- Middle East
The United States has seven major non-NATO allies in the Greater Middle East region. These allies are Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Kuwait, Pakistan, and Morocco. Israel and Egypt are leading recipients of foreign aid.
United States has invested several hundred billion dollars in re-building Iraq's infrastructure and military in the aftermath of 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The U. S. has built a non-NATO alliance with Pakistan to assist with the War in Afghanistan and jointly combat terror in the subcontinent.
- Georgia
- Ukraine
- Persian Gulf (Oil)
- Canada
- Africa
- Military aid
- Missile defense
Question 45: Economy of the USA
Plan:
The economy of the United States is the largest national economy in the world.
Its gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated as $13.8 trillion in 2007
History Colonial economies Farming economy Integrated, industrialized economy | Decline Great Depression Vietnam conflict 1960 Stagflation of the 1970s 2008 mortgage crisis and a declining dollar value. |
The main causes:
a large unified market,
a supportive political-legal system,
vast areas of highly productive farmlands,
vast natural resources (especially timber, coal and oil),
and an entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to investing in material and human capital.
The economy has maintained high wages, attracting immigrants by the millions from all over the world.
Features
1. Rich in mineral resources and fertile farm soil,
2. Moderate climate.
3. Extensive coastlines
4. Rivers provide shipping access.
5. Available workforce
6. Corporation
7. Governmental regulation
Today in the era of globalization American investors and corporations have influence all over the world.
Federal Reserve
$ - fiat currency
The Medicare program
The Medicaid program
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Question 46: Education of the USA
Plan:
Aims: Get knowledge, Introduce nation’s basic ideals and values, Teach to get along with the society, Lay ground for the achievement of success. | 6-3-3 plan, includes elementary school in grades 1 through 6, junior high school in grades 7 through 9 senior high school in grades 10 through 12. |
School life Curriculum Extra activities | |
1. Preschool education 2. Elementary school 3. Secondary High school Report cards and transcript SAT (PSAT) ACT Achievement tests | 4. Higher Education - Acceptance - Types of Higher Education Schools - Ivy League - Assessment - Graduation - Degrees |
Question 47: US Culture and Literature
Plan:
- Cultural autonomies cultural synthesis.
- The cultural luggage was limited by the folklore.
- English puritans:
strict moral,
asceticism (sternness),
moderation.
- The authentically American culture began to form in the 19 cent.
- Before the literature was of imitative character
- The culture was based on the principals of Romanticism
- Frontier – I: to start life from the very beginning.
- Theme: Civilization vs Humanity.
There is no history – therefore – at the core is a man (personality).
Peculiarities:
There was no cultural basis
There was no authentic folklore The folklore was of artificial character
Crucial points: The War of Independence, The Civil War, Slavery.
Unique phenomena: Frontier, American dream, American flight.
Disapproval of the results of the bourgeois revolution Contradiction between the rich and the poor. Disapproval of slavery and suppression native tribes Message: There is a struggle between the good and the evil. There are 2 worlds (real, ideal) – ESCAPE. Character - natural man, | W. Irving (), Fenimore Cooper () Edgar Allan Poe (). |
Realism Message: Time is money. Culture becomes more pragmatic as the technical culture develops far more rapidly. | |
Themes a lonely man in a soulless society. A true patriot. A man and a war. Money is a root of all evils. Lost generation. | E. Hemingway, T. Dreiser, O'Henry |
Question 48: The Americans as They are Seen by Other Countries
Plan:
- 2 Stereotypes
- Historical background
Immigrants came with the aim of becoming free, independent and happy.
They wanted to obey no one, neither government nor church.
They looked for individual freedom, equality and prosperity for everyone regardless of background and birth.
But first they had to settle in the unexplored land, develop it by conquering
respected the ability to win, to be energetic.
valued what a person can do by himself
prized the ability to invent and experiment, overcoming difficult obstacles,
sense of optimism that every problem has a solution.
Americans are sociable and hospitable people.
Americans love children, animals, mother, work, the flag, excitement, jazz, noise, nature, shows, fast motion sports, shapely women and muscular men, beefsteak, ice-cream, money.
Be tough and self-reliant
Be confident
Be rich
"From rags to riches"
Question 49: US Mass Media and Film Industry
Plan:
- Federal Communication Act.
- "Newspaper of record."
- A typical daily paper
- The most important news is printed in the right-hand column of the front page of a newspaper.
- Headlines
- Advertisements
- Quality and sensational editions.
With a very few exceptions, all the newspapers in the U. S. are privately owned, either by large chains such as Gannett or McClatchy, which own dozens or even hundreds of newspapers; by small chains that own a handful of papers; or in a situation that is increasingly rare, by individuals or families.
the New York Times, the Washington Post the Wall Street Journal | the Village Voice L. A. Weekly The New York Daily News The Los Angeles Times | Time Newsweek US News and World Report |
The major sources of newspaper news are wire services the Associated Press (AP), United Press International (UPI), Reuters | Today the major commercial radio and TV networks are the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). | |
USA TODAY is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. The paper has the widest circulation 2.25 million copies | - Peculiarities CNN Live broadcasting The CNN effect | |
Question 50: US Places of Interest
Plan:
Grand Canyon
- a steep-sided gorge carved by the Colorado river in the state of Arizona.
- 446 km long, width km, depth - 1.83 km
- Native Americans built settlements within the canyon, caves.
The Mount Rushmore National Monument
- near Keystone, South Dakota, initiated by Calvin Coolidge
- 18 m sculptures - G. Washington, Th. Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln
- Covers 5.17 km2 , 1,745 m above sea level.
Empire State Building
- a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in, name is derived from the nickname for the state of New York, The Empire State.
- After the destruction of the World Trade Center it’s the tallest building in New York
- And the 15th tallest in the world.
Manhatan
- is one of five boroughs in NY. Located on Manhattan Island
- Manhattan, The Bronkx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island
- Major commercial, financial, and cultural center.
- Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ
Brooklyn Bridge
- The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the US.
- connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn
Golden Gate Bridge
- a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean.
- connects the city of San Francisco on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula to Marin County.
Lincoln Memorial
- form of a Greek Doric temple. Temple of Zeus in Olympia
- sculpture of Abraham Lincoln and inscriptions of two well-known speeches by Lincoln.
- the site of many famous speeches
- 36 massive columns, each 10 m high, surrounding the cella which rises above the porticos.
- Lincoln seated on a throne.
Washington Memorial
- an obelisk
- The monument, made of marble, granite, and sandstone
Capitol Building
Statue of Liberty
Question 51: US and UK National Holidays
Plan:
UK:
- Workers in the UK are not automatically entitled to time off on a public holiday but time off can be provided for in an employment agreement or by expending annual leave.
- In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, public holidays are often called bank holidays.
- There are calls for public holidays on the patron saints' days
January 1 New Year's Day
March 17 St. Patrick's Day Northern Ireland only
variable Good Friday
Easter Monday
1st Monday in May Early May Bank Holiday
Last Monday in May Spring Bank Holiday
July 12 Orangeman's Holiday Northern Ireland only
Last Monday in August Late Summer Bank Holiday
December 25 Christmas Day
December 2 Boxing Day
Total 8 (England & Wales) 10 (Northern Ireland)
In 2012, there will be a special holiday on Tuesday, 5 June to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Therefore, to make it a four-day weekend, the Spring Bank Holiday that would usually occur at the end of May will be pushed back to Monday, 4 June 2012.
Scotland – St. Andrew’s Day (November 30th)
- Guy Fawkes’ Night
USA
- does not have national holidays i. e., days where all employees in the U. S. receive a day free from work and all business is halted.
- it is at the discretion of each state or local jurisdiction to determine official holiday schedules. –
- There are eleven "Federal holidays", ten annual and one quadrennial holiday.
- Private businesses often observe only the "big six" holidays (New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas).
Most American holidays recognize events or people from U. S. history, although two are shared in common with many other countries: Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
Thanksgiving in the United States is on the fourth Thursday in November.
If a holiday falls on a Saturday it is celebrated the preceding Friday; if a holiday falls on a Sunday it is celebrated the following Monday.
Date January 1 Third Monday in January January 20, the first January 20th following a Presidential election Third Monday in February Last Monday in May July 4 First Monday in September Second Monday in October November 11 Fourth Thursday in November December 25 | Official Name New Year's Day Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. Inauguration Day Washington's Birthday Memorial Day Independence Day Labor Day Columbus Day Veterans Day Thanksgiving Day Christmas Day |
Question 52: US Family. Stereotypes
Plan:
During the 1950s several American television shows portrayed an idealized middle-class family consisting of a wise breadwinner father, a cheerful and attractive wife, and socially and academically successful children.
Women-breadwinners vs women-housewife
The diversity of patterns because of ethnic background, immigration, date of their forebears, social background, religion…
Marriage
- marriages between blacks and whites are rare.
Dating.
- 
"New morality
Upbringing
Parents want to bring up their children to respect freedom, initiative. The parents are rather permissive. The urge their children to make their own decisions.
Family structure
- "nuclear family" vs "extended family"
- re-marriage
- changing roles within the family
A car in American Life
Public transportation is not developed.
Routes are scarce and life is hectic.
GLOSSARY
1. American dream – idea that every person if he is decent, industrious, ambitious can have a well paid job, warm house, respect.
2. American flight – desire to escape from the civilization “into the woods”, to live natural life.
3. Beringia – land bridge which BC connected North America and Asia, later was covered by water and the Bering Strait appeared.
4. Berliner – newspaper format between broadsheet and tabloid.
5. Bill of Rights – the first ten amendments to the US Constitution, added in 1791, which guarantee the liberty of the individual.
6. Black Death – epidemic of bubonic plague, brought to the islands from France during the Hundred Years’ War.
7. Black Country – the formerly heavily industrialized region of central England, northwest of Birmingham.
8. Confederate States of America – the 11 Southern states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Mississippi) that seceded from the Union in 1861, precipitating a civil war with the North. The Confederacy was defeated in 1865 and the South reincorporated into the US.
9. Daneslaw – part of the country North from the Thames granted to the Danes by Alfred the Great.
10. Doomsday Book – register with the population census data carried out by William the Conqueror in 1086.
11. Double-decker – a red bus with two passenger decks, used for excursions in London.
12. 11+ Exam – earlier exam, results of which, defined type of secondary school a pupil could attend.
13. Frontier – western border which separated civilization of Indians and White Americans.
14. GCSE – General Certificate of Secondary Education: a public examination in specified subjects for 16-year-old schoolchildren. It replaced the GCE O-level and CSE.
15. Ghetto – an area of land set aside, esp (in the US) for American Negros.
16. Great Fire of London – took place in 1666, destroyed half of the wooden city including St. Paul’s Cathedral.
17. Homestead Act – an act passed by the US Congress in 1862 making available to settlers
160-acre tracts of public land for cultivation (after 5 years of cultivation it became property).
18. Magna Carta – agreement between Barons and John Lackland restricting king’s privileges and providing nobility with liberties.
19. New Deal – program aimed at stopping Great Depression: domestic policies of Franklin D. Roosevelt for economic and social reform.
20. Ph. D. – Doctor of Philosophy: highest scientific degree awarded in the UK and the USA.
21. Reconstruction – in US restoration of democratic regime after the Civil War and reunion of the country.
22. Reservation – an area of land set aside, esp (in the US) for American Indian peoples.
23. Sons of Liberty – mass patriotic organization protested against British government, organized Boston Tea Party.
24. Tube – London underground.
25. Witan (witanagemout) – royal anglo-saxon council, consisted of druids, warriors, nobility. Developed into modern parliament.
26. Workhouse – an institution maintained at public expense where able-bodied paupers did unpaid work in return for food and accommodation.
ЛИТЕРАТУРА
1. The USA. – СПб.: КАРО, 2001.
2. Great Britain. – СПб.: КАРО, 2001.
3. MACMILLAN. Guide to Country Studies.,2005.
4. О Британии кратко. М: Иностранный язык, 2007.
5. Об Америке кратко. М: Иностранный язык, 2007.
6. Токарева . Какая она? Учебник по страноведению. М., 2005.
7. Утевская и американская литература. СПб.,2004.
8. Электронная энциклопедия «Википедия» http://en. wikipedia. org/ .
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