What states of the USA make up New England?

What states of the USA make up New England?

Made up of the northernmost five states along the Atlantic seaboard plus Vermont and parts of New York.

The region was named New England in 1616 by the English explorer John Smith and the designation was made official in 1620.

National parks, conservation and recreation areas, administrative division of the UK.

In the UK there are many National Forest Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Heritage Coasts and World Heritage Sites.

There are 7 national parks in England. They are: Dartmoor, Exmoor, Lake District, Northumberland, North York Moors, The Peak District and Yorkshire Dales.

In Wales there are 3 nat.parks: Snowdonia, Brecon Beacons and the Pembrokshire coast.

In Scotland there are 3 nat.parks: Loch Lomond, Fife Clyde Muirshiel and Pentland Hills.

The World Heritage Sites are 15 in number: Canterbury Cathedral, Maritime Greenwich, Palace of Westminster, Tower of London, Stonehenge, City of Bath, Hadrian’s Wall and others.

Stonehenge is the most famous prehistoric monument in Britai which is situated on Salisbury Plain in the county of Wiltshire and is said that it was used as a massive astronomical clock. Hadrian’s Wall was built in 122-138 by Romans to ensure the safety of the zone occupied by them from Scots.

To areas by Outstanding Natural Beauty refers the Giant’s Causeway which is a massive formation of some 40 000 basalt columns descending like a giant staircase into the sea and which lies on the north coast of Northern Ireland near Portrash, county Antrim.

Administrative division. The UK is the political name of the country which is made of England Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Several islands off the British coast are also part of the UK ( The Isle of Wight, Orkney Islands, Hebrides, Shetland Islands) and the Isles of Scilly, though the Cannel Islands and the Isle of Man are not. England is situated between latitudes 50 and 57north, longitudes 2 east and 6 west. Scotland- between latitudes 50 and 61 north and longitudes 1(gradus)) 45’ and 6 (gradus)) 14’ west. Wales – between latitudes 51 (gr) 40’ and 53(gr) 50’ north, longitudes 2 gr 30’ and 5gr 30’ west. Northern Ireland – latitudes 54-55gr 30’ north, longitudes 5 gr 30’ and 8gr 20’ west.

England, Wales and Northern Ireland are divided into counties, Scotland - into regions. England covers the territory of 130 000 sq.km, Scotland – 78 783 sq.km, Wales – 20 766 sq.km, N.Ireland – 13 483 sq.km.

The capitals are London – on the Thames, Edinbutgh - on the Bay of Fifth of Forth, Cardiff – on the Bristol Channel.

American music and ballet.

Music. Any large city in the US can provide musical choices to satisfy every taste. Performances of jazz, pop and rock bands, symphony orchestras, opera, chamber music, blues, folk, country and blue grass music, and musical theater have become a part of the daily offering at concert halls across the country. Historians give the honor of being America’s first native composer to Francis Hopkinson. Music experts, however, credit William Billings with being a revolutionary force in early American song.

Of all the forms of popular singing and theater to emerge in early 19^th century America, none was as fluential – or so characteristically American – as the minstrel show. In these shows, which appeared in the 1820s and lasted well into this century, white performers in costume impersonated black song, storytelling and dance. The minstrel show produced Stephen Foster.

Also popular in the late 1800s was marching band music. The most prominent composer and bandleader was John Philip Sousa, who first gained fame as director of the US Marine Corps Band.

The blues which developed from African folk songs and Christian religious music, is typically a lamenting song with an undercurrent of resignation and often humor. The greatest blues singers were Gertrude “Ma” Rainey and Bessie Smith. Among the most popular modern blues musicians were Muddy Waters and B.B.King.

Jazz emerged as blues and Dixieland musicians refined their instrumental styles. By 1920, jazz had spread from the South as black musicians moved to Chicago and New York City. The most influential of the early jazz musicians was Luis Armstrong, a trumpeter. Born in New Orleans, one of the early centres of jazz. Each new jazz generation has explored new directions. The early 1940s saw the rise of a complicated style known as “bebop” championed by trumpeter “Dizzy” Gillespie and saxophonist Charlie Parker.

Since the 1940s, America’s composers have tended to move in very different directions. Some drawing more directly on traditional influences and popular culture, have gained popularity through their scores for American musical has become a unique form of entertainment combining song, dance, comedy and drama. Among the most successful composer-lyricist teams was Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein.

For most people around the world the sound American music is the sound of rock and roll. First popularized in the 1950s by white musicians performing mixtures of southern gospel, ‘country music’ and black rhythm and blues, rock-and-roll quickly became a second language for American youth. Elvis Presley was the early “King of rock and Roll” selling over 500 million records. Bob Dylan first emerged as the leading singer-songwriter of the folk music explosion in the US. His protest songs became anthems of social range.

Bluegrass music a mixture of folk country and blues also gained a broad audience through the music of Bill Monroe and others.

Rock and roll seemed to lose its almost revolutionary momentum in the 1970-1980s. Some artists stood out including guitarist –songwriter Bruce Springsteen, singer-composer Stevie Wonder and singer Michael Jackson.

Reggae a trancelike variation of rock music with a Caribbean beat was popularized by Jamaican Bob Marley. And rap music in which someone talks on one sound track and rhythm is played on another sound track, also became popular in the 1980s. The first hit rap song “The Message” talked about inner city decay.

Ballet. Closely linked to the development of modern American music was a new art form-modern dance-that emerged in the early years of this century. Rejecting classical ballet techniques, its innovators sought to express the most basic and immediate expression of human feeling in new styles suited to the modern age. Among the earliest American champions of this attitude was Isadora Duncan. Duncan, who stressed pure, unstructured movement, sought to create a dance “that might be the divine expression of the human spirit through the medium of the body’s movement”. The main development of American modern dance was to flow from the work of another early dancer and choreographer Ruth St.Denis. St.Denis and her partner – husband Ted Shawn found inspiration in Eastern thought and philosophy.St.Denis company produced the dancers who would create the two dominant views of modern dance. Doris Humphrey looked outward for inspiration to society and human conflict. Martha Graham whose New York –based company has become perhaps the best known in modern dance, stressed the guiding principles of inward –based passion, grounded in the act of breathing.

What states of the USA make up the Middle Atlantic Region?

1.	Mid-Atlantic states - a region of the eastern United States comprising New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.

Architecture in the USA.

The first famous American architect is Thomas Jefferson. He designed the well-known Monticello and the University in Charlottesville. Few shapes symbolize the spirit of the American city better than the skyscraper. Made possible by new building techniques and the invention of the elevator, the first skyscraper was built in Chicago in 1884. Its designer was William Le Baron Jenney. Jenney devised the steel skeleton which provided interior support, meaning that exterior walls no longer had to carry the weught of many floors. Many of the most graceful early towers were designed by Louis Sullivan, America’s first great modern architect. Sullivan’s most talented student was Frank Lloyd Wright. One of his best known buildings is the cylindrical design for the Guggenheim Museum in New York city. The ideas of Sullivan and Wright – though very different – came to dominate American architecture. Some were adapted by a group of Europeans who emigrated to the US before World War 2 and who later shaped another dominant movement in architecture. Among them were Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe and Walter Gropius both past directors of Germany’s famous design school, the Baunhaus. Their work, called the International Style, stressed machine technology, geometric form and materials. A radically different approach to design was developed by R.Buckminster Fuller. Fuller used mathematical principles in creating a form he called a geodesic dome, in which the structure of the roof supports its own weight. Today’s leading architects include Philip Johnson usually considered a “postmodernist” and Ieoh Ming Pei. Many younger architects have turned away from the glass boxes. One leader of this movement is Michael Graves whose work is rich in detail and decoration.

Scandinavian invasion.

The Scandinavian invaders were Danes and Norwegians. Danes became the invaders of England, the Norwegians invaded Scotland and Ireland. The Danes surpassed Anglo-Saxons in military skill and in military equipment. In 842 they burnt up London. Thus the Scandinavian invasion began in the 9^th century. By the 60^sof the 9^th century Viking of Scandinavia overran Nortumbria, East Anglia and Mercia. These kingdoms lost their resistance. And it was the young king of Wessex Alfred who finally stopped them. In 879 a peace treaty was signed stipulating a division of the country into 2 roughly equal parts: the Danelaw part in the north-east and England proper in the south-west. This is how place names in what was East Anglia and Mercia have the characteristic Scandinavian endings ( Derby, Ashby, Norwich, Ipswich ). Alfred the Great made vigorous efforts to restore the country’s economy and build up its military potential. He established fortifications, attempted to consolidate the state. Alfred the Great did so well that for almost a century after his death there was comparative peace.

The Scandinavians renewed their raids at the end of the 10^th century. What they wanted this time was not conquest, it was money. A special tax called Danegeld or Dane-money was paid by Aethelred the Unready to the Danish ruler.

The Norman Conquest. When Edward died in 1066 the Witenagemot declared Harold King. William, The Duke of Normandy cousin to Edward the Confessor declared himself heir to the throne of England. He got the support of the Pope, appealed to all European knights to participate in the crusade, promised them land and on the 14 October 1066 with a well-trained army near Hasting defeated the Anglo-Saxon army. The battle was very important for the conquest of the whole country. The central countries and the North were not conquered, William crossed the Thames, cut off London from North. London businessmen opened the gates, the Witenagemot declared William King and the crown of the Saxon kings was put upon William’s head in the Westminster Abbey which was built by Edward the Confessor. By 1070 the whole of England was subdued. To keep the Anglo-Saxons in subjection William started building castles and strongholds. He broke the old arrangement of the lord’s vassals “The vassal of my vassal is not my vassal”, because it gave the barons a chance to resist the King. Now it became “The vassal of my vassal is my vassal”. 20 years after the Conquest William 1 organized a registration of all the holders of arable land, of the amount of arable and pasture. The King’s agents were so thorough, so inquisitive and omniscient that the census was nicknamed “Doomsday Book”. The number of people was about 2 million, out of which 90% - agricultural workers, other 10% lords, clergy, craftsmen and so on. There were 80 towns. After the conquest the whole of the land passed out of the hands of its old owners into the hands of the Conqueror.

Tutorial system

Tutorial system in the UK. Tutorial system is an educational system of Oxbridge, in which college tutors are responsible for the special supervision of students individually or in small groups. Tutor in Oxbridge is a college teacher or teaching assistant ranking below a professor; and instructor. Oxford and Cambridge consist of a number of colleges which are governed by deans.

#10

Higher education in the USA

Higher education. The system of higher education in the United States is complex. It comprises four categories of institutions: 1. The university, which may contain several colleges for undergraduate students seeking a bachelor’s degree and one or more graduate schools for those continuing in specialized studies beyond the bachelor’s degree to get a master’s or a doctoral degree; 2. The four-year undergraduate institution – the college – most of which are not part of a university; 3. The technical training institution, at which high school graduates may take courses ranging from six months to four years in duration and learn a wide variety of technical skills, from hair styling through business accounting to computer programming; 4. The two-year, or community college, from which students may enter many professions or may transfer to four-year colleges or universities. Many universities and colleges, both public and private, have gained reputations for offering particularly challenging courses. The factors determining whether an institution is one of the best or one of lower prestige are:

· quality of teaching faculty;

· quality of research facilities;

· amount of funding available for libraries;

· special programs;

· the competence and number of applicants for admission.

SAT – the Scholastic Aptitude Test in mathematics and Verbal ability used since 1947. The SAT is taken in the 11^th degree of high school. Americans place a high value on higher education. This is an attitude that goes back to the country’s oldest political traditions. People in the United States have always believed that education is necessary for maintaining democratic government. They believe that it prepares the individual for informed intelligent political participation, including voting. In American university, each college and graduate school has its own curriculum. At the undergraduate level, there may be some courses that every student has to take. Typically, an undergraduate student has to earn a certain number of credits (about 120)in order to get a degree at the end of four years of college. One credit usually equals one hour of class per week in a single course. About 25% of all schools of higher education in the United States are privately operated by religious organizations. There are old and new universities in the USA. Harvard university was founded in 1636; William an Mary College in 1693; Yale in 1701 are the oldest. There are large and small universities in the USA. Some small American colleges have less than 100 students. But the larger universities tend to keep attracting larger numbers of students.

Magna Carta.

It is Britain’s best known constitutional document. It protects the rights of the community against the crown. In 1215 King John was forced to fix his seal to the Magna Carta. Since that day the Magna Carta has become part of English law and established principle that the king is not above law. In Magna Carta there are 61 clauses. They contain criticism of the king’s abuses of power and declare that the king is not to make the people to pay taxes without the consent of the Great Council and that no one is to be punished for any wrong doings without the consent of the Great Council.

#12

Black Americans.

Among the flood of immigrants to North America, one group of people came unwillingly. These were Africans. About 500000 Africans were brought to the colonies as slaves. The history of blacks in North America began in August 1619, when a small Dutch warship sailed up the James River to the young English colony of Jamestown, Virginia. The Dutch ship had captured a Spanish ship in the Caribbean Sea carrying black men and women to Spanish colonies in South America. At that time, the Jamestown colonists needed workers to help clear and till the land and build houses. The 20 blacks landed from the Dutch ship were viewed as indentured servants. Black and white indentured servants worked side by side at Jamestown, clearing fields, planting crops, making roads and building houses. Some colonists said that blacks were secure and happy as slaves, that slavery was an economic necessity. Other advocates of slavery went a step further. Over the years, several black men and women achieved fame and fortune in the arts, sciences, religion and commerce. Some had high standing in colonial society. Many joined in the struggle to forge a new nation – the United States. One was Benjamin Banneker who gained fame as an astronomer, mathematician, author and inventor. He also helped design the city of Washington, D.C. Emancipation, or the ending of slavery, didn’t happen in a single day. The process began in April 1861 with the outbreak of the American Civil War between free states of the North and slave states of the South. Some slaves were free after the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. But not all of them. Martin Luther King continued to conduct civil rights campaigns throughout the country, and in 1964 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his decade of leadership in nonviolent protest against discrimination. Tragically, he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. Perhaps the greatest change in the past few decades has been in attitudes of America’s white community. A generation has come of age since Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech. The proof of this are Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, who became the state Secretary in the administration of Bush, Barack Obama.

3. The rivers of Britain

Rivers of Br are short, their direction and character are determined by the position of the mountains. Most of the rivers flow in the eastward direction since the west coast is mountaneous. The water level in rivers is always high; they are ice-free in winter. British rivers form deep estuaries. The most important rivers are the Severn, the Thames, the Ouse, the Tyne, the Tees, the Eden. The Thames runs through rich agricultural districts in an easterly direction into the North Sea. The Severn which flows south-west into the Irish Sea, is the longest British river.

#13

British monarchy.

The queen In law is:

· Head of the executive

· An integral part of legislature

· Head off the judiciary

· Commander in chief of all the armed forces of the crown

· The supreme governor of the established Church of england

The royal title is title is: her most excellent majesty, elizabeth the 2^nd, head of the commonwealth, defender of the faith.

She takes part important acts of the government such as: summoning(шакыру); proroguing(stopping parliament meeting without ending the session); dissolving the parliament; pardoning people convicted of crime; gives royal assent to bills passed by parliament; formally appoints many important office holders-ministers, diplomats, judges, bishops;

In international affairs the queen has the power to declare war & make peace, to conclude treaties & to annex or cede territories, to recognize foreign states & government. Most of those are formality, ceremonial. The queen gives audiences to ministers, officials in britain & overseas. In order to carry out her public dutiesshe receives annual parliamentary allowances. The expenditure incurred by the queen in carrying out her public duties is financed from the civil list, for upkeep of the royal palaces & for royal travel. In 1991 civil list payments were fixed at 7, 9 million pounds a year for 10 years. About 70% of the queen’s civil list provision is required to meet the cost of staff working for the queen. Since 1993 the queen has voluntarily paid income tax on all her personal income & on that part of the privy purse income which is used for private purposes.

Climate.

Climate of britain is variable. The climate of the uk is determined by:

· The position of the island in the temperature belt;

· The fact that prevailing winds flow from the west & south – west;

· The moderate influence of the Atlantic Ocean & the Gulf Stream current;

· The indentation of the coast-line which makes most parts of the country accessible to the oceanic influence.

Due to the influence of the sea britain has an insular climate rather humid & mild with no striking discrepancy between seasons. The eastern areas of britain are drier than the western. The rains lose the greater part of the moisture. Thus while in lancashire it is raining in the west, in yorkshire there is no rain. Autumn & winter are the wettest seasons in britain. October is the wettest month. One of the reasons dampness of the country is the continuous stream of warm water, called the gulf stream that flows on past northern scotland. The average annual rainfall in the wettest parts of the uk is more than 1600mm.

#14

Native Americans.

People lived in the United States long before the arrival of Christopher Columbus and the Europeans. These people and cultures are called Native Americans. The first people to live in a land are called indigenous peoples. This means they were the original settlers. The Native Americans are the indigenous peoples and cultures of the United States. Sometimes these peoples are referred to as Indians or American Indians. This is because when Columbus had first landed in America, he thought he had sailed all the way to to the country of India. He called the locals Indians and the name stuck for some time. Native Americans lived throughout North and South America. In the United States there were Native Americans in Alaska, Hawaii, and the mainland of the United States. Different tribes and cultures lived in different areas. In the middle of the country lived the Plains Indians, including tribes such as the Comanche and Arapaho. In the Southeast area of the country lived tribes such as the Cherokee and the Seminole. The Native Americans were grouped into tribes or nations usually based on the area they lived in and their culture such as their religion, customs, and language. Sometimes smaller tribes were part of a bigger tribe or nation. As best as historians can tell, these tribes were fairly peaceful prior to the arrival of Columbus and the Europeans. There were hundreds of tribes throughout the United States when Columbus first arrived. Many of them are well known such as the Cherokee, Apache, and the Navajo. The Native Americans did not write down or record their history, so we have to find out about their history in other ways. Today archeologists are able to learn a lot about past cultures by digging up artifacts such as tools and weapons. Much of what we know comes from the recordings of the first Europeans to arrive. Today, some of the descendants of the original American Indians live on reservations. These are areas of land set aside specifically for Native Americans. This helps to protect their heritage and culture. However, only around 30% live on reservations. The rest live outside the reservations just like anyone

3. Green belt –

an area of land around a city where building is not allowed, in order to protect fields and woods. Green belt land refers to an area that is kept in reserve for an open space, most often around larger cities. The main purpose of the green belt policy is to protect the land around larger urban centres from urban sprawl, and maintain the designated area for forestry and agriculture as well as to provide habitat to wildlife.

Green belt offers a number of benefits for both urban and rural population. By preventing the urban sprawl, it helps protect agricultural activities and the unique character of rural communities. Urban population, on the other hand, is provided an access to an open space which offers opportunities for outdoor activities and an access to clean air.

#15

The legislative process.

The legislative process is a long & an interesting one. Parliamentary procedure is based on custom & precedent. The system of debate is similar in both houses. Both houses air opinions & reach decisions by means of debates. Every subject starts off as proposal or motion by a member. After the debate the speaker “puts the question” whether to agree with the motion or not. The question may be decided without voting, or by a simple majority vote. In case of voting the so-called division should be observed. Division is the physical separation & regrouping of MPs according to their stand on an issue put to vote. MPs vote by walking through corridors, known as the Aye-Lobby & the No-Lobby. Near the division Lobbies MPs are counted by Tellers. The speaker supervises voting in the commons & announces the final result. In a tied vote the speaker gives a casting vote without expressing an opinion on the merits of the question. Most legislation originates in bills, that is the law before & while it is journeying through parliament is called a Bill. The government bill gets through several stages which are called reading because in the old days, before printing, members had no copies & the only way in which members could find out what a bill is introduced into parliament, is called the 1^st reading. There are 3 readings. Between the 2^nd & the 3^rd readings there is a clause-by-clause scrutiny in the committee which is composed of 18 to 25MPs. During the 2^nd & the committee stage some amendments may be proposed. Amendment is the change to the bill. The 3^rd reading is a final debate, often very short. After the 3^rd reading the bill automatically moves to the house of lords. The house of lords has similar procedures. Bills must normally be passed by both houses. They must then receive the royal assent before becoming Acts. The law after it has journeyed through all the parliamentary stages & been given the Royal Assent is called Act. The royal assent in practice is a formality. There has been no refusal of the assent since 1707 year. Proceedings of both houses are normally public & visitors can watch the proceedings from the galleries of both chambers. The minutes & speeches-a word for word account of what is said each day in the house of commons in published in the official report of debates which is called hansard.

Population Profile.

the population of the usa is 309 million persons 50.9female 154 mil, 49.1 male 149mil.The USA is a country of many ethnic groups. A ethnic group is made up of people who share 1 or more characteristics which make them different from other groups. The harvard encyclopedia of american ethnic groups lists 106 major groups in the US today, including native americans, albanians, afro-americans, arabs, burmese, chinese, eskimos, filipinos, greeks, irish, italians, jews, mexicans& swiss. There are really more & more than 170 different native american tribes. America has long been known as an ethnic ‘melting pot’. Its current population is 309 million, made up of immigrants or their descendants from virtually every country in the world. Americans as a nation tend to be quite mobile. Over a 5 year period, 1 family in 10 moves to a new state. California has passed new york as the most populous state although the metropolitan area of new york city remains the nation’s largest, with los angeles 2^nd & chicago. During the period from 1945 to 1964 the number of childdren born in the US increased dramatically; a total of 76 million babies were born during this period. This sharp increase became known as the “baby boom”

Entente-

an arrangement or understanding between two or more nations agreeing to follow a particular policy with regard to affairs of international concern.

The Triple Entente (from French entente [ɑ ̃ tɑ ̃ t] " friendship, understanding, agreement" ) was the understanding linking the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente on 31 August 1907. The understanding between the three powers, supplemented by agreements with Japan and Portugal, constituted a powerful counterweight to the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Italy, though Italy did not follow through, and soon joined the allies.

Historians continue to debate the importance of the alliance system in igniting the Great War. At the start of World War I in 1914, all three of the Triple Entente entered it as Allies against the Central Powers Germany and Austria-Hungary

#16

The UK executive.

The executive consists of:

· The government; the cabinet & other ministers responsible for national policies;

· Government departments, responsible for national administration;

· Local authorities;

· Public corporations, responsible for operating nationalized industries, subject to ministerial control;

· The scottish, welsh & northern ireland executives.

Britain is governed by her majesty’s government & the devolved authorities in the name of the queen. Her majesty’s government s the body of ministers responsible for the conduct of national affairs. The prime minister is appointed by the queen, & all other ministers are appointed by the queen on the recommendation of the prime minister. Most ministers are members of the commons. the lord chancellor is always a member of the house of lords. The prime minister is also, by tradition, 1^st lord of the treasury & minister for the civil service. The prime minister presides over the cabinet & informs the queen at regular meetings of the general business of the government. The prime minister is responsible for:

· Allocation of functions among ministers;

· Recommending a number of appointments to the queen.

These include: church of england archbishops, bishops, deans; senior judges, such as the lord chief justice; privy councellors, poet laureate; constable of the tower london. The prime minister always makes recommendation for the award of many civil honours & distinctions. His office is in downing street. The cabinet is composed of 20- to 25 ministers. The functions of the cabinet are: the initiation & decision making on policy; the supreme control of government; the coordination of government departments. Dont confuse the government with the cabinet. All ministers are responsible to parliament for the work of their departments. Each department has at least 1 minister in the house of commons who can answer members’ questions about the department. Questions are asked during the question time which takes place between 2.35 p.m. & 3.30 p.m. on Mondays to Thursdays. the question time is every Wednesday for 30 minutes when the house is sitting.

2. Time of changes.

Political activism didnt disappear in the 1970s. Some young people campaigned against the nuclear power industry. Women had been moving into the labor force since WWII & in the 1970s feminists movement grew stronger. President Nixon re-established formal relations with the people’s republic of china & negotiated the 1^st strategic arms limitation treaty(SALT I) with the soviet union. Republican Gerald Ford did much to restore the trust of the citizens. The 1976 election was won by Democrat Jimmy Carter who couldnt control the chief economic problem of the 1970s-inflation. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC) had been increasing the cost of oil, & those increases fueled a general rise in prices. Carter signed a 2^nd SALT with the soviet union but it was never ratified by the senate after the soviet invasion of Afghanistan. He seemed ineffectual in the face of another crisis: in 1979 Iranian radicals stormed the United States embassy in Teheran & held 53 american hostage. His greatest success was the negotiating of the Camp David Accord between Israel & Egypt which led to an historic peace treaty between the 2 nations. In the presidential race american voters elected Ronald Reagan a conservative republican & former governor of California. Republican party gained a majority in the senate for the 1^st time in 26 years. 2008 was a year of great changes. For the 1^st time in the history of the USA that a non-white american was elected the president of the country. The US confronted an insurgency in El Salvador & the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua. The US forces landed in Grenado. The US sent troops to Lebanon 241 american marines were killed in terrorist bombing.

3. Triple Alliance,

secret agreement between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy formed in May 1882 and renewed periodically until World War I. Germany and Austria-Hungary had been closely allied since 1879. Italy sought their support against France shortly after losing North African ambitions to the French. The treaty provided that Germany and Austria-Hungary were to assist Italy if it were attacked by France without Italian provocation; Italy would assist Germany if Germany were attacked by France. In the event of a war between Austria-Hungary and Russia, Italy promised to remain neutral. This abstention would have the effect of freeing Austrian troops that would otherwise have been needed to guard the Austrian-Italian border.

When the treaty was renewed in February 1887, Italy gained an empty promise of German support of Italian colonial ambitions in North Africa in return for Italy’s continued friendship. Austria-Hungary had to be pressured by German chancellor Otto von Bismarck into accepting the principles of consultation and mutual agreement with Italy on any territorial changes initiated in the Balkans or on the coasts and islands of the Adriatic and Aegean seas. Italy and Austria-Hungary did not overcome their basic conflict of interest in that region, the treaty notwithstanding. On November 1, 1902, five months after the Triple Alliance was renewed, Italy reached an understanding with France that each would remain neutral in the event of an attack on the other. Although the alliance was again renewed in 1907 and 1912, Italy entered World War I in May 1915 in opposition to Germany and Austria-Hungary.

#17

Vietnam war

When Communist and nationalist rebels fought French colonialism in Indochina after World War II, President Truman sent military aid to France. After the French withdrew from Southeast Asia in 1954, Pr. Eisenhower dispatched American advisers and aid to help set up a democratic, pro-Western government in South V. Under Pr. Kennedy, 1000s of military officers trained South V-se soldiers and sometimes flew V-se warplanes into combat.

In Aug 1964, 2 Amer-n destroyers sailing in the Gulf of Tonkin reported attacks by North V-e torpedo boats. Pr. Johnson launched air strikes against North V-se. 1^st Amer-n combat soldiers were sent to V in March 1965. By 1968, 500, 000 Am-n troops had arrived.

Demonstrations protesting American involvement in this undeclared. In Oct 1967, 200, 000 dem-ors demanding peace marched on the Pentagon in Wash-n.

At the same time, younger black leaders were denouncing as ineffectual the nonviolent tactics of Martin Luther King. King's assassination in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968, triggered race riots in over 100 cities.

Lots of Am-s were against involvement of the US in the war in Indochina, in the 1968 election, Pr. Johnson faced strong challenges. He withdrew from the presidential race, offered to negotiate an end to the Vietnam War. Pr became Republican Richard Nixon. Nixon appealed to " Middle America" - the " great silent majority" who were unhappy with violence, protest at home.

In Indochina, Nixon pursued a policy of " Vietnamization, " gradually replacing Am-n soldiers with V-se. But heavy bombing of Communist bases continued, and in the spring of 1970 Nixon sent Am-n soldiers into Cambodia.

By 1973, Nixon had signed a peace treaty with North V, brought Am-n soldiers home, ended conscription. The fact that in - LA, WG, Detroit, Atlanta had elected black mayors contributed to the easing of urban tensions.

3. The meaning of “conurbation”

C – a region including towns and suburbs. (28стр)

#18

Cold War

After the war, tensions developed between the US and the Soviet Union. At the Yalta Conference of Febr1945, Roosevelt, Churchill and Josef Stalin promised free elections for all the liberated nations of Europe.

In 1947, Secretary of State George Marshall proposed a massive aid program to help rebuild destroyed Europe. Soviet Union rejected the offer. The Marshall Plan was a generous, successful. Over 4 y-s it paid out $12.5 thousand mln in aid, restored the economies of Western Eur.

In May 1947, the US began sending military aid to the Greek government, which was fighting Communist guerillas, and to Turkey, which was being pressured by the Soviets for territorial concessions. Germ and Berlin were divided in 2—a western zone under Am-n, Br-h and Fr-h occupation, an eastern zone under Soviet. the Soviets lifted the blockade in May 1949. A month earlier the US had allied with Canada, Britain, FR, Belgium, the Netherlands, Iceland, Portugal etc to form the North Atlantic Treaty Org-n (NATO).

On June 25, 1950 North Koreans invaded South Korea. Pr Truman sent Am-n troops into battle. (joined Br, Turkey, Aust, Fr). By sept 1950, the NK had conquered most of SK.

From 1945 until 1970, the US enjoyed a long period of economic growth, interrupted only by brief, fairly mild recessions. At the same time, the US was moving slowly in the direction of racial justice. In 1948, Pr Truman ended racial segregation in the armed forces, in all federal agencies.

1948, Am-s were jolted to learn that the Soviet Un had launched Sputnik, the Earth's first man-made satellite. This was a shock for the United States, they spent more money оn educ-n, esp-ly in the sciences.

In 1960, Democrat John F. Kennedy was elected president. Kennedy promised to " get the country moving again".

In October 1962, observation planes discovered that the SU was installing nuclear missiles in Cuba, crash Am-n cities in a minute. Kennedy imposed a blockade on Cuba. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev finally agreed to remove the missiles, in return for an Am-n promise not to invade Cuba.

In April 1961, the Soviets scored another triumph in space: Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit the Earth. In February 1962, John Glenn made the first American orbital flight, and he was welcomed home as a hero. It took $24 thousand million and years of research but Kennedy's pledge was fulfilled in July 1969, when Neil Armstrong stepped out of the Apollo 11 spacecraft onto the surface of the moon.

In the 1960s, Martin Luther King, Jr. led a nonviolent campaign to desegregate southern restaurants, interstate buses theaters and hotels. The Kennedy administration tried to protect civil rights workers and secure voting rights for southern blacks. In 1963 Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. His death was a terrible shock to the Am-s.

Danelaw (14)

Danelaw part in north-east and England proper in the south west. This is how place names in what was East Anglia and Mercia have the characteristic Scandinavian endings (Derby, Ashby, Norwich. Ipswich) belonged to the Danes

#19

Higher Education

Degree is an academic title granted by a uni or college to a student who completed a given course. A collge or uni degree is called B’s D after it M’s D.

In or der to go to the Uni it’s necessary to have A-level (advanced). Student at uni spends 3y (Eng, Wales, N.Ireland). In Scotl 4y. Medical, veterinary courses 7y.

A number of stud-s go on tp postgraduate studies. (M’s D). Many uni-s got the Uni charter beginning with 1900. (Redbrick Uni-s). Number of Uni-s got increased in 1922 when Polytechnics were allowed to take the Uni title.

The oldest Uni: Oxford (1167), Cambridge (1209). St.Andrew’s Uni of Scotl (1411), Uni of Wales (1873)

Oxf, Camb are unique uni-s, own teaching styles, the most peculiar is tutorials. Tutors work in a small group of stud-s. Colleges of O, C are residential institutions. In 1971 a new non residential uni is called the Open Uni. Teaching in the OU is a combination of specially produced printed texts, corresponding tuition, audio/video cassettes. The next degree is PhD. – Doctor of Philosophy. (3 y, thesis диссерт)

World War II and USA

In Sept 1939, war erupted in Europe. Roosevelt announced that the US would be neutral, but not indifferent. In September 1940, when Britain was threatened by a German invasion, the US gave the British 50 overage destroyers in return for naval bases in the western Atlantic. By early 1941 Britain could no longer afford to purchase Am-n goods, so Roosevelt persuaded Congress to enact a " lend-lease" bill. Through this program the US supplied $13.5 thousand mln in war supplies to Britain, $9 thousand mln to the Soviet Union.

In the Far East, Jap-se forces had invaded Manchuria (1931), China (1937), French Indochina (July 1941). Roosevelt responded to this aggression by banning Am-n exports of scrap iron, steel and oil to Japan, by freezing Jap-se credits in the US.

On December 7, 1941, carrier-based Japanese bombers struck at Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii. 4 days later, Japan's allies Germ and Italy, declared war on the US, the government spent $2 thousand mln on the top-secret Manhattan Project, which produced, tested an atomic bomb in 1945.

Am-n, British and Soviet war planners agreed to concentrate on defeating Germ first. British and American forces landed in North Africa in November 1942, then proceeded to Sicily and the Italian mainland in 1943, in 1944 June 6, " D-Day". A troops landed in Normandy. Finally, on April 25, 1945, the western Allied forces met advancing Soviet troops at the town of Torgau, Germany. The Germans surrendered May 5, 1945.

May 1942, Japanese had overrun the Philippines. In an atmosphere of war hysteria, 110, 000 Japanese-Americans living in America's western states were forced into relocation camps.

Over the next three years, American forces advanced toward Japan by " island-hopping" -capturing some strategic islands in the Pacific and bypassing others. In the hope of bringing the war to a swift end, President Harry Truman ordered the use of the atomic bomb against Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9). Japan agreed to surrender on August 14. Nearly 200, 000 civilians died in the nuclear attacks, but military experts agree that the casualties, Japanese and American.

Ermine Street (12 page)

One of the Roman roads in England. Ermine S leading to Lincoln and York (for York a special road to Hadrian’s wall)

#20

Architecture in the UK

The art of designing and erecting buildings was the main art in the 11^th-14^th c. Architectural monuments of that time are churches, cathedrals in Oxf, Winchester, Lincoln, Canterbury, York, Tower. The castles had round or square towers rising above the whole length of the building. The towers had narrow windows that arrived as shooting apertures.

The majority of the cathedrals, monasteries (11-12c) were primarily by Fr architects, craftsmen in Romanesque style. R.S is a transitional style of Eur-n arch prevalent from the 9^th -12^th c. They were cast with a tall central part. The arches were round, with lots of brickwork, chevron design- a molding of continuous V-shaped patterns, common in Norman arch. They evoked mixed feelings of fear, admiration.

1 of the most pop of London’s historical sites is the Tower of L. (11c) by William the Conqueror. He raised the tower to overawe as well as defend city. Gundulf laid the foundations of the White tower about 1078. When W.Conq died the T. wasn’t finished, William II, son, continued the work, completed in 1097. The T of L was a prison. Thomas More, Henry VIII Chancellor, the King’s 2^nd wife Anne Boeyn, his 4^th wife were beheaded there. Today T is a home of Crown Jewels. There’s a prophesies form Charles II time, when there’re no longer ravens in the T both the T, British Commonwealth will fall. There’s a special person “ the raven master ” who feeds the ravens a daily diet of raw meat. The ceremony of the Keys take place near the T.

In the 13^th c Gothic arch was introduced again from Romanic countries, Fr first of all. It was a style of harmoniously blending arch, sculpture, pictorial art. The western faç ade of the cathedral building was in fact a sculptured surface, with symbolic biblical figures. 3 periods of G.arch in Eng,.Early English with pointed arches, arrow-like windows, tall tapering, pinnacles that seem to uplift the whole structure seem to make it look up aspire to Heaven. Salisbury Cathedral is an ex. An important ingredient of G.arch was stained glass with religious themes of saints.

Gothic building is Westminster Abbey, stands opposite the House of Parliament. The oldest part was a monastery – West Minster. In 1065 Edward the Confessor after years spent in Fr, founded the great Norman Abbey 200y later it was rebuilt by Henry III. Since 1066 in WA from Edward V. Edward VIII has been crowned, was a burial place of Kings, Q-s, princes.

The greatest architects of the 17-18^th c were Inigo Jones (brought the Italian Renaissance to Brit), Christopher Wren.

Arch of 15-16^th c was characterized by eclecticism. E. – style made of components selected from diverse styles.

Inigo Jones lived in a period of hybrid styles, broke with the established tradition in arch, protested against eclecticism. In 1615 he began to design royal houses. His masterpiece – Banqueting House in Whitehall, London, the Queen’s House at Greenwich.

Christopher Wren used the classic forms with purity and correctness. Classicism is style aesthetic attitudes, principles of which are based on the culture, art, literature of ancient Greece, Rome, characterized by simplicity, proportion. After the Great fire in Lond of 1666 he rebuilt churches. St Paul’s was built by him between 1675-1710. St P’s structure of classical style with great dome over the central area. Cathedral for the Diocese of London.

In the 18^th c, the Adam brothers followed traditions of Wren. That time ppl interested in furniture, decorative art heightened. The Chippendale chairs became popular. Thomas Chippendale was a celebrated cabinet maker, produced elegant, comf furniture. The style arch characteristic of the reigns of 4 Georges who ruled GB from 1714-1830 is called Georgian

In the 19^th c became Victorian. It’s highly ornamented massive style of arch, furnishing. Charles Barry was a leading arch, rebuilt Westminster Palace. He interior it to be a “sculptured memorial to Br’s national history”

John Nash produced Gothic country mansions. His project was Regent Street, regent’s Park in London, designed Trafalgar Square in L.

America of 1865 -1939

After the Civil War much was destroyed. Despite 13^th Amendment to the Constitution in 1865 Southern blacks were considered “second class citizens”. There was racial segregation in hospitals, schools. Between 1865 and 1900 Am became an industrially developed country. Am began its policy of territorial expansion. In Eur there were ideas of redrawing the map of the world, Am followed them.

When the WW I started in Europe America decided to pursue the policy of neutrality. In April 1917, Pr Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germ, which belonged to the Triple Alliance, became a member of the Entente.

Lake District

On the northwest side of the Pennine system lies the Lake District, containing the beautiful lakes, which give it its name. Although it is quite compact – it is only 50 km from east to west – it has some of the most spectacular and varied scenery in Britain. It has Windermere, at 16.4 kms the longest lake in England, and Scafell Pike, at 1, 000 m the highest mountain in Engl. Also in the Lake District is Sty Head, the wettest place in Britain This district is widely known for its association with the history of English literature and especially with the name of William Wordsworth (1770—1859), the founder of the Lake School⁸of poets.

Music

Music in the UK has a long history'. The 15^th century was the period when folk music (народная) flourished. In the 15^th century a new type of music with 2 or more independent melodic parts that sounded together came into being. It was called polyphonic music. Polyphony emerged in folk music, in carols (рождество em/елещ рождественский гимн). Since the 15^th century in England there has also been a tradition of choral singing. Choral singingandpolyphony influenced the creative activity of John Dunstable ['d/uistsbsl] who was a conspicuous English composer of the 15^th century. John Dunstable enjoyed European reputation f°^r his enuren music. Music was very popular in England, so that in the 15^th century in Cambridge and Oxford the degree of the Bachelor of music was introduced.

The first half of the 17^th century was a peculiar period in terms of attitude of English people to music. Puritans thought that any music except hymn-singing[him] (церковный гимн) was the very thing of the Devil and persecuted it. Charles II, on the contrary, supported musicians and sent them to Italy and France to learn music. The situation changed in second half of the 17^th century. The demand for music was great especially at Court. The most famous composer of the 17^th century was Henry Purcell ['psisal]. He wrote music for plays, cantatas, church and chamber music ( камерная музыка), keyboard music (— для клавишных инструментов) and operas [’эрэгэ]. He composed the first English opera “Dido and Aeneas” ['daidau and ii'niiss].Thegreatest musician of the 20^th century is Benjamin Britten. He composed the opera “A Midsummer Night’s Dream ”. English people are fond of music; concerts of the leading symphony orchestras, folk groups and pop music are popular. Regular seasons of opera and ballet are given at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden [kDvant’ga: dn]. The most popular are Promenade concerts. Besides there are special annual celebrations of the outstanding people in the Arts and different competitions the aim of which is to preserve traditional culture. They are the Edinburgh International Festival of music and drama and the Royal National Eisteddfods (ежегодный фестиваль бардов в Уэльсе).There is also a tradition connected with the Queen. Every morning at 9 a.m., the Queen’s musician inflates (— надувать) his bagpipes [’basgpaips] (музыкальный инструмент) and plays beneath her windows for 15 minutes.Englandin world was famous for its literature, architecture and for its theatre, but not for its great composers until the 20^th century. In the 20^th century the world’s most successful pop group was from England and was called the Beatles ['birtlzj. One of the prominent composers of today is Elton John. His musical tribute to Princess Diana [prin’ses dai'aens] has become the biggest sellingsingle. The Theatre appeared in England in the 14-15* centuries. The 2^nd half of thecentury was the age of theatre. In 1576 the first theatre was built in London. Queen Elizabeth surrounded herself with a brilliant constellation of Poets, playwrights. During her reign (1552-1599) the first professional theatres were opened. The Globe [glsub] was opened to the public in 1599. It stated the golden age of the theatre in England. Great playwrights of that period were Shakespeare ['Jeikspia], University Wits. Theyresorted to the genre of tragedy and comedy. But the acting at that time was bad. in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” we may find how Hamlet teaches actors to act realistically. The Great Actor who contributed much to the natural realistic acting was David Garrik. In the first half of the 17^th century puritans forbade performances because they were against them and this marked the defeat of the theatre in its fight with Puritanism.Great playwrights of the 18^th century are Sheridan, Oliver Goldsmith, H. Fielding and in 19-20* centuries — are Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde. Nowadays dramatic training is provided by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, the Central School of Speech and Drama, and others. The greatest actors of the XX century are Vivian Leigh ['vivian ’li: ], Vanessa Redgrave, John Giilgud, Lawrence Oliver ['brans bliva], Paul Scoffield and others.

The Civil War

The Jacksonian era of optimism was clouded by the existence in the United States of a social contradiction — slavery. The words of the Declaration of Independence — “that all men are created equal” — were meaningless for the 1.5 million black people who were slaves. Thomas Jefferson, himself a slave owner, recognized that the system was inhumane and wrote an attack on slavery into the Declaration, but Southern [’sA6sn] delegates to the Continental Congress forced him to remove the passage. The importation of slaves was outlawed in 1808, and many Northern states moved to abolish slavery', but the Southern economy was based on large plantations, which used slave workers to grow cotton, rice, tobacco and sugar. Still, in several Southern states, small populations of free blacks also worked as artisans or traders.In 1820, Southern and Northern politicians disputed the question of whether slavery would be legal in the western territories. Congress agreed on a compromise: Slavery was permitted in the new state of Missouri and the Arkansas territory, and it was barred everywhere west and north of Missouri. But the issue would not go away; some organized themselves into abolitionist societies, primarily in the North, Southern whites defended slavery with increasing ardor. The nation was also split over the issue of high tariff, which protected Northern industries but raised prices for Southern consumers.Meanwhile, thousands of Americans had been settling in Texas, then a part of Mexico. The Texans [’teksans] found Mexican rule increasingly oppressive, and in 1835 they rebelled, defeated a Mexican army and set up the independent Republic of Texas. In 1845, the United States annexed Texas, and Mexico suspended diplomatic relations. President James Knox Polk ['d3eimz 'noks 'paukl ordered American troops into disputed territory on the Texas border. After a battle between Mexican and American soldiers in May 1846, Congress declared war onMexico. An Americanarmy landed near Vera in March 1847 and captured Mexico city in September. In return for $15 million, Mexico was forced to surrender an enormous expanse of territory — most of what is today California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado. In 1846, by settling a long-standing border dispute with British Canada, the United States had acquired clear title to the southern half of theOregon Country (Орегонские земли) — the present states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Thus America became a truly continental power, stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific.The acquisition of these new territories revived a troubling question: Would newly acquired territories be open to slavery? In 1850, Congress voted another compromise: California was admitted as a free state, and the inhabitants of the Utah and New Mexico territories were allowed to decide the issue for themselve s. Congress also passed the Fugitive Slave Act ['fju: d39tiv] (Закон о беглых рабах), which helped Southerners [’sAdanaz] to recapture slaves who had escaped to the free states. Some Northern states did not enforce this law, however, and abolitionists continued to assist fleeing blacks. Harriet Beecher Stowe ['haeriat 'bi: tjb ’stsu] of Massachusetts wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin ['kaebin], a sentimental but powerful anti-slavery novel which converted many readers to the abolitionist [aeba'lijbmst] cause. The issue of slavery became, in American politics, economics and cultural life, the central point of contention.

In 1854, Senator Stephen Douglas ['sti: vgn ’dAgbs] of Illinois [ili'nru] persuaded Congress to allow the inhabitants of the Kansas and Nebraska territories to resolve the question of slavery within their own borders — which voided the Missouri Compromise ['kijmpramaiz] (Миссури мэмшес1/кел1а> ш — Миссурийский компромисс) of 1820. In Kansas, the result was a violent feud between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers. In 1857, the Supreme Court handed down the Dred Scott ['dred 'skDt] decision, which held that blacks had no rights as American citizens and that Congress had no authority to bar slavery in the Western territories. In 1858 Lincoln ['linkan] demanded a halt to the spread of slavery.

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