N. Kryazheva - The United States and the United Kingdom. Past and Present (doc) (798446)
Текст из файла
The United States and the United Kingdom:Past and Present
authors: N.Kryazheva V.Oleinik Zh.Khramushina
PREFACE
This book attempts to present a picture of the British country and the United States of America as they are at the present period. The main objective is to convey information about political, social and cultural life in the above mentioned
countries. History is kept to a minimum. The emphasis is mainly on the features
of life which seem to be distinctive or characteristic or which seem to be of special
interest to observers from outside. It is not our purpose to praise or to blame, to
attack existing order of things or to defend them.
The life of these countries has its difficulties and irrationalities. We have assumed a fair knowledge of ordinary literary English. Texts are not adapted. We have tried to use language understandable for the first and second year students of the technical university.
Texts are intended for class and out-of-class reading and for communication. Grammar is easy. There are almost no lexical difficulties. All unknown words are given. We hope the book will be useful for students who are learning English at higher schools and want to have definite knowledge about Great Britain and the United States of America and form communication skills.
PART I
THE UNITED STATES
The United States of America, commonly called the United States or simply America is a federal republic comprising 50 states and the district of Columbia - a federal area on the Potomac River, coextensive with the federal capital Washington, D.C., governed by Congress, and six territories and dependencies. The part of the country constituting the order 48 states and the district of Columbia is collectively referred to as the conterminous United States; the conterminous United States and the state Alaska are collectively referred to as the continental United States.
The USA came into being on July 4, 1776, when 13 British colonies had won their independence in America from Great Britain. The 13 colonies became the first states of the US. They are represented on the American flag, which is called the "Stars and Stripe and Old Glory" with 13 horizontal stripes alternately red and white with a blue background marked with 50 white stars representing the 50 states existing today. The national anthem of the USA is the Star- Spangled Banner.
The US is a big highly developed industrial country. It holds the leading position in the capitalist world and has been called the "Land of Opportunities", the "Melting Pot", the "Salad Bowl", "God's Country", and the "Pizza" and is referred to as by advocates of capitalism as a land of superlatives "the richest", "the greatest", "the most", but it is not the largest country in the world. The USA is the 4th largest country in the world with a population 309,794,000 ml. It is a very urbanized population, with 81% residing in cities and suburbs as of mid-2005 (the worldwide urban rate was 49%). California and Texas are the most populous states, as the mean center of United States population has consistently shifted westward and southward.
The United States is one of the few countries that has no "official" national language, or languages. English is the common language by use, but it is not the national language by law. The Americans are really a nation of nations, and the USA is the country where all the principal languages are spoken.
The United States has often been called "a nation of immigrants." There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, the country was settled, built, and developed by generations of immigrants and their children. Secondly, even today America continues to take in more immigrants than any other country in the world. It is not surprising, therefore, that the United States is counted among the most heterogeneous societies in the world. Many different cultural traditions, ethnic sympathies, national origins, racial groups, and religious affiliations make up "we, the people".
This country like any other one now faces urgent and serious problems: crimes, urban and racial conflicts, unemployment and drugs. In the United States as elsewhere, the causes of serious crime are hotly debated and many reasons for it suggested. Among these are unemployment, drug abuse, poverty, inadequate police enforcement, ineffective courts, racial discrimination, consumerism, television, and "a general decline in middle class values".
The Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a 225-ton, steel female figure, 152 ft in height, facing the ocean from Liberty Island in New York Harbour.
The statue was designed by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi as a gift to the United States from the people of France.
The Statue of Liberty is more than a monument. It is a beloved friend, the symbol of freedom to millions around the world.
The woman is holding up a torch in her right hand and represents freedom.
The words written at the base of the statue are famous and well-known to most Americans. These words are:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your haddled masses yearning to breath free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send this, the homeless tempest - tossed to me!
I lift my lamb beside the golden door.
Words and Phrases:
to refer to as - называть
to come into being - возникать
to represent - представлять
representative - представитель
crime - преступление
blue background - голубой фон
coextensive - сосуществующий
heterogeneous - разнородный
drugs - наркотики
drug abuse - злоупотребление наркотиками
to face problems - стоять перед проблемами
to win (won, won) independence - завоевывать независимость
conterminous - имеющий общую границу, смежный
to spangle- блестеть, украшать
to constitute - составлять
constitution - конституция
constitutional - конституционный
urgent problems - насущные проблемы
enforcement - давление
to count - считать
to mark - отмечать
affiliation - принадлежность
superlative - превосходная степень
Tasks:
1. Make up a plan of the text.
2. Ask your group-mate whether he(she) knows:
a. anything about the history of the country;
b. what the District of Columbia is;
c. anything about the US flag.
3. Speak about the "national language" of the US.
4. Ask your group-mate whether he(she) knows:
a. what the capital of the US is;
b. anything about the Americans as "nation of nations";
c. what serious problems this country faces.
5. Imagine that you are to make a report about the country, write down the
most important sentences from the text.
THREE BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT
The USA is a bourgeois republic. There are three levels of government in the US - federal, state, and local ones. All of these are elected by the people of the country. The federal government is made up of the Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court. Within the national government power is divided among three branches, namely the legislative, executive and judicial ones.
The legislative branch consists of the Congress, which is made up of the House of Representatives and Senate.
The Congress's main function is to make laws and to finance the operations of the Government. There are 100 senators (two from each state) and 435 representatives (the number from each state depends on the size of the state's population).
The executive branch, which includes the President, Vice-president and
sident's Cabinet is responsible for administering and executing the laws. The President's Cabinet consists of 10-12 members.
The President is the head of the executive branch and the country. In addition to the President, the Vice-president, and their staffs, the executive branch consists of departments and agencies.
There are now 14 departments. Each department has different responsibilities. The President appoints the department heads, who together make up the President's Cabinet, or advisers. The agencies regulate specific areas.
The judicial branch interprets the laws and makes sure that new laws are in keeping with the Constitution. There are several levels of federal courts. The US Supreme Court is the highest tribunal in the US. It is appointed by the President and approved by Senate. It has nine members, who are appointed for life.
The system of checks and balances, established by the Constitution, is aimed to prevent any branch from having too much power. Each branch has certain control over the other branches.
Each state has its own constitution. Like the national government, state governments are divided into legislative, executive and judicial branches. There are state senators and representatives and state court systems. Just as the President is the leader of the national government, each state has a governor as its leader. Below the state level of government, there are county and city governments.
The United States has two main political parties: the Democratic party also known as the Democrats was organized in 1820s and the Republican one which is sometimes called the Grand Old Rarty or GOP was organized in 1850s. Both Parties remain in fact the parties supported and controlled by big business. Many other smaller parties play little if any role. There are not any clear differences between these two political parties.
In the twentieth century,as society has become more complex, government
has taken a much more active role. However, many Americans worry about too much government interference in their lives. Still, compared to many other соuntries, the role of the US government remains limited.
Words and Phrases:
judicial branch - судебная власть
to make up - составлять (правила)
Supreme court - верховный суд
to appoint - назначать
appointment - назначение
responsible - ответственный
responsibility - ответственность
to interpret - толковать
department - министерство, ведомство
agency - учреждение
to make laws - составлять законы
to be in keeping with - соответствовать
to govern - управлять
governor - губернатор, правитель
government - правительство
to interfere - вмешиваться
interference - вмешательство
to remain - оставаться
to prevent - препятствовать, предотвращать
Tasks:
1. Speak about the highest branches of the US government.
2. Ask your partner about:
a. the head of the executive branch;
b. the main function of the Congress;
c. the leading parties of the USA.
3. Speak about the highest tribunal in the US.
4. Ask the question about the difference between a senator and a congressman.
5. Compose a dialogue about three branches of the US government.
THE FOURTH OF JULY - THE US INDEPENDENCE DAY
The Fourth of July is the biggest national holiday of the US. It is celebrated as the birthday of the country with parades, picnics, and fireworks. On July 4, 1776, when the American colonies were fighting a war against England, the Continental Congress adopted a resolution, which has come to be known as the Declaration of Independence. The resolution was written by Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), the leader of the democratic wing of the American bourgeoisie. Thomas Jefferson was the bearer of advanced views that have not lost their significance for the social struggle in modern America.
In fact, the Declaration of Independence was a letter from the Continental Congress to the king of Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson wrote to the king that the people in America did not want to pay taxes, if they were not allowed to decide how to spend them.
The letter declared that the people in America wanted to be free and inde-
dent of England from that time on. So, the letter was called the Declaration of enclence. But the Declaration was just a letter, it did not make the American oole independent of England, the people had to fight for their independence. p jhe Declaration of Independence is one of the most important political documents in the western world. It had a decisive influence on the development of the American Revolution. It was a great achievement of the popular movement, and it influenced bourgeois revolutions in Europe and elsewhere.
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