Text 17. Place names in America

The first people who arrived in America didn't use to think of new names for the towns they built, but often gave the new place the name of the place they had come from. Along the east coast of the United States we find such English names as Plymouth, Cambridge, London, Boston. English names often appear with the word new as a prefix: New England, New York, New Britain.

When the first English inhabitants left their homes on the east coast and moved to the west, they gave the new places the same names of those they had left behind. As a result, there are twenty-two towns in the United States which are called London, eighteen towns named Bristol, many named Chester, Windsor or New Windsor. This, of course, created a lot of difficulties for the postal service. There are towns named Philadelphia in four states, besides Philadelphia that is largest city in the state of Pennsylvania. This explains the American tradition of writing both the name of the state and the name of the city when addressing letters. If the sender does not do this, he can never be sure his letter will go to the right address.

Answer the following questions:

l. Why didn't the first people who arrived in Ann use to think of new names for the towns they built?

2. What names did they give to the new towns?

3. What names of the English cities and towns are there along the east coast of the United States?

4. Which American cities and towns have the prefix new?

5. Why are there many towns and cities with the same names in the United States?

6. How many towns in the United States of Ann called London? Bristol? Philadelphia?

7. Why do the Americans write both the name of the state and the name of the city on the envelopes?