• A young country

America is a young country. The year 1776 is usually considered to be the beginning of the country's independent history. Perhaps because the US has such a short a history, people put great value on historical places. Buildings like Ford's Theatre, where President Lincoln was killed, and open spaces like Valley Forge, which was important in the War of Independence, are protected so that people can visit them and learn about US history.

Youth and new things are also valued. To many people it is the future that matters, not the past. Young people are encouraged from an early age to make their own choices and to go out on their own and succeed.

Sport is an important part of American life. Young people do sports at school and college, and many people go to watch their favourite football or baseball team.

Change is a positive feature in the US. Americans change jobs and move house often, and a town may have a sudden period of rapid growth and change its character completely. To foreigners the US often seems an exciting, fast-moving, forward-looking place full of opportunity.

• Washington the nation’s capital and it’s places of interest

Washington D.C., the capital of the United States of America, is situated on the Potomac River. Washington does not belong to a state. It is a city and district, the District of Columbia (D.C). The district is a piece of land ten miles square. Thе city is named in honour of the nation's first President George Washington. The district is named in honour of Columbus, the discoverer of America. Don't confuse it with the State of Washington, which is located in the northwest of the United Slates.

The Capitol is the seat of the Government of the United States of America. The Capitol is in the very centre of Washington. It is located on Capitol Hill, the highest point in the city. The Capitol is the highest building in Washington. There is a law in Washington not to build houses higher than the Capitol.

The Capitol is the seat of Congress. The White House is a pleasant, white-painted, neoclassical-style house in which the President of the United States lives and works. President George Washington decided that the President of the United States must have an official residence. It was he who selected the site and laid the cornerstone in October 13, 1792.

• New york

There is a great sense of excitement in New York and it has a reputation for being 'the city that never sleeps'. The Big Apple, as it is sometimes called, feels alive, fast and at the centre of everything, with cars hooting, yellow taxis weaving through the traffic, brightly lit theatres, and restaurants busy late into the night. The city offers enormous contrasts. Some of the most expensive homes in the world are in New York City, but on the pavements outside are poor people without a home. It is possible to pay hundreds of dollars for a meal in a restaurant, or eat good, filling food for a couple of dollars from a street vendor.

Many Americans have never been to New York, but everyone knows some­thing about the city. They are familiar with the tall Manhattan skyline, Times Square with its brightly lit advertise­ments, Madison Square Gardens, where many sports events take place, Wall Street, its financial heart, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island, where many of their ancestors first arrived in the US.