III. Reading. Part 1

Read the text and make sure you know the translation of the highlighted words and phrases.

The USA. History and government

1. The United States of America (commonly called the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federalconstitutional republiccomprising fifty statesand afederal district. The country is situated mostly in centralNorth America, where itsforty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., thecapital district, lie between thePacificandAtlantic Oceans,borderedby Canadato the north andMexicoto the south. The state ofAlaskais in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east andRussiato the west across theBering Strait. The state ofHawaiiis anarchipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territoriesin the Pacific andCaribbean.

2. At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km²) and with over 309 million people (including an estimated 11.2 million illegal immigrants) the United States is the world's third or fourth largest nation by total area(land and water) and fourglobal citieshad populations over 2 million (New York City,Los Angeles,Chicago, andHouston),ranking behind Russia and Canada and just above or below China. It is,by far, one of the world's most ethnically diverse (White – 63.7%, Black/African American - 12.3%, Hispanic/Latino (of any race) – 16.4%, Asian – 4.7%, other – 2.9%) and multiculturalnations, the product of large-scaleimmigration from many countries. The largest cities are New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

3. In 1492, Genoeseexplorer Christopher Columbus, under contract to the Spanish crown, reached several Caribbean islands, makingfirst contactwith theindigenous people. On April 2, 1513, Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de Leónlanded on what he called "La Florida"—the first documented European arrival on what would become the U.S. mainland. In 1507, GermancartographerMartin Waldseemüllerproduced a world map on which he named the lands of the WesternHemisphere "America"after Italian explorer and cartographerAmerigo Vespucci.

4. Indigenous peoplesdescended from forebears who migrated from Asiahaveinhabited what is now the mainland United States for many thousands of years. This Native American populationwas greatly reduced bydisease and warfare after European contact. The United States was founded bythirteen British colonieslocated along the Atlantic seaboard. On July 4, 1776, theyissued the Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed their right to self-determinationand theirestablishment of a cooperative union. The rebellious states defeated the British Empirein theAmerican Revolution, the first successfulcolonial war of independence. The currentUnited States Constitutionwas adopted on September 17, 1787; itsratification the following year made the states part of a single republic with a stronger central government. The Bill of Rights, comprising tenconstitutional amendments guaranteeing many fundamental civil rights and freedoms, was ratified in 1791.

5. The Spanish–American WarandWorld War Iconfirmed the country's status as a military power. It emerged from World War IIas thefirst country with nuclear weapons and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. The end of theCold Warand thedissolution of the Soviet Union left the United States as the sole superpower. The country accounts for 41% ofglobal military spending, and is a leading economic, political, and cultural force in the world.

6. The coastal plain of the Atlantic seaboard gives way further inland to deciduous forests and the rolling hills of the Piedmont. The United States, with its large size and geographic variety, includes most climate types. To the east of the100th meridian, the climate ranges fromhumid continentalin the north tohumid subtropicalin the south. Most of Alaska is subarctic or polar. Extreme weather is not uncommon—the states bordering theGulf of Mexicoare prone tohurricanes, and most of the world's tornadoes occur within the country, mainly in the Midwest's Tornado Alley. The greatest rivers of the USA are the Colorado and the Columbia flowing into the Pacific Ocean, the Mississippi with itstributaries the Missouri and the Ohio flowing into the Gulf of Mexico, and the St. Lawrence river and the Hudson river, which flow into the Atlantic Ocean.

7. The United States is home to more than 400 mammal, 750 bird, and 500 reptile and amphibian species. About 91,000 insect species have been described. There are fifty-eight national parksand hundreds of other federally managed parks, forests, andwildernessareas.

8. The United States is a federal unionof fifty states. The statesdo not have the righttosecede from the union. The federal government is composed of three branches:

• Legislative: The bicameralCongress, made up of theSenate and the House of Representatives, makes federal law,declares war, approves treaties, has thepower of the purse, and has the power ofimpeachment, by which it can remove sitting members of the government. The House of Representatives has 435 voting members, each representing acongressional districtfor a two-year term. The Senate has 100 members with each state having two senators, electedat-largeto six-year terms.

• Executive: Thepresidentis thecommander-in-chief of the military, can veto legislative billsbefore they become law, andappoints the members of the Cabinet(subject to Senate approval) and other officers, who administer andenforce federal laws and policies. The president serves a four-year term and may be elected to the office no more than twice. Home and workplace of the U.S. president is the White House. The winner of the2008 presidential election, DemocratBarack Obama, is the44th U.S. president.

• Judicial: The Supreme Courtand lowerfederal courts, whose judges are appointed by the president with Senateapproval, interpret laws and overturn those they find unconstitutional. The Supreme Court, led by theChief Justice of the United States, has nine members, who serve for life.

9. The United States has operated under a two-party systemfor most of its history. Since thegeneral election of 1856, the major parties have been theDemocratic Party,founded in 1824, and the Republican Party,founded in 1854.

10. Within American political culture, the Republican Party is considered center-right orconservativeand the Democratic Party is considered center-left orliberal.

11. The United States exercises global economic, political, and military influence. It is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and New York City hosts the United Nations Headquarters.