Northern ireland

Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. The province of Northern Ireland (sometimes called “Ulster”) consists of six counties: Antrim, Down, Armagh, Tyrone, Fermagah and Londonery. These counties are not used for local government purposes, instead there are twenty six districts of Northern Ireland. The province is surrounded by sea to the north and east, by the republican counties of Donegal to the west and Cavan and Monaghan to the south.

Northern Ireland comprises a patchwork of communities whose national loyalties are represented in some areas by flags flown from flagpoles or lamp posts. The Union Jack and the former Northern Ireland flag are flown in some loyalists areas and the Tricolour adopted by the Republicans as the flag of Ireland is flown in some republican areas.

British holidays

Most public holidays in Great Britain are also known as “Bank Holidays”. The most important of them are the following: New Year’s Day (January 1st), Easter, Christmas Day (December 25th), Boxing Day (December 26th).

Easter is a holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion at Calvary as described in New Testament. Easter always falls on Sunday but Easter Monday is also a public holiday. Many British follow the tradition of coloring hard-boiled eggs and giving baskets of candy. Egg-rolling is a traditional Easter past-time which still flourished in Northern England, Scotland and the Isle of Man. It takes place on Easter Sunday or Monday, and consists of rolling eggs down a slope until they are cracked and broken after which they are eaten by their owners.

Christmas is an annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ celebrated on December 25th. For most British families it is the most important holiday of the year. This is the day when many people are travelling home to be with their families. There are a lot of traditions connected with Christmas but perhaps the most important one is the giving of presents. Family members wrap up their gifts and leave them under the Christmas tree to be found on Christmas morning. Most families decorate their houses with brightly colored paper or holly. At some time on Christmas Day the family sit down to a big turkey dinner followed by Christmas pudding. Later in the afternoon they watch the Queen on television as she delivers her traditional Christmas message to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.

Boxing Day is traditionally the day following Christmas Day when servants receive gifts from their superiors. It is also known as a shopping holiday when shops have sales often with dramatic price reductions.

Besides public holidays there are other festivals, anniversaries, celebrations and simply days on which certain traditions are observed, but unless they fall on Sunday, they are ordinary working days.

Saint Valentine’s Day is observed on February 14th each year. St Valentine was a priest who lived in Rome and died for his faith in AD 170. His feast happens to fall on February 14th – the traditional day of lovers. But this is a mere coincidence. He was not noted as helping lovers in distress and was not therefore the true patron saint of lovers. The first recorded association of Valentine’s Day with romantic love was mentioned by Geoffrey Chaucer in 1382. There was in early times a strong belief that on this day birds choose their mates. To some extent this might explain why love-birds seem to be such popular motifs on Valentine’s cards.

Halloween means “holly evening” and takes place on October 31st. Although it is much more important festival in the USA than in Britain, it is celebrated by many people in the United Kingdom. It is particularly connected with witches and ghosts. At parties people dress up in strange costumes and pretend they are witches. Children dressed in white sheets knock on doors and ask if you would like “trick or treat”. If you give them something nice, a “treat” they go away. However, if you don’t, they play a “trick” on toy, such as making a lot of noise or spilling flour on your front door.

Remembrance Day is observed throughout Britain in commemoration of the million or more British soldiers, sailors and airmen who lost their lives during the two World Wars. On that day special services are held in the churches and wreaths are laid at war memorials throughout the country. The silence begins at the first strike of Big Ben booming at 11 o’clock and is broken only by the crash of distant artillery.

Ответьте на вопросы к тексту:

1. What does Christmas commemorates?

2. What British holiday is connected with witches and ghosts?

3. Is St Valentine’s Day a national holiday in Britain?

4. Which holiday in Britain is associated with the phrase “trick or treat”?

5. On what day does Big Ben boom and what does it commemorate?

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

The United States (the USA) is a federal constitutional republic. It is situated in the central and southern parts of the continent of North America, and includes the state of Alaska and the Hawaii Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The USA is washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the east, the Gulf of Mexico in the south-east and by the Pacific Ocean in the west. In the north it borders on Canada and in the south – on Mexico. The USA consists of 50 states and the District of Columbia with the capital Washington. The Hawaii Islands became a state of the USA in 1959.

If you look at the map of the USA, you can see lowlands and mountains. In the west there are the Rocky Mountains, the Cordillera and the Sierra Nevada, the highest mountains in the USA. In the east there are the Appalachian Mountains. In the north-eastern part there is a region of five Great Lakes: Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Here there is the Niagara River and the famous Niagara Falls. The largest rivers in the USA are the Mississippi River and the Missouri River and the Ohio. The Mississippi and the Missouri form one of the longest rivers in the world – 7,330 kilometres. The largest rivers in the west are the Columbia River and the Colorado River that run into the Pacific Ocean. The St Lawrence River and the Hudson River are in the east.

The USA has a different climate in the east, in the west, in the south, in the north and in the central part of the country.

The first inhabitants of North America were Indians and Eskimos. Now in the USA there are national and racial groups from all over the world: Englishmen, Germans, Scotchmen, Spaniards, Russians, and people from Asia and Africa. Most of the population live in towns and cities. The nation’s ethnic diversity is chiefly due to large-scale immigration, most of which took place before 1920. Though mainly European and African in origin, Americans are derived all races and nations, including Chinese, Arab, Polynesian, Eskimo, and what is left of the native Amerindian. Over many generations, a definite American nationality has developed, superficially identifiable by speech and manners.

The official language is English. Spanish is the preferable language of sizeable minorities in New York City, Florida, and along the Mexican border. Other minority languages include Italian, German, Polish, Russian, American Indian tongues, Chinese and Japanese.

Head of State and Government is the President.

The political system consists of three branches: the legislative branch, the executive branch, the judicial branch.

The legislative branch is made up of elected representatives from all of the states and is the only branch that can make federal laws, levy federal taxes, declare war or put foreign treaties into effect. It consists of a Congress that is divided into two groups, called houses:

The House of Representatives comprises lawmakers who serve two-year terms. Each House member represents a district in his or her home state.

The Senate comprises lawmakers, who serve six-year terms.

The chief executive of the USA is the president, who together with the vice-president, is elected to a four-year term. Under a Constitution Amendment passed in 1951, a president can be elected to only 2 terms.