Inland waters

The longest river in the US is the Mississippi with its tributary of Missouri (7,300km long). The other main tributary of the Mississippi, flowing into it from the east, is the Ohio River. The Mississippi flows to the south and empties into the Gulf of Mexico at New Orleans.

Another important river of the USA is the Hudson River which flows across the north-eastern part of the country and empties into the Atlantic Ocean at New York. The rivers in the west of the country are unsuitable for navigation because they flow through deep canyons and are cut by numerous rapids, which fact, however, makes them a good source of electric power. These rivers start in the Cordilleras and empty into the Pacific Ocean. The largest among them are the Columbia River and the Colorado River.

World – famous is the region of the Great Lakes, situated in the north-east of the United States bordering Canada. It is a system of five great lakes, Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario, joined together by natural channels. The Niagara Falls, great rapids situated on the short Niagara river joined Lakes Erie and Ontario, are famous all over the world and attracts lots of tourists. Buffalo, at the northern end of Lake Erie is the fourth largest port and the seventh industrial city in the United States of America. The lakes can be used only between the months of April and December, as they freeze in winter. The importance of the Lakes is not only commercial: along their shores are vast stretches of forest, meadowland , and grassland ,as well as towns, camps, and small country towns.

MINERAL RESOURCES

The USA is rich in coal, iron and oil. There are coal-mines in the Cordillera Mountains, in the Kansas City region and in the east near Birmingham and Pittsburgh. Iron is mined near the Great Lakes and in the Birmingham, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas. In California and Texas there are rich oil-fields. There are also deposits of silver and gold.

ECONOMY

The USA is a country of highly developed economy. Heavy industry includes such branches as mining, metallurgical engineering and chemical industries. Detroit is a large motor-car industry centre. Shipbuilding is developed along the Atlantic coast and in San Francisco on the Pacific coast.

Textile industry is also well-developed, especially in the South near large cotton plantations.

Agriculture is very wide-spread, above all in the prairie regions, where wheat and other grain crops are grown.

Cotton is grown in the Mississippi Valley, tobacco in Maryland and Virginia. California is famous for its fruit plantations, and the West-for its cattle-farming. Poultry-farming is wide-spread in the countryside near all big cities.

North America was rich in animal species until explorers from Europe began to visit and set up the feather trade. By the 20^th century 70 or more species of animals that had been common disappeared. Bison which were numerous when the Spanish and the French arrived were annihilated in the east by 1825 .When railways were built in 1869 vast herds were also killed off in the west. As the Indians depended on their food and skins the white men felt they were killing two birds with one stone the elimination of the bison would make life hard for the Indians.

Control questions:

1. Natural characteristics of the main geographic regions in the USA: New England, Middle Atlantic, South, Midwest, Southwest, West.

2. Describe the climate of the USA? Which parts of the USA have a continental climate? What is characteristics of this climate?

3. The main economic regions of the USA. Mineral resources and their deposits.

4. The role of the USA in the World Economy.

9- Lecture. Theme: A brief history of the United States (before the independence)

Plan: 1. The first Inhabitants

2. Discovery of America (Europe’s first Explorers)

3. English Settlements

4. The English colonies

5. Trouble in the colonies

Key words:

The content of the lecture: THE FIRST INHABITANTS

Imagine a time many thousands of years ago. A group of hunters came to a huge, unexplored land. They were the first people in America.

For many thousands of ears the descendants of those hunters moved farther into the new territory. Finally they settled in all parts of the land. Different groups developed different languages and customs. These people were American Indians, or Red Indians.

Then, one day, a new group of travelers came to the land. They had new customs, new languages and a very different way of life. They were Europeans.

No one knows exactly how people first came to North America. However, many scientists believe that America’s first settlers were hunters who came from Siberia.

These hunters followed big animals over a large bridge into what is now Alaska.

About two million years ago the weather in the northern half of the earth changed greatly. It grew colder. The snow that fell did not melt in summer. Much of the land was covered with huge glaciers. This period of time is called the Ice Age because so much of the North was covered with ice. Sea water froze, and the water level in sea dropped. There is a narrow strait between the Bering and Chukchi Seas. During the Ice Age this strait probably became very shallow. In some places it dried up completely and formed a land bridge from Asia to North America.

The scientists think that the people of Asia found this land bridge between 15,000 and 40,000 years ago. Group after group moved across the bridge to the unexplored continent of North America. They passed through what is now Alaska and western Canada.