Министерство образования и науки Российской Федерации

Федеральное агентство по образованию

Государственное образовательное учреждение высшего профессиального

образования

«УФИМСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ НЕФТЯНОЙ

ТЕХНИЧЕСКИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ»

Кафедра иностранных языков

УЧЕБНО-МЕТОДИЧЕСКОЕ ПОСОБИЕ

по английскому языку для подготовки студентов к интернет-тестированию

Уфа 2007

ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

General information

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states, one federal district, and fourteen territories. The country is situated almost entirely in the western hemisphere. The U.S. is one of the world's most ethnically and socially diverse nations, the product of large-scale immigration from almost every corner of the globe. Its national economy is the world's largest, with a nominal 2005 gross domestic product (GDP) of more than $13 trillion.

The nation was founded by thirteen colonies of Great Britain located along the Atlantic seaboard.

Etymology

Common abbreviations of the United States of America include the United States, the U.S., and the U.S.A. Colloquial names for the country include the common America as well as the States. The term Americas, for the lands of the western hemisphere, was coined in the early sixteenth century after Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian explorer and cartographer. The full name of the country was first used officially in the Declaration of Independence, which was the "unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America" adopted by the "Representatives of the united States of America" on July 4, 1776. The current name was finalized on November 15, 1777, when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, the first of which states, "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be 'The United States of America.'" Columbia, a once popular name for the Americas and the U.S., was named after Christopher Columbus. It appears in the name District of Columbia.

Symbols The American Flag

The American flag consists of 13 horizontal stripes, 7 red alternating with 6 white.  The upper corner near the staff is a rectangular blue field that contains 50 five-pointed white stars.  The thirteen stripes symbolize the 13 original colonies of the United states of America and the stars represent the 50 states of the Union.  

White is said to symbolize purity and innocence; Red, hardiness and valor, and Blue, vigilance, perseverance and justice.  The American flag is commonly called the Stars and Stripes, the Red, White and Blue, or the Star Spangled Banner. 

History of American Flag

For more than 200 years, the American flag has been the symbol of the nation's strength and unity.

On June 14, 1777, in order to establish an official flag for the new nation, the Continental Congress passed the first Flag Act: "Resolved, That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation." As new states joined the Union there had to be representation of them in the flag. 

Betsy Ross

Elizabeth Griscom Ross was a seamstress and legend has said that she was the maker of the first American flag.  According to the story often told, General George Washington, her late husband’s uncle, called her in 1773 and asked her to design a national flag.  The Betsy Ross house has been preserved and can be visited by tourists. It is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

Between 1777 and 1960, Congress passed several acts that changed the shape, design and arrangement of the flag and allowed for additional stars and stripes to be added to reflect the admission of each new state.