Los Angeles

The city was founded in 1781 by Spanish colonists who came to the west coast of America from Mexico. The village built by them was called “The Town of Our Lady, The Queen of Angeles”. It is a city of many beaches, with surfers, volleyball players, and people getting tan. It is also the center of the movie industry home to many movie stars. LA has money and glamour; the Beverly Hills neighborhood, for example, is famous for its mansions and high-priced shops. LA is a city of fads//прихоть, фантазия and trends. Clubs, restaurants, shops, and styles have been known to appear and disappear overnight. LA is not only a center for entertainment and tourism, but also for manufacturing, business and finance, aerospace, oil, and trade.

LA faces some serious problems. With so much traffic. LA has the dirtiest air in the USA; too often sunshine is hidden by smog. Crime and violence are also major problems. Police say there are at least 500 gangs in LA. Violence among gang members has grown with the spread of drugs and drug money. Experts emphasize that the problems must be solved if LA is to maintain the Southern California lifestyle for which it’s famous.

Las Vegas

Las Vegas is a center of gambling in America. For this reason, some say the name Las Vegas comes from a mispronunciation of the phrase “lost wages”. In reality, “Las Vegas” is Spanish for “meadows”. Early settlers were impressed by the fact that Las Vegas was an oasis of green grass in the middle of the desert.

Today Las Vegas is still an oasis – not of grass, but of neon lights. Its hotels and gambling casinos, shows use so much neon that Las Vegas has been nicknamed the City of Lights. In fact, all the entertainments of Las Vegas are open 24 hours a day. Las Vegas is like an “adult Disneyland”, a fantasy oasis in the Nevada desert.

Detroit

Detroit is the world’s car manufacturing center, giving Detroit its nickname the Motor City. It is also one of the nation’s leading industrial centers. Detroit produces steel, metal products, machine tools, chemicals, office machines, and pharmaceuticals. The metropolitan area contains the international headquarters of such major motor-vehicle firms as General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company, and Chrysler Corporation. The first motor car factories were founded in Detroit in 1899 and 1903 by Ransom Olds and Henry Ford.

San Francisco

The city is surrounded on three sides by water. It is famous for its bridges, fog, and foghorns. San Francisco has 40 hills. It is famous for its cable cars, which climb these hills, and for its steep and narrow streets. San Francisco is a wonderful city to explore on foot. San Francisco also has a reputation as an intellectual, liberal, and slightly crazy city – a city where new and different ideas can be explored. Don’t leave San Francisco without seeing the symbol of the city – the Golden Gate Bridge – a beautiful orange suspension bridge. The city has the largest Chinese neighborhood – Chinatown, a genuinely ethnic area