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228 відповідей на питання з американістики (шпаргалка)

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Іноземна мова

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

US territory? Rocky Mountains.

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

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

Скелясті гори, Ніагарський водоспад, Мексиканська

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

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).

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)

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.

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.

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.

or

When 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).

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

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.

Comment on the word “Wasp”.

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.

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
Rio 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.

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.

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.

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.

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
??????????????????????•????????

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 January

Presidents’ 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
Lincoln

219. 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.

State Capital Nickname Population (1)

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/al.html” Alabama Montgomery
Yellowhammer state 4,530,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/ak.html” Alaska Juneau The
last frontier 655,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/az.html” Arizona Phoenix The
grand canyon state 5,744,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/ar.html” Arkansas Little
Rock The natural state 2,753,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/ca.html” California
Sacramento The golden state 35,894,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/co.html” Colorado Denver The
centennial state 4,601,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/ct.html” Connecticut
Hartford The constitution state 3,504,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/de.html” Delaware Dover The
first state 830,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/fl.html” Florida Tallahassee
The sunshine state 16,397,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/ga.html” Georgia Atlanta The
peach state 8,829,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/hi.html” Hawaii Honolulu The
aloha state 1,263,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/id.html” Idaho Boise The gem
state 1,393,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/il.html” Illinois
Springfield Land of Lincoln 12,714,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/in.html” Indiana
Indianapolis The hoosier state 6,328,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/ia.html” Iowa Des Moines The
hawkeye state 2,954,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/ks.html” Kansas Topeka The
sunflower state 2,736,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/ky.html” Kentucky Frankfort
The bluegrass state 4,146,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/la.html” Louisiana Baton
Rouge The pelican state 4,516,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/me.html” Maine Augusta The
pine tree state 1,317,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/md.html” Maryland Annapolis
The old line state 5,558,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/ma.html” Massachusetts
Boston The bay state 6,417,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/mi.html” Michigan Lansing
The great lakes state 10,113,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/mn.html” Minnesota St. paul
The north star state 5,101,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/ms.html” Mississippi Jackson
The magnolia state 2,903,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/mo.html” Missouri Jefferson
City The show me state 5,755,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/mt.html” Montana Helena The
treasure state 927,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/ne.html” Nebraska Lincoln
The cornhusker state 1,747,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/nv.html” Nevada Carson City
The silver state 2,335,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/nh.html” New Hampshire 
Concord The granite state 1,300,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/nj.html” New Jersey Trenton
The garden state 8,699,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/nm.html” New Mexico Santa Fe
The land of enchantment 1,903,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/ny.html” New York Albany The
empire state 19,227,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/nc.html” North Carolina
Raleigh The tar heel state 8,541,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/nd.html” North Dakota
Bismarck The peace garden state 634,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/oh.html” Ohio Columbus The
buckeye state 11,459,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/ok.html” Oklahoma Oklahoma
City The sooner state 3,524,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/or.html” Oregon Salem The
beaver state 3,595,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/pa.html” Pennsylvania
Harrisburg The keystone state 12,406,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/ri.html” Rhode Island
Providence The ocean state 1,081,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/sc.html” South Carolina
Columbia The palmetto state 4,198,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/sd.html” South Dakota Pierre
Mount rushmore state 771,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/tn.html” Tennessee Nashville
The volunteer state 5,901,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/tx.html” Texas Austin The
lone star 22,490,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/ut.html” Utah Salt Lake City
The beehive state 2,389,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/vt.html” Vermont Montpelier
The green mountain state 621,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/va.html” Virginia Richmond
The old dominion state 7,460,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/wa.html” Washington Olympia
The evergreen state 6,204,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/wv.html” West Virginia
Charleston The mountian state 1,815,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/wi.html” Wisconsin Madison
The badger state 5,509,000

HYPERLINK “http://www.hm-usa.com/states/wy.html” Wyoming Cheyenne
The equality or cowboy state 507,000

 

Most populous cities

The following is a list of the ten most populous cities in the country,
with their estimates for HYPERLINK
“http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/2002” \o “2002” 2002 and HYPERLINK
“http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/2000” \o “2000” 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. + HYPERLINK “http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/New_York_City” \o
“New York City” New York City , HYPERLINK
“http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/New_York” \o “New York” New York
8,084,316 8,008,278

2. + HYPERLINK
“http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/Los_Angeles%2C_California” \o “Los
Angeles, California” Los Angeles , HYPERLINK
“http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/California” \o “California”
California 3,798,981 3,694,820

3. – HYPERLINK
“http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/Chicago%2C_Illinois” \o “Chicago,
Illinois” Chicago , HYPERLINK
“http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/Illinois” \o “Illinois” Illinois
2,886,251 2,896,016

4. + HYPERLINK “http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/Houston%2C_Texas”
\o “Houston, Texas” Houston , HYPERLINK
“http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/Texas” \o “Texas” Texas 2,009,834
1,953,631

5. – HYPERLINK
“http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/Philadelphia%2C_Pennsylvania” \o
“Philadelphia, Pennsylvania” Philadelphia , HYPERLINK
“http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/Pennsylvania” \o “Pennsylvania”
Pennsylvania 1,492,231 1,517,550 1,479,339

6. + HYPERLINK “http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/Phoenix%2C_Arizona”
\o “Phoenix, Arizona” Phoenix , HYPERLINK
“http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/Arizona” \o “Arizona” Arizona
1,371,960 1,321,045

7. + HYPERLINK
“http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/San_Diego%2C_California” \o “San
Diego, California” San Diego , HYPERLINK
“http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/California” \o “California”
California 1,259,532 1,223,400

8. + HYPERLINK “http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/Dallas%2C_Texas”
\o “Dallas, Texas” Dallas , HYPERLINK
“http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/Texas” \o “Texas” Texas 1,211,467
1,118,580

9. – HYPERLINK
“http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/Detroit%2C_Michigan” \o “Detroit,
Michigan” Detroit , HYPERLINK
“http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/Michigan” \o “Michigan” Michigan
925,051 951,270

10. + HYPERLINK
“http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/San_Jose%2C_California” \o “San Jose,
California” San Jose , HYPERLINK
“http://psychcentral.com/psypsych/California” \o “California”
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.

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