Билеты по экстернату 9 класс.
учебно-методический материал по английскому языку (9 класс) на тему

I originally became interested in the law during my 9th form when I realised that my skills as a writer, speaker, and leader — as well as my powers of logic — would probably serve me well in a legal career. That is why I entered an optional class where I could have lessons on law twice a week.

All that I have done and experienced in my studying of the basic aspects of the law has further stimulated and reinforced my interest in the law, especially international obligations and public law, and my determination to pursue a legal career.

Studying to be a lawyer represents the fulfilment of one of my longest held dreams.

Whatever I could do as a lawyer to help people who are victimised by unscrupulous businessmen, as well as their own ignorance of the law, would give me a great satisfaction.

The duty of the lawyer is not only to punish people for various crimes: from espionage to serial murder and terrorism, but they must do their best to prevent crimes, to fight against evil in our society.

They should help those people, who committed an error (broke the law) to find the right road in their life. The lawyers protect the rights and legal interests of citizens, institutions and organisations. I want to help people, businesses to solve their problems. I want to help everybody to know the rules that we all have to get along.

I think that the profession of a lawyer is one of the most important in the law-governed state, which we are creating now.
 

Questions:

1. What kind of family were you born in?
2. What is your dream?
3. Why have you chosen the career of lawyer?
4. How can you help people as a lawyer?
5. What is the duty of the lawyer?

  6. Why did you enter an optional class?

American homes are some of the biggest and best in the world. Many have a garage for one or two cars, a big modern kitchen, a living room, and a playroom for the children.

Upstairs there are two bathrooms and three or four bedrooms. Young Johnny sleeps in one room. His sister, Sally, has another. Their parents sleep in the third bedroom. There is another room for visitors. Some families have two homes. They have one house or apartment in the city or suburbs. They live and work there.

But they have another home near the sea or in the mountains. They go to their second home on weekends and for vacations. Seventy percent of Americans buy the house they live in. They are lucky.

But thirty percent cannot buy a house or an apartment. Some of them rent their home from a landlord. Some landlords are good, but some are not. Windows break, or roofs get old, and the landlord does not always help.

The poorest people live in "public housing" apartments. These apartments are not like rich American homes. People do not like to live in public housing projects. They are afraid of thieves and drug sellers.

Americans who live in towns and cities move often. A family stays in one house for four or five years, and then they move again. Some people move because they have found a new job. Other people move because they want a bigger or a smaller home. In American suburbs, families come and go all the time.

Americans are always trying to make their homes better. They take a lot of time to buy furniture and make their homes beautiful. They buy books and magazines about houses and furniture. They work hard on their homes in the evenings and on weekends.

Americans like to think the United States is a young country, but really it has a long and interesting history. You can see some of its history in the styles of the houses. The lovely pueblo houses of Native American villages, the old pioneer log cabins, the plantation houses in the South, the beautiful colonial homes of the Northeast — they are all a part of American history. They are part of modern America too, because people copy the old styles in new houses. The history lives on. 
 

Questions:

1. What do American homes look like? 
2. How many homes do some families have? 
3. Do Americans like to rent their homes? 
4. Where do the poorest people live? Do they like to live there? What are they afraid of? 
5. Americans who live in towns and cities move often, don't they? Why do they move often? 
6. What can we see in the styles of the houses?

The American flag is often called "The Stars and Stripes", it is also called "Old Glory". It represents the growth of the nation. It has 13 horizontal stripes,7 red and 6 white which stand for the original 13 states. In the top left hand corner there are 50 white stars on a blue background: one star for each state. The national anthem of the United States is "The Star Spangled Banner".

The words written during the Anglo-American war of 1812-1814and set to the music of an old song. Every state has its own flag, its own emblem and its own anthem too.

The eagle became the national emblem of the country in 1782. It has an olive branch (a symbol of peace) and arrows (a symbol of strength). You can see the eagle on the back of a dollar bill.

The Statue of Liberty is the symbol of American democracy. It stands on Liberty Island in New York. It is one of the first things people see when they arrive in New York by sea. This National Monument was a present from France to the USA. France gave the statue to America in 1884 as a symbol of friendship. Liberty carries the torch of freedom - in her right hand. In her left hand she is holding a tablet with the inscription "July 4, 1776" - American Independence Day.

Questions:

1. What do people often call American flag?
2. What are the colours of the American flag?
3. How many stripes has the flag got?
4. What is the national emblem?
5. Where is the statue of Liberty placed?

       6.When is the American Independence Day?

There is a huge city in the northeastern part of the USA near Lake Michigan.

In America, there are many large cities, but I would like to tell about Chicago.

Chicago is the third-largest city in the United States and one of the country's leading industrial, commercial, financial and transport centers. It extends some 47 km along the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, occupying flatland traversed by two short rivers: the Chicago River and the Calumet River.

The city's rapid growth was due to its location, with ready access to markets and raw materials; it has one of the world's busiest airports — O'Hare International Airport.

Chicago is America's most important haulage centre and is a significant port for both domestic and international trade. Great Lakes freighters and river barges deliver such commodities as iron ore, coal, chemicals, oil and grain.

The Chicago metropolitan area has the highest number of manufacturing employees in the United States. City's largest employers are the electrical goods industry, followed by the steel, machinery, fabricated metals, foods, printing and publishing, chemicals and transport equipment industries.

Chicago has one of the world's most beautiful lakefronts.

The world's first skyscraper was constructed in Chicago, in 1885. The central part of the city has several of the world's tallest buildings, including the Sears Tower, which at 110 storey high is the tallest in the United States. Construction of tall office buildings continues.

Chicago is a major centre of higher education, with numerous colleges and universities. The prestigious University of Chicago founded in 1890 was the site of the world's first controlled nuclear chain reaction. It happened in 1942.
 

Questions:

1. Where is Chicago situated?
2. Why did the city have so rapid growth?
3. What kind of commodities do Great Lakes freighters and river barges deliver?
4. What are the city's largest employers?
5. When was the world's first skyscraper constructed in Chicago?
6. What kind of research was carried out in the prestigious University of Chicago in 1942?

Since ancient times Nature has served Man, being the source of his life. For thousands of years people lived in harmony with environment and it seemed to them that natural riches were unlimited. But with the development of civilization man's interference in nature began to increase.

Large cities with thousands of smoky industrial enterprises appear all over the world today. The by-products of their activity pollute the air we breathe, the water we drink, the land we grow grain and vegetables on.

Every year world industry pollutes the atmosphere with about 1000 million tons of dust and other harmful substances. Many cities suffer from smog. Vast forests are cut and burn in fire. Their disappearance upsets the oxygen balance. As a result some rare species of animals, birds, fish and plants disappear forever, a number of rivers and lakes dry up.

The pollution of air and the world's ocean, destruction of the ozone layer is the result of man's careless interaction with nature, a sign of the ecological crises.

The most horrible ecological disaster befell Ukraine and its people after the Chernobyl tragedy in April 1986. About 18 percent of the territory of Belarus were also polluted with radioactive substances. A great damage has been done to the agriculture, forests and people's health. The consequences of this explosion at the atomic power-station are tragic for the Ukrainian, Byelorussian and other nations.

Environmental protection is of a universal concern. That is why serious measures to create a system of ecological security should be taken.

Some progress has been already made in this direction. As many as 159 countries — members of the UNO — have set up environmental protection agencies. Numerous conferences have been held by these agencies to discuss problems facing ecologically poor regions including the Aral Sea, the South Urals, Kuzbass, Donbass, Semipalatinsk and Chernobyl.

An international environmental research centre has been set up on Lake Baikal. The international organisation Greenpeace is also doing much to preserve the environment.

But these are only the initial steps and they must be carried onward to protect nature, to save life on the planet not only for the sake of the present but also for the future generations. 
 

Questions:

1. How did people live for thousands of years? 
2. What cities appear all over the world today? 
3. What pollutes the air we breathe? 
4. What is the result of the pollution the atmosphere? 
5. Why is environmental protection of a universal concern? 
6. What are the initial steps in this direction?

"Honour your mother and father and you will live long and be well, if not, you will die" — says the Bible. Some families are happy, some are dead. It seems to me the reason is misunderstanding of each other in the family.

One more thing, teenagers can take on most of the rights and responsibilities of adulthood. Before this occurs, however, they go through the period of adolescence and most of them experience conflicts at that time. They change rapidly both physically and emotionally and they search self-identity as they grow up and become more independent.

Sometimes teenagers develop interests and values different from those of their parents. That sets a conflict between two generations, which leads to a gap in mutual understanding. Traditional disagreements are: the time to come home at night, doing work about the house and the friends to spend time with.

I'd like to point out, that teens face a number of problems: drinking alcohol or using drugs. Moreover, some children run away from their homes. Most of them return after a few days or weeks, but some turn to crime and become juvenile delinquents.

I'm convinced that sometimes parents do not care about their children. It is exactly at that age when young people need a piece of advice or help. Different TV programmes and magazines for the young come to their rescue. In case of need you can also dial a special telephone number, the so-called 'telephone of trust'.

But it's not the way out. Parents should help their children and find the right approach to them so as to make everything clear. Being able to view the problems more rationally, they should try to do their best to resolve them. We need to learn to talk our problems over in our family. If we are able to do it, everything will be all right.
 

Questions:
1.  What is the reason of unhappy family?
2.  What sets a conflict between two generations?
3.  What problems do teens face?
4. What do teenagers especially need at that age?
5. How should parents help their children?
6.  What do we need not to have problems in the family?

 Los Angeles spans a widely diverse geographic area. Primarily a desert basin, the area is surrounded by the San Gabriel Mountain range and divided by the Santa Monica Mountains. Los Angeles County has 81 miles of coastline. There are such rivers as the Los Angeles, the Rio Hondo, the San Gabriel and the Ventura rivers.

The climate of Los Angeles as the climate of Southern California has often been described as «perfect» and with good reason. Mostly it is sunny and warm with gentle ocean breezes in the summer. The humidity is low with little rain. In fact, there are no unpleasant seasons in Los Angeles.

The name Los Angeles is Spanish for the Angels. In the late 18th century, Felipe de Neve, Spanish Governor of California, saw the need to establish a settlement along the River Los Angeles, The primary purpose for the pueblo was to reaffirm Spain's claim over the territory in the face of encroachments by Russia in the north and Britain from the sea. The settlement would also help to keep Spain's California military garrisons supplied and fed. Los Angeles was officially established by Governor Felipe de Neve on September 4,1781.

Governor de Neve's statue stands today at the Plaza of Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles. Later, when Mexico became an independent state, California with Los Angeles was governed by Mexicans.

In August of 1846, American soldiers entered Los Angeles and the Stars and Stripes flag has flown over the city since January 1847. On February, 1848 the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed and the Mexican-American War was finished, California was ceded to the United States. In 1851 the first Los Angeles City police force was organized.

Nowadays the city of Los Angeles holds many distinctions. Los Angeles is the entertainment capital of the world, a cultural centre which has more than 300 museums and a paradise of good weather.

It is the only city in the world to host the Summer Olympics twice. Downtown of Los Angeles is the largest government centre outside of Washington, D.C.

Los Angeles has the only remaining wooden lighthouse in the world. It is located in Fermin Park in San Pedro. Los Angeles has the largest historical theatre district, located in Downtown on Broadway.

Los Angeles is on the leading edge of the growth industries. The Los Angeles area * Digital Coast» has more multimedia jobs than Silicon Valley and New York City combined. The Los Angeles metropolitan area, with more than 122,000 jobs in the fashion industry, has surpassed New York's fashion district work force.

The population of Los Angeles is about four million people. Los Angeles ranks as the second largest city in the nation behind New York City, In Los Angeles there are people from about 140 countries speaking approximately 86 different languages and currently call Los Angeles home.

Questions:

1. Where is Los Angeles located?
2. What rivers are in that area?
3. What climate has this area got?
4. What is the origin of the name Los Angeles?
5. When was the settlement established?
6. When was California ceded to the USA?

My school is a three-storied building. It is quite big with sport ground behind it, inside swimming pool.

On the ground floor there are the classrooms for the primary-school pupils, workshops, library. There are all kinds of tools and machines in the workshops. The boys of our school have a woodwork room too.

There is a room for manual works for girls. Teachers teach them how to cook, sew and design clothes. Our school library is nice and clean. Two librarians help pupils to find books they need. There are many bookcases and bookshelves with a lot of books there.

If you enter the school and turn right you see a big light dining-room. It is always busy and noisy, but it is clean. Here pupils and their teachers have their lunch. There are blue curtains on the windows and beautiful pictures on the walls.

There is a gymnasium on the ground floor as well. Our physical training lessons are held there. Pupils like to go there even after the lessons, because it has a lot of sport equipment. Our school has many classrooms. The classrooms are light and spacious. There are three large windows in each classroom with flower pots on the window sills.

Each room has teacher's table, pupils desks, blackboard, tables and charts on the wall, maps and portraits. There are special classrooms for Chemistry, Physics, Biology, History, Geography, English, and Russian. On the third floor there is a big nice assemble hall. A lot of meetings, concerts, festivals are held there.

Our classroom is on the second floor. Its windows face the school-yard. Our form-mistress (классный руководитель) is a teacher of Russian language and literature. We respect her very much, she is a kind and knowledgeable teacher. She teaches us Russian and is so fond of her subject, that each of us can not help liking too.

When I think about my school I don't remember its walls and desks; it is my teachers and school-mates that will be always with me. I am so thankful to our teachers for what they have done for us. 
 

Questions:

1. Where is your school situated? 
2. What kind of a person is your form-mistress? 
3. Is your school rather big? 
4. How many floors are there? 
5. Is there a library? 
6. What do the classrooms look like? 

Life used to be fun for 'teenagers'. They used to have money to spend, and free time to spend it in. They used to wear teenage clothes, and meet in teenage coffee bars and discos. Some of them still do. But for many young people, life is harder now. Jobs are difficult to find. There's not so much money around. Things are more expensive, and it's hard to find a place to live.

Teachers say that students work harder than they used to. They are less interested in politics, and more interested in passing exams. They know that good exam results may get them better jobs.

Most young people worry more about money than their parents did twenty years ago. They try to spend less and save more. They want to be able to get homes of their own one day.

For some, the answer to unemployment is to leave home and look for work in one of Britain's big cities. Every day hundreds of young people arrive in London from other parts of Britain, looking for jobs. Some find work, and stay. Others don't find it, and go home again, or join the many unemployed in London. There used to be one kind of teenage fashion, one style, one top pop group. Then, the girls all wore mini-skirts and everyone danced to the music of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

But now an eighteen-year-old might be a punk, with green hair and chains round his legs, or a skin head, with short, short hair and right wing politics, or a 'rasta', with long uncombed hair and a love for Africa. There's a lot of different music around too. There's reggae, the West Indian sound, there's rock, there's heavy metal, country and western, and disco. All these kinds of music are played by different groups and listened to by different fans.

When you read the newspapers and watch the news on television, it's easy to get the idea that British young people are all unemployed, angry and in trouble.

But that's not true. Three quarters of them do more or less what their parents did. They do their best at school, find some kind of work in the end, and get married in their early twenties. They get on well with their parents, and enjoy family life. They eat fish and chips, watch football on TV, go to the pub, and like reading about pop stars. After all, if they didn't, they wouldn't be British, would they?
 

Questions:

1. What is the difference between the life of today's teenagers and their parents when they were in their teens?
2. What do teachers say about today's students?
3. What problems do teens have today? Is it difficult to solve them?
4. What are the trends of today's youth fashion in clothes, music, ways of life?
5. How does the mass media describe the young generation?
6. What is the author's attitude to the young people?

Shopping in the USA has two very important tendencies that can be determined as : «Born to shop» and «Caveat Emptor » (the Latin expression that means «the customer runs risks of buying goods of inferior quality»). Stores are full of wares of various kinds and prices. If you are in funds shopping can be extremely interesting and bring you real satisfaction. In this case, you can find out that you are «born to shop».

But on the other hand, we can free the so called «Caveat Emptor». Purchasers have to be careful. The owners of the shops put different kinds of advertisements and offers like «sales» or «reduced prices» in order to decoy buyers and push the articles. Of course, such signs attract people's attention. But before buying something it is better to examine the label to be aware of validity of commodities. Very often fashionable things can be made of cheap materials.

In the USA the price for the same goods in different shops can be different. High prices do not always mean high quality. If you are going to buy expensive things you would better to look in at several stores. It will give you the opportunity to compare goods and make the best choice.

There are many shops where even licensed articles (such as clock, cameras, videos, electrical appliances, etc.) are sold at a discount and their value results much cheaper than at the departments stores. There are similar clothes shops.

Shopping malls are typical for America where a lot of specialized stores and a big department store are joined in one building. There is also a restaurant and some food shops. There can be a movie hall as well so the clients can spend the whole day at the shopping mall. Clients usually pay cash or by credit cards. Customers are better to keep the receipt to be able to exchange the thing they bought in case of necessity or return it and get a refund.

Many stores organize special seasonal sales and experienced buyers are looking forward to visiting them. November and February is high time for reducing prices for winter clothes.

January and August are «white sales days» when towels and sheets are sold out. People learn about discount periods from the newspapers and thus can save a lot of money.

In the USA you can find very expensive department stores, the ones with more moderate and cheap prices. The difference in price is significant in these shops. If your American friend offers you to accompany you and go shopping together, you would better to tell him the sum of money you can afford to spend. He or she can advice you the right place to go.

Questions:

1. What are the two very important tendencies about shopping in the USA?
2. When can shopping be extremely interesting and bring you real satisfaction?
3. Why do the purchasers have to be careful?
4. How is it possible to save some money if you are going to buy expensive things?
5. What is a shopping mall?
6. Why is it necessary to keep the receipt?

Sport is an integral part of education in American schools and universities. Students usually learn two or more ball games, like football, rugby or basketball.

Then at high school the best players in every school form teams. Every team has its own symbol and a supporting group which is called cheerleaders. Girls who are cheerleaders usually wear clothes in the same colours as the students of their team. They learn different dances, jumps, acrobatic stunts and cheers. It takes a lot of time, practice and energy to be good at cheerleading. But today the world of cheerleaders no longer means sideline squads that exist just to support other teams. They are teams enjoying full rights, teams of the same importance as those football and basketball ones which they traditionally cheer. College and high school cheerleaders compete at national championships.

The most popular spectacular sports in the United States are football, baseball, basketball and hockey. As for the top mass sports, they are swimming, cycling and callisthenics.

American football derives from the English game — rugby. It isn't similar to soccer except some details, like the number of players and the size of the field. It is a far more violent game which requires great physical power and endurance.

Baseball is one of the most popular American team games. The first American baseball match was held in 1839 in New York. Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played by two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot square. American children of 8 years old can join certain leagues where they are taught by coaches. Every player and coach must wear a particular uniform: a shirt, pants, baseball cleats (specific shoes worn by the player for better traction with the earth) and a baseball cap designed to shade the eyes from the sun. Nowadays baseball caps are widespread in our everyday life. Catchers have to wear protective helmets with face masks and a special catcher's mitt.

Basketball is a game which was invented in America in 1891. It is a team sport in which two teams of five players each try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules. Basketball is one of the world's most widely viewed games nowadays. In 1946 the Basketball Association of America (BAA) was formed. Three years later the BAA merged with the National Basketball League to form the National Basketball Association (NBA). The NBA is famous for many outstanding players, including Larry Bird, Earvin Johnson and Michael Jordan.

A healthy way of life is in fashion now everywhere around the world. There are also many other sports that attract millions of the Americans. Such sports as swimming, track-and-field, skiing, skating, rowing and sailing enjoy great popularity in the USA.

Questions:
1.  What can you say about American cheerleaders?
2.  What are the most spectacular sports in the USA?
3.  What is special about American football?
4.   Describe the way of playing baseball.
5.  When was basketball invented?
6.  Name some other sports popular in the USA.

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 one hundred and seventeen 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. The sculptor Frederic August Bartholdi was commissioned to design a sculpture to commemorate the centennial of the American Declaration of Independence.

The Statue was a joint effort between America and France and it was agreed upon that the American people were to build the pedestal, and the French people were responsible for the Statue and its assembly in the United States. However, lack of funds was a problem on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

In France, public fees, various forms of entertainment, and a lottery were among the methods used to raise funds. In the United States, benefit theatrical events, exhibitions, auctions assisted in providing needed funds. Meanwhile in France, Bartholdi required the assistance of an engineer to design such a colossal copper sculpture. Alexander Gustavo Eiffel (designer of the Eiffel Tower) was commissioned to design the massive iron pylon and secondary skeletal framework.

Back in America, fund raising for the pedestal was going particularly slowly, so Joseph Pulitzer (noted for the Pulitzer Prize) opened up the editorial pages of his newspaper, «The World» to support the fund raising effort. Pulitzer used his newspaper to criticize both the rich who had failed to finance the creation of pedestal construction and the middle class who were content to rely upon the wealthy to provide the funds. Pulitzer's campaign of harsh criticism was successful. They got the money.

The Statue was placed upon a granite pedestal inside the courtyard of the star-shaped walls of Fort Wood (which had been completed for the War of 1812.) The United States had responsibility for the operation of the Statue of Liberty. After 1901, the care and operation of the Statue was placed under the War Department. A Presidential Proclamation declared Fort Wood (and the Statue of Liberty within it) a National Monument on October 15th, 1924.

In 1933, the care and administration works of the National Monument were transferred to the National Park Service. On September 7, 1937, jurisdiction of this Service was enlarged to encompass all of Bedloe's Island and in 1956, the island's name was changed to Liberty Island.

Questions:

1. Why did the people of France give the Statue to the people of the United States one hundred and seventeen years ago?
2. Who was commissioned to design the sculpture?
3. What was the reason for creating4he statue?
4. What was the responsibility of American and French people while the statue was being created?
5. What were the methods used to raise funds in France and the United States?
6. When and how was Bedloe's Island renamed?

   
Cinematography has rather a long story. Owing to the work of the great American engineer Thomas Alva Edison, thousands of people got an opportunity of enjoying this kind of art. It was he who created a machine to show films and made one of the first cinema films.  The first real film show took place a hundred years ago in Paris, 1895, when a group of 33 people saw a short film about a train coming to a railway station. Since then many thousands of films have been shot in different countries.

 The majority of all the films are made with great professional skill.  And it's far from being easy to shoot a good film. The film that we see at the cinema is the product of joint efforts of many people. First, a good screenplay should be written or chosen.  Camera work should be superb. The designer should properly think over the setting. Besides, acting should be excellent. And, of course, everything and everybody is directed by the film producer who is responsible for the artistic side of the film.

 A great number of various films are released every year. They differ in artistic value as well as in genre.  There are films based on novels or plays (so-called "screen versions") and films which deal with historical events. In such films you can see the familiar characters and you feel satisfied if they look exactly as you have pictured them. Epics (such as "War and Peace") are films depicting heroic events of the past on a grand scale, often with vast crowd scenes.

 Musicals, the successors of musical comedy, are films with songs and dances. Thrillers are films describing some thrilling events usually connected with crime, especially murder. Horror films are films with mysterious and supernatural happenings, ghosts and monsters. Westerns are films with fast action, uncomplicated heroes, and clear cut conflicts between good and evil. Science fiction films offer the viewer flying saucers, extraterrestrial living beings, space battles and explosions of planets.

 Many films nowadays raise urgent problems facing contemporary society: ecology, ethnic conflicts, politics and moral, rise in crime and others. Cinema films help us to study these problems, to see our drawbacks and understand our life better.

Questions:

1. Who first created a machine to show films?
2. When and where did the first real film show take place?
3. What must people do to make a new film?
4. What genres of cinema are mentioned in the text?
5. What kind of films are musicals?
6. Do cinema films help us to understand our life better?

Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492. He was born in Italy. His father and both grandfathers were cloth makers. Columbus was a seaman and made many sea voyages.

Most people in Columbus's days thought that the earth was flat and they did not believe that beyond the Atlantic Ocean lay India. In 1492 the King and the Queen of Spain gave him money to go to India. He decided to sail west as he was sure that our planet was round. There were 3 caravels: the Santa Maria, the Nina and the Pinta. After sailing 4000 miles he reached some land.

The crew saw something like a white cliff and cried out: "Tierra! Tierra!". Columbus thought 'that it must be India but it was not. It was a new land — a new continent. It was America. Columbus named the land they had reached San Salvador ("Holy Saviour"). People began to speak about the land as "The new World".

European people came to the New World for many reasons. Some hoped to find gold and silver. Priests and missionaries came to bring the Christian religion to the Indians. Among those who came for freedom was a small group of English people called Pilgrims. They wanted to start a new life and to have no religious problems they had in England.

In 1620 on the ship "Mayflower" they landed in the north-east of America. They set up a colony and called that part of the country "New England". 
 

Questions:

1. Who discovered America? 
2. King and Queen of what country gave Columbus money for voyage? 
3. How many caravels were there? 
4. How did Columbus name the land he had reached? 
5. What reasons did European come to New Land for? 
6. What do you know about Pilgrims?

Americans eat a lot. They have three meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Most of Americans don't eat home but prefer to go to restaurants. They can choose from many kind of restaurants. There is a great number of ethnic restaurants in the United States. Italian, Chinese and Mexican food is very popular. An American institution is the fast food restaurant, which is very convenient but not very healthy.

However there are some principles of American cuisine (if we may call it so). Americans drink a lot of juices and soda, eat a lot of meat, fruits and vegetables, not much bread. In the morning Americans have cereal or scrambled eggs, milk or orange juice.

Chicken or fish, fried potatoes, vegetable salads, and desert: this is the most common menu for lunch. Dinner is probably the most important meal of the day, some people have family dinner, when all members of family have to be there.

For dinner Americans usually have meat, fried or baked potatoes with ketchup or sour cream, corn, peas, sometimes macaroni and cheese or spaghetti; ice-cream, fruit or cake may be for dessert.

Turkey, ham and apple pie are traditional for Christmas and Thanksgiving Day dinners.

Questions:

1. How many times a day do Americans eat? 
2. Do Americans like to eat at home? 
3. What kind of restaurants is popular in the US? 
4. What do Americans eat for breakfast? 
5. What is the most important meal of the day? 
6. What is a family dinner? 

Thomas Jefferson is one of the American Presidents. Thomas Jefferson was one of the founding fathers of this nation. Jefferson strongly believed in a democratic form of government.

He was born in Virginia in 1743. When he was 14 years old, his father died and the young boy was left to choose for himself what to do. Jefferson studied literature and languages. He also studied to be a lawyer, and later he wrote many of the Virginia laws. One of the laws for which he worked very much was a law to allow many children to go to school for free. Schools in America were only for the children whose parents were rich. When Jefferson was still a young man he was one of those who wanted freedom from England.

In 1790, Thomas Jefferson initially established himself in political affairs under President Washington's Cabinet as the first secretary of state. Much time was spent abroad.

His most outstanding achievement was as chief author of the Declaration of Independence, the statement of human rights and liberties.

Its proclamation was on the 4th of July, 1776. Jefferson also drew up the Constitution for his state Virginia and served as its governor.

He was sent to France as the foreign minister of the United States of America and afterwards was President's George Washington secretary of state. A few years later he became the country's third president, serving in this position for 2 terms.

The author of the Declaration of Independence did another important thing for the American people. He worked out a plan for a university where the students and teachers could live and work together in a settlement built for them. It was one of the first schools to teach science.

Today, it is the University of Virginia. This well-known man was also a self-taught architect. He designed the Virginia State Capital Building. He also designed his own home; he remained the most influential architect of his time. Thomas Jefferson did many useful things during his lifetime and he always thought of how to help ordinary people. He was a practical and theoretical scientist too. Jefferson's best traditions have been kept up by American progressive people in their struggle for peace and democracy.

Questions:

1. What is Thomas Jefferson known for?
2.  Where was Thomas Jefferson born?
3. When was Thomas Jefferson born?
4.  What did Jefferson study?
5.  When did Jefferson initially establish himself in political affairs?
6.  What was his most outstanding achievement?

Washington, the capital of the United States of America, is situated on the Potomac River in the District of Columbia. The district is a piece of land ten miles square and it does not belong to any separate state but to all the states. The district is named in honour of Columbus, the discoverer of America. The capital owes much to the first President of the USA -George Washington. It was G. Washington, who chose the place for the District and laid in 1790 the corner-stone of the Capitol, where Congress sits.

Washington is not the largest city in the USA. It has a population of 900 000 people. Washington is a one-industry town. That industry is government. It does not produce anything except very much scrap paper. Every day 25 railway cars leave Washington loaded with scrap paper.

Washington has many historical places. The largest and tallest among the buildings is the Capitol with its great House of Representatives and the Senate chamber. There are no skyscrapers in Washington because no other building must be taller than the Capitol. The White House is the President's residence. All American presidents except George Washington (the White House was not yet built in his time), have lived in the White House. It was built in 1799. It is a two-storied, white building.

Not far from the Capitol is the Washington Monument, which looks like a very big pencil. It rises 160 metres and is hollow inside. A special lift brings visitors to the top in 70 seconds from where they can enjoy a wonderful view of the whole city.

The Jefferson Memorial was built in memory of the third President of the USA, Thomas Jefferson, who was also the author of the Declaration of Independence. The memorial is surrounded by cherry-trees. The Lincoln Memorial devoted to the memory of the 16th President of the US, the author of the Emancipation Proclamation, which gave freedom to Negro slaves in America.

On the other bank of the Potomac lies the Arlington National Cemetery where President Kennedy was buried. American soldiers and officers, who died in World Wars I and II are buried there too.

Questions:
1. To which state does the city of Washington belong?
2. What industries are situated in the city? 
3. What do 25 railway cars leave Washington loaded with?
4. Why are there no sky-scrapers in Washington?
5. Where is the President's residence?
6. Which document gave freedom to Negro slaves in America?