Washington

The capital of the USA is called Washington, D.C. The letters are always added because this helps to avoid confusion with the state of Washington. D.C. stands for the District of Columbia, a special federal district which doesn’t belong to any of the fifty states.

Are you eager to know how Washington was founded? When the thirteen colonies became states in the 18^th century there was much discussion about the capital. The first president of the US, George Washington, whose name was given to the capital, took an active part in selecting the area for it. It was decided that the city should be built on the North bank of the Potomac River. Now the Washington Monument is situated here, on the hill in Potomac Park.

The center of the city is the Capitol Building where the Congress, the Parliament of the USA, has its seat. The Capitol stands on Capitol Hill that makes the highest point in the city. It is a very beautiful building with white marble columns. There is a law in Washington that prohibits building structures taller than the Capitol. That is why there are no skyscrapers in Washington.

Not far from the Capitol there is the Library of Congress which holds thirteen millions books.

Today Washington is a city which attracts a lot of tourists by its museums, galleries and monuments which are free (of charge). The sightseeing attractions are “Mount Vernon” – the house of the first President George Washington, the Lincoln Memorial dedicated to the great Emancipator, the 16^th President of the USA, the National Gallery of Art, the Jefferson Memorial, the Tomb of Unknown Soldier, the Union Railway Station, which is the city’s pride.

The White House is the residence of the President where every president except Washington has lived. The cornerstone of the Executive Mansion as it was originally known dates from October 13, 1792. Since the administration of Theodore Roosevelt the term “White House” has become official. Broad Pennsylvania Avenue runs from the Capitol to the White House. It is remarkable that all diagonal avenues are named after the states of the Union.

So is Washington a symbol of the country’s unity, history and democratic traditions.

VIII. Answer the questions about the text.

1. What do they call the capital of the USA?

2. Why do the letters “D.C.” always stand after the word Washington when the capital of the USA is meant?

3. How was Washington founded?

4. Where was the city of Washington built?

5. What building makes the center of the city?

6. Why does the law prohibit to build skyscrapers in Washington?

7. Why does Washington attract many tourists?

8. What museums and monuments are worth seeing in Washington?

9. Is the “White House” really white”?

10. What human values does Washington personify?

Topical vocabulary

ancestor, border, confusion, convention, cornerstone, descendant, desert, goods, incident, Independence, liberty, opportunity, peculiarity, pride, pronunciation, restriction, rock, tax, tomb, treaty, valley, value; to abolish, to add, to adopt, to attract, to behave, to date, to dedicate, to entrust, to flee, to personify, to prohibit, to regard, to ride, to settle, to sign, to spoil; broad; abroad, except; to be eager, to be free of charge, to be rich in smth, to be worth mentioning, to be worth seeing, to get accustomed, to strike one’s imagination, to win the war; a way of living, under British rule