АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ЯЗЫК
Инструкции
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Учебный материал для работы:
SYMBOLS
The flag
The American flag is often called the “Stars and Stripes”. It has thirteen stripes (seven red and six white), and fifty white stars on a blue field. One star is for each state and the stripes are for the first thirteen states of the union. Americans enjoy their flag; they use the “Stars and Stripes” as a popular design anywhere and everywhere, including clothes, shoes, hats. The 14th of June is Flag Day in the USA. There are many rules for the flag: for example, you should display it only during the day, and you should fold it in a special way. It hangs in many offices, in some schools there is a flag in each classroom, and children stand in front of the flag every day and say the “Pledge of Allegiance”: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
The Star Spangled Banner The US has an official song “The Star Spangled Banner”. It is sung at many sports events and public celebrations. It was written by Francis Scott Key. He was on a British ship, which was attacking Fort McHenry outside Baltimore. The attack started on September 13th, 1814 and continued all that day and night. Suddenly, early in the morning of September 14th, they saw the American flag flying from the fort. Key was so excited he began to write down his feelings in a poem. At first “The Star Spangled Banner” was sung to an old English drinking song. Later, music was written by John Stafford Smith. In March 1931 Congress officially approved the song as the national anthem.
The Statue of Liberty
One of the most famous symbols of the US is the Statue of Liberty. France gave the statue to the US in 1884 as a symbol of friendship and freedom. It is in New York Harbour, and it was the first sight many immigrants saw when they arrived in the US. The Statue is nearly 100 meters high, there is a lift and a circular way from the base to the crown inside. The figure shows a young woman freeing herself from shackles. She holds a torch in her right hand above her head, and in her left hand is a tablet with the date “June 4th, 1776” on it, which symbolizes the Declaration of Independence. The torch lights up at night.
The eagle
The eagle became the official national symbol of the US in 1782. It carries an olive branch (a sign of peace) and arrows (sign of war). You can see the eagle on the back of a dollar bill.
“Uncle Sam” “Uncle Sam” is a cartoon symbol of the US government. He has appeared in magazines, newspapers and on posters for the last 150 years. During the War of 1812 against England a man named Samuel Wilson sold meat to the US government for its soldiers. Everyone called him Uncle Sam. The first letters of Uncle Sam, “US”, were the same as the first letters of the United States. After the war, cartoons of Uncle Sam as the US government first began to appear.
Every state in the US has its own flag, its own symbol and its own song too. These are not as well known as the national ones, but they are used in all state ceremonial events.
“America the Beautiful” Every so often a movement is started to make “America the Beautiful” the national anthem, instead of “The Star Spangled Banner”, largely because it was not written as a result of a war. The tune is easier to sing and the whole country is praised, not only the flag. Katherine Lee Bates, an English professor at Wellesley College, rode in a horse-drawn wagon up Pike’s Peak, a mountain top in Colorado in 1893. She saw a view of the mountain that few people saw in those days and was inspired by her glimpse of the “spacious skies” and “purple mountains” to write a poem, which became the 1st verse of the song. The public loved the poem, and Miss Bates was encouraged to set it to music. She chose the music of a hymn by Samuel Ward. The words and music travelled around the world, and today Mexico, Canada and Australia sing it with their own countries’ names instead of “America”.
CITIES AND STATES
Answer the questions.
1. What is the capital of the USA? Show it on the map.
2. Do you know anything about the city?
3. Who is it named after?
Read the text and translate it into Russian
Washington is the capital of the USA. The city is called after the first President of the United States, General George Washington. Washington is situated on the Potomac River in the District of Columbia (D.C). The District of Columbia is a piece of land ten square miles; it does not belong to any state. The district is named in honor of Columbus, the discoverer of America. It was Washington who chose the place for the district. The tallest structures in Washington are the Capitol that houses the Congress and the Washington Monument that is 555 feet (over 180 meters) tall. The Capitol is the seat of the Government of the USA; it is situated in the very center of Washington on Capitol Hill, the highest point in the city. There is a law in Washington not to build houses higher than the Capitol. The Capitol is the seat of Congress, it contains 540 rooms; it is easy to get lost in the huge building full of paintings and statues.
The oldest building in the city is the White House, the official residence of the President. It is set close to Pennsylvania Avenue. The President’s House was first occupied in 1800. President George Washington decided that the President of the United States must have an official residence and selected the place for it. In 1814, during the war with England, the White House was burnt down. After the war the remains of the building were painted white. Since that time the residence of the American presidents has been painted white and later it became the official name.
Washington has many monuments – Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, and many others. The most beautiful of them is Lincoln Memorial. The major attractions for the visitors are in the heart of Washington. Among them is the Smithsonian Institution that includes the National Museum of History and Technology, the Museum of Natural History, the National Collection of Fine Arts, etc. Along the banks of the Potomac River there are many green parks and gardens. In 1912 the famous cherry trees were planted in Washington. The 3000 flowering cherry trees were a gift from Japan and are still a major attraction for visitors and residents in the early days of spring.
There is a famous Pentagon in Washington. The Pentagon is a building where the headquarters of the Department of Defense, the Army, the Navy and the Air Forces are located. It is the military center of the US, which is a huge five-sided building and five storeys high. It has more than 17 miles of corridors. Washington avenues are wide and long, most of them are called after states, for example Pennsylvania Avenue, Massachusetts Avenue. Streets are numbered and lettered. Numbered streets run north and south, lettered streets – east and west. Most of the well-to-do people live outside the city and Afro-Americans who make up more than half the population of Washington are the main city dwellers.
Задание:
Найдите информацию и подготовьте рассказ об одном из городов США
Задание выполнить в срок до 13 апреля 2020 г. и направить по адресу irinkiseleva@list.ru с указанием в теме курса и ФИО студента.