The United States of America. 1. The USA is situated in the central part of the North Ameri­can Continent

1. The USA is situated in the central part of the North Ameri­can Continent. The USA also includes Alaska on the edge of the Arctic. The total area of the USA is over nine million square kilometres.

2. The main rivers of the USA are the following: the Missis­sippi, the greatest and the largest in the USA (2348 miles), the Colorado and the Columbia, the Saint Lawrence River and the Hudson River. The country has thousands of lakes in all kinds and sizes. It is important to remember that the great Lakes make up the largest group of lakes in the country and the great­est collection of fresh -water lakes in the world.

The USA is a highly developed industrial country. It is necessary to know that the USA produces coal, iron and natural gas. There are many large industrial centres in the USA. New York is the largest financial and business centre in the world Chicago and Detroit are the biggest centres of heavy industry. California is the biggest centre of the automobile industry and all kinds of machine building. San Francisco and Seattle are the centres of shipbuilding. Philadelphia produces agricultural ma­chines and locomotives.

4. The USA is a federal republic consisting of 50 states each of which has its own government. The capital of the country is Washington in the District Columbia (D. C). The President of the country elected for four years is the head of the state and the government. The congress consists of two houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate, hi the USA there are two main political parties: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.

VII. Ответьте письменно на следующие вопросы к тексту.

1. Where is the USA situated?

2. Does the USA include Alaska?

3. Is the USA a highly developed country?

4. Who is the head of the state and the government?

5. How many political parties are there in the USA?

VIII. Поставьте вопросы к подчеркнутым словам в пись­менной форме (см. образец 4).

1. The flag of the US popularly called "The Stars and Stripes and Old Glory" was adopted in 1787.

2. The flag of the US consists of thirteen horizontal stripes red and white equal to the number of the original states.

3. The red stripes proclaim courage, the white stripes pro­claim liberty and the field of blue stands for loyalty.

Вариант 3

1. Перепишите данные ниже предложения. Определите по грамматическим признакам, какой частью речи является слово с окончанием -s и какую функцию это окончание выполняет в предложении, т. е. служит ли оно:

а) показателем 3 лица единственного числа в Present Indefinite
б) признаком множественного числа имени существительного;

в) показателем притяжательного падежа имени существительного (см. образец выполнения 1).