USA TOPIC #1:
COUNTRY AND PEOPLE
A. GEOGRAPHY
The USA extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the American Pacific islands in the west.
Bordered by Canada in the north and by Mexico in the south, it is an enormous nation on an enormous
continent.
Four landforms are present in the landscape of the United States:
1. Level lands called plains are found in many parts of the country: Coastal Plains lie along the Atlantic
Ocean. Other plains cover an immense area in the interior of the country and are called the Great Plains;
these grasslands are sometimes called the "breadbasket" of the United States, because very large
quantities of food crops are grown there.
2. High, flat lands, usually found between mountains, are called plateaux.
3. There are many mountains, especially in the west and south-west. The Rocky Mountains extend all
the way from New Mexico up to Alaska. Many people from all over the world like to spend their holidays
in these beautiful mountain areas.
4. Hills are present in many parts of the country.
Rivers and lakes
Many rivers cross the country. The most important are:
1) the Mississippi, Missouri, and Rio Grande, flowing into the Gulf of Mexico;
2) the Potomac, Hudson, and Savannah, flowing into the Atlantic Ocean;
3) the Colorado, Sacramento, and Columbia, flowing into the Pacific Ocean; and
4) the Yukon, in Alaska, flowing into the Bering Sea.
The main lakes in the USA are the Great Lakes in the north: Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake
Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. The Niagara river takes the water of Lake Erie into Lake Ontario,
forming the tremendous Niagara Falls.
Key facts:
Population (2011): 312,000,000 (the world's third largest)
Area: nearly 10 million square kilometres (only a little smaller than the whole of Europe)
Population density: about 34 people per square kilometre (Europe has about 70 people per sq km)
Capital City: Washington D.C.
Largest city: New York City
Number of states: 50
Longest river: Mississippi (3,800 km)
Climate: very different kinds, from cold Arctic to hot desert climates
Currency: US Dollar
Highest Point: Mount McKinley (in Alaska)
Native people: Indians-Eskimos-Hawaiians
Main language: English
Government: Republic
Head of state: President
The Niagara Falls
The Statue of Liberty, New York
Time zones
In the USA there are SIX time zones. That shows what a vast area the country covers!
Hawaii Time
Example: 1pm
Alaska Time
3pm
Pacific Time
(e.g. LA)
4pm
Mountain Time Central Time Eastern Time
(e.g.Denver) (e.g.Chicago) (e.g.NewYork)
5pm
6pm
7pm
If you travel from New York City to Los Angeles, i.e. from east to west, you have to set your watch back 3 hours; when you go
back to New York City you set your watch ahead 3 hours.
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B. NATIONAL SYMBOLS
The Stars and Stripes is the flag of the United States; it is also called Old Glory. It represents the
growth of the nation. It has 13 horizontal stripes, 7 red and 6 white, which stand for the original 13 states.
In the top left corner there are 50 white stars on a blue background, which represent today's states of the
Union.
The national anthem of the United States is The Star-Spangled Banner. The words are those of a poem
written by Francis Scott Key during the Anglo-American War of 1812-1814 and set to the music of an old
song. Here are the words of the first verse:
O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
The Statue of Liberty is the symbol of American democracy. It stands on Liberty Island in New York
Harbor. This national monument was a present from France to the USA , commemorating the alliance
between the two countries during the American Revolution. From ground level, the statue is an incredible
93 metres high. The French / Hungarian sculptor Auguste Bartholdi built it, and he modelled Liberty's
face after his own mother's! The original name of the statue was "Liberty Enlightening the World".
Liberty carries the torch of freedom in her right hand and is stepping out of broken chains. In her left hand
she is holding a book with the inscription "July 4 1776" - American Independence Day.
And finally, a quotation:
"America is a large, friendly dog in a very small room. Every time it wags its tail, it knocks over a chair"
Arnold Toynbee, 1954
TASKS
A. Put the where necessary:
........ USA lies between ........... Atlantic Ocean and ......... Pacific Ocean. It borders on ....... Canada and
.......... Mexico. ........ Rocky Mountains extend from .......... New Mexico to ......... Alaska. .......
Mississippi flows into ......... Gulf of Mexico. ........ Grand Canyon was carved out of Colorado Plateau
by ...... Colorado River. Lake Superior is one of ........... Great Lakes.
......... Niagara Falls are
between ......... Lake Erie and ........ Lake Ontario.
B Complete the following in a suitable way:
1. When it's 6pm in New York, it's ................................. in Los Angeles.
2. When it's 5am in Los Angeles it's ................................. in New York.
Turn over!
3. When most people in Boston are getting up, most San Franciscans are ................................
4. If a man in Chicago flies to New York he has to put his watch ...................................................
5. If I fly from Chicago to Atlantic City I have to .........................................................................
C Write the following times in figures:
EXAMPLE: It's ten to two. 1.50
1. It's five past seven. .................
2. It's a quarter past six
.................
3. It's half past eight ...............
4. It's twenty-five to eleven ................
5. It's nine minutes past twelve ................ 6. It's four o'clock .................
7. It's twentytwo minutes past one ..................
D Using the Key Facts, write a paragraph about the USA (10 lines)
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F Now write a similar paragraph about your own country (10 lines). Use the Internet if you need
help in finding the information, but use your own words!
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from English Speaking World, adapted by JG