THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
TEXTS AND EXERCISES ON
HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY
Составитель: Орельская О.А.
КАФЕДРА ИНОСТРАННЫХ ЯЗЫКОВ
КГПУ, 2005 г.
WELCOME TO THE USA
QUIZ: How many of these questions can you answer?
1. In what century did Christopher Columbus discover the continent of America?
2. Where did the first American colonists come from?
3. How many colonies gained independence and formed the USA in 1776?
4. Which American state was the last to acquire (получить) “state” status?
5. Which American President was the first to live in the White House?
6. Which U.S. legal holiday – held every four years – falls on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November?
7. What is the highest mountain in the USA? In which state is it?
8. Which is the smallest U.S. state?
9. Which major city in the state of Florida has the same name as a Russian city?
10. Which sport is considered to be a national American sport?
11. Which American rock-and-roll star lived in Memphis, Tennessee?
12. What monument in Washington, D.C. is nicknamed “The Pencil”?
13. In which city and state is Disney World located?
14. Which 19th century American writer is said to be the founder of detective genre?
15. Which famous event happened in California in1849 that was widely covered in films and books?
16. In which state do the tallest trees in the world grow and what are they called?
THE STORY OF AMERICA
How much do you know about the history of the USA? Study the following texts to find out more information.
NOTRH AMERICA’S FIRST SETTLERS
North America’s first settlers were the ancestors of the Indians. They came from Asia, across the Bering Strait, many thousands years ago. By the time the first white men sailed westward from Europe and discovered North America, Indian people had spread across the continent.
The Indians’ food plants made a very important contribution toward helping the white men settle in North America. Although many white men came to North America seeking riches in gold and furs, the Indian food plants they discovered soon proved more valuable than these. From Indians the newcomers got many plants which are still important.
The most important Indian food plant was corn. But the Indians also gave the white men sweet potatoes, squash, several kinds of beans, pumpkins, and many other foods. Soon they became important in many other parts of the world as well. Another important plant was tobacco.
COLUMBUS’ VOYAGE
Mind the pronunciation of the following proper names you will see in the text:
Genoa [΄d3enəuə] Haiti [΄heiti] Genoese [d3enəu΄i:z]
Japan [d3ə́pæn] Honduras [hond΄juərəs] European [ֽjuərə΄pi(:)ən]
It was history’s most glorious mistake.
A young merchant from the Italian city of Genoa became convinced he could sail nonstop to legendary Japan and China by heading west across the “Sea of Darkness” – the Atlantic.
Educated men in late 15th-century Europe knew the Earth was round. But they knew, too, that wise explorers didn’t sail west into the wild unknown sea, but south and east, hugging Africa’s coast, in the search for a route to the Orient and its rumored riches.
The western route obsessed Christopher Columbus, the Genoese seafarer. Columbus’ quest for knowledge led him on history’s most important voyage that in the end united the Earth, making two worlds one.
From his own experience traveling in the eastern Atlantic, Columbus formulated his idea about traveling West to the Orient.
Such a great enterprise would require an equipment of vessels at much expense. Columbus presented his proposal to Spain, Portugal, England and France. Finally, after seven years of waiting, Columbus found success. Isabella, Queen of Spain, agreed to aid him in carrying out his plans.
Columbus started his first Voyage of Discovery on August 3, 1492 on three small vessels the Santa Maria, the Nina and the Pinta .
After a voyage of ten weeks, on October 13, 1492 the exhausted and frightened crew saw land.
Columbus had discovered one of the Bahama Islands which he called San Salvador. He coasted along the shores of Cuba and Haiti. He did not find the cities of Asia as he had expected, but he had no doubt that he was in the East Indies, and therefore called the natives Indians.
Columbus returned to Spain carrying with him gold, cotton, parrots, some plants, probably tobacco, and a few Indians for baptism. He was given the noble title of Don Cristobal Colon by the Spanish Crown.
Four voyages were made by Christopher Columbus in all, in which he explored the coast of South America, discovered Honduras and other small islands.
THE IMPACT OF EXPLORATION
Columbus’ voyage had an enormous impact – the immigration of thousands of refugees, pilgrims, missionaries, conquerors and people who wanted a better life for themselves and their children. As a result of his succeeding journeys, Europeans encountered not only a new world, but also crops that radically altered their diets: potatoes, tomatoes, corn, chocolate, peppers, beans, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, squash, peanuts, pineapples, blueberries, and sunflowers.
At the same time, he and those who followed him brought to the New World wheat, barley, onions, citrus fruit, horses, dogs, cats, beef cattle, pigs and chickens. Colonization by the English, French, Spanish and Dutch eventually led to the American Revolution and the founding of the republic.
Unfortunately, tragedy also accompanied these events as Old World diseases accompanied the immigrants – diseases for which the New World had no natural immunity: smallpox, measles, cholera and whooping cough. There was also greed, cruelty and racism.
Say if the statement is true, false, or there is no information in the texts:
1) The people who first set foot on the continent of North America came there from Africa.
2) In the age of Christopher Columbus somewhere between fifty and one hundred million people lived on the American continent.
3) From the Indians white men learnt how to grow potatoes and tobacco.
4) The first voyage to the “East Indies” took Columbus and his crew more than two months.
5) Kings of several countries offered Columbus financial aid to make his voyage.
6) Columbus’ voyages made a great influence on the life of the “Old World”.
7) Being very sick, Columbus spent his last days in disappointment and neglect.
8) Europeans, who settled on the new continent after Columbus’ voyages, brought not only some new plants and animals with them, but they also brought some diseases, for which the Indians had no immunity.
Answer the following questions based on the texts:
1) Where did the first settlers of North America come from to the continent from?
2) What were many of the white men seeking in the new continent?
3) In what way did Columbus decide to reach the eastern coast of Asia?
4) How many years did he wait forfro carrying out his plans?
5) Why did Columbus call the natives Indians?
6) What crops did the Indians give the white men?
7) What European crops were brought to America?
8) What were the positive and the negative aspects of Columbus’ voyages and discoveries?
COLUMBUS’ SAILS
Fill in the blanks with the words from the table:
rank / chance / finance / refused / believedSpain / route / sail / expensive / wealthy
West / Admiral / supplies / cheaply / rulers
Columbus had a dream. His dream was to reach Asia by sailing 3,000 miles (1)______. If he could reach Asia by sea, he could transport Asian spices, silks and other valuable products by sea (2) ______. At that time, the products had to be transported over a long and dangerous land route. This made products scarce and (3)______. A sea route would mean that goods could be transported more (4)______and in greater quantity. Anyone who could find this sea route would receive great honors and become very (5)______.
Columbus needed someone to help (6)______the trip if he was to turn his dream into reality. He asked the (7)______of Portugal, Spain, and England for financial backing. They all (8)______to help. They thought the plan had little (9)______of success and would cost too much money.
Finally, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of (10)______changed their minds. They provided Columbus with three ships and all the necessary (11)______. In addition, they promised to make him governor of any new lands that he discovered, to make him an (12)______, and to grant him a noble
(13)______if he was successful.
On August 3, 1492, Columbus set (14)______. On October 12, 1492, he landed in America. He was convinced that he had discovered the sea route from Europe to Asia. He (15)______this to his dying day.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
For 150 years North America remained largely unsettled by Europeans. During that time, however, Spanish adventurers roamed Florida, the gulf coast, and the Southwest in a vain search for treasure. French voyagers explored the Far Northfar north in pursuit of furs, and Dutch and Swedish traders established small settlements on the Northeast coast in present-day New-York and Delaware.
The English, too, came looking for easy riches. In December 1606, a London Company sent a group of settlers on board three ships to colonize the North America territory called Virginia. They reached the New World in May 1607 and founded Jamestown, which became the first permanent English settlement on the American continent.
Life was very hard in the little colony. Nearly all of the men had come from rich or well-to-do families in England. They had never had to work. These people believed the stories of the riches which, they had been told, lay everywhere in the New World. The Indians gave them some corn, but the colonists never had enough food. Many people died. But in 1610 ships and food came from England, and Jamestown was saved.
In 1620, the Puritans, a religious group from England, sailed to America. They landed at Plymouth Bay in what is now called New England. They settled in the area. Many died from cold and hunger during the first winter. The Indians showed the settlers how to fish and plant crops. After the first harvest, they held a feast to thank God. Thanksgiving Day is still celebrated each November. Some settlers traded with the Indians, but many saw them as enemies. Lots of the Indians were killed or died of diseases brought by settlers.
1. Find answers to the following questions in the text:
1) In what parts of the American Continent did Europeans settle?
2) Where and when was the first English colony established?
3) What were most of European settlers seeking in the New World?
4) What kind of difficulties did the first settlers experience?
5) How was the celebration of Thanksgiving Day started?
2. Name the following words by their definitions:
- continuing to exist for a long time;
- a large meal for a lot of people, to celebrate a special occasion;
- to walk or travel, usually for a long time;
- gathering crops from the fields;
- the act of trying to achieve something;
BRITAIN AND THE COLONIES
The British proved more adaptable than their rivals and readier to see the possibilities of colonization. Between 1607 and 1773 Britain managed to establish a dozen bustling Colonies. The British Colonies, scattered along the Atlantic seaboard, varied widely. They could even be called the different worlds of colonial America. Colonies existed to produce essential raw materials cheaply, to provide an unlimited market for manufacturing goods and to offer a minimum of economic competition. The Colonies were expected to supply their mother country with raw and semi-finished materials, including furs, fish, rice, tobacco and timber. In exchange they received a lot of manufactured goods from the homeland. Special Acts of the British Parliament required that all American goods should be carried in British and colonial vessels and sold only to British buyers. American trade with other nations or their colonies was officially forbidden.
The colonists did not want to remain under the British rule any longer. The War of Independence began in 1775. In June, 1776, representatives of American Colonies met in Philadelphia in the Second Continental Congress. On July 4, 1776, the Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson. Thus, the United States of America was born.
THE STATES OF THE USA
The United States began as a nation of 13 states. These were the colonies which had broken away from Great Britain in 1776 and fought a six-year War of Independence. The original 13 colonies were then located in the area today occupied by 16 states. 34 other states were admitted to the union one by one.
The newest states are Alaska and Hawaii admitted in 1959. Washington, in the District of Columbia, is the national capital. It was named in honor of George Washington, the first US President, who was also Commander-in-Chief of the American army during the War of Independence.
The District of Columbia, which was named for Christopher Columbus, discoverer of America, is 60 square miles in area; and it is not part of any state.
Say if the statement is true, false or there is no information in the texts:
1) British colonies were quite different from one another.
2) The British Empire established colonies on the new Continent mainly to provide England with raw materials.
3) American trade with other nations and their colonies was unlimited.
4) The British Parliament asked the colonists to contribute towards the cost of maintaining the British army through centrally-raised taxes.
5) The War of Independence lasted five years.
6) Thomas Jefferson was chosen to write the Declaration of Independence because of his fame as a writer.
7) It was George Washington who chose the place for the American capital.
8) The District of Columbia does not belong to any state.
Some more historical events:
Ø Negro slavery had been introduced into the American colonies in 1619 when the Dutch ship brought its cargo of human chattels (имущество) to Virginia.
Ø In 1787 the delegates of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia adopted the Constitution of the USA, an extraordinary document by which America abides (придерживаться) more than two centuries later. So far only twenty six amendments (поправки) have been made to the Constitution.