The USA
The USA
Talk about – rozprávajte o:
- General information
– všeobecné informácie:
- Location + population – poloha +
obyvateľstvo
- Geography – geografia, zemepis
- Climate
- podnebie
- Industry & agricalture – priemysel a
doprava
- Education - vzdelávanie
- History of the USA
– história USA
- Places of interest in the USA + the capital city/Washington/ – zaujímavé miesta
v USA + hlavné mesto
- People & their customs + traditions – ľudia
a ich zvyky + tradície
1. General information /všeobecné
informácie/:
The USA is the fourth largest country in the world (after Russia, Canada and China) => it’s area is 9,
372 614 km2.
It has the population of about 250 million people => the USA is a very multicultural
country – there live many different races and religions – for example African-American, Asian, American-Indian, Eskimo, Hispanic
people and so on.
The currency is 1 dollar which is divided into 100 cents. The official language is
English but because there live many people from different countries, other languages are spoken as well. The capital city is
Washington DC.
GEOGRAPHY:
The USA
border on /hraničí s/:
- NORTH – sever => Canada
- SOUTH –
juh => Mexico
- EAST – východ => the Atlantic ocean
-
WEST – západ => the Pacific ocean
A part of the USA is also Alaska
and the Hawaiian Islands.
MOUNTAINS /hory/ and RANGES /range
= pásmo hôr, chrbát hôr/:
The USA can be divided /rozdelené/ into 5 main areas /hlavné oblasti/:
-
The Appalachian Highlands
- Mississippi Basin /or Interior
Plains/
- the Cordilleras
- the Cascade Range
- Sierra
Nevadas
The highest peak /najvyšší vrchol/ of the USA is in Alaska - it is
Mt. McKinley /6194 m/
RIVERS /rieky/ and LAKES
/jazerá/:
The USA has many rivers:
- the Mississippi – the longest river /the 3rd
longest river in the world/
- the Missouri
- the Hudson – connected with the Great
Lakes
- the Colorado
- the Columbia
- the Rio Grande
-
the Yukon – the biggest river in Alaska
There are some very important lakes on the US-Canada
border – they are the biggest reservoirs of fresh water in the world. They are called the Great Lakes /Veľké Jazerá/:
- Lake
Superior
- Lake Michigan
- Lake Huron
- Lake Erie
these 2 lakes are connected by the Niagara River /a part of the
- Lake Ontario St. Lawrence
River/ and they form the famous Niagara Falls
Climate
Because the USA is a big country, there are big variations of climate => the temperatures change from the arctic cold in northern Alaska to
subtropical warmth in Hawaii and in some other states – for example California, Florida… Florida has subtropical climate which often brings
hurricanes.
Industry /priemysel/ & agriculture
/poľnohospodárstvo/
The US economy is the biggest in the world. The country is rich in raw
materials /nerastné bohatstvo/ - e.g. natural petrol, kaolin, salt, natural gas /zemný plyn/.
Philadelphia is the centre of
machinery /strojárstvo/ and chemical industry. Detroit is the centre of US car industry – there
are companies such as Pontiac or Chrysler.
The USA is the leading country in agriculture – the American
agricultural system is very effective - there are about 2 million farms in the USA and only about 2,4 % of the population work on them – a lot of
agricultural production is exported. The most important production is the production of soya, maize (= corn =
kukurica), wheat (pšenica).
The US system of education /systém
vzdelávania/
There are big differences between schools in different cities and states – there is no national school system – every
state is responsible for its own school system.
School attendance /dochádzka/ is compulsory /povinná/ from 6 to 16
years. The school uniforms are worn only in private schools.
Schools in the USA:
- Public /verejné/
- financed by state of local government – they are free
- Private /súkromné/ - they charge high fees – they
are attended mostly by the children of rich people – sometimes they offer scholarships /ponúkajú štipendiá/
The
history of the USA
The American continent was discovered by Vikings around the year 1000 A.D. People in Europe didn’t know about
the existence of the American continent until 1492, when Columbus made his historical voyage from Spain.
The important points of the American
history:
- In 1620 first people came to America on their ship called Mayflower – their
first colonies were called New England and they were called the Pilgrim Fathers /Otcovia Pútnici/.
During their first winter, over one half of the settlers died /settle = usadiť sa/. The rest of them survived /= prežili/ and learned how
to farm. The following November after their 1st successful harvest /= žatva/, they celebrated and had a special “Thanksgiving”
dinner – since then the Americans celebrate the Thanksgiving Day.
- The first 13
colonies were under the British control – American people wanted to be independent and they didn’t want to pay taxes /= dane/
to Britain. Because the British government didn’t agree to this, it lead to a mutiny /= vzbura/ - it was the Boston Tea party –
when a group of Americans threw bags of tea into the sea as a protest – this event /= udalosť/ started a war – America won
the war and on July 4, 1776 The Declaration of Independence was signed
/= bola podpísaná/. The colonies became independent and that day was called the Independence day (they
celebrate it as holiday in the USA now)
- The American civil war /občianska vojna/ started in 1861- it is known as
the war between the North and the South – the North fought for making slavery /= otroctvo/ illegal – the North won the war.
- An
important point in American history is also September 11, 2001 when terrorists attacked the Pentagon and
the World Trade Centre (WTC) and many people died – since then America has been strongly fighting against terrorism.
Places of interest in the USA /zaujímavé miesta v USA/:
Washington, D.C.
The capital city of the USA. D.C. means “District of Columbia”. Washington
is the seat of the White House – the seat of the President. Some interesting places in Washington:
- the Jefferson
Memorial – Jeffersonov pamätník
- the White House – Biely Dom
- the Arlington
National Cemetery – Arlingtonský Národný Cintorín
- the Museum of Natural History –
Múzeum Prírodnej Histórie
Las Vegas
Las Vegas lies in Nevada. More than 12 million people visit Las
Vegas every year. There are many nightclubs and casinos where people can gamble and get rich or loose a lot of money. In Las Vegas people can also
see many famous singers, comedians dancers, musicians.
New York
The largest city in the USA. The
nicknames of NY are:
- Melting Pot – because it is a very multicultural city and people of many different races, religions
and origins live there
- Big Apple
In New York we can visit:
- Manhattan – the
real centre of NY. It is famous for its Manhattan skyline /Manhattanská silueta, čiara obzoru/ – a large number of skyscrapers (=
mrakodrapy) on a small area. One of the highest skyscrapers is called the Empire State Building.
-
Brooklyn – has a famous beach – Coney Beach
- The Bronx – there are many parks and the Bronx
ZOO – one of the largest in the USA
The Statue of Liberty – in NY - was a gift of friendship from the
people of France to the people of the United States and is a universal symbol of freedom and democracy.
Los
Angeles – California – a beautiful country with warm weather. There is the Disneyland
Dallas – the financial and commercial centre – John F. Kennedy was assassinated (= zavraždený) there in 1963
The National parks:
The USA has many national parks with beautiful nature – e.g. in the Rocky Mountains Region.
The famous parks are in Utah, Texas, Arizona, Nevada… The famous national parks are for example The Grand Canyon National Park
/desserts/, Yellowstone National Park /beautiful mountains and waterfalls/ , Death Valley National Park, Yosemite
Valley National Park …
People and their customs and traditions
In the USA people celebrate
these national holidays:
- New Year’s Day
- The Independence Day – July 4
-
Thanksgiving Day – 4th Thursday in November
- Christmas day
Americans play hockey,
tennis, basketball and rugby. American football is very different from the football we play in Europe.
People sometimes say that the USA is the
place, where all your dreams can come true /= miesto, kde sa ti splnia všetky sny/. If you want to work, you can easily find a job and earn money.
Therefore many young people want to work and live in the USA. If you want to travel, there are many interesting places that you can see. People are
friendly and talk-active. It is also a very multicultural country, so you can meet people of different origin.
Vocabulary:
after - po
area – rozloha
multicultural
country – multikultúrna krajina
different – rozličný
race - rasa
religion – náboženstvo
a part – časť
connect with – spojiť s
important – dôležitý
border – hranica
reservoir – rezervácia
fresh water – čerstvá (pitná) voda
in the world – vo svete
they are called –
nazývajú sa
form – formovať
the Niagara Falls – Niagarské Vodopády
variations – variácie
temperature – teplota
change – meniť sa
arctic cold – arktický chladné
subtropical warmth – subtropické teplo
in some other
states – v niektorých ďalších štátoch
bring – priniesť
hurricanes – hurikány
rich in – bohatý na
natural petrol – ropa
salt – soľ
car
industry – automobilový priemysel
such as – ako
leading country – vedúca krajina
about – približne
difference – rozdiel
different - rozdielny
between
– medzi
national school system – školský národný system
responsible for – zodpovedný
za
own – vlastný
school uniforms are worn – školské uniformy sa nosia /sú nosené/
local government – miestna vláda
charge high fees – účtovať vysoké poplatky
attended – navštevované
mostly – poväčšina
offer - ponúkať
discover – objaviť
around – približne
until – až do
voyage
/voidž/ - plavba
they were called – nazývali sa /boli nazývaní/
during - počas
settler – usadlík
the rest of them – zvyšok z nich
following – nasledujúci
successful – úspešný
harvest – žatva
celebrate – oslavovať
since then – odvtedy
under – pod
independent – nezávislý
government - vláda
agree – súhlasiť
lead to – viesť k
the Boston
Tea Party – Bostonské Pitie Čaju
a group – skupina
throw /min. čas threw
- thrown/ - vyhodiť, hodiť
bags of tea – vrecia s čajom
become /min. čas
became – become/ - stať sa
it is known – je známa
fight for
/min. čas fought – fought/ - bojovať za
illegal – nelegálny
an important
point – dôležitý bod
attack – zaútočiť
against – proti
interest – záujem
mean – znamenať
District of Columbia – Okrsok Kolumbie
the seat – sídlo
lie in – ležať v
get rich – zbohatnúť
loose a
lot of money – stratiť veľa peňazí
nickname – prezývka
melt – topiť sa /napr.
sneh/
pot – hrniec
the Statue of Liberty – Socha Slobody
a gift – dar
freedom – sloboda
commercial centre – komerčné centrum
the national parks –
národné parky
dessert – púšť
waterfall – vodopád
celebrate national
holidays – oslavovať národné sviatky
different from – odlišný od
the place where all your
dreams come true – miesto, kde sa ti splnia všetky sny
if – ak
easily – ľahko,
poľahky
find work – nájsť si prácu
earn money – zarobiť peniaze
therefore
– preto
talk-active – ukecaný
Zones.sk – Zóny pre každého študenta