Discussion points

1.Compare the education and the way it is organized at Oxford University with higher education in this country’s universities.

2.Imagine that you have the possibility to choose the place of studying. What system of education will you choose: tutorial system (Oxford, Cambridge) or traditional system. Why?

3.Leisure is the time when you are not working and you can relax and do things that you enjoy doing. How much of your daily time, in your opinion, should be devoted to leisure? Compare your ideas of having good leisure time with the British.

4.Everybody likes presents. Describe your idea of a present:

• Which do you prefer: giving or receiving presents?

• Where do you get the presents from: go shopping or make them yourself?

• Why, in your opinion, do people exchange presents on holidays?

5.Explain the meaning of the proverbs. Give their Ukrainian or Russian equivalent.

6.Look at the scheme (page 17) and describe the school system of education.

UNIT V

DISCOVERING AMERICA

How much do you know?

• What does the name “The United States of America” mean?

• If you could take a trip to the United States which part would you like to visit? Why?

• What is the capital of the USA? What do you know about it?

• What American English words, expressions do you know? Why do you think they are American? Where did you learn them-from films, songs, or books?

• Do you think it is better to go straight to college after high school, or to work or travel first? Explain your answer.

The united states of america

T he United States of America is the fourth largest country in the world after Russia, China and Canada. It also includes Alaska in the north and Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The total area of the country is about nine and a half million square kilometres. Alaska is the largest of America's 50 states and it is 400 times the size of Rhode Island which is the smallest. The country is so large that a coast-to-coast trip by plane will take five and a half hours, by train three days and by car from five to six days. The USA borders on Canada in the north and on Mexico in the south. The south-eastern coast of the country is washed by the Gulf of Mexico and the US also has coasts on the Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The USA has a seaborder with Russia.

T he USA is made up of 50 states and the District of Columbia where the capital of the country, Washington, is situated. The population of the country is about 250 million people. Some states are more densely populated than the others, for example, Alaska has half of the Rhode Island's population. More citizens of the USA live in rural areas. It is not surprising that most of the people of the United States live in the eastern half of the country although California on the West Coast is the most populous state. It is to the East Coast the first settlers from Europe came when they crossed the Atlantic. They were attracted by the fertile lands of the Atlantic coast in the southeast and inland beyond the eastern Appalachian mountains. This part of the country gets enough rainfall for crops, has valuable forests and most of the country's riches in iron and coal deposits. As America expanded westward, so did its farmers and ranchers, cultivating the grasslands of the Great Plains and finally the fertile valleys of the Pacific Coast. Today American farmers plant spring wheat on the cold western plains, raise corn, wheat and fine beef cattle in the Midwest, and rice in the damp heat of Louisiana. Florida and California are famous for their vegetable and fruit production, and the cool, -rainy northwest states are known for apples, berries and vegetables.

T he land varies from heavy forests covering 2,104 mln hectares, to barren deserts, from high-peaked mountains (the highest peak is Mount McKinley in Alaska) to deep canyons (Death Valley in California is 1,064 meters below sea level). The highest mountains in the USA are the Cordilleras that run the length of the west coast and include the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada.

America's largest rivers are the Mississippi with its tributary Missouri, the Rio Grande, the Ohio and the Columbia. The broad Mississippi River system runs 5,969 kilometers from Canada into the Gulf of Mexico and is the world's third longest river after the Nile and the Amazon. The USA is famous for its five Great Lakes: Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, Lake Huron, Lake Superior and the Michigan. The first four lakes are on Mount McKinley

the border with Canada and are the largest and deepest in the USA. There are also a lot of small lakes and the northern state of Minnesota, for example, is known as the land of 10,000 lakes.

T he territory of the USA is so large that it lies in different climatic zones. The greater portion of the country is situated between 30 and 49 degrees Northern Latitude and its climate is moderate continental.

The USA is rich in mineral resources; their wealth provides a solid base for American industry. It has major deposits of oil and gas in Texas and Alaska, coal in Virginia and Ohio, gold in Alaska and California, silver in Nevada, non-ferrous metals in Arkansas and Colorado.

Houston is America’s fourth largest city and the third largest port. The Mission Control Center at Houston monitors all NASA space flights.

The USA is a highly developed industrial country. Among the most important manufacturing industries are aircraft, computer techniques – hardware and software, cars, television sets, furniture. Electronic and electric engineering, transport, communication can be found almost in all large cities of the USA.

T he largest cities of the USA are New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago Philadelphia, Detroit and some others.

The United States is a democracy. It means that the Constitution, laws and traditions of the USA give the people the right to decide who will be the leader of their nation, who will make the laws and what the laws will be. The Constitution guarantees individual freedom to all.

Congress meets in the Capitol.

According to the Constitution of the USA, the powers of the government are divided into 3 branches: the executive

heated by the President, the legislative, exercised by the Congress and the judicial. The Congress consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. There are two political parties in the USA: the Republican and the Democratic.