The face of every city is different. Washington D.C.
Учебный материал
РОССИЙСКОЙ КОЛЛЕКЦИИ РЕФЕРАТОВ (с) 1996
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The face of every city is different. Washington D.C.
The United States of America is the fourth largest country in the
world, after Russia, Canada and China. It occupies the southern
part of North America, and includes Alaska.
The USA is made up of 50 states, and the District of Columbia, a
special federal area where the capitol of the country is
situated.
If we look at the map of the USA, we can see lowlands and mountains.
The highest mountains are the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra
Nevada. The highest peak is Mount McKinley which is located in
Alaska. The United States is a land of rivers and lakes. The
largest and deepest lakes in the USA are the five Great Lakes on
the border with Canada. America's largest rivers are the
Mississippi, the Missouri, the Rio Grande and the Columbia. The
Mississippi is the word's third longest river after the Nile and
the Amazon. The climate of the country varies greatly. The
climate of Alaska is arctic. The climate of the central part is
continental. The south has subtropical climate.
The history of the country is rather long. Christopher Columbus sailed
from Spain across the Atlantic Ocean. Instead of reaching India
as he had expected he landed on an island off a continent
unknown to Europeans, but he thought that he was in India.
In the southern states white farmers used black slaves to work on their
huge plantations. When slavery was stopped in the North the
southern states left the Union and formed the Confederacy. Civil
war between the North and the South started. The Union won and
the slavery was abolished all over the USA.
Nowadays, the USA is highly developed industrial country.
There are many important cities in the USA, for example New York, one
of the largest cities in the world, a great seaport and
financial center, Chicago near the Great Lakes, one of the
biggest industrial cities in the USA, and the second largest
after New York. Boston is one of the first cities which were
built on the Atlantic coast of America. Now it is a big cultural
centre with three universities. Los Angeles is a centre of
modern industries and show business. Other big and important
cities of the USA are Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco,
Detroit, Washington and so on.
Washington D.C. is the capitol of US. It is situated in the District of
Columbia and is like no other city in America. it's the world's
largest one-industry city. And that industry is government. The
White House, where the US president lives and works, the
Capitol, the home of the US congress, and the Supreme Court, are
all in Washington. The city was so named in memory of George
Washington, the first president of the USA, known for the active
participation in the war with Britain. A special district was
created for the city - the District of Columbia. The city was
laid out according to be a capitol. Washington is one of the
most magnificent and unusual cities in the USA. In the centre of
it rises the huge dome of the Capitol - a big white dome
standing in a circle of pillars. It's rather easy to get lost in
this huge building, full of paintings and statues.
Not far from the Capitol is the library of Congress, the largest in US.
It contains more than 13 million books, more than 19 million
manuscripts, including the personal papers of the American
presidents.
The official residence of the USA president is White House. It has 132
rooms, among them the Oval Office where the president works. The
White House used to be a president residence since it first
occupied by President John Adams in 1800.
One can hardly find a park, a square or an open area in Washington
without a monument or a memorial, the Jefferson Memorial was
built in honor of Thomas Jefferson, the author of the
Declaration of Independence and the third president of the USA.
Inside his statue, and his writings are inscribed on the walls.
The Lincoln Memorial reminds everybody of Abraham Lincoln, the
sixteenth American president who's noted for the slavery
destruction. There's a statue of Abraham Lincoln inside the
memorial. At the National Air and Space Museum visitors can see
the history of flight from the first airplane to the Apollo
spaceship. The National Gallery of Art, a large museum of
painting, sculpture and other arts is also situated in the
capitol.
From the beginning of the twentieth century the USA became the world's
leading country. Thousands of tourists visit Washington every
day. People from all parts of the US come to see their capitol,
and also people all over the world. Washington greets tourists
with the Cherry Blossom festival every spring. The pink and
white blossoms of the Japanese cherry these near the Washington
Monument create a magnificent delicate picture, and you are to
visit Washington just to see it, and then all beauties of other
cities will seem to you gloomy.
Tsivun N.
9B