The us Government

After its 200th birthday the United States of America still holds the leading position in the western world. A country that has inspired many names — "Land of Opportunity", "Meeting Pot", "God's Country" is still referred to as land Of superlatives — "the richest", "the greatest", "the most".

In size the United States is not the biggest. What makes the USA the leader of the western world is its economic, political and military dominance over other countries.

The United States is a parliamentary republic. The Go­vernment is divided into 3 branches: legislative (the US Con­gress), executive (the President and his Administration) and judicial (the US Supreme Court).

There are two main political parties in the USA: the Demo­cratic (symbolize by a "donkey") and the Republican (sym­bolized by an "elephant"). The US president is both head of State and of government. He is elected for a 4-year term.

The Supreme Court consists of Chief Justice and 8 Associate Justices who are appointed for life. The Supreme Court is supposed to decide whether a law of the Congress or an executive order of the President is "Constitutional or not".

Exercise 4. Answer the following questions:

1. Is the USA the biggest country in the world?

2. What makes the USA the leader of the western world?

3. Is the USA a parliamentary republic?

4. How many branches is the Government divided on?

5. How many main parties are there?

6. How many people are there in the Supreme Court?

Search the Internet or magazines for other information about The US Government

Lesson 12.

Revision and development

Test your memory

1.How many states does the United States of America comprise at present?

a) 50 b) 13 c) 49

2. Where is Washington, the federal capital located?

a) in the State of Washington b) in the District of Columbia c) in the State of New York

3. what do American people call the national flag?

a) the Stars and Bars, the confederate flag, the Southern Cross

b) the Union Jack, the Saint George’s Cross, the Saint Andrew’s Cross

c) the Srars and Stripes, the Star-Spangled Banner, the Old Glory

4.Who made the first American flag?

a) Betsy Ross b) Harriet Tubman c) Elizabeth Stanton

5. How many stars and stripes does the American national flag have?

a) 50 stars and 13 stripes b) 13 stars and 50 stripes c) 20 stars and 15 stripes

6. What is the national anthem of the USA?

a) the Stars and Stripes b) the Star –Spangled Banner c) America the Beautiful

7. What are the mottos of the USA?

a) ‘God save our gracious Queen’ b) ‘In God we trust’

c)’ Liberty Enlightening the World’.’ I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America’

8.What are two leading national parties in the USA?

a) the Republican Party and the Democratic Party

b) the Conservative Party and the Labour Party

c) the Green Party and the Prohibition Party

9. What chambers does Congress cosist of?

a) the Supreme Court and the Federal Courts

b) the Houses of Representatives and the Senate

c) the Houses of Commons and the House of Lords

10. What is the highest mountain in the USA?

a) Mount Vernonn b) Mount Whitney c) Mount McKinley

11. What is the longest river in the USA?

a) the Tennessee b) the Mississippi c) the Colorado

12. Which of the American presidents are honored on Presidents Day?

a) George Washington and Thomas Jefferson

b) Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt

c) George Washington and Abraham Lincoln

13. When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?

a) on 4 July, 1776 b) on 12 October, 1492 c) on 30 April, 1789

14. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

a) George Washington b) Thomas Jefferson c) Benjamin Franklin

15.When was the Constitution of the United States adopted?

a) in 1791 b) in 1787 c) in 1776

16. What do Americans call the first ten amendments to the US Constitution?

a) the Bill of Rights b) the Civil Rights Act c) the Voting Rights Act

17. What tragic event happened on September 17, 2001?

a) The Twin Towers in New York were destroyed by terrorists

b) the American war began in Afghanistan began c) the American war in Iraq started

18. What is the oldest university in the USA?

a) the University of California b) Harvard University c) Priceton University

19. What is the centre of the US automobile industry?

a) Chicago b) Detroit c) San Francisco

20. Which state is called the Oil State?

a) Pennsylvania b) California c) Texas

21. What is the name of the building of the US Department of Defense?

a) the Mission Control Centre b) the Pentagon c) the War Ministry

22. Where does the American President live and work?

a) in the City Hall b) in the White House c) in the Capitol

23. Which of the American presidents are carved in Mount Rushmore in South Dakota?

a) George Washington, Thomas Jefferson,Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt

b) George Washington, Abrahan Lincoln, John Adams, Andrew Jackson

c) George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt

24. What is the symbol of US financial power?

a) Times Square b) Pennsylvania Avenue c) Wall Street

25. Where are the United Nations Headquarters situated?

a) in Washington b) in New York c) in Philadelphia

Exercise 1. Read the text and entitle it and write the numbers like this: 5,486,352-five million, four hundred and eighty-six thousand, three hundred and fifty-two

The highest mountain in the world is Mount Everest —- 29,002 feet high. The largest ocean is the Pacific having a total area of 63,986,000 square miles. The Atlantic Ocean, the next largest, is only 31,530,000 square miles, the Indian Ocean with 28,350,000 square miles comes third. The longest river is the Nile which is more than 4,000 miles longer or about twice the distance by air from London to Beirut. The biggest island is Greenland which be­longs to Denmark and is about 840,000 square miles in extent. The largest lake is the Caspian Sea. Geographers consider it as a lake because it is not connected with any of the great oceans. It has an area of about 170,000 square miles. Which is the deepest sea? So far, as we know at present the greatest depth is in the Pacific Ocean near the Philippines and goes down to 37,000 feet, which is much more than the height of Everest. The biggest volcano is in Ecuador, South America. It is still active and 19,612 feet high. There is an­other one between Argentina and Chile and it is more than 3,000 feet higher.

Lessons 13-14

Grammar: Perfect Passive

The biggest cities of the world

Washington.New-York,London

Choose one city you would really like to live in and tell your partner why. Think about the best city you have ever visited. You are going to tell your partner about it. Choose from the list the things you want to talk about. Think about what you will say and what language you will need.

A) Where is the city? C) How many times have you visited the city?

B) When did you first go there? D) When was the last time?

G) Were you on holiday? H) What do you most like about this city?

F) Who did you go there with? F) Would you like to live there? Why / Why not?

E) What did you do there?

Read and translate the text. Get ready to retell it.