228 відповідей на питання з американістики (шпаргалка)

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228 відповідей на питання з американістики (шпаргалка)

Для тих, хто вивчає American Studies (поглиблено) в КНУ Шевченка (Інститут Філології) а також всіх інших, хто готується до екзамену. 228 відповідей на питання з Американістики. Джерела - \r\nон-лайн енцикопедії, the Potrtait of the USA, конспекти лекцыъ Шевченко Н.Б.

1.What factors caused the changes that made American English different from

British English?

Will for self-identification, influence of other languages, distance between the countries

2.What differences are there in British and American English? Differences in grammar, pronunciation and spelling.

3.What differences in pronunciation are there in British and American English?

American English not do not have as much as rises and falls as in British English, voices have higher pitch, , they are nasalized, “r” is pronounced always, t/d a bit voiced, etc.

British English American English

Ary (stressed!) temporary

Ory territory, laboratory

Able amicable, hospitable, formidable

a er courage, nourish, flourish, current, hurry

e ei semi-, anti-, multi-

privacy, vitamins, either, neither, leisure

4.Comment on the term "Americanism" and give examples of Americanisms in

English.

-originate from America (are pointed in dictionaries if they have British variant)

-vocabulary units which can be used in all English-speaking countries.

CULTURAL COLORING!

Tomahawk, moccasin, wigwam, ranch, tornado, coyote;

Minister – secretary

Car – automobile

Secondary school – high school

Biscuits – cookies

Flat – apartment

Form – grade

Lift – elevator

Post – mail

Pavement – sidewalk

Lorry – truck

Tram – street-car

Petrol – gasoline

Wash up – do the dishes

Wash your hands – wash up

5.Comment on the differences between British and American grammar.

-Past Simple is used more often than Present Perfect (to introduce a recent happening; give new information; with just, already, yet)

- I’ve got= I have; Have you got?= Do you have?

-“shall” is never used in the first form singular

-shall/should is used asking for the instructions

-use of auxiliaries (you needn’t/ you don’t need; I suggest that you do it)

-government, team, family – singular

-in the street/on the street

-take a bath/have a bath; take a shower/have a shower

-at weekends/on weekends

-different to/different than

-write to somebody/write somebody

-to, in hospital/ to, in the hospital

-burnt, spoilt/burned, spoiled – some irregular Br. verbs are regular in Am. E.

-get, got, got/get, got, gotten

-travelling/traveling

6.Give examples of some borrowings from other languages made in America.

Indian: opossum, raccoon, skunk, caribou, moose

French: prairie, rapids

Spanish: lasso, cafeteria, rodeo, sombrero

German: semester, seminar, frankfurter

Dutch: cookie, Yankee, Santa Claus

African: Jazz, hippie

7.Describe the borders of the US.

The United States of America, also referred to as the United States, U.S.A., U.S., America, or the States, is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in the north and Mexico in the south, a marine border with Russia in the northwest, and has a collection of districts, territories, and possessions around the world.

or

The United States proper has land borders with Canada and Mexico, as well as several territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia and The Bahamas. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea, the Arctic Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea.

8.How many states are there in the United States? The country has fifty states and the district of Columbia, which have a level of local autonomy according to the system of federalism.

9.Which of the states is the biggest in area and which one is the smallest? Corresp. Alaska and Rhode Island.

10.Name as many states as you can without taking breath. See the att.

11.What regions are American states usually divided into?

New England, made up of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

The Middle Atlantic, comprising New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland.

The South, which runs from Virginia south to Florida and west as far as central Texas. This region also includes West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and parts of Missouri and Oklahoma.The Midwest, a broad collection of states sweeping westward from Ohio to Nebraska and including Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, parts of Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, and eastern Colorado.

The Southwest, made up of western Texas, portions of Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and the southern interior part of California.

The West, comprising Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, California, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii.

12.What states are included into New England? Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island

13.What state is usually referred to as the "land of 10 000 lakes"? Minnesota.

14.What states are called the Gulf states and why? (штати Мексиканської затоки) Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas- they are washed by the Gulf of Mexico.

15.What is the name of the North-Eastern region of the US? New England

16.What are the most and the least densely populated states?

The most densely populated states are New Jersey (372/sq.km), Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, California, New York and Texas.

! Robust population growth continues to sweep the nation's Southern and Western states, according to estimates by the Census Bureau.

If the trend continues at its current pace, states in the Northeast and Midwest that have been population powerhouses since the 19th century will lose their dominance to Sun Belt states by 2010.

Least populated – Alaska, Wyoming, Nevada.

17.Give examples of the nicknames of the US states and the symbols that they have.

Kentucky - nickname: Bluegrass State, flower: Goldenrod, bird: Kentucky Cardinal.

Tennessee - nickname: Volunteer State, flower: Iris, bird: Mockingbird.

Alabama - nickname: The Heart of Dixie, The Cotton State, The Yellowhammer State, flower: Camellia, bird: Yellowhammer.

Mississippi - nickname: Magnolia State, flower: Flower or Bloom of the Magnolia or Evergreen Magnolia, bird: Mockingbird. +see the att.

18.What is the largest river in the US? The Mississippi (2320 miles (3733 km). The river begins as a 12-foot wide stream in Minnesota. Flowing due south, it is joined by two main tributaries, the Missouri River at St. Louis and the Ohio at Cairo, Illinois. Below Cairo, the Mississippi swells into a powerful waterway, often 4,500 feet across. It drains more than a million miles of land as it flows 2,348 miles south to empty into the Gulf of Mexico at New Orleans.

19.Give the names of the biggest and most important rivers in the US. The Mississippi, the Missouri, the Yukon, the Rio Grande, the Ohio, the Columbia, the St. Lawrence, the Arkansas, the Colorado.

20.What river does Washington, D.C. stand on? The Columbia River.

21.What rivers wash Manhattan in New York City? The East River, the Harlem River, and the Hudson River.

22.What are the two biggest mountain systems in the US? The Appalachian mountain, the Rocky Mountains.

23.What is the name of the mountain system which takes up the Western part of the

US territory? Rocky Mountains.

24.Give the names of the Great Lakes. Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario.

25.What are the biggest lakes in the US? Michigan, Iliamna, Okeechobee, Becharof, Red Lake.

26.Give the names of some well-known capes in the US. Cape Cod (New England), Cape Hatteras, Cape Lookout (North Carolina), Cape Canaveral (Florida).

27.Give the English for: Скелясті гори, Ніагарський водоспад, Мексиканська

затока, Арканзас, Ілінойс. The Rocky Mountains, The Niagara Falls, The Gulf of Mexico, Arkansas, Illinois.

28.Give the names of as many National Parks in the US as you can. The Yellowstone Park (Wyoming), the Grand Canyon NP (Arizona), the Petrified Forest NP (Arizona), the Yosemite NP (California), the Sequoia NP (California), the Everglades NP (Florida), the Zion NP (Utah).

29.Say a few words about the climate in the US.

The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the American South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semiarid shortgrass prairies on the High Plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the American Southwest from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of the American West, including San Francisco, California, have a Mediterranean climate. Rain forests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.30.What branches of industry and agriculture are highly developed in the US?

Illustrate your answer with the names of regions and cities.

The country has rich mineral resources, with extensive gold, oil, coal, and uranium deposits. Successful farm industries rank the country among the top producers of, among others, corn, wheat, sugar, and tobacco. The U.S. manufacturing sector produces, among other things, cars, airplanes, and electronics. The largest industry is now service, which employs roughly three-quarters of U.S. residents.

Economic activity varies greatly from one part of the country to another, with many industries being largely dependent on a certain city or region; New York City is the center of the American financial, publishing, broadcasting, and advertising industries; Silicon Valley is the country’s primary location for high technology companies, while Los Angeles is the most important center for film production. The Midwest is known for its reliance on manufacturing and heavy industry, with Detroit serving as the center of the American automotive industry; the Great Plains are known as “the breadbasket of America” for their tremendous agricultural output, while Texas is largely associated with the oil industry; the Southeastern U.S. is a major hub for medical research, as well as many of the nation's textiles manufacturers.

31. What is the population of the US? 296,428,342 (according to the National Census Bureau)

32.What ethnic groups make up the population in the US? White people (Caucasians, 63%), Hispanics (Latinos, 12,5%), Black people (Afro-Americans, 12,3%), People of Asian origin (Asian Americans 3,6), American Indians, Eskimos, Aleuts (Native born Americans, American Indians, came from Asia, Siberia to Alaska through the Bering’s strait (Берингов пролив) 20000 ago). Nomadic tribes (кочевые племена).

According to the 2000 census, the United States has 37 ethnic groups with at least one million people each.

33.How can the majority and minority groups be defined in the US?

In sociology and in voting theory, a minority is a sub-group that is outnumbered by persons who do not belong to it. Minority only makes sense in the context of a unified society or group. This can be used to refer to people of a different language, nationality, religion, culture, lifestyle or any characteristic, provided these people are accepted as part of the referent group.

In recent decades the term minority has taken on a new meaning among the politically correct, being used to refer to a group with which they perceive to be worthy of special preferential treatment. For instance, while numerically women outnumber men in most societies, they can be said in politically correct terms to be a minority, given their claim of inferior treatment compared to men.

A majority is a sub-group that outnumbers non-members in any particular group, or, in the politically correct sense of the word, has traditionally higher social status, e.g. white male Protestants in the USA.

The majority of the 296 million people currently living in the United States descend from European immigrants who have arrived since the establishment of the first colonies. Major components of the European segment of the United States population are descended from immigrants from Germany (23 percent), Ireland (16 percent), England (13 percent), Scotland, The Netherlands and Italy (6 percent), with many immigrants also coming from Scandinavian or Slavic countries. Other significant immigrant populations came from eastern and southern Europe and French Canada; few immigrants came directly from France.

Likewise, while there were few immigrants directly from Spain, Hispanics from Mexico and South and Central America are considered the largest minority group in the country. Other ethnic minority groups: African Americans (many of whom are descendants of the enslaved Africans brought to the U.S. between the 1620s and 1807),Asian American population (most of whom are concentrated on the West Coast), the aboriginal population of Native Americans, such as American Indians and Inuit.

34.Comment on the politically correct use of the vocabulary when speaking about ethnicity and race in the US.

Political correctness is the alteration of language to redress real or alleged injustices and discrimination or to avoid offense. The term most often appears in the form politically correct or PC, and is generally used mockingly or disparagingly. One stated aim of politically correct language is to prevent the exclusion or the offending of people because of their differences or handicaps.

orWhen used this way, it often targets advocates of certain forms of identity politics, including gay rights, feminism, multiculturalism and the disability rights movement. The use of "gender-neutral" terms to describe occupations ("fire-fighter" instead of "fireman," "chairperson" instead of "chairman," etc.), for example, might be referrred to as "political correctness" to characterize its proponents as overly sensitive or even coercive.

In the United States over the course of one hundred years, blacks became Negroes, then became blacks again, then became Afro-Americans, then became African-Americans (the current term). In the meantime, the term "colored" came into and went out of usage, while the related term "people of color" came into usage later on.

Eskimo, a word that has long been viewed as pejorative by the people it refers to, has increasingly been replaced by more specific terms (for example, Inuit, Yupik, and Aleut).

Indians became Native Americans or Indigenous People in the United States. American Indian and Amerindian are also gaining popularity. Similarly, they became known in Canada as First Nations or aboriginal peoples.

Caucasian (used in place of White). People of Color (used to describe people of certain ethnicities, including Whites of Hispanic origin).

35.What designations are there for different generation groups in the US?

Woodstock generation – in 1969 there was a huge rock-music festival in the field which could be attended by a lot of people (hippies)

Baby Boomers – people who were born during 1945-1964 – the period of increased birthrate

Xers – the nowadays population

36.What people are called "baby-boomers"? Baby boomers –people who were born during the period of increased burth rate – 1945-64. As is often the case with a large war, the elation of victory and large numbers of returning males to their country triggered a baby boom after the end of World War II in many countries around the globe, notably those of Europe, Asia, North America and Australasia.

37.Comment on the word "Wasp".

38. WASP - a white person of Anglo-Saxon ancestry who belongs to a Protestant denomination.

WASP is an acronym which stands for White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. The term is generally considered to have been coined by E. Digby Baltzell as a convenient shorthand in his 1964 book The Protestant Establishment: Aristocracy & Caste in America. (An E. B. Palmore is also credited with defining it in a 1962 journal article.)

It should be noted that the term is tautological, as all Anglo-Saxons, by definition, are "white". Also, strictly speaking, it does not apply to many, perhaps even most people called "WASPs", as they are not descended from Angles, Saxons, or members of closely-related tribes.

The term, as used in the United States, generally describes a class of wealthy whites with ties to colonial America, who often have a certain amount of social standing and may or may not be part of the Establishment. The Northern European denominations of Christianity probably encompassed by the WASP idea include Episcopal (Anglican), Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, Congregationalist (Puritan), Dutch Reformed, Quaker, Northern Baptist and Southern Baptist, et al.

In contemporary use, the term is usually used to denote wealthier, educated Protestants, often in the context of high society, prep school, or Ivy League-level college educations. The term, when used this way, is most often applied to the New England and the Northeast. Also: preppy.

Preppy is a term in the popular vocabulary, traditionally used to describe the characteristics of patrician, White, Anglo-Saxon Protestants (usually with some personal or familial connection to New England; e.g. WASP) who attend or attended major private, secondary preparatory schools. These characteristics include particular subcultural speech, vocabulary, accent, dress, mannerisms, etiquette, and general way of being.

38. Name some of the biggest waves of immigration to the US.

1604,1607 Europe (France, England, Holland, Sweden, Germany) –people seeking wealth, land and freedom – a better life.

1620 England –pilgrims in search of religious freedom.

1775-1783 Holland, Germany, France, Switzerland, Spain, Scotland.

1619-1808 Africa – people brought unwillingly as slaves.

1840-1860 Europe – famine, poor crops, rising populations, political unrest.

1845-1850 Ireland –famine, poor potato crops.

1861-1865 Germany – the federal government encouraged immigration by offering grants of land to those who would serve as troops in the armies of the North.

1880’s-1925 Italy, Greece + Eastern Europe (Jews who suffered from fierce pogroms – massacres).

After 1945 Europe– refugees who were uprooted by the horrors of war.

1956-1969 Hungary, Czech Republic – after the Soviet Unio crushed the attempt to establish a non-communist government.

1959 Cuba – after Fidel Castro took control of Cuba.1975-1980s Cuba, Southeast Asia, Vietnam, Cambodia, The Lao People’s Democratic Republic – political refugees + economical refugees.

1990s Ireland, Canada, Poland, Indonesia – skilled workers and professionals.

1990s Bangladesh, Pakistan, Peru, Egypt, Tobago – “diversity visas”.

1990s – The Soviet Union, Vietnam, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan etc - refugees, fear of persecution.

39. What were the reasons of a big immigration wave from Ireland in the middle of the 1911'century?

1845-1850 Ireland –famine, poor potato crops.

40. What attracted many Germans who came to the US during the Civil War?

1861-1865 Germany – the federal government encouraged immigration by offering grants of land to those who would serve as troops in the armies of the North.

41. When and why did the massive Jewish immigration to the US begin?

1880’s-1925 Eastern Europe -Jews who suffered from fierce pogroms (massacres).

42. Have there been any examples of unwilling immigration to the US?

1619-1808 Africa –500000 people were brought to the colonies unwillingly as slaves. 1808- importing slaves became a crime.

43. Give examples of the laws passed by the US Congress to limit the number of immigrants.

1882 – the US government banned most Chinese immigration. Other Asians were refused to entry as well.

1924 The Reed-Johnson immigration act (set limits on how many people from each foreign country would be permitted to immigrate.)

1965 – a new law signed by President Johnson ended the old system of immigration. No more consideration of peoples’ country of origin, the USA has accepted immigrants strictly on the basis of who applies firs within overall annual limits.

44. Where is the museum of immigration to the US situated? Ellis Island in New York Harbor, New York, was the gateway to a new life in the USA for over 12 million immigrants between the years 1892 and 1924. A former reception centre for immigrants during the immigration waves between 1892 and 1943 (12 million people passed through it from 1892 to 1924), it was later used (until 1954) as a detention centre for nonresidents without documentation, or for those who were being deported. Ellis Island is now a national historic site (1964) and contains the Museum of Immigration (1989).

45. What were the reasons why people at different times left their home countries for America? Search of better life, political and religious persecution, new lands, etc

46. What have the immigrants always been seeking in the US? Wealth, land and freedom – a better life.

47. What was the port of entry for the immigrants in the past? 1892 –the government opened a special port of entry in New York harbor, Ellis Island.

48. What do you know about the Statue of Liberty?

The Statue of Liberty National Monument officially celebrated her 100th birthday on October 28, 1986. The people of France gave the Statue to the people of the United States over one hundred years ago in recognition of the friendship established during the American Revolution. Over the years, the Statue of Liberty has grown to include freedom and democracy as well as this international friendship. Located on 12-acre Liberty Island in New York Harbor.

Sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi was commissioned to design a sculpture with the year 1876 in mind for completion, to commemorate the centennial of the American Declaration of Independence.

The Statue of Liberty began lightning the way for new arrivals just at a time when native-born Americans began worrying that the US was being overrun by immigrants.

49. What American states suffer most of all from illegal immigration? US-Mexican border

Texas, California, Florida from Mexico, Latin America, Cuba, Gaiety.

50. What problems are created by illegal immigrants in the US? Crime; illegal immigration holds down the pay of American workers: ultra-cheap laborers (illegal immigrants) are unlikely to complain about their abysmal pay, lack of benefits or unpleasant working conditions; illegal immigrants are not just underpaid; they are very likely to suffer work-related disabilities which are not covered by insurance. They often do not have a place to live. Since they usually do not get any benefits, their care increasingly has become the responsibility of the state government.

51. Give the English for "біженець; шукати політичного притулку; підданий іншої країни, що мешкає в державі”. Refugee, asylum seeker, to seek asylum, alien (legal/illegal).

52. Comment on the expression "the melting pot".

The melting pot is a metaphor for the way in which heterogenous societies develop, in which the ingredients in the pot (people of different cultures and religions) are combined so as to lose their discrete identities and yield a final product of uniform consistency and flavor, which is quite different from the original inputs.The melting pot idea is most strongly associated with the United States, particularly in reference to "model" immigrant groups of the past. Past generations of immigrants in America, it is argued by some, became successful by working to shed their historic identities and adopt the ways of their new country. The process of shedding one's native culture and becoming absorbed into the ways of the "host" society is known as assimilation.

Melting pot vs. multiculturalism (metaphors - “a bowl of salad”, “pizza”).

53. Give the names of some ethnic or national communities in the US. Chinese, Jewish, Russian, Italian, etc

54. Is it possible to single out any specific traits of character typical of Americans as a nation? What are they?

Key terms: efficiency, time is money, individualism, self-reliance, loneliness, conformity, the status-seekers..

55. When is North America believed to have been visited by Europeans for the first time? Who were those first visitors? Who was their leader?

Icelandic Vikings –the first Europeans who came to the USA 1000 years ago (Leif Ericson – leader). Traces of their visit – Newfoundland. But they did not establish a permanent settlement and soon left the continent.

56. When was America discovered by Christopher Columbus? What national holiday commemorates this event?

The demand for Asian spices, textiles, and dyes spurred European navigators to dream of shorter routes between East and West. Acting on behalf of the Spanish crown, in 1492 the Italian navigator Christopher Columbus sailed west from Europe and landed on one of the Bahama Islands in the Caribbean Sea. Within 40 years, Spanish adventurers had carved out a huge empire in Central and South America. Columbus day - holiday commemorating Christopher Columbus's discovery of America, it is celebrated on the Monday nearest to Oct. 12.

In recent years, the holiday has been rejected by many people who view it as a celebration of conquest and genocide. In its place, Indigenous Peoples Day is celebrated.

57. When was the first British-American settlement founded in North America? What was its name?

The first successful English colony was founded at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. A few years later, English Puritans came to America to escape religious persecution for their opposition to the Church of England.

First permanent British settlement in North America - New England. In New England the Puritans hoped to build a "city upon a hill" -- an ideal community. Ever since, Americans have viewed their country as a great experiment, a worthy model for other nations to follow.

58. When did the first big group of British protestant settlers arrive in North America? What was the name of the ship they sailed on? What was the name of the colony they founded?

“Mayflower”, 102p. In 1620, the Puritans founded Plymouth Colony in what later became Massachusetts.

59. What names can you use to refer to the first British settlers? Pilgrims, the Pilgrim fathers, Puritans.

60. What does the expression "Pilgrim Fathers" mean?

The founders of Plymouth Colony. The name Pilgrim Fathers is given to those members who made the first crossing on the Mayflower. They are considered to be the fathers of the nation. Those people traveled a long distance to be able to worship.

61. What holiday dates back to the first big group of British protestant settlers in Norm America?

The Pilgrims were unprepared for the starvation and sickness of a harsh New England winter and nearly half died before spring. Yet, persevering in prayer, and assisted by helpful Indians, they reaped a bountiful harvest the following summer. The grateful Pilgrims then declared a three-day feast, starting on December 13, 1621, to thank God and to celebrate. Thanksgiving day – 3rd Thursday of November.

62. Why did the first big group of British protestant settlers come to the New World?

They wanted to escape from the religious persecution of Protestants in Catholic England. The New World, although filled with uncertainty and peril, offered both civil and religious liberty. The Puritans believed that government should enforce God's morality, and they strictly punished heretics, adulterers, drunks, and violators of the Sabbath. In spite of their own quest for religious freedom, the Puritans practiced a form of intolerant moralism. In 1636 an English clergyman named Roger Williams left Massachusetts and founded the colony of Rhode Island, based on the principles of religious freedom and separation of church and state, two ideals that were later adopted by framers of the U.S. Constitution.

63. What event does the name "Boston Tea Party" refer to? Бостонське чаювання.In May 1773, Prime Minister North and the British parliament passed the Tea Act. The Tea Act allowed the British East India Company to sell tea directly to the colonists, bypassing the colonial wholesale merchants. This allowed the company to sell their tea cheaper than the colonial merchants who were selling smuggled tea from Holland.

This act revived the colonial issue of taxation without representation. The colonies once again demanded that the British government remove the tax on tea. In addition, the dockworkers began refusing to unload the tea from ships.

The Governor of Massachusetts demanded that the tea be unloaded. He also demanded that the people pay the taxes and duty on tea.

On the evening of December 16, 1773, a group of men calling themselves the "Sons of Liberty" went to the Boston Harbor. The men were dressed as Mohawk Indians. They boarded three British ships, the Beaver, the Eleanor and the Dartmouth, and dumped forty-five tons of tea into the Boston Harbor.

64. When was the Declaration of Independence signed? Who was its main author?

The Declaration of Independence is the document in which the Thirteen Colonies declared themselves independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain and explained their justifications for doing so. It was ratified by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776; this anniversary is celebrated as Independence Day in the United States. The document is on display in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. The independence of the American colonies was recognized by Great Britain on September 3, 1783, by the Treaty of Paris.

On June 11, 1776, a committee consisting of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman, was formed to draft a suitable declaration to frame this resolution. Jefferson did most of the writing, with input from the committee. His original draft included a denunciation of the slave trade, which was later edited out, as was a lengthy criticism of the British people and parliament. His draft was presented to the Continental Congress on July 1, 1776.

65. What events preceded the War of Independence? How long did the war last?

Throughout the 1760s and 1770s, relations between Great Britain and thirteen of her North American colonies had become increasingly strained. 1770 – The Boston Massacre (Бостонское кровопролитие) – a confrontation between the group of British soldiers and colonists (5 people were killed). 1773- The Boston Tea Party.

Сconfrontation/battle broke out in 1775 at Lexington and Concord marking the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. Although there was little initial sentiment for outright independence, the pamphlet Common Sense by Thomas Paine was able to promote the belief that total independence was the only possible route for the colonies.

66. What are the expressions that are synonymous to "the War of Independence"? The Revolutionary War, The American Revolution.

67. What agreement was signed when the War of Independence had been finished? 1783 The treaty of Paris – England officially recognized American Independence.

68. When was the US Constitution adopted?

Constitution of the United States, document embodying the fundamental principles upon which the American republic is conducted. Drawn up at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, the Constitution was signed on Sept. 17, 1787, and ratified by the required number of states (nine) by June 21, 1788. “The federalist papers” (James Medison: private property is the backbone of liberty)– underline the constitution.

The constitution superseded the original charter of the United States in force since 1781 (see Articles of Confederation) and established the system of federal government that began to function in 1789. There are 7 articles and a preamble. 27 amendments have been adopted.

69. What parts does the US Constitution consist of?

-The preamble consists of a single sentence that introduces the document and its purpose: “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

-The remainder of the constitution consists of seven articles:

Article One describes Congress (the legislative branch) and outlines its powers and limits including the commerce clause.

Article Two describes the presidency.

Article Three describes the court system (the judicial branch), including the Supreme Court.

Article Four describes the relationship between the states and the federal government.

Article Five describes the process of amendment.

Article Six establishes the Constitution and the laws and treaties of the United States made in accordance with it as the supreme law of the land.Article Seven describes the method of ratification.

-The Constitution has been amended 27 times since 1789, and it is likely to be further revised in the future. The most sweeping changes occurred within two years of its adoption. In that period, the first 10 amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, were added. Congress approved these amendments as a block in September 1789, and 11 states had ratified them by the end of 1791.

70. What is the Bill of Rights?

Bill of Rights - a statement of fundamental rights and privileges (especially the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution-1791).

The amendments making up the Bill of Rights safeguard individual liberties. They are:

First Amendment – Freedom of speech, press, religion, peaceable assembly, and to petition the government.

Second Amendment – Right to keep and bear arms.

Third Amendment – Protection from quartering of troops.

Fourth Amendment – Protection from unreasonable search and seizure.

Fifth Amendment - Due process, double jeopardy, self-incrimination, private property.

Sixth Amendment – Trial by jury and other rights of the accused.

Seventh Amendment – Civil trial by jury.

Eighth Amendment – Prohibition of excessive bail, cruel punishment.

Ninth Amendment – Declares that other rights not listed may be protected.

Tenth Amendment – Grants residual power to the states and to the people.

Amendment – Congress cannot increase its members' pay until the next House election.

Now - 27 amendments.

Eleventh Amendment (1795): Clarifies judicial power over foreign nationals, and limits ability of citizens to sue states in federal courts and under federal law.

Twelfth Amendment (1804): Changes the method of presidential elections so that members of the electoral college cast separate ballots for president and vice-president.

Thirteenth Amendment (1865): Abolishes slavery and grants Congress power to enforce abolition.

Fourteenth Amendment (1868): Defines United States citizenship; prohibits states from abridging citizens' privileges and immunities and right to due process and the equal protection of the law; repeals the three-fifths compromise.

Fifteenth Amendment (1870): Prohibits the federal government and the states from using a citizen's race, color, or previous status as a slave as a qualification for voting.

Sixteenth Amendment (1913): Allows federal taxes on income.

Seventeenth Amendment (1913): Establishes direct election of senators.

Eighteenth Amendment (1919): Prohibited beverage alcohol consumption and manufacture. Repealed by the Twenty-First Amendment.

Nineteenth Amendment (1920): Prohibits the federal government and the states from using a citizen's sex as a qualification for voting.

Twentieth Amendment (1933): Changes details of Congressional and presidential terms and of presidential succession. Twenty-first Amendment (1933): Repeals Eighteenth Amendment but permits states to retain prohibition and ban the importation of alcohol.

Twenty-second Amendment (1951): Limits president to two terms.

Twenty-third Amendment (1961): Grants presidential electors to the District of Columbia.

Twenty-fourth Amendment (1964): Prohibits the federal government and the states from requiring the payment of a tax as a qualification for voting for federal officials.

Twenty-fifth Amendment (1967): Changes details of presidential succession, provides for temporary removal of president, and provides for replacement of the vice-president.

Twenty-sixth Amendment (1971): Prohibits the federal government and the states from using an age greater than 18 as a qualification to vote.

Twenty-seventh Amendment (1992): Limits congressional pay raises.

71. What does the term "the founding fathers" mean?

Founding Fathers are persons instrumental not only in the establishment (founding) of a political institution, but also in the origination of the idea of the institution. It is applied especially to those men involved with the creation and early development of the United States of America, such as the signers of its Declaration of Independence and the framers of its Constitution, in which case it refers to such individuals as George Washington, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John and Samuel Adams, Alexander Hamilton.

72. Why is the 19lh century in the US often described as the century of growth and expansion?

Because it is marked with growth of territories, population (mass migration) and industrial growth.73. In what ways did the US increase its territory in the 19lh century? By treaty (with Spain -1819-Florida, England 1846 - Oregon) by war (1848 - a war with Mexico- western part – California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona), by purchase (the Louisiana Purchase (1803- Jefferson bought from Napoleon the territory that almost doubled Am.ter.), the purchase of Alaska from Russia -1867 (the icebox of America; rich in gold and oil), the Gadsden Purchase -1853.)

74. Can you give any examples of land purchase in the 19lh century?

The Louisiana Purchase (1803- Jefferson bought from Napoleon the territory that almost doubled Am.ter: the French territory of Louisiana included far more land than just the current U.S. State of Louisiana; the lands purchased contained parts or all of present-day Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota west of the Mississippi River, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, northern Texas, nearly all of Oklahoma, Kansas, the portions of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado east of the Rocky Mountains, the portions of southern Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan and southern Alberta that drain into the Missouri River, and Louisiana on both sides of the Mississippi River including the city of New Orleans. The land included in the Purchase comprises over one-quarter of the territory of the modern continental United States), the purchase of Alaska from Russia -1867 (the icebox of America; rich in gold and oil), the Gadsden Purchase -1853 (For $10 million, Mexico gave up about 76,735 sq km (about 29,640 sq mi), bounded on the east by the Río Grande, on the north by the Gila River, and on the west by the Colorado River).

75. What Americanisms describe the westward expansion of the US in the 19th century?

Manifest Destiny was a nineteenth century belief that the United States had a divinely-inspired mission to expand, particularly across the North American frontier towards the Pacific Ocean. The phrase, which means obvious (or undeniable) fate, was coined by New York journalist John O'Sullivan in 1845, when he wrote that "it was the nation's manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federated self-government entrusted to us."

As the citizens of the U.S. spread westward, intense conflict with both the Native Americans and Mexico were inevitable. Already heavily depopulated due to diseases, the Native American peoples were unable to resist the endless stream of white settlers and the military that accompanied them; "Indian Removal" and the "Indian Wars" form some of the darker chapters in American history. Conflict with Mexico was more formal but also resulted in the (perhaps opportunistic) large scale acquisition of land for U.S. settlers. President Polk made it clear in his diaries that he had every intention to seize any Mexican territory that fell into U.S. hands. These two effects of Manifest Destiny have strongly colored its representation in historical hindsight; in spite of (or perhaps because of) strong belief in God and democracy, the imposition of majority rule on minorities can be horrific. It is said that a majority can be just as despotic as an absolute monarch. It should also be noted that the doctrine almost always described the white man as "God's chosen" who was bound to displace the "primitives" in his way.

Indian Removal refers to the policy of the government of the United States to relocate American Indian tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river. The policy was made official with the Indian Removal Act of 1830, although the pattern of reluctant westward migration of Native Americans had been established much earlier. Indian removal was accomplished in a variety of ways, including warfare, treaty, purchase of Indian land, and ultimately by forced march. The most well-known of these Indian removals was the Trail of Tears, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of Cherokee Indians.

The Trail of Tears refers to the forced removal of the Cherokee American Indian tribe by the U.S. federal government, which resulted in the deaths of about 4,000 Cherokee Indians. In the Cherokee language, the event is called Nunna daul Tsuny — "the trail where they cried." 1838- the Cherokees made a “Nightmare journey”, traveling during 5 months; a quarter of the people died.

76. What is "the Gold Rush" and what states are famous for it?The Gold Rush was a period in American history marked by mass hysteria concerning a gold discovery in Northern California. The period is also marked by mass migrations into California by people, almost exclusively men, seeking an easy fortune. Although few of them struck it rich, their presence was an important stimulus to economic growth. Agriculture, commerce, transportation, and industry grew rapidly to meet the needs of the settlers; mining, too, soon became big business as corporations replaced the individual prospector.

Portuguese Flat, California, was a mining camp of the early 1850s during the California Gold Rush, consisting largely of Portuguese miners, located about 35 miles north of Redding.

Gold was also discovered in Alaska in the 1870s

77. What name is used to refer to the people who went to California to look for gold during the Gold Rush?

forty-niners

The 1848 discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in California lured thousands of gold seekers, known as Forty-Niners, to the West. They flocked to California in 1849. Reportedly, there were about forty thousand of them. .

78. When did the war between the North and the South take place? 1861-1865.

79. What were the causes of the Civil War?

The question of slavery was being debated. The industrial North wanted the agricultural South to abolish slavery. 1861 – 11 states left the Union and proclaimed themselves an independent nation – The Confederate States of America. The Civil War has begun.

80. Comment on the terms "Confederate states" and "Union states".

The Confederate States of America (CSA, also known as the Confederacy) was the political entity originally formed on February 4, 1861 by Southern slave states.

81. What was the decisive battle of the Civil War? The Battle of Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863), fought in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign, was the largest battle ever fought in North America, and is generally considered to be the turning point of the American Civil War.

82. Comment on the term "the Gettysburg Address".

The Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln's most famous speech, was delivered at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on November 19, 1863, four and one-half months after the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. Although Lincoln's carefully crafted address was secondary to other presentations that day, it ultimately was regarded as one of the great speeches in American history. By invoking the principles of human equality espoused by the Declaration of Independence, Lincoln redefined the Civil War as not merely a struggle for Union, but instead as "a new birth of freedom" for the United States and its people.

83. What are the names of the generals that led the Union troops and the Confederate troops during the Civil War?

Ulysses Simpson Grant (The Union States), Robert E. Lee (The Confederacy).

84. When was slavery abolished? Passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, the 13th amendment abolished slavery in the United States.

85. What happened during the Period of Reconstruction?

Reconstruction was the period after the American Civil War when the southern states of the defeated Confederacy, which had seceded from the United States, were reintegrated into the Union. The destructiveness of the Union invasion and defeat of the South, attacks on civilian targets and destruction of infrastructure, followed by exploitive economic policies in the defeated region after the war, caused lasting bitterness among Southerners toward the U.S. government. Abraham Lincoln had endorsed a lenient plan for reconstruction, but the immense human cost of the war and the social changes wrought by it led Congress to resist readmitting the rebel states without first imposing preconditions. A series of laws, passed by the Federal government, established the conditions and procedures for reintegrating the southern states.

Much of the impetus for Reconstruction involved the question of civil rights for the freed slaves in the southern states. In response to efforts by southern states to deny civil rights to the freed slaves, Congress enacted a civil rights act in 1866 (and again in 1875). This led to conflict with President Andrew Johnson, who vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866; however, his veto was overridden. This failure of the federal government to effectively reunite the country contributed to the government's failure for many decades to enforce the civil rights of the formerly enslaved African-Americans in the South.During the period of Reconstruction there was considerable upheaval in southern society. Northerners who moved south to participate in Southern governments; were called carpetbaggers by southerners, and were widely perceived as being motivated by graft and corruption, while locals who participated in these governments were called scalawags. Republicans took control of all state governorships and state legislatures, often installing blacks into positions of power. These events led to the formation of the original Ku Klux Klan, in 1866; but it lasted for only three years.

Three constitutional amendments were passed in the wake of the Civil War: the thirteenth, which abolished slavery; the fourteenth, which granted civil rights to African Americans; and the fifteenth, which extended the franchise to freed citizens. The fourteenth amendment was opposed by the southern states, and as a precondition of readmission to the Union, they were required to accept it (or the fifteenth after passage of the fourteenth).

All Southern states were readmitted by 1870, but Reconstruction continued until 1877.

The end of Reconstruction essentially marked the demise of the brief period of civil rights for African Americans. Within a few years after Reconstruction ended, the South created a segregated society, with whites and blacks going their own ways, and with whites in firm political control.

86. What name is used to refer to a person from one area who tries to take an active part in the political life of another area, especially, in the US, a Northerner who was politically active in the South in the 1860s and 1870s, in order to gain from the situation rather than to help people in the South? Carpetbaggers (саквояжники).

87. What were some of the negative effects of industrialization in the 19lh century, and how did the US Government respond to them?

(1865 to about 1900, the U.S. became the world's leading industrial nation, witnessing meteoric expansion in the pace and scale of production. The availability of land; the diversity of climate and the corollary economic diversity; the ample presence of navigable canals, rivers, and coastal waterways that filled the transportation needs of the emerging industrial economy; and the abundance of natural resources; fostered the cheap extraction of energy, fast transport, and the availability of capital that powered this Second Industrial Revolution.

Where the First Industrial Revolution shifted production from artisans to factories, the United States pioneered an expansion in organization, coordination, and scale of industries spurred on by technology and transportation. Railroads opened up vast markets, helping to explain steady growth in aggregate demand. The transcontinental railroad, built by Irish and Chinese immigrants, provided access to previously remote expanses of land. Railway construction boosted demand for capital resources, credit, and rapid increases in land values.

Meanwhile, technological advances in iron and steel making, like the Bessemer process and open-hearth furnace, combined with similar innovations in chemistry and other sciences to vastly improve the productivity and efficiency of industry. New communication tools, like the telegraph and telephone allowed actions to be coordinated across great distances. Innovations also occurred in how work was organized, as when Henry Ford developed the assembly line (a manufacturing process in which interchangeable parts are added to a product in a sequential manner to create an end product) or Fredrick Taylor the formalized ideas of scientific management.

Industry learned how to coordinate such diversity of economic activities across broad geographic areas. To finance such large-scale enterprises, the corporation emerged as the dominant form of business organization. Corporations also grew by combining into trusts, creating single firms out of competing firms. Business leaders backed government policies of laissez-faire (политика невмешательства). High tariffs sheltered U.S. factories and workers from foreign competition (which hardly existed after 1880); federal railroad subsidies enriched investors, farmers and railroad workers, and created hundreds of towns and cities; and all branches of government at all levels generally sought to stop organized labor from using violence to win strikes. Powerful industrialists, like Andrew Carnegie and John Rockefeller held great wealth and power; their employees were the best-paid in the world. In this context of cutthroat competition for accumulation, the skilled labor of the old-fashoned petty artisan and craftsman gave way to well-paid skilled workers and engineers as the nation deepened its technological base. Meanwhile, a steady stream of immigrants encouraged the availability of cheap labor, especially in the mining and manufacturing sectors.)Despite their remarkable progress, 19th-century U.S. farmers experienced recurring periods of hardship. Several basic factors were involved -- soil exhaustion, the vagaries of nature, a decline in self-sufficiency, and the lack of adequate legislative protection and aid. Perhaps most important, however, was over-production (e.g. sharecropping: tenant farmers "shared" up to half of their crop with the landowners in exchange for seed and essential supplies. An estimated 80 percent of the South's African American farmers and 40 percent of its white ones lived under this debilitating system following the Civil War. Most sharecroppers were locked in a cycle of debt, from which the only hope of escape was increased planting.) Food prices were falling, and farmers had to bear the costs of high shipping rates, expensive mortgages, high taxes, and tariffs on consumer goods.

The life of a 19th-century U.S. industrial worker was far from easy. Even in good times wages were low, hours long and working conditions hazardous. As published in McClure's Magazine in 1894: "[The coal mine workers] breathe this atmosphere until their lungs grow heavy and sick with it" for only "fifty-five cents a day each." Little of the wealth generated went to the proletariat. The situation was worse for women and children, who made up a high percentage of the work force in some industries and often received but a fraction of the wages a man could earn. Periodic economic crises swept the nation, further eroding industrial wages and producing high levels of unemployment.

The elimination of competition, and the creation of monopolies, often forced workers to work for specific companies. To limit competition, railroads merged and set standardized shipping rates. Trusts - huge combinations of corporations - tried to establish monopoly control over some industries, notably oil. These giant enterprises could produce goods efficiently and sell them cheaply, but they could also fix prices and destroy competitors. To counteract them, the federal government took action. The Interstate Commerce Commission was created in 1887 to control railroad rates. The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 banned trusts, mergers, and business agreements "in restraint of trade."

The late 19th century was a period of heavy immigration, and many of the workers in the new industries were foreign-born. Although the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 forbade the existence of monopolies as a "felony," major corporations found loopholes that allowed them to continue controlling national industries. The companies usually demanded long hours of exhausting work for low pay.

At the same time, the technological improvements, which added so much to the nation's productivity, continually reduced the demand for skilled labor. The American Federation of Labor, founded in 1886, was a coalition of trade unions for skilled laborers. Yet the unskilled labor pool was constantly growing, as unprecedented numbers of immigrants -- 18 million between 1880 and 1910 -- entered the country, eager for work.

That industrialization tightened the net of poverty around America's workers was even admitted by corporate leaders, such as Andrew Carnegie, who noted "the contrast between the palace of the millionaire and the cottage of the laborer."

88. Comment on the involvement of the US in World War I.

When war erupted in 1914, the United States attempted to remain neutral and was a proponent for the rights of neutral states. Isolationist foreign policy was encouraged by Congress's apprehensions about giving other countries a political door into US policies and the cultural melting pot of the United States' population. In spite of these factors, the United States did enter World War I, as a result of several events.

Prior to 1915, German subs had a policy of warning and allowing time to evacuate ships carrying passengers before they sank them. However, in 1915 the Lusitania was sunk without a warning, killing over 120 Americans. One year later, the Sussex was sunk by German U-boats and American citizens were outraged at these direct violations of their neutral rights at sea. At this point, a small percentage of Americans, including presidential hopeful Teddy Roosevelt, demanded "immediate warfare."April 6, 1917, Congress officially declared war. President Wilson, along with many Americans, justified their involvement as "an act of high principle and idealism. The American army was a force of only 200,000 soldiers. Millions of men had to be drafted, trained, and shipped across the submarine-infested Atlantic. A full year passed before the U.S. Army was ready to make a significant contribution to the war effort. In October Germany asked for peace, and an armistice was declared on November 11. In 1919 Wilson himself went to Versailles to help draft the peace treaty. Although he was cheered by crowds in the Allied capitals, at home his international outlook was less popular. His idea of a League of Nations was included in the Treaty of Versailles, but the U.S. Senate did not ratify the treaty, America returned to a policy of Isolationism after the war.

89. Translate the expression "Prohibition Law" and comment on it. Сухий закон.

Prohibition was any of several periods during which the manufacture, transportation, import, export, and sale of alcoholic beverages were restricted or illegal. Between 1919 and 1933 throughout the United States. National Prohibition reduced the consumption of alcoholic beverages by Americans by 50 percent. However, alcoholic drinks were still widely available at speakeasies and other underground drinking establishments. The disreputable speakeasies gained their name from the fact that a patron had to "speak easy" and convince the doorman to let them in. His job was to keep out anyone that looked like they were dry agents; agents had no forced-entry rights at all, and so could not break into a joint if the doorman refused them entry. Many people also kept private bars to serve their guests. Large quantities of alcohol were smuggled in from Canada and the French islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. Legal and illegal home brewing was popular during Prohibition. Limited amounts of wine and hard cider were permitted to be made at home.

Bootlegging is a slang term to describe smuggling (see Bootleg). Most commonly the word refers specificaly to the illegal sale of alcoholic beverages on which federal or state excise taxes have not been paid. The term is sometimes mistakenly used to refer to making untaxed alcoholic products; yet, that is "moonshining", not bootlegging. Most bootleg liquor is not "home-made" by a moonshiner but, instead, bottled by professional distillers.

90. Comment on the term "Red Scare". Страх перед червоною загрозою.

The "Red Summer": A series of bombings in June of 1919 sparked the FBI to more aggressive actions. The mayor of Seattle received a homemade bomb in the mail on April 28, which was defused. Senator Thomas R. Hardwick received a bomb the next day, which blew off the hands of his servant who had discovered it, severely burning him and his wife. The following morning, a New York City postal worker discovered sixteen similar packages addressed to well-known people of the time, including oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller. On June 2, a bomb partially destroyed the front of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer's house.

Damage done by the bomb on A. Mitchell Palmer's houseIn the Wall Street bombing on September 16, 1920, 100 pounds (45 kg) of dynamite with 500 pounds (230 kg) of fragmented steel exploded in front of the offices of the J.P. Morgan Company, killing 40 people and injuring 300 others. Anarchists have long been suspected as initiating the attack, which followed a number of letter bombs that targeted Morgan himself. However, the identity of the bombers has never been determined.

In response to the bombings, the public flared up in a surge of patriotism, often involving violent hatred of communists, radicals, and foreigners.

The term "Red Scare" has been applied to two distinct periods of intense anti-Communism in United States history: first from 1917 to 1920, and second from the late 1940s through the mid-1950s. Both periods were characterized by widespread fears of Communist influence on U.S. society and Communist infiltration of the U.S. government. These fears spurred aggressive investigation and (particularly during the first period) jailing of persons associated with communist and socialist ideology or political movements.

During the late 1920s through the 1930s, anti-communism in the U.S. died down, especially after the Soviet Union became an ally with the U.S. during World War II. As soon as the war ended, however, another Red Scare began in the McCarthy era from 1948 to the mid-1950s.

91. What nickname is often used to refer to the 1920s in the US? The "Roaring Twenties", кричащие 20тые.Most Americans were unconcerned about the dark side of life. They were too busy enjoying the prosperity of the 1920s. The "Roaring Twenties" was the great age of popular entertainment. In the theatres and "speakeasies" (secret, illegal bars) , people were entertained by "vaudeville" acts (music hall) , singers and jazz and dance bands. The period is often called the "Jazz Age". Radio stations mushroomed all over America, the programmes being paid for from advertising.

But above all it was the age of the cinema. (By the end of the 1920s 100 million cinema tickets were sold each week.) Thousands of black and white silent films were made in America in the 1920s, especially in Hollywood, which became the capital of the industry. Actors and actresses like Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Rudolf Valentino became "stars" and were known all over the world.

92. What major developments took place in 1920s in the US?

American industry had expanded during the Great War, making weapons, uniforms, equipment etc. This expansion continued after the war, helped by America's massive reserves of raw materials and by high tariffs (import duties on foreign goods).Tariffs made foreign goods dearer, so American goods were bought. Some industries were also given subsidies (cash support), which increased their profits. So there was a boom(economic expansion).

The greatest boom was in consumer goods, e.g. cars, refrigerators, radios, cookers, telephones etc. Ordinary people were encouraged through advertising to buy these goods and many could now afford what had been luxuries before the war. One reason was that they earned slightly higher wages because of the boom. Another reason was that the growth of hire purchase meant that people could spread the cost over months and even years. But the main reason was that goods had become cheaper. This was because of "mass production" methods used to produce many consumer goods. Assembly lines were built in factories and each worker concentrated on one small job only. The most famous example of this method was Henry Ford's factory which was fully automated (many of the jobs done by machines).Because of mass production and automation one Model T car was produced every ten seconds.

93. Comment on the term "Black Tuesday".

The phrase Black Tuesday refers to October 29, 1929, five days after the United States stock market crash of Black Thursday, when general panic set in and everyone with investments in the market tried to pull out of the market at once. This week and its aftermath marked the start of the Great Depression in the United States. While Black Tuesday is often cited as the worst day in Stock Market history, in terms of percentage loss the honor goes to Black Monday, 1987.

The phrase Black Tuesday has also been used to refer to September 11, 2001, the date of the terrorist attack that destroyed the World Trade Center.

More recently, detractors of President George W. Bush have adopted the term in reference to November 2, 2004, the date of his election to a second term :).

94. What important measures did the US government take to lead the country out of the Great Depression?

The Great Depression was a massive global economic recession (or "depression") that ran from 1929 to 1941. It led to massive bank failures, high unemployment, as well as dramatic drops in GDP, industrial production, stock market share prices and virtually every other measure of economic growth.

The New Deal was President Franklin D. Roosevelt's (elected in 1932) legislative agenda for rescuing the United States from the Great Depression. It was widely believed that the depression was caused by the inherent instability of the market and that government intervention was necessary to rationalize and stabilize the economy. Reform-Recovery-Relief – The three R’s.

What was truly novel about the New Deal, was the speed with which it accomplished what previously had taken generations. Within three months, Roosevelt enacted a number of laws to help the economy recover. New jobs were created by undertaking the construction of roads, bridges, airports, parks and public buildings. The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) passed by Congress in 1933 to provide economic relief to farmers, helped increase farm income. But throughout the 1930s, and in particularly from 1935 to 1938, a severe drought hit the Great Plains states and violent wind and dust storms ravaged the plains in what became known as the "Dust Bowl".The New Deal sponsored a remarkable series of legislative initiatives and achieved significant increases in production and prices -- but it did not bring an end to the Depression. In the face of pressures from left and right, President Roosevelt backed a new set of economic and social measures (Second New Deal), among them measures to fight poverty, to counter unemployment with work and to provide a social safety net. The Works Progress Administration (WPA), the principal relief agency of the so-called second New Deal, was an attempt to provide work rather than welfare. Buildings, roads, airports and schools were constructed. Actors, painters, musicians and writers were employed through the Federal Theater Project, the Federal Art Project and the Federal Writers Project. But the New Deal's cornerstone was the Social Security Act of 1935. It created a system of insurance for the aged, unemployed and disabled based on employer and employee contributions. In 1936, Roosevelt won an even more decisive victory than in 1932.

Hund

95. Comment on the expression "New Deal". Translate it. Новий курс. See the previous question.

96. Date the following events: a) the signing of the Declaration of Independence; b) the Prohibition Law; c) Great Depression. a)July,4, 1776 b) 1919 and 1933 c) 1929 to 1941

97. How was the United States involved in the Second World War?

Isolationist sentiment in America had ebbed, but the United States at first declined to enter the war, limiting itself to giving supplies and weapons to the United Kingdom, the Republic of China, and the Soviet Union. American feeling changed drastically with the sudden Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and the United States quickly joined the British-Soviet alliance against the Empire of Japan, Fascist Italy, and Nazi Germany, known as the "Axis Alliance". Even with American participation, it took nearly four more years to defeat Nazi Germany and Japan. The war against Japan came to a swift end in August of 1945, when President Harry Truman ordered the use of atomic bombs against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Nearly 200,000 civilians were killed. Although the matter can still provoke heated discussion, the argument in favor of dropping the bombs was that casualties on both sides would have been greater if the Allies had been forced to invade Japan.

By a vote of 65 to 7, the United States Senate on December 4, 1945 approved U.S. participation in the United Nations (the UN was established on October 24, 1945 to serve as a body to help prevent future world wars).

98. What was the Manhattan Project?

The Manhattan Project, or more formally, the Manhattan Engineering District, was an effort during World War II to develop the first nuclear weapons by the United States with assistance from the United Kingdom and Canada. Its research was directed by American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, and overall by General Leslie R. Groves after it became clear that a weapon based on nuclear fission was possible and that Nazi Germany was also investigating such weapons of its own.

Though it involved over thirty different research and production sites, the Manhattan Project was largely carried out in three secret scientific cities that were established by power of eminent domain: Hanford, Washington, Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

The Project culminated in the design, production, and detonation of three nuclear weapons in 1945. The first was on July 16: "Trinity", the world's first nuclear test, near Alamogordo, New Mexico. The second was the weapon "Little Boy", detonated on August 6, over the city of Hiroshima, Japan. The third was the weapon "Fat Man", detonated on August 9, over the city of Nagasaki, Japan.

99. What did the United States do to put an end to World War II? The war against Japan came to a swift end in August of 1945, when President Harry Truman ordered the use of atomic bombs against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Nearly 200,000 civilians were killed.

100. What events contributed to the Cold War?

The Cold War was the open yet restricted rivalry that developed after World War II between the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies. The struggle was called the Cold War because it did not actually lead to direct fighting between the superpowers (a "hot" war) on a wide scale. The Cold War was waged by means of economic pressure, selective aid, diplomatic manoeuvre, propaganda, assassination, low-intensity military operations and full-scale war from 1947 until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The term was popularized by the U.S. political adviser and financier Bernard Baruch in April 1947 during a debate on the Truman Doctrine.

The Iron Curtain – a policy of separation the world into two camps, a sign of the beginning of the Cold War (1946 – a speech of Winston Churchil).The Cold War is usually considered to have occurred approximately from the end of the alliance between the U.S. and the Soviet Union during the Second World War until the breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. The Korean War; the Vietnam War; the Afghan War; and CIA-assisted military coups against left-leaning elected governments in Iran (1953), Guatemala (1954), and Chile (1973) were some of the occasions when the tension related to the Cold War took the form of an armed conflict.

A major feature of the Cold War was the arms race between the Soviet Union and NATO, especially the United States but also the United Kingdom, France, West Germany, and several other European powers. This race took place in many technological and military fields, resulting in many scientific discoveries. Particularly revolutionary advances were made in the field of rocketry, which led to the space race. (Most or all of the rockets used to launch humans and satellites and to get to the Moon were originally military designs.)

101. Comment on the expressions "the Marshall Plan" and "the Truman Doctrine".

The Marshall Plan, known officially following its enactment as the European Recovery Program (ERP), was the main plan of the United States for the reconstruction of Europe following World War II. The initiative was named for United States Secretary of State George Marshall.

Between 1948 and 1951, the United States contributed more than $13 billion (equivalent to nearly $100 billion in 2005 when adjusted for inflation) of economic and technical assistance toward the recovery of 16 European countries which had joined in the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC, forerunner to today's OECD) in response to Marshall's call for a joint scheme for European reconstruction.

The Truman Doctrine stated that the United States would support "free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures." Specifically, the doctrine was a political response to Soviet aggression in Europe, illustrated through the communist movements in Iran, Turkey and Greece. As a result, American foreign policy towards Russia shifted, as George F. Kennan phrased it, to that of containment.

U.S. President Harry S. Truman made the proclamation in an address to the U.S. Congress on March 12, 1947 amid the crisis of the Greek Civil War (1946-1949). The doctrine was specifically aimed at assisting governments resisting communism. Truman insisted that if Greece and Turkey did not receive the aid that they needed, they would inevitably fall to communism with the result being a domino effect of acceptance of communism throughout the region.

Truman signed the act into law on May 22, 1947 which granted $400 million in military and economic aid to Turkey and Greece.

The Truman Doctrine also contributed to America's first involvements in the Vietnam War in what is now the nation of Vietnam. Truman attempted to aid France's bid to hold onto its Vietnamese colonies. The United States supplied French forces with equipment and military advisors in order to combat a young Ho Chi Minh and communist revolutionaries.

102. Comment on the Cuban missile crisis. Do you happen to remember another name used for it?

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a tense confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States over the Soviet deployment of nuclear missiles in Cuba. The crisis began on October 14, 1962 and lasted for 38 days until November 20, 1962. It is regarded as the moment when the Cold War was closest to becoming nuclear war, and which could have turned to world war three.

President Kennedy, in a televised address on October 22, announced the discovery of the installations and proclaimed that any nuclear missile attack from Cuba would be regarded as an attack by the Soviet Union and would be responded to accordingly. He also placed a naval "quarantine" (blockade) on Cuba to prevent further Soviet shipments of military weapons from arriving there. The word quarantine was used rather than blockade for reasons of international law and in keeping with the Quarantine Speech of 1937 by Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Satisfied that the Soviets had removed the missiles, President Kennedy ordered an end to the quarantine of Cuba on November 20.

103. What does the word "McCarthyism" mean? When did McCarthy's era take place?

McCarthyism, named for Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin, was a period of intense anti-communism, and is also popularly known as the second Red Scare. It took place in the United States primarily from 1948 to 1954, when the U.S. government was actively engaged in suppression of the American Communist Party, its leadership, and others suspected of being Communists or Communist sympathizers. During this period people from all walks of life became the subject of aggressive witch-hunts, often based on inconclusive or questionable evidence.(Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg (1915-1953) and Julius Rosenberg (1918-1953) were American Communists who were thrust into the world spotlight when they were tried, convicted, and executed for spying for the Soviet Union. The accuracy of these charges remains controversial.)

104. What events are considered to have been the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement? Who became the leader of this movement?

Civil rights campaigns in the U.S. have been dominated by racial politics. Although slavery was abolished and freed slaves were given the right to vote in 1865, southern states used laws and vigilantism to maintain black Americans as a non-voting lower class of citizen subject to repressive rules of conduct. The federal government, while aware of the situation, had limited jurisdiction over these matters and feared the political effects of provoking the South.

Segregation- racial division. Roza Parks – a black woman that refused to give up her seat in the bus to a white man. She was arrested - boycott of the system of the busses – big results: the civil rights movement. 1963 – The March on Washington.

Response of the government - the Affirmative Action Program (стверджувальна дія): to equalize education and job opportunities and make up for the past inequality by giving preference to members of minority seeking jobs or admission.

Affirmative action (US English), or positive discrimination (British English), is a policy or a program providing advantages for people of a minority group who are seen to have traditionally been discriminated against, with the aim of creating a more egalitarian society. This consists of preferential access to education, employment, health care, or social welfare.

The most prominent clergyman in the civil rights movement was Martin Luther King, Jr. Time magazine's 1964 "Man of the Year" was a man of the people. His tireless personal commitment to and strong leadership role in the black freedom struggle won him worldwide acclaim and the Nobel Peace Prize.

105. What expression is usually used to refer to the famous speech made by Martin Luther King at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. in 1963? “I have a dream”.

106. Describe the US national flag.

“The Stars and Stripes and Old Glory”, was adopted in 1777 («усыпанное звёздами знамя»).

It consists of 13 horizontal stripes alterably red and white equal to the number of the original states with a blue union marked with white stars equal in number to 50 states today.

The red stripes – courage

The white stripes – liberty

The field of blue – loyalty

107. Describe the US coat-of-arms.

The baled (білоголовий) eagle with wings outspread, holding a bundle of rods (пучок різок) – the symbol of administering (управління) in the left claw and an olive twig – the emblem of love in the right claw.

“E Pluribus Unum” – One out of may (a motto on the coat of arms).

108.What formal and informal symbols does the US have?

The Statue of Liberty – a statue of a woman on Liberty Island, in New York harbor, given to the US by France in 1884 to celebrate the American and French revolutions. The woman is holding up a torch in her right hand and represents freedom. The words written at the base of the statue are famous and well-known to most Americans.

The Liberty Bell – a bell, kept in Philadelphia, in the US state of Pennsylvania, which was rung on July 8th, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War to tell people of the Declaration of Independence from Britain. Because of this, the bell became a symbol of Liberty for the US. In 1846 it cracked when it was rung to celebrate the birthday of George Washington, and it could not be repaired.

109.What are the popular names of the US national flag?

Nickname – “Uncle Sam”, appeared in 1812 (Uncle Sam Wilson of New York supplied beef to the US Army during the war of 1812)

110.What are the names of the two main political parties in the US? What are their symbols?

The Democratic Party – donkey

The Republican Party – elephant

(Thomas Nast, a famous cartoonist, made these images in mid-XX c.)

111.What does the abbreviation GOP stand for? What does the word "GOPster" mean?

GOP – the Grand Old Party (the Republican Party)

A GOPster – a member of the Republican Party

112.When were the main political parties formed?

The Democratic Party (1828) evolved from the party of Thomas Jefferson, formed before 1800 (more liberal). South.

The Republican Party was established in the 1854 by Abraham Lincoln and others who opposed the expansion of slavery into new states when being admitted to the Union (more conservative). North.

113.What political party do the current President and Vice-President belong to?

George W. Bush – the President

Dick (Richard) Cheney – the Vice President

114.Comment on the differences between the main political parties in the US?The Democratic Party (“the party of a small guy”, a Robin Hood’s policy, Communists’ policy):

-liberal

-strong emphasis on the government

-encourage private enterprise

-creating and supporting social programs, help the poor, thus raise the taxes

-reform healthcare system, insurances

-to ban the right to own firearms

-prochoicers – women can choose whether to do abortions or not

The Republican Party (“the party of the rich men”):

-conservative

-not always supporting social programs

-want to cut taxes

-give freedom to businesses

-against reform healthcare system, insurances

-to keep the right to own firearms

-prolifers – against abortions

115.What are the three branches of power in the US government?

The legislative

The executive

The judicial

116.What is the highest legislative body in the US? What is its task?

The Congress is the highest legislative body in the US. Its tasks are:

1)make laws

2)raise money by means of taxes or borrowings

3)make rules for trade with foreign countries and between states

4)set up post offices and federal courts below the US Supreme court

5)organize the Armed Forces

6)declare war

117.What are the names of the lower and upper chambers of the US Congress?

The Senate – the upper house, the House of Representatives – the lower house

118.How many members does each of the two houses of the Congress consist of?

The Senate – 100 members (two from each state)

The House of Representatives – 435 members (the number of state representatives depends on the population of the state; at least one representative)

119.Say a few words about the terms of office of Representatives and Senators and about congressional elections.

The Senators: elected to six-year term, at least 30 years old, a citizen of the US for at least 9 years, a resident of the state, chosen by a majority of voters.

The Representatives: elected to two-year term, at least 25 years old, a citizen of the US for at least 7 years, a resident of the state.

Elections: every even year. The election campaign starts a year before the elections. Number of electors – 538 persons (100 Senators, 435 Representatives, 3 for District of Columbia). The elections are indirect and have two stages:

1)election of electors (“Election Day”): the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November (the date determined by Congress)

2)electors elect: the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December

The “winner-take-all” system: if population of the state gives votes to the candidate of a definite party, he gets 100% votes of the people.

Electors don’t gather together to give their votes. They stay in capital cities of the states they represent and just send their votes to Washington, D.C.

Voters elect electors – Избиратели выбирают выборщиков

Voters – избиратели

Polling stations – избирательные участки

Ballet – бюллетень

Nominee – кандидат

To cast a vote – отдать свой голос

To drop a ballet – кидать бюллетень

A ballet box – урна

Primary elections (primaries) – предварительные выборы (первинні)

Returns of election – результаты выборов

Term of office – срок пребывания на должности

The whole body of electors – the Electoral College (коллегия выборщиков)

120.What way does a Bill have to go through to become an act of law?

Both senators and Representatives can introduce a bill (to put forward, to propose the bill – внести законопроект на рассмотрение).

The bill goes to the committee of the same House:

-is heard (to call a hearing)

-is studied, analyzed, improved

-is amended

-each committee sifts and sorts the bill

-some of them are rejected (to defeat the bill – отклонить законопроект)

-is sent back to the full house without a recommendation or amendment

-some are tabled (на время откладываются)

-after that the bill is voted on where it is introduced

-moved to another house and studied in its committee

-moved to “conference committee”

-moved to the President for approval (the President can veto the bill, then the bill goes back to the Congress which votes on the bill once more. The Congress can overrule/override the President’s veto. In this case the President is obliged to sign the bill

121.Who presides over the House of Representatives?

The Speaker is in charge of the House of Representatives. He always belongs to the party which has the majority of places. (Pency Penny policy)

122.Who presides over the Senate?

Vice President

123.Who is the executive branch of power vested in the US?

The President, the Vice President and the President’s Cabinet represent the executive branch of power.

124.What happens if the US President is for any reason unable to finish his term? Were there any such cases in the 20th century?If the President is unable for any reasons to finish his term, the Vice President takes his office.

1900 – William McKinley elected. 1901 – shot dead. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt became the President.

1944 – elected for the fourth time, Franklin D. Roosevelt died. Vice President Harry Truman became the President.

1963 – John Fitzgerald Kennedy assassinated. Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson became the President.

125.What are the duties of the US President?

1)with consent of the Senate appoints higher officials: the Cabinet members, ambassadors, federal judges

2)has the initiative if foreign affairs (! the Senate can break the treaty that the President negotiated, but cannot make a treaty or force the President to make one)

3)is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces

4)leader of the legislation

5)the President outlines the course of his administration through his message to Congress

6)has the right of veto: the President is able to reject the bill unless Congress by 2/3 vote of each house shall overrule him.

126.What are the duties of the Vice-President?

1)duties are indefinite (nobody knows them)

2)elected together with the President for four years

3)presides over the Senate (votes only in case of tie)

4)takes the President’s office if he is unable to finish his term

“The forgotten man of the American politics”

“Superfluous Excellency” – Лишнее Превосходительство

127.What important speeches does the US President make during his term of office?

Inaugural Address +

1)The Annual state of the Union Message (про стан внутрішніх справ у країні)

2)The Annual budget message

3)The Annual economic report

128.What is the name of the President's residence? Where is it situated?

The White House is the official home of the President, on Pennsylvania Avenue, in Washington, D.C.

129.Who are the members of the President's Cabinet?

The members of the Cabinet are the heads of the government departments, such as the country’s department of education or department of transportation. There are 14 executive departments nowadays, but their figure is changeable – every president can change the number that exists.

130.What is the Ukrainian counterpart of the US "Secretary of State"?

Minister of Foreign Affairs – Державний секретар (Condolisa Rise)

131.What is the American English for „Міністр юстиції, міністр оборони, міністр фінансів”.

Attorney General – John Ashcroft (Minister of Justice), Secretary of Defense – Donald Ransfeld (Minister of Defense), Secretary of the Treasury – John Show (Minister of Finance).

132.What term is used to refer to the formal accusation against a public official by a legislative body in case he commits high crime? Has this procedure ever been used against any of the US Presidents?

Impeachment. Only Representatives are able to suggest the impeachment, only Senators are able to trial the impeachment. The procedure is the same as in the court.

Andrew Johnson (1808-1875) – technically impeached on a minor problem: soft policy against the South. Found not guilty by only one vote.

Richard Nixon (1913-1994) – was accused of using “bugs” to win the election campaign. In 1974, faced with almost certain impeachment, Nixon resigned.

Bill Clinton (1946) – accused of lying under the oath (perjury), obstruction of justice.

A.J., B.C. – went through the whole procedure of impeachment.

! No president has ever been impeached in the US

133.How is the date of presidential elections determined?

The Election Day – the legally chosen for national elections, which is the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, in even years. The Presidents are elected every four years.= every leap year.

134.Comment on the terms "voters" and "electors".

Voters – избиратели

Electors - выборщики

The elections are indirect and have two stages:

1)election of electors (“Election Day”)

2)electors elect: the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December

135.What is the name used to refer to the body of all the electors in the US?

The whole body of electors – the Electoral College (коллегия выборщиков)

136.What are "the primaries"?

The first stage of elections: candidates from the same party compete. Open/ closed, then caucus (партийный съезд). Primary elections (primaries) – предварительные выборы (первинні).

137.When does the newly elected President come into office?

The term of office begins at noon on January, 20th, every four years.

138.What is the name of the ceremony of the President's coming into office? What does this ceremony consist of?

Inauguration Day – the day an American President is inaugurated, which is always on January 20. There is usually a parade and the new President makes a speech about what he plans for the US.

139.Give the names of the current US President, Vice-President and State Secretary.George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Condolisa Rise

140.What is the highest judicial body in the US, and what is its main function?

US have the dual court system: a federal judiciary, 50 states judiciaries.

The federal judiciary: The Supreme Court and System of federal courts.

Duty: to decide whether laws passed by the Congress and treaties between the US and foreign countries agree with the Constitution (they do this by interpreting and explaining the laws of Congress and the provision of the Constitution). If the law is unconstitutional, the Congress has no power to pass certain laws.

141.What is the structure of the government on the state level?

State government is similar in its organization to federal, or national government. Each state has its own written constitution (=set of fixed laws) and has different laws, which explain the powers of the three branches of state government. There are sometimes great differences in law between the different states concerning things such as property, crime, health and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor, and the person beneath him or her is called the lieutenant governor. Each state also has one or two elected institutions that make laws, known as state legislatures, which usually have two hoses, a senate and a House of Representatives (though the names can be different in some states), whose members represent the different parts of the state. The judicial branch usually consists of a state supreme court and several lower courts.

US states have traditionally had many powers and considerable direct influence on the lives of other citizens. State government has the greatest influence over people’s daily lives. State governments organize their own system of courts and set local income tax and sales tax. They decide at what age residents can, for example, drink alcohol or get married, and what students must study at school. Even actions that are illegal in all or most states are the subject of laws at the state rather than the federal level. For example, murder is illegal everywhere in the US but every state has its own law against murder, and the punishment for the crime is different in every state.

142.Comment on the meaning of the terms "separation of powers" and "the system of checks and balances". Illustrate what you say with examples.

The main principles of the government. Розподіл влади, система втримань та переваг.

By dividing power among the three branches of government, the Constitution effectively ensures that the government power will not be usurped by a small powerful group of a few leaders.

The basic framework of American government is described in the Constitution. However, there are other features of the political system, not mentioned the in the Constitution, which directly and indirectly influence American politics.

Groups and individuals have a variety of ways they can exert pressure and try to influence government policy. Many people write letters to elected officials expressing their approval or disapproval of a political person. People sometimes circulate petitions or write letters to editors of newspapers and magazines to try to influence politicians. Organized interest groups, however, can generally exert influence much more effectively than can isolated individuals.

-Congress must approve presidential appointments; it controls the budget; it can pass laws over the president’s veto; it can impeach and remove the president from the office

-The president can veto congressional legislation; may propose legislation to the Congress

-Chief Justice presides over impeachment of president; may prevent executive action through injunction

-The Court can declare presidential acts unconstitutional

-The president appoints judges

-Congress can change laws; initiate a constitutional amendment; restrict jurisdiction of courts to hear certain types of cases; create whole new court system or abolish existing ones; expand or contract times and places that federal courts sit

-The senate must confirm the president’s judicial appointments; Congress can impeach and remove judges from office; the Court can declare laws unconstitutional

143.Give the English for "помічник президента, Верховний Суд, вступити на посаду, попереді (первині) вибори."

The President’s aide, the Supreme Court, to take the office, the primary elections (the primaries).

144.Is there a national system of education in the US? What does this mean?

The USA does not have a national system of education. It is the matter for people of each state.

145.What types of schools according to ownership are there in the US?Public schools (85%) – supported by taxpayers. Have boards of education (policy makers for schools) at the state and/or district level, by which spending id guided. The same thing is true for decisions about the school curriculum, teaching standards and certification, and the overall measurement of students’ progress.

Private schools (15%) – supported by special attendance fee. Use the fees they collect as they think best. The same thing is true for decisions about the school curriculum, teaching standards and certification, and the overall measurement of students’ progress.

4 out of 5 private schools are run by churches, synagogues or other religious groups. 1 out of 5 is run by different business.

146.Is religion an obligatory subject at American schools?

It can be obligatory only in private schools. In public schools – never.

147.What patterns of schooling are there in the US?

1)Nursery school (optional)

2)Kindergarten

3)Elementary school (grades 1 through 8). But in some places, the elementary school includes only grades 1 to 6. And sometimes grades 4, 5, 6 make up what is called a “middle grade” school (many Americans refer to the elementary grades as “grammar school”).

4)Secondary/high school (grades 9 to 12): “junior high school” 7, 8, 9; “senior high school” 10, 11 12

5)College/university

6)Graduate school

148.Comment on the school curricula.

All 50 states have their own law regulating education. From state to state, some laws are similar, some are different. Curriculum: obligatory/core subjects (language arts, science, mathematics, history, geography, social studies, physical studies, penmanship, music, art)

149.Comment on the term "electives".

Electives are subjects, which students can choose. Mostly they are not very serious, not academic. (shop – труды)

150.In what meanings can the word "grade" be used when talking about education in the US?

Grade=mark

Grade/year=form

151.What is the most common way to check the schoolchildren's knowledge in the US?

American students are very seldom asked to tell the subject in class. They usually write tests (multiple choice, matching etc.)

152.What is the English for "(круглий) oвідмінник"?

A straight A student

153.Give the British and American English for "директор школи, державна школа, приватна школа, оцінка, клас".

BrE: headmaster, state school, public school, mark, form

AmE: principal, public school, private school, grade, grade/year

154.What is the oldest US university and when was it founded? Where is it situated?

Harvard university – the oldest US university and usually considered to be the best. Harvard is one of the Ivy League universities. It was established as a college in 1636 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Two years later, it was named after John Harvard, a Puritan born in England who had given it money and books. Harvard is especially famous for its faculties (=departments) of law and business. Its library is the ldest in the US and one of the largest.

155.Comment on the names "Ivy League" and "Seven Sisters".

US universities and colleges organize themselves into conferences, groups of institutions that are near each other and do certain activities, such as sports, together. The most highly respected of these groups is the Ivy League in the north-eastern US. The name Ivy League comes from the ivy that grows on the old buildings of the colleges. Ivy League institutions have a very high academic reputation, and many more people want to attend them than are able to. They are very expensive, with tuition costing well over 20 000$ at some universities, although scholarships are available to help students who cannot pay for themselves. People who are educated at the Ivy League have a good chance of finding a well-paid job, and many political leaders have been to Ivy League universities. Many other colleges and universities in the US offer a high standard of education, but none has the status and the prestige of the Ivy League institutions.

1)Brown University

2)Columbia University

3)Cornell University

4)Dartmouth University

5)Harvard University

6)University of Pennsylvania

7)Princeton University

8)Yale University

The Seven Sisters are the seven oldest and most respected women’s colleges.

1)Bernard College

2)Bryn Mawr College

3)Mount Holyoke College

4)Radcliffe College

5)Smith College

6)Vassar College

7)Wellesley College

156.Give the names of some of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the US.

Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth University, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, Yale University, Bernard College, Bryn Mawr College, Mount Holyoke College, Radcliffe College, Smith College, Vassar College, Wellesley College

157.What famous higher schools are situated in Cambridge, Mass.?Harvard, Radcliffe College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

158.What factors determine the popularity and prestige of the US universities?

More popular and prestigious institutions are generally – not always – more costly to attend, and having graduated from one of them brings distinct advantages as the individual seeks employment opportunities and social mobility within the society.

159.What are the sources of income for public and private universities in the US?

You have to pay everywhere, whether it is a public institution or a private one.

-students’ tuition

-endowments by benefactors

-government funding

160.Comment on the use of the word "college" in American English.

In the USA, there is no consistent distinction between the terms “college” and “university”. The general tendency, however, is to call a college a higher educational institution offering mainly courses of instruction leading to the Bachelor’s degree; a university is a college or a group of colleges or departments under one control offering courses of instruction leading not only to the Bachelor’s degree but also to the Master’s and the Doctor’s degree. The term “college” is also sometimes loosely applied to institutions which are actually only secondary schools.

161.What task do two-year colleges fulfill? What other names are used to refer to this type of school?

A two-year college, a community college, a junior college.

It costs much less to go to a community college than to go to the university. Many students study there for two years before going to a university to do the final two years of a degree course. Other students who go to a community college do not intend to go to universities, and study practical subjects that will help them get a job. Working people also attend community colleges to improve their knowledge and skills.

162.What degrees do American universities confer upon their students?

Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree, Doctor’s degree.

163.What terms are used to refer to a) the students seeking a Bachelor's degree, b) the students seeking a Master's degree, c) the students seeking a Doctor's degree?

a)Undergraduates (undergraduate program leads to the Bachelor’s degree; Bachelor’s degree – the first degree that you get when you stud at the university).

b)Graduates (graduate program leads to the Master’s degree; Master’s degree – a higher degree at US universities, usually requiring one more year of study. It is between a Bachelor’s degree and doctorate).

c)Graduates (graduate program leads to the Doctor’s degree; Doctorate – the highest type of university degree)

164.Mow long does one have to study to obtain their a) Bachelor's degree, b) Master's degree?

Bachelor – 4 years

Master – plus 2 or 3 more years

165.What names are used to refer to the teaching positions at American universities?

teacher instructor (аспірант)

professor’s position:

-assistant professor (старший викладач)

-associate professor (доцент)

-full professor (професор)

166.Give the English for "гуртожиток, бакалавр, магістр, аспірант, оцінка, доцент, факультет".

Dormitory, Bachelor, holder of Master’s degree, a Post-Graduate student, grade, associate professor, department

167.Comment on the use of the term "tenure" in the US system of education.

Tenure – a lifetime contract at school or college, usually given after a fixed number of years. A typical career at academia (a sphere of activity, connected with research and teaching in universities):

-Doctor of Philosophy

-Apply for a post-graduate course (2-3)

-Apply for assistant professor (5-7) (a tenure track position)

-Get tenure

-Get full professor

“Dead wood” – people who stopped working on scientific research

168.What does the word "alumni" mean? Give other forms of this word.

Alumni – a former student of a school, college or university.

Alumnus, alumna, alumni, alumnae

169.When did women start getting higher education in the US?

In the mid-XIX c. (1837) women were admitted at Oberlin College, Ohio.

1841 – obtained degrees. This led to the spread of women colleges throughout the country.

170.When was the Servicemen's Readjustment Act adopted and what did it mean to the US universities? How else was it called?

1944 – the Service Readjustment Act adopted. When soldiers were coming back home from the war, they had to readjust to normal life. The government gave them money, scholarships. College education became widespread available.

(The GI Bill Rights – a US law passed in 1944 to give financial help to members of the armed forces when they returned home from World War II. This included money given to help pay for homes and education. By 1947, about 4 million people had benefited from this law. It now helps anyone leaving the US armed forces.GI – a name for a US soldier, used especially in World War II. It came originally from the letters GI meaning ‘government issue’ stamped on military equipment).

171. What government programme obliges university Admission Boards to give special preference to members of minority groups as part of their admission policy? The Affirmative Action Program: “to equalize education and job opportunities and make up for the past inequality by giving preference to members of minority seeking jobs or admission”.

172. What is the average salary in the US?

The average annual wages in the U.S. was $36,764 for 2002. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which states that in March 2004, the average wage for workers in the private sector was around $520 a week.

173. What vocabulary units are usually used to refer to different social groups according to their incomes in the US? What role does political correctness play here?

Upper class; middle class (upper and lower); low-income, disadvantaged, ill-provided, needy- senior citizens.

174. What federal agency is responsible for controlling people's paying their taxes? The Internal Revenue Service is the nation's tax collection agency and administers the Internal Revenue Code enacted by Congress.

175. What is the deadline for paying taxes in the US? Americans must file their tax returns till April 15.

176. What kind of taxes do people in the US pay?

Virtually everybody who works in the US pays seven percent of his wages to support the Social Security Program.

Federal tax=Income Tax (salaries, wages, tips, dividends if you hold stock)

A Tax for the State=Sales Tax (VAT)

A Tax for the City= Excise Tax (on property, vehicles, etc.)

177. What powers does the IRS have? What kinds of punishment are there for tax evasion?

The IRS Mission: provide America's taxpayers top quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsibilities and by applying the tax law with integrity and fairness to all. The IRS is organized to carry out the responsibilities of the secretary of the Treasury under section 7801 of the Internal Revenue Code. The secretary has full authority to administer and enforce the internal revenue laws and has the power to create an agency to enforce these laws. The Internal Revenue Service was created based on this legislative grant.

Tax evasion is a serious crime punishable by imprisonment, fines, and the imposition of civil penalties.

IRS HAS ACCESS TO PEOPLE’S ACCOUNTS; ONE’S PROPERTY CAN BE ARRESTED WITHOUT ANY TRIAL; invasion of privacy: Americans are very resentful to what IRS does.

178. When did the US start developing government social programmes on a large scale?

During the Great Depression, which began in 1929, because it shattered the belief that anyone who was willing to work could find a job? For the first time in history, substantial numbers of Americans were out of work because of the widespread failures of banks and businesses.

179. What is the name of the US President who started to develop government social programmes on a large scale? Franklin D. Roosevelt.

180. Why were social programmes not popular with the American people before the Great Depression?

The American economic system is based on private, free enterprise, and the "self-reliance" that writer and lecturer Ralph Waldo Emerson advocated is a virtue much valued by Americans. In fact, most make it a point of honor to take care of themselves.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, several European nations instituted public-welfare programs. But such a movement was slow to take hold in the United States because the rapid pace of industrialization and the ready availability of farmland seemed to confirm the belief that anyone who was willing to work could find a job.

181. Give the names of some social programmes.

The word "welfare" as used in American English today most commonly serves as an umbrella term for a variety of government programs that provide income support and create a social safety net for impoverished individuals and families.

Social Security ensures that retired persons receive a modest monthly income and also provides unemployment insurance, disability insurance, and other assistance to those who need it.

Welfare payments (monthly payments for people with low income), Veteran’s benefits (pensions and free medical care), Job training, Food stamps (special stamps that can be used to buy food at any store), School brunches (free meals for schoolchildren from poor families), Surplus food programmes (food is distributed free of charge to the poor), Unemployment Insurance (weekly payments for up to six month while looking for a job) +public housing. Benefits (vocation money, medical insurance, retirement plans).

182. When was the Social Security programme adopted and what was its significance?1935, it provides public assistance to the needy and is a major social welfare programme in the US.

183. How are welfare recipients regarded in American society?

They are not widely respected because of the features of American national character and the “self-reliance” notion.

Many middle-class Americans resent the use of their tax dollars to support those whom they regard (rightly or wrongly) as unwilling to work. Some critics argue that dependency on welfare tends to become a permanent condition, as one generation follows another into the system. Some people believe the system encourages young women to have children out of wedlock, because welfare payments increase with each child born. Other experts maintain that unless the root causes of poverty -- lack of education and opportunity -- are addressed, the welfare system is all that stands between the poor and utter destitution.

184. What are the names of the federal programmes under which people can receive money for medical care?

MEDICAID AND MEDICARE.

Medicaid is a joint federal-state program that funds medical care for the poor. The requirements for receiving Medicaid and the scope of care available vary widely from state to state. At a cost of about $156 thousand million a year, Medicaid is the nation's largest social-welfare program.

Medicare, another form of federal health insurance, pays a large part of the medical bills incurred by Americans who are 65 and older or who are disabled, regardless of age. Medicare is financed by a portion of the Social Security tax, by premiums paid by recipients, and by federal funds. Everyone who receives Social Security payments is covered by Medicare.

185. Which of the two main political parties is more inclined to develop welfare programmes in the USA?

The Democratic party.

186. Give the names of the holidays that originated on the American soil.

Martin Luther King Day - the third Monday of every January

Presidents' Day - the third Monday in February

Memorial Day - the fourth Monday of every May

Independence Day - July 4

Labor Day - the first Monday of September

Columbus Day - October 12

Veterans Day - November 11

Thanksgiving - the fourth Thursday in November.

187. What was the origin of Thanksgiving Day?

The holiday dates back to 1621, the year after the Puritans arrived in Massachusetts, determined to practice their dissenting religion without interference. After a rough winter, in which about half of them died, they turned for help to neighboring Indians, who taught them how to plant corn and other crops. The next fall's bountiful harvest inspired the Pilgrims to give thanks by holding a feast.

The Thanksgiving feast became a national tradition -- not only because so many other Americans have found prosperity but also because the Pilgrims' sacrifices for their freedom still captivate the imagination.

188. What is the traditional menu of Thanksgiving dinner?

To this day, Thanksgiving dinner almost always includes some of the foods served at the first feast: roast turkey, cranberry sauce, potatoes, pumpkin pie. Before the meal begins, families or friends usually pause to give thanks for their blessings, including the joy of being united for the occasion

189. What American holiday is considered to be a special time for charity? Thanksgiving Day.

190. What is the main national holiday in the USA? Independence Day - July 4.

191. What are the main Christian holidays in the USA?

Americans share three national holidays with many countries: Easter Sunday, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day.

Easter, which falls on a spring Sunday that varies from year to year, celebrates the Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For Christians, Easter is a day of religious services and the gathering of family. Many Americans follow old traditions of coloring hard-boiled eggs and giving children baskets of candy. On the next day, Easter Monday, the president of the United States holds an annual Easter egg hunt on the White House lawn for young children.

New Year's Day, of course, is January 1. The celebration of this holiday begins the night before, when Americans gather to wish each other a happy and prosperous coming year.

Dec 25 - Christmas is a most important religious holy day for Christians, who attend special church services to celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Since most Americans are Christian, the day is one on which most businesses are closed and the greatest possible number of workers, including government employees, have the day off. Many places even close early on the day before. Decorating houses and yards with lights, putting up Christmas trees, giving gifts, and sending greeting cards have become traditions even for many non-Christian Americans.

192. What American holidays are celebrated on Monday to give the people a long weekend?

Martin Luther King Day - the third Monday of every JanuaryPresidents' Day - the third Monday in February

Memorial Day - the fourth Monday of every May

Labor Day - the first Monday of September.

193. What American holidays are considered to be the beginning and the end of the summer season?

Memorial Day - last Monday in May: Official holiday. Memorial Day is the day on which Americans remember those who died in military service to their country. Many families visit graves and decorate them with flowers. The day is also marked with patriotic parades. This day is considered the beginning of the summer season.

Labor Day: The first Monday of September, this holiday honors the nation's working people, typically with parades. For most Americans it marks the end of the summer vacation season, and for many students the opening of the school year.

194. What are the two main religions in the USA?

The United States is noteworthy among developed nations for its relatively high level of religiosity. Overall, more than 25% of Americans attend a religious service at least once a week.

Christianity, Judaism.

195. What confessions belong to minority groups? Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist.

196. What churches belong to Protestantism? Baptist ,Methodist/Wesleyan, Lutheran, Presbyterian,

Episcopalian/Anglican, Mormon/Latter-Day Saints, Churches of Christ, etc

197. What state was the first to introduce the principle of the separation of church and state? Rhode Island, 1636.

198. What significance did the election of J. F. Kennedy the US President have for the religious life in the country?

By the time of the Civil War, over one million Irish Catholics had come to the United States. In a majority Protestant country, they and Catholics of other backgrounds were subjected to prejudice. As late as 1960, some Americans opposed Catholic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy on the grounds that, if elected, he would do the Pope's bidding. Kennedy confronted the issue directly, pledging to be an American president, and his election did much to lessen anti-Catholic prejudice in the United States.

199. What were the goals of the women's movement in the middle of the 19th century?

The feminist movement in the U.S. grew out of the suffragist and abolitionalist movements. In terms of women's history the eariest wave of feminsm is referred to as the "First Wave." During this wave, suffragists and abolitionalists fought to secure basic rights for women-- to get the vote, to archive equality in property rights, access to education, access to jobs and fair pay, divorce, and children's custody.

200. When were American women given the right to vote?

Suffrage is the civil right to vote.

The 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920. It says: The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.

201. What event is considered to be the beginning of the feminist movement?

Feminism became an organized movement in the 19th century as people increasingly came to believe that women were being treated unfairly. The feminist movement was rooted in the progressive movement and especially in the reform movement of the 19th century. The organized movement was dated from the first women's rights convention at Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848.

The triggering incident was a direct result of participation in anti-slavery organizations by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Anti-slavery societies proliferated in the Northeast region of the United States and in some parts of what today we call the Midwest. Many of these organizations had female members. In 1840 the World Anti-Slavery Convention met in London; some of the American groups elected women as their representatives to this meeting. Once in London, after a lengthy debate, the female representatives were denied their rightful seats and consigned to the balcony. It was at this meeting, while sitting in the balcony and walking through the streets of London, that Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott met. Eight years later Stanton and Mott called a convention to discuss women's rights.

1963 – “The Feminine Mystique” by Betty Friedan – laid the foundation of feminism!

202. What is the essence of the feminist movement?

The basis of feminist ideology is that rights, privilege, status and obligations should not be determined by gender.

Feminism is a social theory and political movement primarily informed and motivated by the experience of women. While generally providing a critique of social relations, many proponents of feminism also focus on analyzing gender inequality and the promotion of women's rights, interests, and issues. EQUAL CHANCES IN LIFE!Feminist theory aims to understand the nature of inequality and focuses on gender politics, power relations and sexuality. Feminist political activism campaigns on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, sexual harassment, discrimination and sexual violence. Themes explored in feminism include discrimination, stereotyping, objectification (especially sexual objectification), oppression and patriarchy.

203. In what way has the feminist movement influenced the use of English?

Feminists are often proponents of using non-sexist language, using "Ms." to refer to both married and unmarried women, for example, or the ironic use of the term "herstory" instead of "history". Feminists are also often proponents of using gender-inclusive language, such as "humanity" instead of "mankind", or "he or she" in place of "he" where the gender is unknown. Feminists in most cases advance their desired use of language either to promote an equal and respectful treatment of women or to affect the tone of political discourse. This can be seen as a move to change language which has been viewed by some feminists as imbued with sexism - providing for example the case in the English language the word for the general pronoun is "he" or "his" (The child should have his paper and pencils), which is the same as the masculine pronoun (The boy and his truck). These feminists purport that language then directly affects perception of reality (compare Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis). However, to take a postcolonial analysis of this point, many languages other than English may not have such a gendered pronoun instance and thus changing language may not be as important to some feminists as others. Yet, English is becoming more and more universal, and the issue of language may be seen to be of growing importance.

chairman > chair or chairperson

police man > police officer

foreman > supervisor

It is quite common to see the female forms spokeswoman, chairwoman, police woman etc. However, some people object to these words also, because they draw attention to the sex of the person and away from their job or function. They feel that it is not important whether the spokesperson is a man or a woman; what is important is their (his or her!) function.

man > Humans are the the most intelligent of all animals.

man-made fibres > synthetic fibres

poetess > poet

Poet is preferred for the same reasons that police officer is preferred to police woman. There is no reason at all to use the word poetess when poet can refer to both men and women.

stewardess > flight attendant

male nurse > nurse

By specifically mentioning the gender, you are implying that male nurses are the exception. Any language that unnecessarily serves to draw attention to the gender and not the function of the person is sexist.

204. What does the expression “glass ceiling” mean?

A glass ceiling is an invisible obstacle in peoples’ mind, unofficial barrier to an upper management or other prominent position within a company or other organization which certain groups, particularly women, are perceived to be unable to cross, due to discrimination. The term refers to the inconspicuous nature of such barriers, compared to formal barriers to career advancement. It was originally coined by Carol Hymowitz and Timothy Schellhardt in the March 24, 1986 edition of the Wall Street Journal.

The term glass elevator is sometimes used to describe the rapid promotion of men over women, especially into management, in female-dominated fields like nursing.

205. What names have been coined in the USA to refer to the people who are against abortions and those who are allowing legal abortions? Pro-lifers and pro-choicers.

Pro-Life is the self-description for those in North America and Great Britain who are of the general political opinion that abortion, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning and other issues regarding the sanctity of life are morally wrong and should be illegal in most cases. The term was coined in the early 1960s in the United States, and refers specifically to what is believed to be the life of unborn children, the subjects of abortion.

Pro-Choice is a common self-description used by people who believe that the government should not outlaw abortion and believe that the choice of terminating pregnancy should be an option for a pregnant woman.

206. What functions do the US mass media perform?

Entertainment, interpretation, making profit, persuasion, providing a political forum, reporting the news, etc

207. What are the leading newspapers and magazines in the USA?The top five daily newspapers by circulation in 1995 were the Wall Street Journal (1,823,207), USA Today (1,570,624), the New York Times (1,170,869), the Los Angeles Times (1,053,498), and the Washington Post (840,232). The youngest of the top five, USA Today, was launched as a national newspaper in 1982, after exhaustive research by the Gannett chain. It relies on bold graphic design, color photos, and brief articles to capture an audience of urban readers interested in news "bites" rather than traditional, longer stories.

Magazines: Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Men's Health, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour Magazine, Business Week etc

208. What is the name of the most prestigious prize in the field od journalism? Pulitzer Prize.

209. Comment on the expression “yellow journalism”.

The term, as it commonly applies, refers to news organizations for whom sensationalism, profiteering, and in some cases propaganda, take dominance over factual reporting.

"Yellow journalism" may for example refer to sensationalized news reporting that bears only a superficial resemblance to journalism. Journalistic professionalism, as now understood, is the supposed antidote. I

210. What are the nicknames of New York city and Los Angeles?

New York: The Big Apple, The Capital of the World, The City that Never Sleeps, Empire City.

Los Angeles: The Big Orange, City of Angels, City of Flowers and Sunshine.

211. What boroughs does New York city consist of?

The city of New York City is divided into five districts or boroughs. The five boroughs consist of Brooklyn, Bronx, Staten Island, Queens and Manhattan. These boroughs all form the city of New York. With a population that exceeds 7,300,000 the city is one of the world's largest as well.

212. What do the following abbreviations stand for?

GOP - The Republican Party, often called the GOP (for Grand Old Party)

IRC - The Internal Revenue Service

WASP - White Anglo-Saxon Protestant

BA - Bachelor of Arts, see Bachelor's degree

MIT - The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, is a research institution and university located in the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts directly across the Charles River from Boston's Back Bay district. MIT is a world leader in science and technology, as well as in many other fields, including management, economics, linguistics, political science, and philosophy.

GI - The abbreviation G.I. is most commonly used to shorten government issue, and has different meanings depending on the part of speech in which it is used.

As a noun, G.I. refers to a soldier in the US Army or, less commonly, any person in the US military.

213. Make some comments on the eating and drinking habits in the USA. Name some of the typically American foods or dishes.

Key terms: fast food – junk food, burgers, pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, fried chicken, sloppy Joe, coleslaw and pizza.

Traditional diet – beef with potatoes. Bottles of Coca Cola everywhere. Pumpkin, apple pie, chocolate chip cookies, grape jelly, peanut butter, maple syrup, pancakes.

As with any large country, the U.S.A has several distinct regions. Each region boasts its own special style of food. Visit the South and enjoy country-style cooking. Journey through Louisiana for some spicy Creole (French+African+Carribean) cuisine. Take a trip to New England and sample savory seafood dishes. Travel through the Midwest," the breadbasket of the nation," for delicious baked goods. Cruise over to the Southwest and try some tasty Tex-Mex treats. Finish your food tour in the Pacific Northwest with some gourmet coffee.

Dinner is replaced by lunch. Selling and consumption of alcohol in public places is often banned.

Ethnic national restaurants: Chinese, Mexican, Tex-Mex, Mediterranean, Lebanese, etc.. (Tortilla, chilly, burritos, etc)

214. Give the names of some of the US presidents and say what they are famous for. See the questions below.

215. Give the names of some of the First Ladies and say what they are famous for.

Laura Bush is actively involved in issues of national and global concern, with a particular emphasis on education, health care, and human rights.

Hillary Rodham Clinton

She was elected United States Senator from New York on November 7, 2000. She is the first First Lady elected to the United States Senate and the first woman elected statewide in New York.

Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt

She kept till the end her interest in the Needlework Guild, a charity which provided garments for the poor, and in the work of Christ Church at Oyster Bay.

216. Who were the first American presidents? George Washington 1789-97, John Adams 1797-1801, Thomas Jefferson 1801-09, James Madison 1809-17

217. What was the name of the president who made the Louisiana Purchase? Thomas Jefferson

218. Which of the presidents had the nickname "Honest Abe"? Abraham Lincoln219. Who was the US president during the Civil war? Abraham Lincoln

220. Who was the US president during the Great Depression and World War II? Franklin D. Roosevelt

221. Who was elected President four times? Franklin D. Roosevelt

222. What American president was assassinated in 1963? John F. Kennedy

223. Who was the first Irish Catholic to be elected President of the US? John F. Kennedy

Jack Kennedy or JFK, was the 35th President of the United States (1961–1963). The events surrounding his assassination on November 22, 1963 are remembered in vivid detail by nearly all Americans that lived through them, and also by many others. Mourned around the world, presidents, prime ministers, and members of royalty walked behind the casket at his funeral.

The youngest person ever to be elected president of the U.S. (Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest ever to serve as president), Kennedy was also the youngest ever to die. As of 2005, he was also the only Catholic ever to be elected president, the last Democratic Party candidate from the North to be elected president, and the last president to die in office. He was also the first person to become president born in the 20th century.

Major events during his presidency included the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Space Race, early events of the Vietnam War, and the Civil Rights Movement.

224. What is the name of the US president who was the only one to resign from office? Richard M. Nixon

After five men hired by Nixon's reelection committee were caught burglarizing Democratic party headquarters at the Watergate Complex on June 17, 1972, President Nixon's subsequent behavior—his cover-up of the burglary and refusal to turn over evidence—led the House Judiciary Committee to issue three articles of impeachment on July 30, 1974. The document also indicted Nixon for illegal wiretapping, misuse of the CIA, perjury, bribery, obstruction of justice, and other abuses of executive power. “In all of this,” the Articles of Impeachment summarize, “Richard M. Nixon has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as president and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.” Impeachment appeared inevitable, and Nixon resigned on Aug. 9, 1974.

225. Have any of the US presidents been impeached? NO! But two of them have gone through the process of impeachment: Andrew Johnson, the seventeenth chief executive, and William J. Clinton, the forty-second.

Johnson, a Southern Democrat who became president after Lincoln's assassination, supported a mild policy of Reconstruction after the Civil War. The Radical Republicans in Congress were furious at his leniency toward ex-Confederates and obvious lack of concern for ex-slaves, demonstrated by his veto of civil rights bills and opposition to the Fourteenth Amendment. To protect Radical Republicans in Johnson's administration and diminish the strength of the president, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act in 1867, which prohibited the president from dismissing office holders without the Senate's approval. A defiant Johnson tested the constitutionality of the Act by attempting to oust Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. His violation of the Act became the basis for impeachment in 1868. But the Senate was one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict, and Johnson was acquitted May 26, 1868.

226. What is the name of the person who started the witch-hunt in the 1950s?

McCarthy served as a U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 to 1957. During his ten years in the Senate, McCarthy and his staff became notorious for aggressive campaigns against people in the U.S. government and others who were suspected of being Communists or Communist sympathizers.

As a result of these controversial actions the term McCarthyism was coined to specifically describe the intense anti-Communist movement that existed in America from 1948 to about 1956, a time which became popularly known as the Second Red Scare. During this period, people from all walks of life who were suspected of Communist sympathies became the subject of aggressive witch-hunts, often based on inconclusive or questionable evidence.

227. What is the name of the US scientist of the 19th century who is credited with a thousand inventions, the most well-known of which is the light bulb? Thomas Edison.

228. Who is considered to be the founder of the feminist movement in the US?Mary Wollstoncraft believed the much-discussed rights of man should be extended to include women. She was the first person to discuss woman's place in society in explicitly political terms. A Vindication of Rights of Women (1792), was known throughout the 1800s as the "feminist bible." Mid 1800 – Susan B. Anthony fought that women get a right to vote. Margaret Sanger – to use means of contraception, Elizabeth Blackwell – better education opportunities. _____________________________________________________________________________________

LA - Los Angeles, California/ Louisiana (U.S. state)/ Language Arts Writing; reading.

LAPD - The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is the police department of the City of Los Angeles, California. It is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the United States.

NYSE - The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the second largest stock exchange in the world.

NASDAQ (originally an acronym for National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American electronic stock exchange.

NYPD - The New York City Police Department (NYPD), the largest police department in the United States, has primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City.

Ib. -16 oz.

oz. -28 gr. - for delicacies.

fl. oz. – fluid ounce.

32OF=OOC.

F

Yuppies - "Yuppie," short for "Young Urban Professional," describes a demographic of people generally between their late twenties and early thirties. Yuppies tend to hold jobs in the professional sector, with incomes that place them in the upper-middle economic class. The term "Yuppie" emerged in the 1980s as an echo of the earlier "hippies" and "yippies" who had rejected the materialistically-oriented values of the business community.

SAT - The SATs (pronounced "S-A-T" not "sat") are standardized tests, formerly called the Scholastic Aptitude Tests and Scholastic Assessment Tests, frequently used by colleges and universities in the United States to aid in the selection of incoming freshmen.

GPA - Grade Point Average (education).

BA - Bachelor of Arts.

MS - Master of Science.

MBA - Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a tertiary degree in business management.

Ph.D. - Doctor of Philosophy.

GI - "government-issued", "army enlisted personnel".

FBI - The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a Federal police force which is the principal investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).

CIA - The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is one of the American foreign intelligence agencies, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government.

JFK - John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

FDR - Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

LBJ - Lyndon Baines Johnson was an American politician. After serving a long career in the US Congress, Johnson became the Vice President under John F. Kennedy (1961–1963) and later ascended to the 36th presidency (1963–1969) after Kennedy's assassination.

StateCapitalNickname Population (1)

Alabama

MontgomeryYellowhammer state4,530,000

Alaska

JuneauThe last frontier655,000

Arizona

PhoenixThe grand canyon state5,744,000

Arkansas

Little RockThe natural state2,753,000

California

SacramentoThe golden state35,894,000

Colorado

DenverThe centennial state4,601,000

Connecticut

HartfordThe constitution state3,504,000

Delaware

DoverThe first state830,000

Florida

TallahasseeThe sunshine state16,397,000

Georgia

AtlantaThe peach state8,829,000

Hawaii

HonoluluThe aloha state1,263,000

Idaho

BoiseThe gem state1,393,000

Illinois

SpringfieldLand of Lincoln12,714,000

Indiana

IndianapolisThe hoosier state6,328,000

Iowa

Des MoinesThe hawkeye state2,954,000

Kansas

TopekaThe sunflower state2,736,000

Kentucky

FrankfortThe bluegrass state4,146,000

Louisiana

Baton RougeThe pelican state4,516,000

Maine

AugustaThe pine tree state1,317,000

Maryland

AnnapolisThe old line state5,558,000

Massachusetts

BostonThe bay state6,417,000

Michigan

LansingThe great lakes state10,113,000

Minnesota

St. paulThe north star state5,101,000

Mississippi

JacksonThe magnolia state2,903,000

Missouri

Jefferson CityThe show me state5,755,000

Montana

HelenaThe treasure state927,000

Nebraska

LincolnThe cornhusker state1,747,000

Nevada

Carson CityThe silver state2,335,000

New Hampshire

ConcordThe granite state1,300,000

New Jersey

TrentonThe garden state8,699,000

New Mexico

Santa FeThe land of enchantment1,903,000

New York

AlbanyThe empire state19,227,000

North Carolina

RaleighThe tar heel state8,541,000

North Dakota

BismarckThe peace garden state634,000

OhioColumbusThe buckeye state11,459,000

Oklahoma

Oklahoma CityThe sooner state3,524,000

Oregon

SalemThe beaver state3,595,000

Pennsylvania

HarrisburgThe keystone state12,406,000

Rhode Island

ProvidenceThe ocean state1,081,000

South Carolina

ColumbiaThe palmetto state4,198,000

South Dakota

PierreMount rushmore state771,000

Tennessee

NashvilleThe volunteer state5,901,000

Texas

AustinThe lone star22,490,000

Utah

Salt Lake CityThe beehive state2,389,000

Vermont

MontpelierThe green mountain state621,000

Virginia

RichmondThe old dominion state7,460,000

Washington

OlympiaThe evergreen state6,204,000

West Virginia

CharlestonThe mountian state1,815,000

Wisconsin

MadisonThe badger state5,509,000

Wyoming

CheyenneThe equality or cowboy state507,000

Most populous cities

The following is a list of the ten most populous cities in the country, with their estimates for 2002 and 2000. The trend column indicates whether the city is growing (+) or shrinking (-), based on the two estimates.

Rank Trend City July 2002

estimate July 2000

estimate 2003 estimate

1. + New York City, New York

8,084,316 8,008,278

2. + Los Angeles, California

3,798,981 3,694,820

3. - Chicago, Illinois

2,886,251 2,896,016

4. + Houston, Texas

2,009,834 1,953,631

5. - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

1,492,231 1,517,550 1,479,339

6. + Phoenix, Arizona

1,371,960 1,321,045

7. + San Diego, California

1,259,532 1,223,400

8. + Dallas, Texas

1,211,467 1,118,580

9. - Detroit, Michigan

925,051 951,270

10. + San Jose, California

900,443 894,943

South Dakota

“Mount Rushmore State” celebrates the epic sculpture of the faces of four exalted American presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. South Dakota's Black Hills provide the back-drop for Mount Rushmore, the world's greatest mountain carving. These 60-foot high faces, 500-feet up, look out over a setting of pine, spruce, birch, and aspen in the clear western air.

source: http://www.travelsd.com/parks/rushmore/

Tennessee

Tennessee has had several nicknames, but the most popular is “The Volunteer State.” The nickname originated during the War of 1812, in which the volunteer soldiers from Tennessee, serving under Gen. Andrew Jackson, displayed marked valor in the Battle of New Orleans.

Other nicknames include the “Big Bend State,” which refers to the Indian name of the Tennessee River; “The River with the Big Bend”; and “Hog and Hominy State,” now obsolete but formerly applied because “the corn and pork products of Tennessee were in such great proportions between 1830 and 1840”; and “The Mother of Southwestern Statesmen,” because Tennessee furnished the United States three presidents and a number of other leaders who served with distinction in high government office.

Tennesseans sometimes are referred to as “Volunteers,”“Big Benders” and “Butternuts.” The first two are derived from the nickname of the state, while the tag of “Butternuts” was first applied to Tennessee soldiers during the War Between the States because of the tan color of their uniforms. Later, it sometimes was applied to people across the entire state.

source: http://www.state.tn.us/sos/bluebook/online/bbonline.htm

Texas

A single star was part of the Long Expedition (1819), Austin Colony (1821) and several flags of the early Republic of Texas. Some say that the star represented the wish of many Texans to achieve statehood in the United States. Others say it originally represented Texas as the lone state of Mexico which was attempting to uphold its rights under the Mexican Constitution of 1824. At least one "lone star" flag was flown during the Battle of Concepcion and the Siege of Bexar (1835). Joanna Troutman's flag with a single blue star was raised over Velasco on January 8, 1836. Another flag with a single star was raised at the Alamo (1836) according to a journal entry by David Crockett. One carried by General Sam Houston's Texian army (which defeated Mexican General Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto ) may have been captured and taken to Mexico. Another "lone star" flag, similar to the current one but with the red stripe above the white, was also captured the following year (1837) and returned to Mexico. The "David G. Burnet" flag, of "an azure ground" (blue background) "with a large golden star central" was adopted by the Congress of the Republic of Texas in December of 1836. It continued in use as a battle flag after being superseded in January of 1839. The 1839 design has been used to symbolize the Republic and the “Lone Star State” ever since.

source: http://www.main.org/boyscout/texas.htm

Utah“Beehive State” The beehive became the official state emblem on March 4, 1959. Utahans relate the beehive symbol to industry and the pioneer virtues of thrift and perseverance. The beehive was chosen as the emblem for the provisional State of Deseret in 1848 and was maintained on the seal of the State of Utah when Utah became a state in 1896.

source: http://www.state.ut.us/about/motto_emblem.html

Vermont

“Green Mountain State” Verd Mont was a name given to the Green Mountains in October, 176l, by the Rev. Dr. Peters, the first clergyman who paid a visit to the 30,000 settlers in that country, in the presence of Col. Taplin, Col. Willes, Col. Peters, Judge Peters and many others, who were proprietors of a large number of townships in that colony. The ceremony was performed on the top of a rock standing on a high mountain, then named Mount Pisgah because it provided to the company a clear sight of lake Champlain at the west, and of Connecticut river at the east, and overlooked all the trees and hills in the vast wilderness at the north and south.

source: http://www.uvm.edu/state/GreenMount/verdmont.html

Virginia

“Old Dominion State” Charles II of England quartered the arms of Virginia on his shield in 1663, thus adding Virginia to his dominions of France, Ireland and Scotland. Called the “Mother State” because it was the first state to be colonized.

source: State Names, Seals, Flags, and Symbols by Benjamin F. Shearer, Barbara S. Shearer

Washington

On November 11, 1889, Washington became the 42nd state to enter the Union. It is the only state named for a president. Washington was nicknamed “The Evergreen State” by C.T. Conover, pioneer Seattle realtor and historian, for its abundant evergreen forests. The nickname was adopted by the Legislature in February, 1893.

source: http://www.leg.wa.gov/legis/symbols/symbols.htm

West Virginia

The Appalachian Mountains extend through the eastern portion of the state, giving West Virginia its nickname of the “Mountain State.”

source: http://www.state.wv.us/hcawv/shp/chp1.htm

Wisconsin

“Badger State” Although the badger has been closely associated with Wisconsin since territorial days, it was not declared the official state animal until 1957. Over the years its likeness had been incorporated in the state coat of arms, the seal, the flag and even State Capitol architecture, as well as being immortalized in the song "On, Wisconsin!" ("Grand old bager state!")

source: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/lrb/bb/ch11.pdf

Wyoming

Wyoming is known as the “Equality State” because of the rights women have traditionally enjoyed there. Wyoming women were the first in the nation to vote, serve on juries and hold public office.