum, Bull & Finch Pub (whose building is known from the television show Cheers), Museum of Science, and the New England Aquarium are within the city.

Chicago, Illinois

Nickname: "The Windy City," "The Second City," "Chi Town," "City of the Big Shoulders," "The 312," "The City that Works".

Founded in 1833 at the site of a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed, it soon became a transportation hub of North America. By the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, it was one of the ten most influential world cities, a distinction it continues to hold.

Lake Michigan

The history of Chicago is closely tied to that of Lake Michigan. Since before Chicago was founded, ships were bringing people and supplies from all points on the compass. Lake Michigan is the third largest of the Great Lakes, with a maximum depth of 925 feet and a size slightly greater than the nation of Croatia.

Tourist attractions

Since the first steel-framed high-rise building of the world was constructed in the city in 1885, Chicago has been known for its skyscrapers, and today boasts the world's tallest skyline. Many high-rise buildings are located in the downtown area, notably historic buildings such as the Chicago Board of Trade Building in the Loop with others along the lakefront and the Chicago River. The three tallest buildings in the city are the Sears Tower (also the tallest building in the United States), the An Center, and the John Hancock Center.

Along Lake Shore Drive, parks line the lakefront. The most notable of these parks are Grant Park and Millennium Park, which border the east end of the Loop, Lincoln Park on the north side, and Burnham Park and Jackson Park in the Hyde Park neighborhood on the south side. Interspersed within this system of parks are 31 beaches in Chicago, the Lincoln Park Zoo, several bird sanctuaries, McCormick Place Convention Center, Navy Pier, Soldier Field, the Museum Campus, and the Jardine Water Purification Plant.

Chicago is also home to a number of architecturally notable churches: Chicago Temple/First United Methodist Church which consists of a 22-story skyscraper surmounted by a steeple cross at 568 feet above street level making it the tallest church building in the world. The city is also home to three basilicas: Our Lady of Sorrows in Garfield Park, Queen of All Saints in Forest Glen, St. Hyacinth in Avondale.