Lesson 21 the united states of america

The United States of America is one of the largest countries in the world. It is the most powerful and highly devel­oped country of the world. The USA is situated in the central part of the North American Continent. Its western coast is washed by the Pacific Ocean and eastern one by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Stream. The USA is separated from Canada in the north by the 49-th parallel and the Great Lakes, and from Mexico in the South by a line following The Rio Grande River and continuing across the highlands to the Pacific Ocean The total area of the USA is over 9 million square kilometres. The USA consists of three separate parts. They are the Hawaiian Islands, situated in central part of the Pacific Ocean, Alaska, separated by the Canadian territory and the rest major part of the USA.

The Great Rocky mountains run north and south. Some of them form a divide between rivers that flow westward and those that flow towards the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico. The continental part of the USA consists of the highland regions and two lowland regions. The highland regions are the Appalachian mountains in the east and the Cordillera in the west. The lowlands are situated between the Cordillera and the Appalachian mountains and are usually called the prairie. Eastern lowlands are called Mississippi valley.

The main rivers of the USA are the Mississippi, the longest river in the world, and the Hudson river.

The population of the US is about 250 million people. The USA is a highly developed industrial country. It has a highly developed motor-car industry which is concentrated in and around Detroit. Electric and electronic engineering, transport, communication, ship-building, textile industry are very powerful. Ship-building is developed along the At­lantic coast and in San Francisco. The textile industry is to be found in the north-east and in the south of the country. There are coal-mines in the Cordillera Mountains and the Kansas City region. Iron is mined near the Great Lakes. The rich oil fields are in California, Texas and some other regions.

The capital of the United States is Washington. Among other big cities and towns are New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles and others

The USA has a highly developed railway system, and also has the best network of roads in the world.

The USA is a federation of states. It consists of 50 states and the district of Columbia. The President is the head of the government, he is elected for four years. The US Con­gress consists of two Houses — the Senate and the House of Representatives. The head of the Senate is the Vice-President, the head of the House of Representatives is the Speaker. The Republican and the Democratic Parties are the main parties in the country. At the election time they contest presidency and the majority of seats in the Congress.

Word List:

powerful - мощный, сильный

highly developed - высокоразвитый

to be situated - быть расположенным, располагаться

coast - побережье

to be washed by - омываться

to be separated from - отделяться от

Canada - Канада

separate - отдельный

highland regions - возвышенные районы

lowland regions - низменные районы

prairie - прерия

Cordillera - Кордильеры

Appalachians - Аппалачи

ship-building - кораблестроение

San Francisco - Сан Франциско

network of roads - сеть дорог

to elect - избирать

the Senate - Сенат

the House of Representatives - Палата представителе