1.Central Park.
Central Park is a beautiful green oasis in the middle of New York’s concrete desert, and it’s surprisingly big, with lakes, woods, and organized recreation areas.
New Yorkers love Central Park, and they use it all the time. In the winter, they go ice-skating, and in the summer – roller-skating. They play ball, ride horses and bicycles, have picnics, go boating. There is even a children’s zoo, with wild birds and animals.
Families come here to enjoy the sun and fresh air. The children can play safely here, away from fast cars and busy streets. Musicians make music, office workers bring their lunches here in fine weather, and give pieces of bread to the water birds, and heavy New Yorkers who have eaten too many hot dogs and hamburgers from Monday to Friday, go jogging here on Saturday and Sunday. They walk and run around the park to try to get slim again.
Go to the northern corners of Central Park, walk around the lake and through the woods, and you will understand a little of what Manhattan was in the days of the first New Yorkers nearly four hundred years ago.
Along the east side of Central Park runs Fifth Avenue. It was called “Millionaire’s Row” in the 19th century because the richest men in America built their magnificent homes here. And it is still the most fashionable street in the city, with famous department stores, like B. Altman’s, and wonderful jewellery shops, like Cartier’s and Tiffany’s.
B. Altman’s – Б. Олтмэн, название нью-йоркского универмага (по фамилии владельца)
boating – катание на лодке, гребля
Cartier’s, Tiffany’s – Картье, Тиффани – названия нью-йоркских ювелирных магазинов
(по именам владельцев)
ice-skating – катание на коньках (по льду)
oasis [ou`eisis] - оазис
organized recreation area – место культурного отдыха
roller-skating - катание на роликовых коньках
surprisingly – удивительно, на удивление.
2.New York by Night
New York is an international city, and its restaurants are international too. You can spend a fortune, or just a few dollars. You can eat a food from the Middle East, Russia, Italy, China, Japan and many other places. New York is the place to try something new, and it may be an experience you will never forget.
Broadway, of course, is the street where you will find New York’s best theatres. But away from the bright lights and elegant clothes of Broadway there are many smaller theatres. Their plays are called “off-Broadway”, and they are often more interesting and unusual than the Broadway shows.
As well as different theatres, New York has a famous opera house, the Metropolitan, where international stars sing from September until April. The Carnegie Hall is the city’s most popular concert hall.
But night life in New York offers more than classical music and theatres. There are hundreds of nightclubs where people go to eat and dance. One of the best of these is the Copacabana on East 60th street. Jazz, America’s greatest gift to the world of music, is still very popular in New York, and there are many small jazz clubs. Some of the musicians are well-known, and many are not, but their music brings with it a very special atmosphere.
However, most young people prefer other music styles. For disco fans, New York has everything. New discos open every week, and old ones close down. Since the late 1980s “gangsta-rap” and hip-hop (rough music of young black criminals from the West Coast) have unfortunately been popular with American teenagers.
If you are in New York, and you want to know where everyone is going, look in one of the weekly magazines, like “Cue”, for information.
“Cue” [kju:] – «Реплика», нью-йоркский еженедельник
fortune – здесь: состояние (большая сумма денег)
“gangsta-rap” – «гангста-рэп» (музыка молодежи из бандитских кварталов Лос-Анджелеса)
UNIT 8. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
Text 1. The Political System.
Washington, Lincoln, Eisenhower, Kennedy – some of the great names of American history, the names of her* Presidents.
These days, the American President is one of the most powerful men in the world. He can make war, or peace. He can touch the lives of millions in many different countries. But the President cannot do just what he wants. First he must persuade Congress to agree.
In some ways, the United States is not one large country, but fifty small ones. Every state has its own governor, its own police, and its own laws. For example, in some states a person can buy an alcoholic drink when he or she is 18. In others, a person must wait until he or she is 21.
The government of the whole country (the federal government) works from Washington, the capital city. This is where Congress is based. Congress has two parts, the Senate and the House of Representatives. There are 100 members of the Senate, or senators (two from each state). The President cannot act without the Senate’s agreement. The House of Representatives has 435 members (the number of representatives from each state depends on the number of people who live there). Like the senators, they can make new laws.
The USA has two main political parties: the Republican and Democratic parties (or: Republicans and Democrats). Other (small) parties play little role. People (voters) elect the President, senators, representatives, governors of states, state senators and representatives. A voter can vote for candidates from different parties – for example, for a Republican for President and a Democrat for senator. So the President does not have to be from the party that has more members in Congress.
_________________________________________________________________________________
the Democratic party – Демократическая партия
to depend on – зависеть от…
governor [`gΛvәnә ] – губернатор (в США – выборный глава штата)
the House of Representatives – Палата Представителей
to persuade [pә`sweid] – yбеждать, убедить
the Republican party – Республиканская партия
the Senate [`senit] – ceнат; senator - сенатор
to vote for – голосовать за…; voter – избиратель
* Americans often call their country “she”
Answer these questions:
1.What names of American Presidents do you know?
2.Саn the President of the USA do what he wants?
3.Who limits (oграничивает) the power of the President?
4.Why do people call the USA “fifty small countries”?
5.Where does the federal government work from?
6.How many parts does the Congress consist of? What are they?
7.How many senators are there in the Congress?
8.What does the number of representatives from each state depend on?
9.What do the Congress members do?
10.How many main political parties are there in the USA?
11.Whom do American people elect?
12.Does the President have to be from the party that has more members in Congress?
Text 2. The President.
In the USA, the President is the Head of State. He makes the most important decisions and chooses the members of his cabinet (ministers) who will help him to govern the country. The President has the Vice-President as his most important assistant. Usually if the President cannot act himself (for example, if he has died or has been dismissed) , the Vice-President takes his place and becomes Head of State until the next election occurs (as it was in 1963 when J. F. Kennedy was killed).
The President also represents the United States on official occasions. He receives ambassadors from other countries, gives parties for important visitors from abroad, and takes the first place in any national ceremony.
Americans elect a new President every four years. The election is a great occasion. It is serious business, of course, but the Americans are sure that it is fun too.
Americans are always interested in the President’s family life, his wife and children – the “first lady” and the “first family”. They expect their President to have a good family life and to be an example to the whole nation.
to dismiss – отстранять (от должности)
to occur [ә`kә:]- случаться, происходить
official occasions – официальные мероприятия
the Vice- President – вице-президент
Answer these questions:
1.What does the President do as the Head of State?
2.Who is the President’s most important assistant?
3.What does the Vice-President do if the President cannot act himself?
4.Who was the President of the USA in 1963 and what happened to him that year?
5.How does the President represent the USA on official occasions?
6.How often do Americans elect a new President?
7.Why are Americans interested in the President’s family life ?