IV. Make up your own sentences with the following words and expressions from the text:

a continent, a sovereign state, to occupy, numerous, to be linked to, apart from, to be surrounded by, respectively, varied, ranging from … to, a warm ocean currant, in general, all the year round, the supreme body.

V. State whether the following statements are true or false:

1. Britain consists of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

2. The longest river in the UK is the Thames.

3. The UK is an absolute monarchy.

4. The UK has no single constitutional document comparable to those of other nations.

5. The Parliament of the United Kingdom meets in the Palace of Westminster.

6. Executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.

7. The UK’s three major political parties are the Labour Party, the Conservative Party, and the Liberal Democrats.

8. The present monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, has reigned since 6 February 1952.

9. Elizabeth II is the longest-reigning British monarchs.

10. Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch.

VI. Answer the questions:

1. Which countries constitute the UK?

2. What are their capitals?

3. What are the largest cities of the UK?

4. What is the main difference between the two chambers of Parliament?

5. How many members does the House of Commons consist of?

6. Who is the Prime Minister of the UK?

7. Which other countries do you know that have a monarchy?

8. What are the most famous British Universities?

VII. Give the full variant for the following:

GDP, UNO, OECD, G8, NATO, EU, WTO, GCSE, MP, IRA, HM, BBC.

B. The USA

Flag Motto: In God We Trust

VIII. Read and translate the text:

The United States of America (commonly referred to as the United States, the U.S., or the USA) occupies  the  central  part of North America  and stretches from  the  Pacific  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean. It also includes Alaska in the northwest of the continent and Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The total area of the country is more than 9.5 million km². It is the fourth largest country by size in the world (after Russia, Canada and China). The population of the USA is about 300 million people. So it is the world’s third-largest country by population (after China and India). The USA borders on Canada in the north and on Mexico in the south. It also has a sea-boarder with Russia.

If we look at the map of the USA, we can see lowlands and mountains. The highest mountains are the Rocky Mountains, the Cordillera and the Sierra Nevada. The highest peak is Mount McKinley which is located in Alaska.

America’s largest rivers are the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Rio Grande and the Columbia. The Great Lakes on the border with Canada are the largest and deepest in the USA.

The climate of the country varies greatly. The coldest regions are in the north. The climate of Alaska is arctic. The climate of the central part is continental. The south has a subtropical climate. Hot winds blowing from the Gulf of Mexico often bring typhoons. The climate along the Pacific coast is much warmer than that of the Atlantic coast.

The USA is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and the District of Columbia, where Washington, the capital of the country, is situated.

The United States began as a nation of 13 states. These were the colonies which had broken away from Great Britain in 1776 and fought a six-year War for Independence. The original 13 colonies were then located in the area today occupied by 16 states, and 34 other states were admitted to the union one by one. The newest states are Alaska and Hawaii, admitted in 1959. Each state has its own capital and government.

The current United States Constitution was written in 1787; and since then twenty-six Amendments have been added to it (the first ten are known as the “Bill of Rights”).

According to the US Constitution the federal government is composed of three branches: the executive, headed by the President, the legislative, exercised by the bicameral Congress, and the judicial.

The USA is a leading economic, political, military and cultural force in the world. Its economy is the largest national economy in the world. With only about 5 percent of the world’s population and about 6 percent of its land area, the U.S. produces about 25 percent of the world’s industrial products, agricultural goods, and services.