Read the text, write out the underlined words and try to guess their meaning.

The United States of America

The United States lies in the central part of the North American Continent between the two oceans: the Atlantic Ocean to the East and the Pacific Ocean to the West. Friendly Canada to the north and friendl y Mexico to the south are the only countries bordering it.

The USA consists of three separate parts. They are the Hawaiian islands, situated in the central part of the Pacific Ocean, Alaska separated by the Canadian territory and the rest major part of the USA. The states differ very much in size, population and economic deve­lopment.

There are many big cities and towns in the USA: New York, San Francisco, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles are the biggest of them.

The United States of America is a parliamentary republic. The gov­ernment is divided into three branches: legislative (the US Congress), executive (the President and his Administration) and judicial (the US Supreme Court).

There are two main political parties in the USA: the Democratic (symbolized by a "donkey") and the Republican (its symbol is an "ele­phant"). The US President is both head of state and government. He is elected for a four-year term. Presidential elections are held every leap year on first Tuesday after first Monday in November. The President is assist ed by Secretaries who are the heads of the executive departments.

The Supreme Court consists of Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices who are appointed for life. It is supposed to decide whether a law of the Congress or an executive order of the President is constitu­tional or not.

The form of US government is based on the Constitution of September 17, 1787, adopt ed after the War of Independence, In December 1791, the Congress adopted ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights. The latter enumerate d what the government controlled by the oligarchy was not going to be allowed to do, which was, of course, an important democratic gain for people.

The Congress of the United States is compose d of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate represents the states and the House represents the population according to its distrib­ution among the states. All states have electoral requirements of the same nature. First of all they are residence requirements.

Through its power over the purse, the US Congress can control much that relates to foreign policy, also it is a governmental body that determine s taxation.

Each of the fifty states of the USA has a constitution patterned after the federal Constitution, with its divisions of power: legislative, exec­utive, and judicial.

The Presidency means not only a man: means an institution — the "executive branch" of the government.

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the country and the head of the judicial branch of US government. The federal and state courts have the power of "judicial review." Also there are about ninety district courts in different parts of the United States. American judicial practice is firmly committed to the idea of jury trials. The Constitution guarantees them for both criminal and civil cases. According to the US judicial doctrine, "justice is a relationship in which each citizen or group receives due respect and return."

Using underlined words make as many sentences as you can.

Answer the questions

1. What are the main political parties in the USA?

2. When are presidential elections held?

3. What does the Supreme Court consist of?

4. When was the US Constitution adopted?

5. Is the USA the biggest country in the world?

2. Символы США.

The Statue of Liberty

One of the most famous statues in the world stands on an island in New York Harbor. This statue is, of course, the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty is a woman who holds a torch up high. She symbolizes a welcome to a land of freedom. Visitors can go inside the statue. The statue is so large that as many as twelve people can stand inside the torch. Many more people can stand in other parts of the statue. The statue weighs 225 tons and is 301 feet tall.

The Statue of Liberty was put up in 1886. It was a gift to the United States from the people of France. Over the years France and the United States had a special relationship. In 1776 France helped the American colo­nies gain independence from England. The French wanted to do something special for the U.S. centennial, its 100th birthday

Laboulaye was a well-known Frenchman who admired the U.S. One night at a dinner in his house, Laboulaye talked about the idea of a gift. Among guests was the French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. Bartholdi thought of a statue of liberty. He offered to design the statue.

Many people contributed in some way. The French people gave money for the statue. Americans designed and built the pedestal for the statue to stand on. The American people raised money to pay for the pedestal. The French engineer Alexander Eiffel, who was famous for his Eiffel Tower in Paris, figured out how to make the heavy statue stand.

Закончите предложения.

1.______________________________________ The people of France wanted to give the United States a special………………

a. gift  b. torch    с woman

2 France and the United States had a special………………………...

a. independence b. relationship с feeling

3 France helped the American colonies to……………. independence.

a. build    b. gain c. protect

4.A famous Frenchman, Laboulaye, ………………the United States.

a. admired    b. visited  с designed

5. Frederic Bartholdi……………..to design the statue.

a. contributed b. offered с. ordered

6. The Statue of Liberty stands on a ………………...

a. building b. harbor c. pedestal

II. Закончите предложения.

1. The Statue of Liberty is a famous statue in

a. France b. the United States

2._______________________ The Statue of Liberty was a gift ……………….       

a. from the people of France to the United States

b. from Laboulaye and Eiffel to the United States
3. The Statue of Liberty symbolizes ………………..

a. a woman with a torch b. a land of freedom