Exercises

1. Answer the following questions:

1. What is the capital of the USA?

2. Where is Washington situated?

3. Who was the first President of the USA?

4. What do you know about cherry trees in Washington?

5. What kind of interesting places are there in the city?

6. When was the National Gallery of Art opened? What is the Capitol?

8. Where is the Capitol?

9. What do you know about the White House in Washington?

10 Did George Washington live in the White House?

11. Is the fare in metro connected with the time of a day?

12. Name the most famous monuments in the city.

13. The Pentagon is a military centre, isn't it?

14. Is there any industry in Washington?

2. Put question-tags to the following sentences:

1. Washington is the capital of the United States of America.

2. The city is on the left bank of the Potomac River.

3. The city was named after the first President George Washington.

4. There are many beautiful parks and gardens in Washington.

5. It opened in 1941.

6. The Capitol is the centre of the city.

7. Congress consists of two Chambers: The Senate and the House of Representatives.

8. There are a lot of sights in Washington.

9. A lot of people work there.

Philadelphia

One of the main cities of the United States of America is Philadelphia. It is situated in the east of the USA.

Now Washington is the capital of the USA, but Philadelphia was the first capital of the United States of America from 1790 till 1800. Many people consider that Philadelphia is an important political centre of the USA, because the USA constitution was the first written constitution in the world adopted in this city in 1787.

Philadelphia is a seaport and a shipping centre of the country, too. It is an important manufacturing centre. Some branches of industry are developed in the city.

There are many sights in Philadelphia, for example, the Independence National Historical Park. You can see many monuments in it. If you want to learn the history of America you have to learn something about the Liberty Bell. Now the Liberty Bell is a symbol of freedom. The sound of this Bell told the people about the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. It was in July, 1776.

Philadelphia is one of the cultural centres of the country. The Parkway is the cultural centre of Philadelphia. You can see the Philadelphia Museum of Art (one of the greatest art museums of the world), College of Art, Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Fine Arts there.

There are many hotels, theatres, shops and museums in Philadelphia.

There is the Pennsylvania University in Philadelphia. This University has got an interesting and big library.

Philadelphia is a beautiful city with many skyscrapers in it.

Exercises

1. Answer the following questions:

1. Where is Philadelphia situated?

2. Philadelphia was the first capital of the USA, wasn't it?

3. Where was the first USA constitution adopted?

4. When was the Declaration of Independence proclaimed?

5. Is Philadelphia a shipping centre of the country?

6. What sights do you know in Philadelphia?

7. What is the symbol of freedom in Philadelphia?

8. Are there many hotels, theatres and museums in the city?

9. Can you see a lot of skyscrapers in Philadelphia?

10. Philadelphia is a beautiful city, isn't it?

2. Fill in the gaps:

1. Washington is ... of the USA.

2. Many people consider that Philadelphia is an important political ... .

3. Philadelphia is a ... and a shipping centre of the country, too.

4. There are many ... in Philadelphia, for example, the Independence National Historical Park.

5. Now the Liberty Bell is a ... of freedom.

6. Philadelphia is a beautiful city with many ... in it.

UNIT 7. THE INTERNET

The Internet originated in the early 1970s when the United States wanted to make sure that people could communicate after a nuclear war. This needed a free and independent communication network without a centre and it led to a network of computers that could send each other e-mail through cyberspace.

T im Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web (WWW) when he discovered a way to jump to different files on his computer using the random, or unplanned, links between them. He then wrote a simple coding system, called HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language), to create links to files on any computer connected to the network. This was possible because each file had an individual address, or URL (Uniform Resource Locator). He then used a set of transfer rules, called HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), to link Web files together across the Internet. Berners-Lee also invented the world’s first browser. This lets you locate and view Web pages and also navigate from one link to another.

The WWW became available to everyone in 1991 and the number of Internet users grew from 600,000 to 40 million in five years. Today, that number is much larger and there are now many browsers that provide Web pages, information and other services. You can also do research, download music files, play interactive games, shop, talk in chat rooms and send and receive e-mail on the WWW.