I speak about you, America!
The United States of America is the fourth largest country after Russia, China
and Canada.
The USA lies in the central part of North American Continent. It is washed by
the Atlantic Ocean in the East, by the Pacific Ocean in the West, by the Gulf of
Mexico in the South. The USA borders on Canada in the North and on Mexico in
the South. It also has a sea-border on Russia.
The area of the territory of the USA is 9 million square kilometers.
Welcome to America
According to the relief there
are two highlands and two
lowlands. The highlands are
the Appalachian mountains in
the East and the Rockies or
Cordillera mountains in the
West. There are two central
lowlands between them. One
of them is the Mississippi
Valley and the Northern part
of the lowland which is called
prairie. In the North there are
five great lakes.
The Appalachian
Mountains are
situated in the
East of the
country. They
are very old. The
highest peak in
the Appalachian
Mountains is
2037 meters
high.
The Appalachians
The Rockies or
Cordillera are
among the earth’s
youngest
mountains, they
stretch from
Alaska to the
northern Mexico
and include many
smaller ranges.
Their highest
peak is 4418
meters.
The Rockies
There are five” Great” lakes on the border on Canada. They are
Lake Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior and Huron. They are the
largest and the deepest in the USA.
The “Great” Lakes
Lake Superior is the largest of the “Great Lakes” and the
world’ s largest lake of fresh water.
The Niagara Falls , situated on the short Niagara River joining
Lakes Erie and Ontario, are famous all over the world and
attract lots of tourists.
There are a lot of big rivers in the USA: the Colorado River, the
Columbia River, the Hudson River and many others. But the
longest river in the United States ( and the longest in the world) is
the Mississippi with its west tributary Missouri.
The Mississippi River
Natural Wonders of The United States
The Great Canyon of The Colorado River
It is two miles long
and in some places it
is eighteen miles
wide. The large
territory of the
canyon is a wonderful
sight. But the
greatest beauty
comes from the bright
colours of the canyon
walls, which
continually change in
the sunlight.
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National park is famous for its geysers. There
are about 200 geysers in the park. The most famous of them
is Old Faithful. It erupts about every hour, winter or summer,
day or night. Once every hour Old Faithful sends a column of
hot water into the air. It is over 100 feet high.
The Painted Desert
The Painted Desert like the Great Canyon is famous for its wonderful
colours. From a distance the bright red and yellow of its earth and
stones look like a large painted picture. Bright sunshine, combined
with chemical materials in the earth makes the colours stronger.
The Yosemite National Park
A US national park in Sierra Nevada mountains
of eastern California. It was named after the
Yosemite River that runs through it and contains
Yosemite Falls(740 metres high). The park is
also famouse for its giant sequoia trees. It was
made the World Heritage Site in 1984.
The USA is a very large country, so it has different climate zones.
The coldest regions are in the north and north-east, where much
snow falls in winter. The South has a tropical climate. The region
around the “Great Lakes” is known for its changeable weather. In
general the climate in North America is much colder than in
Europe. The average annual temperature of New York is 11 C
degrees.
Climate
The Native Americans
When Columbus arrived in
America in XV century there
were perhaps 10 million people
in North America alone.
Columbus called them “Indians”
in the mistaken belief he had
reached the East Indies.
Today there are about 1,5
million Indians in the United
States. About one third of Native
Americans live on reservations,
land that was set aside for them.
The population of the United States
The population of the USA is about three hundred and thirty
four million. The USA is the country of immigrants, that is why the
culture, the religions, the traditions of Americans are diverse.
The United States of America is a Federal republic, consisting of 50 states and the
federal district of Columbia where the capital of the country, Washington D.C., is
situated. In some ways the United States is like fifty small countries. Each state has
its own governor, its own police, and its own laws.
The Constitution of the USA
The Constitution of the USA
The government of the USA
The Legislative Powers The Executive Powers The Judicial powers
The Congress
The Senate The House of Representatives
The President The Supreme Court
American government
has three branches:
The Legislative
Powers, The executive
Powers and The
Judicial Powers. The
Legislative Powers are
exercised by the
parliament. It is called
Congress. The
Congress has two
houses : The Senate
and The House of
Representatives. The
executive Powers are
exercised by The
President and his
Cabinet. The Judicial
Powers are exercised
by The Supreme Court.
The American Flag
The United States’ flag is called “Stars and Stripes”. It has
thirteen stripes, seven red and six white for the first thirteen states
(colonies) of the union. The flag also has fifty five-pointed white
stars in the upper left-hand corner. One star is for each state of the
United States. The flag was adopted on the 14-th of June 1777.
The USA State Emblem
The “Great Seal “
of the United
States shows a
“bald” eagle, a
very large bird
which is itself a
symbol of the
USA, and the
Latin motto “e
pluribus unum”
which refers to
the fact that the
USA is one
country made up
from many
individual states.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. , the
capital of the United
States of America is
situated оn the
Potomac River. It is a
city and a district - the
District of Columbia
(D.C.) . The city is
named in honour of
the first nation’s
president George
Washington. The
district is named in
honour of Columbus,
the discoverer of
America.
The White House
The White House is a house in which the President of the
United States lives and works.
The White House has 132 rooms, 54 of which are reserved
only for the private use of the First Family on the second and
third floors.
The Capitol
The Capitol is the
Seat of Congress.
It is in the very
centre of
Washington. The
Capitol is located
on the Capitol Hill,
the highest point of
the city. There is a
law in Washington
not to build houses
higher than the
Capitol.
The Library of Congress
The Library of
Congress is the
national library of
the USA. It was
established in
1800. It now has
more than 80
million books and
other items. The
library receives two
copies of every US
published work.
Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue is a famous broad street in Washington D.C.
It is 1,3 miles (2 kilometers) long and connects the White House
and the Capitol. Along the way are other government buildings,
including the office of the FBI and others.
The Washington Monument
Not far from the
Capitol there is the
Washington
Monument, which
looks like a very big
pencil. The
monument was
erected to the
memory of the first
president of the
USA.
The Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial is devoted to the
memory of the sixteenth president of the
USA, the author of the Emancipation
Proclamation, which gave freedom to
Negro slaves in America.
The Jefferson Memorial
The memorial was build in honour of the third US President
Tomas Jefferson, who was one of the Founding Fathers. He
wrote most of the Declaration of Independence.
Kennedy Centre
John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts was
opened as a living memorial to President J. Kennedy in 1971.
The main theatres are the Concert Hall, the Opera House and
Eisenhower Theatre.
The Pentagon
The building in Arlington, Virginia, which contains the
administrative offices of the USA Department of Defense. It
has five sides and is the largest building in the world.
New York
New York is the largest city and port in the United States. It is
the economic centre of the USA with a population of nearly eight
million.
The Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty has become America’s symbol of Freedom. It
stands оn a small Bedloe Island at the entrance to New York
harbour.
The statue
presented to the
United States by
France in 1884
symbolized the
friendship of the
USA and France. It
became a national
symbol in 1924.
America’s National Symbol
1.Manhattan
2.Brooklyn
3.Queens
4.Bronx
5.Staten Island
New York is comprised of
five boroughs:
n
Manhattan
Manhattan is the most densely populated borough of New York
City and home to most of the city's skyscrapers. The borough
contains the major business and financial centers of the city and
many cultural attractions, including numerous museums, the
Broadway theatre district and Madison Square Garden.
Wall Street
Wall Street is the site of New York Stock Exchange and the centre of the world
financial life. The street got its name in the old days when one of the Dutch
governor of New Amsterdam build the wall across Manhattan to protect the
colonists from the Indians. The wall was later broken but the name remained.
Broadway
Broadway is the centre of
the theatre and night life.
There are many drugstores
and restaurants which never
close. There are cinemas
with films that start at
midnight.
The Empire State Building
The Empire State
Building is the first
building to have more
than 100 floors. It has
6,500 windows, 73
elevators and there are
1,860 steps from street
level to the 102nd floor.
It has a total floor area
of approximately
254,000 m².
Rockefeller Centre
Rockefeller Center is
"a city within a city“. It
is the largest private
building project ever
undertaken in modern
times. It is a complex of
19 commercial buildings
with its own
restaurants, stores,
theatres, post-offices.
In winter its plaza is
transformed from an
outdoor restaurant to an
ice-skating pond. It is
one of New York's
greatest attractions.
Times Square
Times Square is a busy square in the
center of Manhattan , New York City. It is
known for its bright lights and many
theatres and cinemas. Times Square is
smaller than Red Square in Moscow or
Trafalgar Square in London. It got its name
from the New York Times, the most
popular newspaper in America, which has
its main office there. On New Year Eve
thousands of people gather there to watch
a ball move down as the new year
approaches.
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of
the oldest suspension bridges
in the United States, stretches
1825 m over the East River
connecting Manhattan and
Brooklyn. A week after the
opening, on May 30 1883 a
rumor that the Bridge was
going to break down caused a
stampede which crushed and
then killed twelve people.
Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn
One of the five boroughs of New York City south of
Manhattan. It is an industrial port but the area in it called
Brooklyn Heights is one of the most beautiful in the city.
Bronx
Bronx is a borough in New York City . It is a poor area and
in its southern part there is a lot of crime and drug dealing.
It contains Yankee Stadium and the Bronx Zoo.
Queens
The largest of five boroughs of New York City. It was named
after the wife of Charles II. The area of Queens Astoria is known
for its large Greek community.
Staten Island
Staten Island is one of the islands of New York City. Its
former name was Richmond. It is connected by the Verrazano-
Narrow Bridge. The Staten Island Ferry goes to Battery park in
Manhattan and provides good views of the city.