Беликова Е.К., Саратовская Л.Б. - The United Kingdom and United States of America in Past and Present (1268141), страница 28
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Именно здесьзаконодательная ветвь правительства Соединенных Штатов – Конгрессдебатирует законы, по которым живет страна и ее народ. Через какие этапыпроходит законопроект, прежде чем стать законом? Законопроекты могутбыть внесены только членами Конгресса, но предложения о новыхзаконодательных мерах могут исходить из самых разных источников.109Профсоюзы, женские организации, ассоциации поборников гражданскихправ и вообще любые группы особых интересов из любой части странымогут добиваться законов, отвечающих их интересам. Многиезаконопроектов, рассматриваемые Конгрессом на каждой сессии, поступаетиз Белого Дома.
В начале каждого года Президент намечает своюзаконодательную программу в особой речи – Послании о положениистраны, произносимой на открытии первой сессии Конгресса. Вслед заэтим администрация начинает кампанию, чтобы подробно разъяснить целиПрезидента. Правительственные эксперты подолгу, иногда месяцамисовещаются с наиболее влиятельными членами Конгресса ипредставителями групп особых интересов, помогая вырабатыватьзаконопроекты в соответствии с программой Президента.
После внесениязаконопроекта эксперты по прохождению законопроектов в обеих палатахпредлагают редакционные поправки с целью облегчить прохождениезаконопроекта, а также консультируют конгрессменов относительнопроблем, которые могут возникнуть по предлагаемой мере. Такой эксперттакже рассылает законопроект по соответствующим комиссиям иподкомиссиям для обсуждения, внесения поправок, проведения слушанийи наконец голосования.Г) От хижины Тома до Барака Обамы. Час пробил. 2008 год отРождества Христова будет на много веков вписан в историю огромнымибуквами. Мы - современники грандиозного тектонического сдвига в судьбечеловечества. Он вызван сразу двумя факторами, сработавшимиодновременно.Во-первых, уже в общемировом масштабе грянул кризис либеральнойэкономики, спущенный с поводка после исчезновения коммунистическойугрозы.
Во-вторых, произошло неожиданное психологическое отторжениеамериканским народом того последнего, что оставалось еще от былойпротестантской самонадеянности,раза всегда и во всем правогоамериканского государства. Этот образ поддерживали президенты, которыенеизменно были англосаксами; «белыми дьяволами» по выражениюДжека Лондона. У последнего из них, Буша, эта страсть была особенноманиакальной.
Но это была агония Очевидно, что цивилизация в еенынешнем виде в 2008 г. окончила свое существование. Что за человекОбама, мы не знаем. Но мулат Обама ассоциируется с добрым, мягким,человечным дядей Томом. И народ решил сделать Белый дом его хижиной,изгнав из него наломавших дров англоамериканцев. (Виктор Тростников).4. Discussion Points:I. Which document is the operation of the US government based on?2. Explain the function of the different branches of government in the USA. 3.Compare them with those in Britain and the RF.4.
The election of a president is a110long and complex process. 5.What is the relationship between federal, state, andlocal governments and what are their responsibilities?CHAPTER IV. EDUCATIONRead the words and word combinations:Literacy - грамотностьto be enrolled in быть принятымPer capita - на душуResidential colleges - колледжи с проживаниемa selection system of admissionHigher education - высшее образованиеsubmission of a transcriptColleges оf liberal arts – гуманитарного образованияTuition fee оплата за обучениеWritten application- письменное заявление campus-территория университетаSchool boards and grantundergrad (ate)-студенты младших курсовHome-economic - урок «труда»Less stringent requirements- менее строгие правила;Faculty –профессорский состав Master degree: MA, MSC, and MBAProfessor - преподаватель университетаAssistant professor –старший преподаватель или доцентschedule расписаниеParochial - приходскийmajor ( minor) professionInstructor- преподавательGrades - классы или оценкиVocational courses – профессиональные курсыto enter a college, universityExtra-curricular activities- внеклассная деятельность;Curriculum- учебная программаOne of the fundamental parts of the American “Melting Pot or“Americanization” is its education.
According to the ideas of the creatorsof American Constitution the education of their country should reflect thenation’s basic values and ideals. Equality of opportunities for developingthe nation’s greatest potential has become the most important aspect ofAmerican system of education. As many historians believe a great deal ofeconomic, political, scientific, and cultural progress America has made inits relatively short history is due to its commitment to the ideal of equalopportunity.
This is the ideal of educating as many Americans aspossible, to the best of their abilities.Millions of immigrants coming to America often tied their hopes fora better life to a good education for themselves and, most importantly, fortheir children. They view the Education as a way of “bettering oneself”,of “rising in the world”, as a fundamental part of the American Dream.
In111the whole American society there has always been held the belief that themore schooling a person has, the more material success he or she willachieve in the future. The colonists of Northern and Western statesshowed a great concern for education. In these states there were manyliterate people at a time, when education was still uncommon in manycountries of Europe. Already in the 17th century they required all townswith more than 50 families to provide a schoolmaster at public expense.Other colonies also made provisions for free public schools. In the courseof the 17PthP century, for instance, free schools had been established in anumber of places such as New Haven, Hartford, New London, andFairfield.
In 1636 more than a hundred years before Americanindependence several Cambridge graduates founded in the MassachusettsBay Colony the first college, called after the name of Harvard who left ithis library and half of his property.Nine colleges of higher learning had been opened in North Americabefore the revolution: among them the college of William and inWilliamsburg, Virginia. founded in 1701. These colonial colleges, whichlater became universities, were founded to train men for service in thechurch and civil state. Special emphasis was laid on classical educationand only those who knew Latin and Greek were considered educated.American colleges in those days tried to duplicate the English ones, butunlike old English universities they were not self-governing bodies.The American Revolution brought a lotof changes.
The independence of the statesraised new questions about what Americaneducation should be. The first stateuniversities were founded, though theirflowering did not come until after the CivilWar, a century later. Rapid development ofindustry, agriculture and transportationbrought about great changes. Thetechnological needs of agriculture and business stimulated the creation ofagricultural and engineering colleges and caused the improvement of theearly nineteen-century universities.
The mid-nineteenth century saw thefoundation of private school known as the Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology (MIT) (1861).Gradually universities, private or public,became the dominant and most influential structure of higher education, aposition they still hold. Many of the oldest and best-known liberal arts112colleges, such as Yale, Columbia and Harvard, became universitiesduring this period. By the same time state-supported colleges anduniversities had been established in many states, including recentlysettled states such as Florida Jota and Wisconsin and Michigan.In 1862, Congress passed a law, which provided states with public(federal) lands to be used for higher education, especially for theestablishment of agricultural so-called “cow” and mechanical-artscolleges. Many “land-grant colleges” were established.
These new statesupported institutions joined the large number of older, well-established,and well-to-do privately funded universities. They were important in thedemocratization of higher education in the United States.By 1900, there were almost a thousand institutions of higher educationin the U.S. Among them were law and medical “schools” and hundreds ofsmall, four-year liberal arts colleges. One of the latter, Oberlin College inOhio, was the first to admit women on an equal basis with men, in 1837.There were many other institutions of higher learning, which emphasizedeverything from the training of teachers to the pulling of teeth.The United States have never had a national system of educationalthough there is a Federal Department of Education, which in some wayscorresponds to the Russian ministry of Education, its function is merelyto gather information, to advise, and to help finance certain educationalprograms.
Education, Americans say, is “a national concern, a stateresponsibility, and a local function”. Since the Constitution does not statethat education is a responsibility of the federal government, all educationmatters are left to the individual states.In turn, however, state constitutions give the actual administrativecontrol of the schools to the local communities. In 1986, an average of 50percent of the funds for elementary and secondary education came fromstate sources, 43 percent from local funds, and only about 6 percent thefederal government. There are some 16, 000 school districts within the 50states. School boards made up of individual citizens elected from eachcommunity oversee the schools in each district. They, not the state, setschool policy and actually decide what is to be taught.The major result of this situation is that there is an enormous amount ofvariety and flexibility in elementary, secondary, and higher (university)education throughout the nation.Elementary and Secondary Education.113Because of the great variety of schools and the many differences amongthem, no one institution can be singled out as typical or evenrepresentative.
There exist private and public schools. Since separation ofchurch and state is a principle of American democracy and thereforereligion cannot be taught in state-supported schools, there are also manyparochial schools, which are supported by the church. These are oftenCatholic, but there are Protestant and Jewish schools as well. Because ofthe inequalities inherent in society as a whole, however, the goal of equalopportunity in education remains an ideal rather than a reality.
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