In Wales most of the people belong to the Free Ch. 2/3 of the population of Nothern Ireland are members of the Anglican Ch. & Protestant Ch-s.

All the UK is divided into 7 Catholic provinces. Each province is controlled by an archibishop & in its turn is divided into dioceses which are in the charge of bishops.

GB has a long tradition of religious tolerance. Many religious communities coexist here pacefully. The present community of Jews is one of the largest in Europe-over 400.000. More than half of them live in London.

There are Christian communities of foreign origin like the Orthodox, Lutheran & Reformed Ch-s of various European countries. Recent immigration has brought increasing number of Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs. All schools of Buddhism are represented here. They have their own centres, temples, monasteries.

Though nominally Christian, GB contains adherents of practically every world religion who are free to practice their particular beliefs in a tolerant & free society.

№ 27. The Church of England. It is the national church.It was formed in 1534 by King Henry VIII,who broke away from the Ch.of Rome & declared himself Head of the Ch.of England. But many English people considered the Ch.of Engl too much like the Catholic Ch.They became known as Puritans,because they wanted pure & simple ch. They broke away from the Ch.of Engl & formed ther own churches – the Free or Nonconformist Churches. The Ch.of Engl has 2 Archbishops - the Archbishop of Canterbury,the Church’s leader, & the Archbishop of York, & the 24 senior bishops who sit in the House of Lords. The central governing body of the Ch.of Engl is the Central Synod, which is the centre of an administrative system dealing with such matters as education, mission, inter-church relations, social questions, recruitment & training for the clergy, the care of church building. The Ch. has its courts whose jurisdiction today extends only to ch. property & matters of ch discipline. Engl is divided into several dozens of districts, called dioceses.Each diocese has a cathedral & is headed by a bishop. It is divided into parishes,& each parish is in the care of a vicar who often has an assistant, called a curate. Both men & women have been admitted to the clergy of the Ch.of Engl since 1994. The priests of the Ch. have the freedom to conduct services as they wish.

Although the Anglican Church apparently has much the largest following in England, and large minorities of adherents in the other nations of Britain, appearances can be deceptive. It has been estimated that less than 5% of those who, if asked, might describe themselves as Anglicans regularly attend services. Many others are christened, married and buried in Anglican ceremonies but otherwise hardly ever go to church. Regular attendance for many Anglicans is traditionally as much a social as a religious activity, and predominantly one for the upper and middle classes.

The doctrine of the Church of England was set out in the sixteenth century, in a document called the Thirty-Nine Articles. However, the main motivation for the birth of Anglicanism was more patriotic and political than doctrinal. As a result, it has always been what is called a 'broad church', willing to accommodate a wide variety of beliefs and practices. For example, the nature of its religious services varies quite widely from church to church, depending partly on the inclinations of the local priest and partly on local tradition.

Three main strands of belief can be identified. One strand is evangelical, or 'low church'. This places great emphasis on the contents of the Bible and is the most consciously opposed to Catholicism. It therefore adheres closely to those elements of the Thirty-Nine Articles that reject Papal doctrines and is suspicious of the hierarchical structure of the Church. It prefers plain services with a minimum of ceremony. In contrast, the beliefs of the 'Anglo-Catholic', or 'high church', strand are virtually identical to those of Catholicism - except that it does not accept the Pope as the ultimate authority. High church services are more colourful and include organ music and elaborate priestly clothing. Both these strands are traditional in their outlook. But there is also a liberal wing, which is willing to question some of the traditional Christian beliefs, is more inclined to view the Bible as merely a historical document, is more tolerant towards homosexuality and was the first to support moves to ordain women priests.

№ 28.Free churches. A free church is a Christian denomination that is separated from any government. All the main Free Churches-Methodist, Baptist, Evangelical, Salvation Army – are very simple, as well as their services. They do not have archbishops or bishops.

The largest traditional nonconformist group in Britain is the Methodist Society. It claims no superiority or inferiority to any other part of the Church. All those who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and accept the obligations to serve him in the life of the Church and the world are welcome as full members of the Methodist Church.

Other nonconformist groups with a long history are the Baptist, who are comparatively strict both in their interpretation of the Bible and in their dislike of worldly pleasure. They refuse to fight in any war, though they will do ambulance and hospital work. Baptists' distinguishing beliefs: Biblical authority Autonomy of the local church Priesthood of all believers Two ordinances (believer's baptism and the Lord's Supper) Individual soul liberty Separation of Church and State Two offices of the church (pastor and deacon). Most Baptist traditions believe in the "Four Freedoms": Soul Freedom, Church Freedom, Bible Freedom, Religious Freedom.

The Salvation Army. It is a non-military evangelical Christian organization founded in 1865 by one time Methodist minister William Booth. The beliefs of the Salvation Army rest upon these eleven doctrines: there is only one God, who is the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of all things. They believe that there are three persons in the Godhead - the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. They believe in the immortality of the soul.

Since it is a multicultural country where the pressure to conform is comparatively weak, Britain is home to followers of almost every religion and sect imaginable. Some of these are offshoots, or local combinations, of those already mentioned.

The number of followers of all the traditional Christian churches have been slowly but steadily declining in the second half of the twentieth century. Other Christian sects and churches have been growing. Because of their energetic enthusiasm and their desire to attract new followers. Most of them are similar to traditional nonconformist groups in that they avoid rigid ritual and place great emphasis on scripture.

The fastest-growing type of evangelical Christianity, however, places less emphasis on dogma, sin, or giving people a code of behaviour. Instead, the emphasis is on the spiritual and miraculous; on revelation. Gathering often involve joyful singing. There is a belief in spiritual healing of the sick. The oldest existing church of this type in Britain is called Pentecostal, and this term is sometimes used to denote all such groups. Pentecostalism has had a small working-class following for many years. Its recent growth is among the middle class.

Some people are turning even further afield, beyond the bounds of the Christian tradition. The term 'New Age' is used to cover a very wide range of beliefs which can involve elements of Christianity, eastern religions and ancient pagan beliefs all mixed in together. Interests and beliefs of this kind are not new in Britain. Theosophy, Druidism, Buddism, Christian Scientism and many other beliefs have all had their followers in this country for a hundred years or more. Until the 1960s such people came exclusively from a small set of the upper middle class.

The numbers of followers of the Christian Orthodox, Sikh, Hindu and Muslim religions are all growing, mainly because of high birth rates among families belonging to them. The last of these is by far the largest. Its continued growth is also for another reason. Relative poverty, racial discrimination and occasional conflict with the authorities have cause people brought up as Muslims to be politicized - more so than any other religious group in the country. As a result, young Muslims are less likely to drift away from their religion than the young of other faiths.

Finally, it is necessary to mention what are called 'cults'. What they seem to have in common is the style of their belief, involving absolute commitment to and unquestioning obedience of the leader around whom they are centred. Cult have a bad reputation for using mind-control techniques. Their extremist tendencies are often offensive to most people and, with a few exceptions, each individual cult is tiny. However, it has been estimated that there are between 500 and 700 of them in the country and that, taken together, they have nearly half a million followers.

№ 29. Family life, marriage & divorce in br

The family in Britain is changing. The once typical British family headed by two parents has undergone substantial changes during the twentieth century. In particular there has been a rise in the number of single-person households, which increased from 18 to 29 per cent of all households between 1971 and 2002. By the year 2020, it is estimated that there will be more single people than married people. Fifty years ago this would have been socially unacceptable in Britain.

In the past, people got married and stayed married. Divorce was very difficult, expensive and took a long time. Today, people's views on marriage are changing. Many couples, mostly in their twenties or thirties, live together (cohabit) without getting married. Only about 60% of these couples will eventually get married.

In the past, people married before they had children, but now about 40% of children in Britain are born to unmarried (cohabiting) parents. In 2000, around a quarter of unmarried people between the ages of 16 and 59 were cohabiting in Great Britain. Cohabiting couples are also starting families without first being married. Before 1960 this was very unusual, but in 2001 around 23 per cent of births in the UK were to cohabiting couples.

People are generally getting married at a later age now and many women do not want to have children immediately. They prefer to concentrate on their jobs and put off having a baby until late thirties.

The number of single-parent families is increasing. This is mainly due to more marriages ending in divorce, but some women are also choosing to have children as lone parents without being married.

№ 30. Тhe position of women in br

The economic and domestic lives of women have been transformed in the twentieth century. These changes are due partly to the removal of much of sex discrimination in political and legal rights. At the heart of women's changed role has been the rise in the number of women, especially married women, at work. With later marriages and the availability of effective contraception there has been a decline in family size. Women are involved in childbearing for a shorter time and this, together with technological advances which have made housework less onerous and time-consuming, has made it easier for women with children to combine child-rearing with paid employment. The growth of part-time and flexible working patterns, and training schemes, allows more women to take advantage of employment opportunities.

Women make up more than two-fifths of the workforce. The proportion of married women working outside the home has increased to two-thirds of those between the ages of 16 and 59, a quarter of the total labour force compared with only 4 per cent in 1921. Married women are most likely to be in full-time work if they are aged 16 to 29 with no children. Over two-fifths of all women in employment work part-time, representing almost nine-tenths of all part-time workers. By the mid-1990s the numbers of young people entering the labour market has declined substantially and it the resulting shortfall in the labour force is met to a considerable extent by the recruitment of more married women.

There is still a significant difference between men's and women's earnings, but equal pay legislation which came into force in 1975 has helped to narrow the gap; in 1990 women's average hourly earnings were only 77 per cent of men's, despite a progressive rise in women's hourly rates over the last three years. Women's wages remain relatively low because they tend to work in the lower-paid sector of the economy and work fewer hours than men because of their domestic commitments. A major reform in the taxation of women came into effect in 1990, when their earnings began to be taxed separately rather than being treated as part of their husbands' income for tax purposes.

№ 31. Patterns of immigration in the usa:old immig & new immig

Old immig.The English were the dominant ethnic group among early settlers of what became the United States, and English became the prevalent American language. But settlers of other nationalities were not long in following.

They came not only from Great Britain, but also from other European countries, including Spain, Portugal, France, Holland, Germany and Sweden. Nonetheless, in 1780 three out of every four citizens of the United States were of English or Irish descent.

Between 1840 and 1860, the United States received its first great wave of immi­grants. In one year alone, 1847, the number of Irish immigrants to the United States reached 118,120. The failure of the German Confederation's Revolution of 1848-49 led many of its people to emigrate.

During the late 19^th century, so many people were entering the United States that the government operated a special port of entry on Ellis Island in New York City's harbour. Between 1892 and 1954 Ellis Island was the doorway to the United States for 12 million people. During the peak immigration years, from 1905 to 1907, there were 10,000 immi­grants a day!

First the immigrants had to pass the inspection. If they had tuberculosis or head lice or they were under 16, and were not accompanied by a parent, or if they did not have $25 with them, they had to go back.

New immg. The United States continues to accept more immigrants than any other country; in 1990, its population included nearly 20 million foreign-born persons. The revised immi­gration law of 1990 created a flexible cap of 675,000 immigrants each year, with certain categories of people exempted from the limit. That law tries to attract more skilled workers and professionals to the United States and to draw immigrants from countries that have supplied relatively few Americans in recent years. It does this by providing "diversity" visas. In 1990 about 9,000 people entered the country on diversity visas from such countries as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Peru, Egypt, and Trinidad. The US continues to be a major place in the world receiving about 900,000 legal immigrants annually.

№ 32. History of U.S. Immigration Law and Policy. The history of U.S. immigration reflects the social, economic, and political climate of the time. It also illustrates the nation’s ongoing ambivalence about immigration, as well as offers insights on the role of race, prejudice, fear,& nativism in shaping U.S. immigration policy. We provide a quick overview of U.S. immigration law and policy from the 1700s to May 2006.1790: Congress passed a law allowing naturalization for “free white persons.” This racial requirement remained in effect until 1952, although naturalization was opened to immigrants from certain Asian countries in the 1940s. 1798: The passage of the Aliens & Sedition Acts authorized the President to deport any foreigner deemed to be dangerous. 1882: Passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act codified racism into federal law, denying citizenship for Chinese immigrants & suspending their entry into the United States. It was not repealed until 1943. 1906: The ability to speak and under- stand English became a requirement for naturalization. 1917: Congress designated Asia as “a barred zone,” prohibiting immigration from all Asian countries except Japan & the Philippines. 1919: The Palmer Raids resulted in the deportation of 10,000 labor & immigrant activists. 1921-1930: Thousands of Mexican workers, including many U.S. citizens, were deported. 1924: The Johnson-Reed Act created a new national-origins quota system favoring immigrants from northern Europe & banning immigration by persons “ineligible to citizenship,” a provision that primarily affected the Japanese. 1942-1945: The United States interned 120,000 Japanese Americans. 1942-1964: The “Bracero” guestworker program, begun to meet wartime labor shortages, brought close to 5 mln farmworkers, predominantly Mexicans, to the United States. 1954: Operation Wetback deported more than 1.1 mln Mexican immigrants. 1965: Thanks to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, the 1965 Immigration Act eliminated race-based admission criteria & instituted ones based on the would-be immigrant’s skills, profession, or relationship to family in the United States. 1975: Congress passes legislation to permit the resettlement of Southeast Asian refugees in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. 1986: The Immigration Reform & Control Act granted amnesty to about the 3 million undocumented immigrants and instituted sanctions for employers who hire undocumented workers. 1995: California voters approved Proposition 187 to prohibit undocumented immigrants from accessing publicly funded education, welfare, and health services. The proposition was later found to be unconstitutional. 1996: Three acts of Congress—welfare reform, immigration reform, and anti- terrorism legislation—significantly reduced immigrants’ access to social safety-net programs, toughened border enforcement, closed opportunities for undocumented immigrants to legalize their status, made it difficult to gain asylum, stripped many due-process rights, reduced access to the courts, & greatly expanded grounds for deportation. 2001: Shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act, giving the federal government, among other things, broad powers to indefinitely detain suspected terrorists. At least 1,200 South Asian and Middle Eastern men were swept up in government dragnets, detained without charge, and denied due-process rights. Few, if any, of these detainees were charged with involvement in terrorist activities. 2002: The Department of Homeland Security put in place “Special Registration” which required all non- immigrant males age 16 and older from 24 countries to report in person, regis- ter, & be fingerprinted. All but one of the countries targeted by this program were those with large Muslim populations. An estimated 13,000 men were placed in deportation proceedings during the 1st year of this program. Although it was terminated, Special Registration was the most visible & systematic government-instituted program to detain members of specific ethnic groups in the United States since the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. 2005: Congress passed the REAL ID Act, raising the standard for political asylum seekers, creating additional grounds for deporting immigrants, & restricting the issuance of driver’s license & state ID documents to certain categories of immigrants. More than 150 anti-immigrant bills were introduced in 30 states, although few bills were eventually enacted into law. Arizona, Virginia, and Arkansas adopted anti- immigrant laws that target vulnerable populations, including undocumented immigrants, day laborers, & low- income families. Arizona’s Proposition 200, approved by the state’s voters, requires state & local government employees to report undocumented immigrants seeking publicly funded health & social services to federal immigration authorities. 2006: The State of Georgia passed the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act. Under this state law, effective July 1, 2007, Georgia employers must use a federal database to verify their workers’ immigration status; recipients of most state benefits, including welfare & Medicaid, must prove their legal status; workers who cannot provide a Social Security number or other taxpayer identification are required to pay a 6% state withholding tax; corrections officials must report incarcerated undocumented immigrants to federal authorities; & local authorities are authorized to seek training to enforce federal immigration laws. In spring 2006, as this report was being finalized, Congress debated immigration reform legislation. Some proposals focused strictly on strengthening border and other immigration enforcement, while others called for guest worker programs, opportunities for undocumented immigrants to earn legal status, & provisions to address the family-visa backlogs. Depending on the outcome of this debate, the political environment for immigrants could change dramatically in the upcoming years, possibly driving some immigrants deeper in the shadows or giving those who could benefit from any new laws the opportunity to become fully integrated into U.S. society.

№ 33. Models of assimilation. Assimilation is the process whereby individuals or groups of differing ethnic heritage are absorbed into the dominant culture of a society. Immigration played an outstanding role in the making of the American nation. All Americans, except the Red Indians, are immigrants or the descendants of immigrants. Immigration came at different times, in different circumstances, from different parts of the globe.

As a result of mass immigration in the past & the continued immigration of the present the US is termed as the “melting pot” of nations. A “melting pot” meant that as immigrants from many different cultures came to the US, their previous national identity melted away & they became part of a completely new culture. The melting pot idea is most strongly associated with the US, particularly in reference to “model” immigrant groups of the past. Past generations of immigrants in America became successful by working to shed their historic identities & adopt the ways of their new country. Even today “melting pot” remains a stock phrase in American political & cultural dialogue.

The idea of multiculturalism which often comes along with political correctness is often put forward as an alternative to assimilation. The abstraction of cultural pluralism in America has its roots in the transcendentalist movement and was developed by pragmatist philosophers such as William James & John Dewey. This theory, which contrasts to the melting pot theory, is describes as the salad bowl theory (in Canada as the cultural mosaic). In the multicultural mosaic approach, each “ingredient” retains its integrity & flavor, while contributing to a successful final product. The decision of whether to support a melting-pot or multicultural approach has developed into an issue of much debate. The prevailing attitude today is multicultur­alism when the concept of nationhood is closely associated with an awareness of one's ethnic heritage and a deep respect of people of different races with every group con­tributing something to the making of the American nation.

According to the Anglo-Conformity theory “the demand for Anglo-Conformity rests on the belief that the persistence of ethnic cultures, ethnic & racial communities,& foreign languages in an English-speaking should be aggressively discouraged…the idea that the immigrants & their children must become 100% American” by losing all traces of their “foreign accents.” Demanding "Americanization" and "Anglo-conformity" from the immigrants regarded America as an Anglo-Saxon nation and demanded that the immigrants would culturally assimilate. This demand is reflected in the attempt to make English the official language of the US. There are recorded situations where discrimination against certain ethnic groups is rationalized by the statement that they are not yet fully American. In response to the pressure exerted on immigrants to culturally assimilate & also as a reaction against the denigration of the culture & “race” of non-Anglo white immigrants by Nativists, intellectuals on the left such as Horace Kallen in Democracy vs. the Melting Pot (1915) & Randolph Bourne, in Trans-National America (1916), laid the foundation for the concept of cultural pluralism.

№ 34.Population of the USA. The current U.S.A. population is over 300 million people. As the world's population is approximately 6.6 billion, the current US population represents a mere 4.5% of the world's population so about one in every 20 people on the planet is a resident of the USA. In 1790, the year of the 1st census of the U.S.A. population, there were 3,929,214 Americans. In 1920 the census counted more than a 100 million people. Another 100 million people were added to the US population in just 50 years when the 200 million barrier was reached in 1970 with 203,302,031 counted in the census. The 2000 Census counted a U.S.A. population of 281,421,906. Six years later the U.S. population had grown to 300 million on October 17, 2006 the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the United States population officially reached 300 million. The population growth is estimated to be 0.91 % in 2006.

In 1900, the life expectancy was 47 years of age. Only one person in 25 had then survived to age 60. Women lived shorter lives due to childbirth.

In the 1990s, the population growth rate for senior males is outstripping that of senior females, according to Census Bureau data. The male population over the age of 65 increased 11% between 1990 and 1996, while the female population increased 7.5%. During the same time period, the number of men in the age group over 85 rose 27 %, compared with 24 % for women. Women still dominate the population over 65, but the gap is beginning to narrow. In 1990, women accounted for 60 % of the population over 65; by 1996 that share had declined to 59 %, a notable change in a population of this size over this short period. The increasing number of men in the seniors' housing market could affect developers significantly, particularly in the amenities sought. An increased availability of health care for older Americans through the emergence of Medicare is cited as one factor in the increasing longevity of men, as is a decline in cigarette smoking among older males.

Today 95 % of population of the USA are the people who born here. As regards sex structure the ratio of females & males is 51.4 to 48.6%.

The average density of population as a whole, without Alaska & Hawaii is 26.2 people per 1 sq km. More than half of the population is concentrated in the industrial Northeast & the density of population here is very high-374 people per sq km. The density of the population of the South is over 30 people per sq km. On the Pacific coast the density is high again -64 people per sq km. California is the most populous state -27 mill people, NY is second-18 mill. The lowest density of population is in Alaska -0.3 people per sq km. But the tendency of movement of the population from one region to another never stopped.

The ethnic composition in the USA consists mostly of White population (81.7%); Black population (12.9%) and Asian population (4.2%); 1% of Amerindian and Alaska native population; and the rest 0.2% consists of Hawaiian and other Pacific island. It is to be noted that a separate listing for Hispanic is not included because the US Census Bureau considers Hispanic to mean a person of Latin American descent (including persons of Cuban, Mexican, or Puerto Rican origin) living in the US who may be of any race or ethnic group (white, black, Asian, etc.) Majority of the population in the USA follow Christian ethic where 52% are Protestants; 24 percent are Roman Catholic. 2% are Mormon; 1% Jewish; 1% Muslim. 10% follow other religions. Yet another 10% do not consider themselves under any religious group (2002).

№ 35. Regions of the USA. Americans often speak of their country as one of several large regions. These regions are cultural units rather than governmental units – formed by history & geography & shaped by the economics, literature & folkways that all the parts of a region share. They are: New England, The Mid-Atlantic, The South, The Midwest, The Southwest, The West.

New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Ireland, Vermont) is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and the state of New York. NE was the country’s cultural & economic centre. The earliest European settlers of NE were English Protestants who came in search of religious liberty. This region is important for the cultural contribution. NE was known to have produced the first pieces of American literature and philosophy. Education is another of the region’s strongest legacies & home to the beginnings of free public education. The cluster of top-ranking universities & colleges in NE – including Harvard, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, Wellesley, Smith, Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan. NE has gained a reputation for hard work, shrewdness, thrift, ingenuity.

The Mid-Atlantic (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, new York, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C.) is a region of the United States generally located between New England and the South, it’s a part of became known as the “melting pot.” The Mid-Atlantic states provided the muscle. The region’s largest states, NY & Pennsylvania, became centres of heavy industry (iron,glass,steel). The rivers Hudson & Delaware were transformed into vital shipping lanes. The Mid-Atlantic has played an important role in the development of American culture, commerce, trade, and industry, yet it is one of the least self-conscious of American regions. There are more wooded hills than factory chimneys, more fields than concrete roads, more farmhouses than office buildings.

The South (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia). The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, Down South, or simply the South. Slavery was the issue that divided North & South. To southerners, it was integral to their way of life & their plantation system of agriculture. The “New South” has evolved into a manufacturing region & high-rise building crowd the skylines of such cities as Atlanta & Little Rock. The region however still has many landscapes to delight the human sense of poetry & wonder. Owing to its mild weather, the South has become a mecca for retirees from other regions. The South developed its own customs, literature, musical styles, and varied cuisines that have profoundly shaped traditional American culture.

The Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota). Both the geographic center of the contiguous U.S. and the population center of the U.S. are in the Midwest. The United States Census Bureau divides this region into the East North Central States (essentially the Great Lakes States) and the West North Central States. Chicago is the largest city in the region, followed by Detroit, Indianapolis, and Columbus. The Midwest is known as the nation’s “breadbasket.” The fertile soil of the region makes it possible for farmers to produce harvests of cereal crops such as wheat, oats, corn. Farms are normally located separate from each other, close to the fields. The village or town is principally a place where the farm family travels to buy supplies, to attend church & to go for entertainment or political, social or business meeting. Midwesterners are praised as being open, friendly,& straightforward. Their politics tend to be cautious, but the caution is sometimes peppered with protest.

The Southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas) The Southwest is characterized by geographical variety: from humid lands in eastern Texas to drier prairies in Oklahoma and western Texas to mountains and deserts in Arizona and New Mexico. The Southwest area is rich in minerals. Cattle-breeding is also an important part of the Southwest's economy. The population in the region is growing rapidly.

The West (Alaska, Colorado, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington) The Pacific northwest coast of the USA is the wettest part of the country receiving year-round drizzle, some storms and fog in the summer. However, summers are usually mild to hot and drier than the winters which are mild to cold. The Pacific southwest coast, California, receives pleasant weather all year with long, hot summers and mild winters. Americans use these areas for recreational & commercial activities, such as fishing, camping, hiking, boating, grazing, lumbering, mining. Western cities are known for their tolerance & a very strong “live-and-let-live” attitude.

№ 36. Ethnic minorities. African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans or Afro-Americans, and formerly as American Negroes) are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. Most African Americans are the direct descendants of captive Africans who survived the slavery era within the boundaries of the present United States, although some immigrants from African, Caribbean, Central American or South American nations. African-American history starts in the 17th century with indentured servitude in the American colonies and progresses onto the election of an African American as the 44th and current President of the United States—Barack Obama. Black Americans make up the single largest racial minority in the United States and form the second largest racial group after whites in the United States.

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as intact political communities. European colonization of the Americas led to centuries of conflict and adjustment between Old and New World societies. Most of the written historical record about Native Americans was made by Europeans after initial contact. Native Americans lived in hunter/farmer subsistence societies with significantly different value systems than those of the European colonists. The differences in culture between the Native Americans and Europeans, and the shifting alliances among different nations of each culture, led to great misunderstandings and long-lasting cultural conflicts. Native Americans today have a unique relationship with the USA because they can be found as members of nations, tribes, or bands of Native Americans who have sovereignty or independence from the government of the United States. Their societies and cultures flourish within a larger immigrated American populace of African, Asian, Middle Eastern, and European peoples. Today there are 2,5 mln American Indians & Alaska Natives (0.9 % of the US pop-n). Altogether, the reservations make up 2,5% of US territory.

Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to the ancient Hispania. During the modern era, it took on a more limited meaning, relating to the contemporary nation of Spain. Still more recently, primarily in the US, the term has also (or alternatively) been used to denote the culture and people of countries formerly ruled by Spain, usually with a majority of the population speaking the Spanish language. These include Mexico, the majority of the Central and South American countries, and most of the Greater Antilles. Their number is about 12.5% of the US pop-n. Several states have large Hispanic populations: Texas, NY, Illinois, Florida.

Asian Americans The term generally refers to persons with ancestry from East Asia, which includes Chinese, Korean and Japanese Americans, though in definition they encompass any minority group whose national origin is from the Asian continent. As a result of these population changes, the formal and common understandings of what defines Asian American have expanded to include more of the peoples with ancestry from various parts of Asia. Because of their more recent immigration, new Asian immigrants also have had different educational, economic and other characteristics than early 20th century immigrants. They also tend to have different employment and settlement patterns in the United States. They have higher income. Their children study at the best US universities as undergraduate & graduate students. They are one of the fastest-growing ethnic groups in the country.

№ 37. Women in the USA

Although American women won the right to vote in 1920, broader economic and social change has been a longer time coming, and the pace of progress has often been uneven.

In the United States during the 1960s, there began a period of substantial social change; in women's issues, the result was a phenomenon known as the women's movement. Influenced by the success of the civil rights movement for racial equality and other progressive currents sweeping the nation during the 1960s and 1970s, a wide array of organizations and lobbying groups urged full equality for American women as well. The call was not only for a fundamental revision of American institutions, customs and values, but also for a revolution in consciousness - in the minds of women as well as men -- and especially in the way women thought about themselves. Not everyone welcomed the resulting changes, as evidenced by the formation of a number of organizations intent on countering what they viewed as unrestrained feminism. But whatever the perspective, there can be no doubt the changes have been telling. American women are living very different lives today than they did in the 1950s and earlier.

Equal Opportunity, sometimes known as Equality of opportunity, is a term which has differing definitions and there is no consensus as to the precise meaning. In the classical sense, equality of opportunity is closely aligned with the concept of equality before the law, and ideas of meritocracy. Some use it as a descriptive term for an approach intended to provide a certain social environment in which people are not excluded from the activities of society, such as education, employment, or health care, on the basis of immutable traits. Unfair opportunity practices include measures taken by an organization to ensure fairness in the employment process. A basic definition of equality is the idea of equal treatment and respect. In job advertisements and descriptions, the fact that the employer is an equal opportunity employer is sometimes indicated by the abbreviations EOE or MFDV which stands for Minority, Female, Disabled, Veteran.

№38.Social class in the USA

Social class is a group of people within a society who posses the same socioeconomic status. Social class is as old as civilization itself and has been present in nearly every society from before the Roman Empire, through medieval times, and to the modern day. Class position has a pervasive influence on almost everything. Our position in the social hierarchy affects our health, happiness, and even how long we will live. The United States like saw increased health consciousness among persons of higher social status. Persons of higher status are less likely to smoke, more likely to exercise regularly and be more conscious of their diet. Additionally, poor Americans are more likely to consume lower quality, processed foods and be obese. There are some criteria of social class: occupation, education, income, power, property, social prestige, also manners, style, cultural refinements, and even kind of language they speak. There are 3 classes in the USA, but they divided in some subclasses.

Upper class consists of the rich and powerful people. There are top-level executives, high-rung politicians, heirs, celebrities, multi-millionaires. The upper class divided into 2 sections: the “upper-upper class”- those which include established upper-class families. They are called “old money”, because they inherit their money. And “lower-upper class”– those who become rich during their life. They are called “new money”.Less than 5 % of American population owns as much as the combined wealth of the bottom 90 %, or perhaps even more. Also this 1 % owns 33 % of nation wealth.

Middle class is subdivided into an upper-middle, middle-middle, lower-middle class. The upper middle class consists of highly-educated salaried professionals whose work is largely self-directed. Many have advanced graduate degrees with educational attainment serving as the main distinguishing feature of this class. Education serves as perhaps the most important value and also the most dominant entry barrier of the upper- middle class. The upper- middle class constitute roughly 15 % of the American population and these are highly-educated, well-paid professionals, some doctors, lawyers, etc.Those households more or less at the center of society may be referred to as being part of the American middle-middle class. There are some professionals too, professors, academics, etc.The lower middle class is generally defined as those less privileged than the middle class. These are semi-professionals, craftsmen, office staff, sales employees, white collar workers. People in this class commonly work in supporting occupations. Although they seldom hold advanced academic degrees, a college degree (usually a bachelor's degree) is almost always required for entry into the lower middle class.