Places of Interest in New York

Although New York is not the capital of the United States, it is the biggest and most important city and seaport of the country. New York is situated on the Atlantic coast, in the northeastern part of the country, in the state of New York at the mouth of the deep Hudson River, one of the biggest in the USA. It is the financial capital of the world, the center of the American cultural life and the national leader in fashion and entertainments. The "Big Apple" is the most popular nickname of the city. New York, with the population of more than 16 million people, is the second largest city and the biggest seaport in the world.

Dutch settlers founded this city in 1613. That time, it was called New Amsterdam. In 1664, New Amsterdam was captured by British troops and renamed in New York. Nowadays New York consists of 5 large boroughs: Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Richmond.

Brooklyn alone has so many people that if it were a separate city, it would be the fourth largest city in the United States.

There are many places of interest in New York.

The most famous of them is The Statue of Liberty, presented to the USA by France in 1886. Its torch towers about 200 feet above the harbor and can be seen at night for many miles. It is the largest statue in the world.

The Empire State Building used to be the highest building, but now it is only the third. It is a 102-storied building.

Broadway is the longest street in the world. It is about 12 miles long. It is the centre of entertainments.

By the present moment, the Metropolitan Museum is the richest museum in the world in objects of Art, due to what had been bought from Europe after the World War Two. Besides, we can see the works of American painters there too.

The Central Park is the largest park in the world.

There are the best houses, hotels and fashionable shops on the Fifth Avenue. There is the Rockefeller centre of 15 skyscrapers, housing several large corporations. It is also known as "Radio City".

The United Nations Headquarters was built in New York City in 1952. The building and the grounds around contain sculptures and other works of art, donated by member nations.

New York attracts people from all over the world. You can see people of different nations and religions here: White, Black, Asian, Moslem, Christian and Jewish people. It is the city of contrasts and it is really so.

 

Text 14

Task 1. Read and translate the text. Make the vocabulary of unknown words.

Task 2. Make a short annotation to the text

 

Beverly Hills

Most visitors to Los Angeles, California, come to see Beverly Hills. This is where are situated the homes of the movie stars. But Beverly Hills is not Los Angeles. It is a small city next to Los Angeles.

All kinds of celebrities live in Beverly Hills. These celebrities may be movie stars, television stars, sports stars, or other people in the news.

Tourists can buy special maps for the homes of the stars. These homes are very beautiful. They usually have swimming pools and tennis courts. But sometimes you can't see very much. The homes have high walls or trees around them.

Beverly Hills is also famous for the Rodeo Drive Street. This is one of the most expensive shopping streets in the United States. Rodeo Drive started to be an elegant street in the 1960s.

Many famous stores were opened here. People liked all the new styles and fashions they could buy. Today you can find the most expensive and unusual clothing, jewelry, and furniture in the Rodeo Drive Street. Rodeo Drive is a very special street.

When you want to park your car in public parking, an attendant will come and park your car for you.

Beverly Hills is really a small city. Only about 35,000 people live there. But every day more than 200,000 people come to Beverly Hills to work or to shop.

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Task 1. Read and translate the text. Make the vocabulary of unknown words.