DUY TAN UNIVERSITY

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

COURSE BOOK
Compiled by: TRAN THI THO, M.A.

(Internal Use)

Da Nang, July 2010

 AMERICAN CULTURE

INTRODUCTION

American Culture is designed for students of English major in their fourth year at
university. The aim of the book is to help learners understand the culture of the
USA through theories and practice.
The book adheres to the data that every aspect of American culture should first be
heard, and then be practiced in various forms. Based on the various kinds of
exercises, the book encourages learners to practice every theory studied through a
variety of enjoyable and useful activities.
The book consists of 10 units, each of which focuses on a particular cultural topic of
American country and people. After each unit there will be a variety of exercises,
and a consolidation after all, to help students revise all the things studied.
The author hopes that this book could contribute to the teaching and studying the
English language at the English Department, Duy Tan University.

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TABLE OF CONTENT

Page
Introduction 1
Table of content 2
Unit 1: Geographical features and regional characteristics 3
Unit 2: Immigration patterns & ethnic compositions 12
Unit 3: A brief history of the United States 22
Unit 4: The American Federal Government 37
Unit 5: A republic of Science & Business 48
Unit 6: A diverse Educational system 55
Unit 7: Social Services & Current Issues 67
Unit 8: Separating Church and State 78
Unit 9: American Arts, Sports, Entertainment and the Media 86
Unit 10: Holidays and Celebrations in the United States 102
Consolidation 112
References 121

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Unit 1: GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES

& REGIONAL CHARACTERISTICS

Aims and objectives:

- To get the general knowledge of the USA
- To be aware of the geography of every region of the USA

Image 1.1.: America in the world

Lead-in questions:
1. What oceans does the USA border?
2. How many states make up the “United States of America” today?
3. What is the capital of the American Government?
4. Name three major cities in America?

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1.1. An overview of the United States of America

As a matter of fact, the United States of America (also known as the United
States, the USA, the US or America) with 50 states (Alaska and Hawaii included)
spreads across 4,500 kilometers and four time zones, with six main regions, namely:

(1) New England, the very first

land of the country, made
up of 6 most prosperous
states, including Maine,
New Hampshire, Vermont,
Massachusetts, Connecticut,
and Rhode Island.
(2) The Middle Atlantic, the
homeland of American
industry, comprising New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and
Maryland.
(3) The South, which runs from Virginia south to Florida and west as far as
central Texas. This region also includes West Virginia, Kentucky,
Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi,
Arkansas, Louisiana, and parts of Missouri and Oklahoma.
(4) The Midwest, a broad collection of states sweeping westward from Ohio to
Nebraska and including Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota,
Iowa, parts of Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, and eastern
Colorado.
(5) The Southwest, made up of western Texas, portions of Oklahoma, New
Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and the southern interior part of California.
(6) The West, the last frontier of the nation, comprising Colorado, Wyoming,
Montana, Utah, California, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and
Hawaii.

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1.2. The six main regions’ characteristics

1.2.1. New England
The smallest region, New England, has not
been blessed with large expanses of rich
farmland or a mild climate. From the 17th century
until well into the 19th, New England was the
country's cultural and economic center and
provided the brains and dollars for 19th-century
American expansion. The earliest European settlers
of New England were English Protestants of firm
and settled doctrine.
New Englanders found it difficult to farm
the land in large lots, as was common in the South.
By 1750, many settlers had turned to other
pursuits. The mainstays of the region became shipbuilding, fishing, and trade. In
their business dealings, New Englanders gained a reputation for hard work,
shrewdness, thrift, and ingenuity.
New England has also supported a vibrant cultural life. "Education is
another of the region's strongest legacies”, with the well-known IVY league,
including Harvard, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, Wellesley, Smith, Mt. Holyoke,
Williams, Amherst, and Wesleyan – this land is unequaled by any other regions
throughout the country.
As some of the original New England settlers migrated westward,
immigrants from Canada, Ireland, Italy, and Eastern Europe moved into the region.
Despite a changing population, much of the original spirit of New England remains.
In the 20th century, most of New England's traditional industries have relocated to
states or foreign countries where goods can be made more cheaply.

1.2.2 Middle Atlantic

The Middle Atlantic States provided the
muscle for the country. The region's largest states,
New York and Pennsylvania, became centers of
heavy industry (iron, glass, and steel). Dutch
immigrants moved into the lower Hudson River
Valley in what is now New York State.

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Early settlers were mostly farmers and traders, and the region served as a
bridge between the North and the South. Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, midway
between the northern and southern colonies, was home to the Continental Congress,
the convention of delegates from the original colonies that organized the American
Revolution.
As heavy industry spread throughout the region, rivers such as the Hudson
and Delaware were transformed into vital shipping lanes. Cities appeared on
waterways -- New York on the Hudson, Philadelphia on the Delaware, and
Baltimore on Chesapeake Bay -- grew dramatically. Among them, New York is still
the nation's largest city, its financial hub, and its cultural center.
1.2.3 The South
Commonly referred to as
the American South, Dixie, or
simply the South—this region
does not exactly match the
geographic south, but is
predominantly located in the
southeastern corner. Some scholars
have proposed definitions of the
South that do not coincide neatly with state boundaries. While the states
of Delaware and Maryland, as well as the District of Columbia permitted slavery
prior to the start of the Civil War, they remained with the Union. Since the Civil
Rights Movement of the 1960s, they became more culturally, economically, and
politically aligned with the industrial Northern states, and are often identified as part
of the Mid-Atlantic and/or Northeast by many residents, businesses, public
institutions, and private organizations. However, the United States Census
Bureau puts them in the South.
Usually, the South is defined as including the southeastern and south-
central United States. The region is known for its culture and history, having
developed its own customs, musical styles, and cuisines, which have distinguished
it in some ways from the rest of the United States. The Southern ethnic heritage is
diverse and includes strong European (mostly Scotch-Irish, Scottish, English and
French), African, and some Native American components.
Historically, the South relied heavily on agriculture, and was highly rural
until after 1945. It has since become more industrialized and urban and has attracted
national and international migrants. The American South is now among the fastest-
growing areas in the United States. Houston is the largest city in the Southern
United States. Sociological research indicates that Southern collective identity

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stems from political, demographic, and cultural distinctiveness from the rest of the
United States.
Apart from its climate, the living experience in the South increasingly
resembles the rest of the nation. The arrival of millions of Northerners (especially in
major metropolitan areas and coastal areas) and millions of Hispanics meant the
introduction of cultural values and social norms not rooted in Southern traditions.
1.2.4 The Midwest
The Midwest is a flat cultural
crossroads. Starting in the early 1800s
easterners moved there in search of better
farmland, and soon Europeans bypassed
the East Coast to migrate directly to the
interior: Germans to eastern Missouri,
Swedes and Norwegians to Wisconsin
and Minnesota.
The region's fertile soil made it
possible for farmers to produce abundant harvests of cereal crops such as wheat,
oats, and corn. The region was soon known as the nation's "breadbasket."
Midwesterners are praised as being open, friendly, and straightforward. Their
politics tend to be cautious, but the caution is sometimes peppered with protest. The
Midwest gave birth to one of America's two major political parties, the Republican
Party, which was formed in the 1850s to oppose the spread of slavery into new
states.
The region's hub is Chicago, Illinois, the nation's third largest city. This
major Great Lakes port is a connecting point for rail lines and air traffic to far-flung
parts of the nation and the world. At its heart stands the Sears Tower, at 447 meters,
the world's tallest building.

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1.2.5 The Southwest

The Southwest differs from the
adjoining Midwest in weather (drier),
population (less dense), and ethnicity (strong
Spanish-American and Native-American
components). Outside the cities, the region
is a land of open spaces, much of which is
desert.

Parts of the Southwest once belonged to Mexico. The United States obtained
this land following the Mexican-American War of 1846-48. Population growth in
the hot, arid Southwest has depended on two human artifacts: the dam and the air
conditioner. Las Vegas is renowned as one of the world's centers for gambling,
while Santa Fe (New Mexico) is famous as a center for the arts, especially painting,
sculpture, and opera.
1.6 The West
The West has long been regarded
as the last frontier and as a region of
scenic beauty on a grand scale. In much of
the West the population is sparse, and the
federal government owns and manages
millions of hectares of undeveloped land.
Americans use these areas for
recreational and commercial activities,
such as fishing, camping, hiking, boating,
grazing, lumbering, and mining.
The two final states of the US are comprised in this region, though they are
not located in the country like the others. Alaska, situated in the North Pole and
considered the northernmost state in the Union, is a vast land of few, but hardy,
people and great stretches of wilderness, protected in national parks and wildlife
refuges. Besides, Hawaii is the only state in the union in which Asian Americans
outnumber residents of European stock, as it is in the middle of Pacific Ocean and
belongs to Asia rather than America.
Los Angeles and Southern California as a whole bear the stamp of its large
Mexican-American population. Now the second largest city in the nation, Los
Angeles is best known as the home of the Hollywood film industry.

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PRACTICE
I. Multiple choice questions
Choose the best answer for each of the following questions
1. How many states are there in mainland America?
a. 50 c. 2
b. 7 d. 48
2. Which of the following is the capital of the US today?
a. Washington c. New York
b. Philadelphia d. Washington D.C.
3. Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida are four states that
border …………………….
a. The Pacific Ocean b. The Atlantic Ocean
c. The Gulf of Mexico d. The Arctic Ocean
4. Which of the following states does NOT belong to the South?
a. West Virginia c. Louisiana
b. North Carolina d. Pennsylvania
5. Which region of America was the home of slavery before the Civil War?
a. The South c. The Midwest
b. New England d. The Southwest
6. Which region of the USA has a broad collection of states sweeping westward
from Ohio to Nebraska?
a. The Middle Atlantic c. The Midwest
b. The Southwest d. The West
7. Alaska is a(n) ………………
a. peninsula b. continent
c. archipelago d. territory

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8. America shares land borders with 2 countries……………………….

a. Canada & Russia b. Russia & Mexico
c. Canada & Mexico d. Canada & Brazil
9. Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated
by the state of……..
a. Virginia b. Washington
c. Texas d. Maryland
10. By land area, the United States is the world's ……… largest country
a. first b. second
c. third d. fourth
11. In total area, the United States is roughly ………times of the size of France
& ………times of The U.K.
a. 39 and 14 b. 14 and 39
c. 13 and 38 d. 38 and 13
12. Oregon, Washington & California are three states that border………………
a. Pacific Ocean b. Atlantic Ocean
c. Gulf of Mexico d. Arctic Ocean
II. True/ false
Decide whether the following sentences are true or false
1. New England is the smallest region of America
2. New York is a state in New England
3. Pennsylvania does NOT belong to the South
4. The West was the home of slavery before the Civil War.
5. The USA is a nation in the Northern Hemisphere
6. Texas, Florida and Kansas are three states that border the Gulf of Mexico
7. Pennsylvania is not a state of the South
8. The Midwest gave birth to the Republican Party, which was formed in the
1850s to oppose to the spread of slavery.
9. The West has been long regarded as the last frontier of the US.
10. Alaska does NOT belong to the Southwest
11. The 48 states of The USA are bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the West
and Atlantic Ocean on the East
12. New England was the country’s cultural and economic center in the 17th
century.

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III. Discussion
Answer the following questions
1. Name three biggest cities in America. What regions do they belong to?
2. What do you know about the westward expansion of the USA?
3. Why is the Midwest considered the bread-basket of the whole country?
4. What is the difference between the Midwest’s agriculture and that of the
South?
5. Is the West really the last frontier of the USA? Why/ why not?

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Unit 2: IMMIGRATION PATTERNS &

ETHNIC COMPOSITIONS

Aims and objectives:

- To know about the different immigration patterns of US people
- To distinguish the ethnic composition of America

Lead-in questions
1. Why is the USA considered a melting pot and a land of immigration?
2. Who were the very first inhabitants of America?
3. Why is it harder and harder to get a visa to the US nowadays? Is this policy of
visa restriction a good or bad one? Why?

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The story of the American people is a story of immigration and diversity. So

far, the United States has welcomed more immigrants than any other country --
more than 50 million in all -- and still admits almost 700,000 persons a year. In the
past, many American writers emphasized the idea of the melting pot, an image that
suggested newcomers would discard their old customs and adopt American ways.
2.1 Native Americans
The first American immigrants,
beginning more than 20,000 years ago,
were intercontinental wanderers:
hunters and their families following
animal herds from Asia to America,
across a land bridge where the Bering
Strait is today. When Spain's
Christopher Columbus "discovered" the
New World in 1492, about 1.5 million
Native Americans lived in what is now
the continental United States.
Native Americans suffered
greatly from the influx of Europeans. The transfer of land from Indian to European -
- and later American -- hands was accomplished through treaties, wars, and
coercion, with Indians constantly giving way as the newcomers moved west. In the
19th century, the government's preferred solution to the Indian "problem" was to
force tribes to inhabit specific plots of land called reservations.
Countless American place-names derive
from Indian words, including the states of
Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan, Mississippi,
Missouri, and Idaho. Indians taught Europeans
how to cultivate crops that are now staples
throughout the world: corn, tomatoes, potatoes,
tobacco. Canoes, snowshoes, and moccasins are
among the Indians' many inventions.

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2.2. History of immigrants to the US

The United States experienced
major waves of immigration
during the colonial era, the first
part of the 19th century and
from the 1880s to 1920. Many
immigrants came to America
seeking greater economic
opportunity, while some, such
as the Pilgrims in the early
1600s, arrived in search of
religious freedom. From the 17th to 19th centuries, hundreds of thousands of
African slaves came to America against their will. The first significant federal
legislation restricting immigration was the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. Individual
states regulated immigration prior to the 1892 opening of Ellis Island, the country’s
first federal immigration station. New laws in 1965 ended the quota system that
favored European immigrants, and today, the majority of the country’s immigrants
hail from Asia and Latin America.
2.2.1. Early European immigrants
It wasn't until the end of the 15th century
that Europeans set their eyes on the New World
in numbers. The French and Spanish were the
first to establish settlements before the English
and Dutch, among others, founded their first
permanent colonies. On the eve of the
American Revolution, the land was already a
kaleidoscope of languages and ethnicities.
In 1776 Thomas Paine, a spokesman for
the revolutionary cause in the colonies and himself a native of England, wrote that
"Europe, and not England, is the parent country of America." Nonetheless, in 1780
three out of every four Americans were of English or Irish descent.
In 1607 the first successful English colony settled in Jamestown, Virginia.
Once tobacco was found to be a profitable crop, many plantations were established
along the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia and Maryland.
Thus began the first and longest era of immigration, lasting until
the American Revolution in 1775; during this time settlements grew from initial
English toe-holds from the New World to British America. It brought Northern
European immigrants, primarily of British, German, and Dutch extraction. The

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British ruled from the mid-17th century and were by far the largest group of
arrivals, remaining within the British Empire. Over 90% of these early immigrants
became farmers.
Large numbers of young men and women came alone as indentured servants.
Their passage was paid by employers in the colonies who needed help on the farms
or in shops. Indentured servants were provided food, housing, clothing and training
but did not receive wages. At the end of the indenture (usually around age 21) they
were free to marry and start their own farm
2.2.2. Waves of immigrants to the USA
Between 1840 and 1860, the United States received its first great wave of
immigrants. The failure of the German Confederation's Revolution of 1848-49 led
many of its people to emigrate.
During the late 19th century, so many people were entering the United States
that the government operated a special port of entry on Ellis Island in the harbor of
New York City. Between 1892, when it opened, and 1954, when it closed, Ellis
Island was the doorway to America for 12 million people. It is now preserved as
part of Statue of Liberty National Monument. The Statue of Liberty, which was a
gift from France to the people of America in 1886, stands on an island in New York
harbor, near Ellis Island. The statue became many immigrants' first sight of their
homeland-to-be.
2.2.3. Unwilling immigrants
Among the flood of immigrants
to North America, one group came
unwillingly. These were Africans,
500,000 of whom were brought over as
slaves between 1619 and 1808, when
importing slaves into the United States
became illegal.
The process of ending slavery
began in April 1861 with the outbreak of
the American Civil War between the free states of the North and the slave states of
the South, 11 of which had left the Union. On January 1, 1863, midway through the
war, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which
abolished slavery in those states that had seceded.
A high point of this civil rights movement came on August 28, 1963, when
more than 200,000 people of all races gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial in
Washington, D.C., to hear King say: "I have a dream that one day on the red hills of

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Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveholders will be able
to sit down together at the table of brotherhood....I have a dream that my four little
children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of
their skin, but by the content of their character." Not long afterwards the U.S.
Congress passed laws prohibiting discrimination in voting, education, employment,
housing, and public accommodations.
Today, African Americans constitute 12.7 percent of the total U.S.
population. In recent decades blacks have made great strides, and the black middle
class has grown substantially.
2.2.4. Limits on newcomers
One of the first significant pieces of federal legislation aimed at restricting
immigration was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which banned Chinese
laborers from coming to America. Californians had agitated for the new law,
blaming the Chinese, who were willing to work for less, for a decline in wages.
For much of the 1900s, the federal government had left immigration policy
to individual states. However, by the final decade of the century, the government
decided it needed to step in to handle the ever-increasing influx of newcomers.
In 1924 Congress passed the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act. For the first
time, the United States set limits on how many people from each country it would
admit. The number of people is allowed to emigrate from a given country each year
was based on the number of people from that country already living in the United
States. As a result, immigration patterns over the next 40 years reflected the existing
immigrant population, mostly Europeans and North Americans.
Immigration plummeted during the global depression of the 1930s
and World War II (1939-1945). Between 1930 and 1950, America’s foreign-born
population decreased from 14.2 to 10.3 million, or from 11.6 to 6.9 percent of the
total population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. After the war, Congress
passed special legislation enabling refugees from Europe and the Soviet Union to
enter the United States. Following the communist revolution in Cuba in 1959,
hundreds of thousands of refugees from that island nation also gained admittance to
the United States.
In 1965, Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, which did
away with quotas based on nationality and allowed Americans to sponsor relatives
from their countries of origin. As a result of this act and subsequent legislation, the
nation experienced a shift in immigration patterns. Today, the majority of U.S.
immigrants come from Asia and Latin America rather than Europe.

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In this 21st century, the United States began to grant immigrant visas
according to who applied first; and preference was given to relatives of U.S. citizens
and immigrants with job skills in short supply in the United States. America
continues to accept more immigrants than any other country; that law attempts 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.
Despite all these bans, according to figures provided by the U.S. Immigration
and Naturalization Service (2015), there are still some 5 million people living in the
United States without permission, and the number is growing by about 275,000 a
year. Native-born Americans and legal immigrants worry about the problem of
illegal immigration.
2.3 Language and nationality
2.3.1. American people
Americans are citizens of the United States of America. The country is home
to people of many different national origins. As a result, most Americans do not
equate their nationality with ethnicity, but with citizenship and allegiance. Although
citizens make up the majority of Americans, non-citizen residents, dual citizens, and
expatriates may also claim an American identity
The majority of Americans or their ancestors immigrated within the past five
centuries, with the exception of the Native American population and people
from Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippine Islands who became American
through expansion of the country in the 19th century.
Despite its multi-ethnic composition, the culture of the United States held in
common by most Americans can also be referred to as mainstream American
culture, a Western culture largely derived from the traditions
of Northern and Western European colonists, settlers, and immigrants. It also
includes influences of African-American culture Westward expansion integrated
the Creoles and Cajuns of Louisiana and the Hispanos of the Southwest and brought
close contact with the culture of Mexico. Large-scale immigration in the late 19th
and early 20th centuries from Southern and Eastern Europe introduced a variety of
elements. Immigration from Asia, Africa, and Latin America has also had impact. A
cultural melting pot, or pluralistic salad bowl, describes the way in which
generations of Americans have celebrated and exchanged distinctive cultural
characteristics.
In addition to the United States, Americans and people of American descent
can be found internationally. As many as seven million Americans are estimated to
be living abroad, and make up the American diaspora

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The United States of America is a diverse country, racially, and ethnically. Six
races are officially recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau for statistical purposes:
White, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American,
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and people of two or more races.
"Some other race" is also an option in the census and other surveys.
The United States Census Bureau also classifies Americans as "Hispanic or
Latino" and "Not Hispanic or Latino", which identifies Hispanic and Latino
Americans as a racially diverse ethnicity that comprises the largest minority group
in the nation
A national personification is an anthropomorphism of a nation or its people;
it can appear in both editorial cartoons and propaganda.
Uncle Sam is a national personification of the United States and sometimes
more specifically of the American government, with the first usage of the term
dating from the War of 1812. He is depicted as a stern elderly white man with white
hair and a goatee beard, and dressed in clothing that recalls the design elements of
the flag of the United States – for example, typically a top hat with red and white
stripes and white stars on a blue band, and red and white striped trousers.
Columbia is a poetic name for the Americas and the feminine personification
of the United States of America, made famous by African-American poet Phillis
Wheatley during the American Revolutionary War in 1776. It has inspired the
names of many persons, places, objects, institutions, and companies in the Western
Hemisphere and beyond, including the District of Columbia, the seat of government
of the United States
2.3.1. Languages in use in the US
Many languages are used, or historically have been used in the United States.
The most commonly used language is English. There are also many languages
indigenous to North America or to U.S. states or holdings in the Pacific region.
Languages brought to the country by colonists or immigrants from Europe, Asia, or
other parts of the world make up a large portion of the languages currently used;
several languages, including creoles and sign languages, have also developed in the
United States. Approximately 430 languages are spoken or signed by the
population, of which 176 are indigenous to the area. Fifty-two languages formerly
spoken in the country's territory are now extinct.
The most common language in the United States is known as American
English. However, no official language exists at the federal level. There have been
several proposals to make English the national language in amendments to
immigration reform bills, but none of these bills have become law with the
amendment intact. The situation is quite varied at the state and territorial levels,

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with some states mirroring the federal policy of adopting no official language in
a de jure capacity, others adopting English alone, others officially adopting English
as well as local languages, and still others adopting a policy of de
facto bilingualism.
Since the 1965 Immigration Act, Spanish is the second most common
language in the country, and is spoken by approximately 35 million people. The
United States holds the world's fifth largest Spanish-speaking population,
outnumbered only by Mexico, Spain, Colombia, and Argentina; other estimates put
the United States at over 50 million, second only to Mexico. Throughout
the Southwestern United States, long-established Spanish-speaking communities
coexist with large numbers of more recent Hispanophone immigrants. Although
many new Latin American immigrants are less than fluent in English, nearly all
second-generation Hispanic Americans speak English fluently, while only about
half still speak Spanish.
According to the 2015 US census, people of German ancestry make up the
largest single ethnic group in the United States, and the German language ranks
fifth. Italian, Polish, and French are still widely spoken among populations
descending from immigrants from those countries in the early 20th century, but the
use of these languages is dwindling as the older generations die. Russian is also
spoken by immigrant populations.
Tagalog and Vietnamese have over one million speakers each in the United
States, almost entirely within recent immigrant populations. Both languages, along
with the varieties of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, are now used in elections
in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Illinois, New York, Texas, and Washington.
Native American languages are spoken in smaller pockets of the country, but
these populations are decreasing, and the languages are almost never widely used
outside of reservations. Hawaiian, although having few native speakers, is an
official language along with English at the state level in Hawaii. The state
government of Louisiana offers services and documents in French, as does New
Mexico in Spanish. Besides English, Spanish, French, German, Navajo and other
Native American languages, all other languages are usually learned from immigrant
ancestors that came after the time of independence or learned through some form
of education.

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PRACTICE
I. Multiple choice questions
Choose the best answer for each of the following questions
1. Ellis Island, in …………harbor, was the doorway to America for 12 million
people between 1892 and 1954.
a. Boston b. New York
c. Philadelphia d. Los Angeles
2. Which immigrants do the U.S laws attempt to attract more?
a. Everyone b. Workers
c. Skilled Workers & Professionals d. None of them
3. In which period did the United States receive its first great wave of immigrants?
a. Between 1840 and 1850 b. Between 1850 and 1860
c. Between 1840 and 1860 d. Between 1860 and 1870
4. How many illegal immigrants are there in the US now?
a. 5 million b. 10 million
c. 15 million d. 30 million
5. Who did Christopher Columbus discover when he first set food on America?
a. Chinese people c. European people
b. African people d. Asian people
6. Who was the first to establish settlements in the new land?
a. English c. Japanese
b. Spanish d. African
7. When did the first African American reach the USA?
a. 1619 c. 1808
b. 1861 d. 1945
8. Which was the first piece of federal legislation aimed at restricting immigration?
a. Chinese Exclusion Act c. Immigration and Nationality Act
b. Johnson-Reed Immigration Act d. Emancipation Proclamation

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9. How many American people living abroad today?

a. 7 million c. 20 thousand
b. 275 thousand d. 1 billion
10. Which of the following is the official language of the USA by law?
a. English c. Spanish
b. French d. none of them
II. True/ false
Decide whether the following sentences are true or false
1. The first American immigrants came from Asia
2. The US Congress passed the Johnson – Reed Immigration Act in 1924.
3. Today, African Americans are one of the fastest-growing ethnic groups in the
US?
4. The USA received the Statue of Liberty as a gift from France in 1883
5. Native-born Americans are worried about the problem of illegal immigration in
the US
6. The first American immigrants came from Europe, on Mayflower the ship.
7. Americans today considered Asian people to be their spiritual ancestors.
8. In many people’s eyes, Uncle Sam is considered a national personification of the
United States
9. The poetic name of America is Columbia
10. English is the language of Native Americans
III. Discussion
Answer the following questions
1. Why are native-born Americans afraid to let too many immigrants into America?
2. What caused the wave of immigrants to America from 1840 to 1860? Is it still the
reasons for immigrants to the US nowadays?
3. Do you think English should be declared the official language of America? Why
or why not?

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Unit 3: A BRIEF HISTORY

OF THE UNITED STATES
Aims and objectives:
- To understand the history of the US
- To systematize the development of the US through time.
- To compare American and Vietnamese history

Lead-in questions
1. By whom was America discovered?
2. When was the USA founded?
3. What is the final state of the US? When did it join the states?
4. How many stars and stripes are there on American flag? What do they stand for?

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3.1 The colonial era

According to recorded history,
the first Europeans to reach North
America were the Icelandic Vikings, led
by Leif Erickson, about the year 1000.
Traces of their visit have been found in
the Canadian province of
Newfoundland, but the Vikings failed to
establish a permanent settlement and
soon lost contact with the new
continent.
Acting on behalf of the Spanish
crown, in 1492 the Italian navigator
Christopher Columbus sailed west from
Europe and landed on one of the Bahamas Islands in the Caribbean Sea. Within 40
years, Spanish adventurers had carved out a huge empire in Central and South
America.
Besides, elsewhere in North America, the French controlled Canada and
Louisiana, which included the vast Mississippi River watershed. France and
England fought several wars during the 18th century, with North America being
drawn into every one. The end of the Seven Years' War in 1763 left England in
control of Canada and all of North America east of the Mississippi.
Colonists arrived from other
European countries, but the English were
far better established in America. In the
decade of 1620s, some 100 people, the
English Puritans, many of whom were
seeking religious freedom in the New
World, escaping from the tyranny control
of the Church of England, set sail from
England on the Mayflower in September
1620. That November, the ship landed on
the shores of Cape Cod, in present-day Massachusetts. A scouting party was sent
out, and in late December the group landed at Plymouth Harbor, where they would
form the first permanent settlement of Europeans in New England. These original
settlers of Plymouth Colony are known as the Pilgrim Fathers, or simply as the
Pilgrims. From then on, the English people began to settle down in the new land,
and by 1733 English settlers had founded 13 colonies along the Atlantic Coast, from
New Hampshire in the North to Georgia in the South.

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The first successful English colony was founded at Jamestown, Virginia, in

1607. In 1620, the Puritans founded Plymouth Colony in what later became
Massachusetts. Plymouth was the second permanent British settlement in North
America and the first in New England.
In New England the Puritans hoped to build a "city upon a hill" -- an ideal
community. Ever since, Americans have viewed their country as a great experiment,
a worthy model for other nations to follow. The Puritans believed that government
should enforce God's morality, and they strictly punished heretics, adulterers,
drunks, and violators of the Sabbath. In spite of their own quest for religious
freedom, the Puritans practiced a form of intolerant moralism. In 1636 an English
clergyman named Roger Williams left Massachusetts and founded the colony of
Rhode Island, based on the principles of religious freedom and separation of church
and state, two ideals that were later adopted by framers of the U.S. Constitution.
3.2. American Revolution
The close of the Seven Years' War in 1763 (called the French and Indian
War in America) saw Great Britain triumphant in driving the French from North
America. Though triumphant, Britain had been forced to borrow heavily to win the
war, in particular in using the American colonies as a base for invading and seizing
French territories. In the year between 1763-4, the British revenue service in
America cost four times more to administer than it collected in duties, and London
therefore decided that it was time to end the policy of Salutary Neglect, and enforce
a more vigorous approach to collecting legal revenues from the thirteen colonies.
Since the earliest times, Americans had experienced an extremely relaxed
approach towards smuggling. Nowhere in the British Empire were taxes as low as
in the thirteen colonies - India and Britain itself were subjected to much higher
levels of exploitation. For example, the 1733 Molasses Act, introduced to protect
the plantations from their more productive French counterparts, imposed a tax of
sixpence per gallon on imports of molasses from non-British West Indian colonies.
But it was so heavily violated that it produced only a trickle of revenue; twenty
years later, only 384 hogsheads of molasses officially entered Boston, a town
housing 63 rum distilleries that together required an annual 40,000 hogsheads of
molasses to maintain normal production
After years, all the taxes, except one on tea, were removed, but in 1773 a
group of patriots responded by staging the Boston Tea Party. Disguised as Indians,
they boarded British merchant ships and dumped 342 crates of tea into Boston
harbor. This provoked a crackdown by the British Parliament, including the closing
of Boston harbor to shipping. Colonial leaders convened the First Continental
Congress in 1774 to discuss the colonies' opposition to British rule. War broke out

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on April 19, 1775, when British soldiers confronted colonial rebels in Lexington,
Massachusetts. On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted a Declaration of
Independence.
At first the Revolutionary War went
badly for the Americans. With few
provisions and little training, American
troops generally fought well, but were
outnumbered and overpowered by the
British. The turning point in the war came
in 1777 when American soldiers defeated
the British Army at Saratoga, New York.
France had secretly been aiding the
Americans, but was reluctant to ally itself
openly until they had proved themselves in
battle. Following the Americans' victory at
Saratoga, France and America signed treaties of alliance, and France provided the
Americans with troops and warships.
The last major battle of the American Revolution took place at Yorktown,
Virginia, in 1781. A combined force of American and French troops surrounded the
British and forced their surrender. Fighting continued in some areas for two more
years, and the war officially ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1783, by which
England recognized American independence.
3.3. A new born country
Between 1776 and 1789, the United
States emerged as an independent country,
creating and ratifying its new constitution,
and establishing its national government. In
order to assert their traditional rights,
American Patriots seized control of the
colonies and launched a war for
independence. The Americans declared
independence on July 1776, proclaiming "all
men are created equal." Congress raised the Continental Army under the command
of General George Washington, forged a military alliance with France, and captured
the two main British invasion armies. Nationalists replaced the governing Articles
of Confederation to strengthen the federal government's powers of defense and
taxation with the Constitution of the United States in 1789, still in effect today.

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The Treaty of Paris left the United States independent and at peace but with
an unsettled governmental structure. The Second Continental Congress had drawn
up Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777, to regularize its own status.
By 1783, with the end of the British blockade, the new nation was regaining its
prosperity. However, trade opportunities were restricted by the mercantilist policies
of the European powers. Before the war the Americans had shipped food and other
products to the British colonies in the Caribbean, but now these ports were closed,
since only British ships could trade there. France and Spain had similar policies for
their empires. The former imposed restrictions on imports of New England fish and
Chesapeake tobacco. New Orleans was closed by the Spanish, hampering settlement
of the West, although it didn't stop frontiersmen from pouring west in great
numbers. Simultaneously, American manufacturers faced sharp competition from
British products which were suddenly available again. The inability of the Congress
to redeem the currency or the public debts incurred during the war, or to facilitate
trade and financial links among the states aggravated a gloomy situation. In 1786–
87, Shays's Rebellion, an uprising of farmers in western Massachusetts against the
state court system, threatened the stability of state government and the Congress
was powerless to help.
States handled their debts with varying levels of success. The South for the
most part refused to pay its debts off, which was damaging to local banks, but
Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia fared well due to their production of cash
crops such as cotton and tobacco. South Carolina would have done the same except
for a series of crop failures. Maryland suffered from financial chaos and political
infighting. New York and Pennsylvania fared well, although the latter also suffered
from political quarrels. New Jersey, New Hampshire, Delaware, and Connecticut
struggled. Massachusetts was in a state of virtual civil war (see above) and suffered
from high taxes and the decline of its economy. Rhode Island alone among the New
England states prospered and mostly because of its notorious harboring of pirates
and smugglers.
In 1789, George Washington was elected the first president . He then set up a
cabinet form of government, with departments of State, Treasury, and War, along
with an Attorney General (the Justice Department was created in 1870). Based in
New York, the new government acted quickly to rebuild the nation's financial
structure. Enacting the program of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, the
government assumed the Revolutionary war debts of the states and the national
government, and refinanced them with new federal bonds. It paid for the program
through new tariffs and taxes.

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The Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon, in 1803 opened

vast Western expanses of fertile land, that exactly met the needs of the rapidly
expanding population.
Breaking loose from European models, the Americans developed their own
high culture, notably in literature and in higher education. The Second Great
Awakening brought revivals across the country, forming new denominations and
greatly increasing church membership, especially among Methodists and Baptists.
By the 1840s increasing numbers of immigrants were arriving from Europe,
especially British, Irish, and Germans. Many settled in the cities, which were
starting to emerge as a major factor in the economy and society.
3.4. Slavery and the Civil War
In 1820 southern and
northern politicians debated the
question of whether slavery
would be legal in the western
territories. Congress reached a
compromise: Slavery was
permitted in the new state of
Missouri and the Arkansas
Territory but barred everywhere
west and north of Missouri. The outcome of the Mexican War of 1846-48 brought
more territory into American hands -- and with it the issue of whether to extend
slavery. Another compromise, in 1850, admitted California as a free state, with the
citizens of Utah and New Mexico being allowed to decide whether they wanted
slavery within their borders or not (they did not).
The Confederate Army did well in the early part of the war, and some of its
commanders, especially General Robert E. Lee, were brilliant tacticians. But the
Union had superior manpower and resources to draw upon. In the summer of 1863
Lee took a gamble by marching his troops north into Pennsylvania. He met a Union
army at Gettysburg, and the largest battle ever fought on American soil ensued.
After three days of desperate fighting, the Confederates were defeated. At the same
time, on the Mississippi River, Union General Ulysses S. Grant captured the city of
Vicksburg, giving the North control of the entire Mississippi Valley and splitting
the Confederacy in two.
Two years later, after a long campaign involving forces commanded by Lee
and Grant, the Confederates surrendered. The Civil War was the most traumatic
episode in American history. But it resolved two matters that had vexed Americans

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since 1776. It put an end to slavery, and it decided that the country was not a
collection of semi-independent states but an indivisible whole.
3.5. The late 19th century
Within a few years after the end of the Civil War, the United States became a
leading industrial power, and shrewd businessmen made great fortunes. The first
transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869; by 1900 the United States had
more rail mileage than all of Europe. The petroleum industry prospered, and John
D. Rockefeller of the Standard Oil Company became one of the richest men in
America. Andrew Carnegie, who started out as a poor Scottish immigrant, built a
vast empire of steel mills. Textile mills multiplied in the South, and meat-packing
plants sprang up in Chicago, Illinois. An electrical industry flourished as Americans
made use of a series of inventions: the telephone, the light bulb, the phonograph, the
alternating-current motor and transformer, motion pictures. In Chicago, architect
Louis Sullivan used steel-frame construction to fashion America's distinctive
contribution to the modern city: the skyscraper.
Industrialization brought with it the rise of organized labor. The American
Federation of Labor, founded in 1886, was a coalition of trade unions for skilled
laborers. The late 19th century was a period of heavy immigration, and many of the
workers in the new industries were foreign-born.
With the exception of the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, American
territory had remained fixed since 1848. In the 1890s a new spirit of expansion took
hold. The United States followed the lead of northern European nations in asserting
a duty to "civilize" the peoples of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
3.6. America and World War I
When World War I erupted in Europe in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson
urged a policy of strict American neutrality. Germany's declaration of unrestricted
submarine warfare against all ships bound for Allied ports undermined that position.
When Congress declared war on Germany in 1917, the American army was a force
of only 200,000 soldiers. Millions of men had to be drafted, trained, and shipped
across the submarine-infested Atlantic. A full year passed before the U.S. Army was
ready to make a significant contribution to the war effort.
By the fall of 1918, Germany's position had become hopeless. Its armies
were retreating in the face of a relentless American buildup. In October Germany
asked for peace, and an armistice was declared on November 11. In 1919 Wilson
himself went to Versailles to help draft the peace treaty. Although he was cheered
by crowds in the Allied capitals, at home his international outlook was less popular.
His idea of a League of Nations was included in the Treaty of Versailles, but the

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U.S. Senate did not ratify the treaty, and the United States did not participate in the
league.
The majority of Americans did not mourn the defeated treaty. They turned
inward, and the United States withdrew from European affairs. At the same time,
Americans were becoming hostile to foreigners in their midst. In 1919 a series of
terrorist bombings produced the "Red Scare." Under the authority of Attorney
General A. Mitchell Palmer, political meetings were raided and several hundred
foreign-born political radicals were deported, even though most of them were
innocent of any crime.
The 1920s were an extraordinary and confusing time, when hedonism
coexisted with puritanical conservatism. It was the age of Prohibition: In 1920 a
constitutional amendment outlawed the sale of alcoholic beverages. Yet drinkers
cheerfully evaded the law in thousands of "speakeasies" (illegal bars), and gangsters
made illicit fortunes in liquor. It was also the Roaring Twenties, the age of jazz and
spectacular silent movies and such fads as flagpole-sitting and goldfish-swallowing.
For big business, the 1920s were golden years. The United States was now a
consumer society, with booming markets for radios, home appliances, synthetic
textiles, and plastics.
However, the bubble burst in 1929. The stock market crashed, triggering a
worldwide depression.
3.7. World War II
Again neutrality was the initial American response to the outbreak of war in
Europe in 1939. But the bombing of Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii by the
Japanese in December 1941 brought the United States into the war, first against
Japan and then against its allies, Germany and Italy.
American, British, and Soviet war planners agreed to concentrate on
defeating Germany first. British and American forces landed in North Africa in
November 1942, proceeded to Sicily and the Italian mainland in 1943, and liberated
Rome on June 4, 1944. Two days later -- D-Day -- Allied forces landed in
Normandy. Paris was liberated on August 24, and by September American units had
crossed the German border. The Germans finally surrendered on May 5, 1945.
The war against Japan came to a swift end in August of 1945, when
President Harry Truman ordered the use of atomic bombs against the cities of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Nearly 200,000 civilians were killed. Although the matter
can still provoke heated discussion, the argument in favor of dropping the bombs
was that casualties on both sides would have been greater if the Allies had been
forced to invade Japan.

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3.8. The Cold War

A new international congress, the United Nations, came into being after the
war, and this time the United States joined. Soon tensions developed between the
United States and its wartime ally the Soviet Union.
On June 25, 1950, armed with Soviet weapons and acting with Stalin's
approval, North Korea's army invaded South Korea. Truman immediately secured a
commitment from the United Nations to defend South Korea.
From 1945 until 1970 the United States enjoyed a long period of economic
growth, interrupted only by mild and brief recessions. For the first time a majority
of Americans enjoyed a comfortable standard of living. In 1960, 55 percent of all
households owned washing machines, 77 percent owned cars, 90 percent had
television sets, and nearly all had refrigerators. At the same time, the nation was
moving slowly to establish racial justice.
In 1960 John F. Kennedy was elected
president. Young, energetic, and handsome, he
promised to "gets the country moving again"
after the eight-year presidency of Dwight D.
Eisenhower, the aging World War II general.
In October 1962 Kennedy was faced with
what turned out to be the most drastic crisis of
the Cold War. The Soviet Union had been
caught installing nuclear missiles in Cuba,
close enough to reach American cities in a
matter of minutes. Kennedy imposed a naval blockade on the island. Soviet Premier
Nikita Khrushchev ultimately agreed to remove the missiles, in return for an
American promise not to invade Cuba.
During his six years in office, Johnson became preoccupied with the
Vietnam War. By 1968, 500,000 American troops were fighting in that small
country, previously little known to most of them. Although politicians tended to
view the war as part of a necessary effort to check communism on all fronts, a
growing number of Americans saw no vital American interest in what happened to
Vietnam.
Stung by his increasing unpopularity, Johnson decided not to run for a
second full term. Richard Nixon was elected president in 1968. He pursued a policy
of virtualization, gradually replacing American soldiers with Vietnamese. In 1973
he signed a peace treaty with North Vietnam and brought American soldiers home.
Nixon achieved two other diplomatic breakthroughs: re-establishing U.S. relations

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with the People's Republic of China and negotiating the first Strategic Arms
Limitation Treaty with the Soviet Union. In 1972 he easily won re-election.
3.9. Decades of change
After World War II the presidency had alternated between Democrats and
Republicans, but, for the most part, Democrats had held majorities in the Congress -
- in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. A string of 26 consecutive
years of Democratic control was broken in 1980, when the Republicans gained a
majority in the Senate; at the same time, Republican Ronald Reagan was elected
president. This change marked the onset of a volatility that has characterized
American voting patterns ever since.
Whatever their attitudes toward Reagan's policies, most Americans credited
him with a capacity for instilling pride in their country and a sense of optimism
about the future. If there was a central theme to his domestic policies, it was that the
federal government had become too big and federal taxes too high.
Despite a growing federal budget deficit, in 1983 the U.S. economy entered
into one of the longest periods of sustained growth since World War II. The Reagan
administration suffered a defeat in the 1986 elections, however, when Democrats
regained control of the Senate. The most serious issue of the day was the revelation
that the United States had secretly sold arms to Iran in an attempt to win freedom
for American hostages held in Lebanon and to finance antigovernment forces in
Nicaragua at a time when Congress had prohibited such aid. Despite these
revelations, Reagan continued to enjoy strong popularity throughout his second
term in office.
His successor in 1988, Republican George Bush, benefited from Reagan's
popularity and continued many of his policies. When Iraq invaded oil-rich Kuwait
in 1990, Bush put together a multinational coalition that liberated Kuwait early in
1991.
By 1992, however, the American electorate had become restless again.
Voters elected Bill Clinton, a Democrat, the president, only to turn around two
years later and give Republicans their first majority in both the House and Senate in
40 years. Meanwhile, several perennial debates had broken out anew -- between
advocates of a strong federal government and believers in decentralization of
power, between advocates of prayer in public schools and defenders of separation of
church and state, between those who emphasize swift and sure punishment of
criminals and those who seek to address the underlying causes of crime. Complaints
about the influence of money on political campaigns inspired a movement to limit
the number of terms elected officials could serve. This and other discontents with

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the system led to the formation of the strongest Third-Party movement in

generations, led by Texas businessman H. Ross Perot.
Although the economy was strong in the mid-1990s, two phenomena were
troubling many Americans. Corporations were resorting more and more to a process
known as downsizing: trimming the work force to cut costs despite the hardships
this inflicted on workers. And in many industries the gap between the annual
compensations of corporate executives and common laborers had become
enormous. Even the majority of Americans who enjoy material comfort worry about
a perceived decline in the quality of life, in the strength of the family, in
neighborliness and civility. Americans probably remain the most optimistic people
in the world, but with the century drawing to a close, opinion polls showed that trait
in shorter supply than usual.
In this 21st century, global terrorism remains a serious threat. There are
important challenges to be faced in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, the full
impact of globalization is making itself felt in full force. The U.S. economy is
becoming a fast-moving, innovative and novel economy -- and Americans are
having to adjust to these changes. There are increasing numbers of older Americans
who are facing the economic [income, job and pension] and health consequences of
a 21st century economy. There is also a need to shift to new forms of energy and
accompanying technologies.
The long-term effects of events and trends occurring at the beginning of the
21st century have yet to be fully understood. In the past, the United States has
thrived on such challenges. From its origins as a set of obscure colonies hugging the
Atlantic coast, the United States has undergone a remarkable transformation into
what political analyst Ben Wattenberg has called "the first universal nation," a
population of almost 300 million people representing virtually every nationality and
ethnic group on the globe. It is also a nation where the pace and extent of change –
economic, technological, cultural, demographic, and social – is unceasing. The
United States is often the harbinger of the modernization and change that inevitably
sweep up other nations and societies in an increasingly interdependent,
interconnected world.
3.10. The history of the American Flag
“I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of
the United States of America and
to the Republic for which it stands,
one Nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice
for all.”

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In the hearts of its citizens, the American Flag symbolizes many things: “The
National Flag symbolizes our freedom, our dignity, the true meaning of being an
American, and many more things. It has fought our country's wars, cried our
country's cries, and laughed our country's happiness. It has been with us through
our war times, our sad times, but mostly our joyful times.”
The flag has gone through many transactions and changes before it came to
be the flag people worldwide all know today. Actually it took a very long time,
from January 1, 1776, till August 21, 1960.
June 14, 1777, congress declares the flag should have thirteen white stars in a
blue background and thirteen alternate red and white stripes. The red means
hardiness and valor. White signifies purity and innocence. Blue is the color of the
Chief. The star symbolizes heaven and the goal all man have been striving for. The
stripe is a ray of light from the sun. The first thirteen states were; Delaware,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South
Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island.
In the year 1795, two more states were added to the flag, Vermont and
Kentucky, giving it fifteen stars and stripes at that time, the stars and stripes stood
for the states. In that same year, Mary Pickers gill made the flag that flew at the
legendary Fort Henry. The war is strongly remembered when it occurred in 1812.
September 14, 1814 is when Francis Scott Key creates America's national anthem,
"The Star Spangled Banner" it doesn't become our official anthem until 1931. The
flag gets five more states added to its threads in 1818, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana,
Indiana, and Mississippi. The congress changed the fifteen stripes to thirteen and it
remains thirteen afterward. Another state represents a star on the flag in 1819,
which was the state Illinois. The flag has 23 stars in the year 1820 with Alabama
and Maine included.
In 1822, Missouri became a state and let the flag have 24 stars. Afterwards
the flag took in Arkansas in 1836, then Michigan in 1837. Eight years later Florida
gives the flag 27 stars in 1845. Texas joins in on 1846, and then comes Iowa in
1847, finally Wisconsin in 1848. That's still not it there are only 30 stars on the flag
b now we still need 20 stars to go. The flag takes California as a star in 1851 and
Minnesota in 1858, about seven years apart. Oregon looks as good as any star on the
flag in 1859 when it was declared a
In 1861 Kansas was attached to the flag as a star, now the flag has 34 stars.
35 stars make the flag when West Virginia becomes a new state. In 1865 the flag
had 36 shining stars including Nevada. Nebraska becomes a new state in 1867 and
is included in the 37 stars of the flag. 1869 was when the first Flag postage stamp
had been made. Another star was shining in 1877 while Colorado became a state. In

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1890 the flag now has North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, and
Idaho as members of its shining star group. Wyoming gives the flag 44 stars in
1891. Utah now is the 45th state in 1896. 46 stars claim the flag with Oklahoma
backing them up in 1908. Eventually, Arizona and New Mexico get the flag another
two stars by becoming states around the year 1912. Finally Alaska is the number 49
on the Flag's list. In 1960 the last and final state, Hawaii, gives the flag 50 stars and
makes it look like it does today.
Along with the thorough development of the nation, this flag has witnessed
so many glorious achievements of the USA. In 1909, Robert Pearly doesn't get into
distress when he takes his wife's flag, puts it on the North Pole, then takes pieces of
a flag and leaves a trail along the way. 40 years from that, on August 3, 1949, Flag
Day is declared a national holiday by President Truman. Mount Everest holds the
flag that was planted by Barry Bishop in 1963. And on July 20, 1969, Neil
Armstrong proudly puts the flag on the moon – the so-called 51st state of the US
ever-since.

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PRACTICE
I. Multiple choice questions
Choose the best answer for each of the following questions
1. When did the United States gain its independence from Britain?
a. In July 4th, 1776 b. In July 4th, 1777
c. In July 14th, 1778 d. In July 14th, 1779
2. How many States were there in the Union when America became independent?
a. 12 b. 13
c. 14 d. 15
3. Which event happened on April 19, 1775?
a. British recognized American Independence
b. British soldiers fought colonial rebels
c. Colonial rebels and France signed treaties of alliance
d. France provided America with troops and warships
4. From which country was Alaska purchased in 1867?
a. Russia b. France
c. Spain d. India
5. When did United States join in World War ΙΙ?
a. December 1939 b. December 1940
c. December 1941 d. December 1942
6. Which of the following was the final state to join the federal?
a. Hawaii b. Alaska
c. Washington d. California
7. Who was considered “the father of America”?
a. J. Kennedy b. B. Franklin
c. G. Washington d. T. Roosevelt
th
8. When was the 100 anniversary of the Declaration of Independence be?
a. On July 4,1776 b. On July 4,1779
c. On July 4,1876 d. On July 4,2076
9. Whose image is carved on Mt Rushmore?
a. T. Roosevelt b. J. Kennedy
c. B. Franklin d. All of them
10. When did Christopher discover America?
a. In 1776 b. In 1492
c. 20,000 years ago d. In 1783

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II. True/ false

Decide whether the following sentences are true or false
1. The West was the home of slavery before the Civil War.
2. Before 1773, Louisianan was controlled by the British
3. According to a compromise of the Congress in 1820, Slavery Legal was legal
in New York
4. England recognized American independence in 1783.
5. The Revolution War in 1776 put an end to slavery and indicated that the
country was not a collection of semi-independent states, but an invisible
whole.
6. Americans today considered English pilgrims to be their spiritual ancestors.
7. The Revolutionary War ended in 1781.
8. The first president of the USA was George Washington.
9. After the America – Mexico War of 1846-48, the US obtained parts of the
Midwest
10. Flag Day was declared a national holiday in 1912
III. Discussion
Answer the following questions
1. What are the first thirteen states of the US?
2. How many States were in the Union when America became independent?
What are they
3. Who occupied America before the Europeans came to the New World?
4. Give two reasons why America has prospered?
IV. Critical writing
Topic: Compare and contrast the historical timelines between
(1) America and Vietnam
(2) America and Britain

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Unit 4: THE AMERICAN FEDERAL

GOVERNMENT

Aims and objectives:

- To get some understanding of the law system of the US
- To describe the structure and functions of different branches of the US
Government

Lead-in questions:
1. When was the USA founded? When was its constitution written?
2. How many branches are there in American Government?
3. For how many years is American President elected?
4. Who is the current president of the US?

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4.1 The US Constitution

The U.S. Constitution established America’s national government and
fundamental laws, and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens. It was signed
on September 17, 1787, by delegates to the Constitutional Convention in
Philadelphia, presided over by George Washington. Under America’s first
governing document, the Articles of Confederation, the national government was
weak and states operated like independent countries. At the 1787 convention,
delegates devised a plan for a stronger federal government with three branches–
executive, legislative and judicial–along with a system of checks and balances to
ensure no single branch would have too much power. The Bill of Rights–10
amendments guaranteeing basic individual protections such as freedom of speech
and religion–became part of the Constitution in 1791. To date, there have been a
total of 27 constitutional amendments.
4.1.1. The history of the US constitution
America’s first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, was ratified in
1781, a time when the nation was a loose confederation of states, each operating
like independent countries. The national government was comprised of a single
legislature, the Congress of the Confederation; there was no president or judicial
branch. The Articles of Confederation gave Congress the power to govern foreign
affairs, conduct war and regulate currency; however, in reality these powers were
sharply limited because Congress had no authority to enforce its requests to the
states for money or troops.
Soon after America won its independence from Great Britain with its 1783
victory in the American Revolution, it became increasingly evident that the young
republic needed a stronger central government in order to remain stable. In
1786, Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804), a lawyer and politician from New York,
called for a constitutional convention to discuss the matter. The Confederation
Congress, which in February 1787 endorsed the idea, invited all 13 states to send
delegates to a meeting in Philadelphia.
On May 25, 1787, the
Constitutional Convention opened in
Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania State
House, now known as Independence Hall,
where the Declaration of
Independence had been adopted 11 years
earlier. There were 55 delegates in
attendance, representing all 13 states
except Rhode Island, which refused to

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send representatives because it did not want a powerful central government

interfering in its economic business. George Washington, who’d become a national
hero after leading the Continental Army to victory during the American Revolution,
was selected as president of the convention by unanimous vote.
The delegates (who also became known as the “framers” of the Constitution)
were a well-educated group that included merchants, farmers, bankers and lawyers.
Many had served in the Continental Army, colonial legislatures or the Continental
Congress (known as the Congress of the Confederation as of 1781). In terms of
religious affiliation, most were Protestants. Eight delegates were signers of the
Declaration of Independence, while six had signed the Articles of Confederation.
The delegates had been tasked by Congress with amending the Articles of
Confederation; however, they soon began deliberating proposals for an entirely new
form of government. After intensive debate, which continued throughout the
summer of 1787 and at times threatened to derail the proceedings, they developed a
plan that established three branches of national government–executive, legislative
and judicial. A system of checks and balances was put into place so that no single
branch would have too much authority. The specific powers and responsibilities of
each branch were also laid out.
Among the more contentious issues was the question of state representation
in the national legislature. Delegates from larger states wanted population to
determine how many representatives a state could send to Congress, while small
states called for equal representation. The issue was resolved by the Connecticut
Compromise, which proposed a bicameral legislature with proportional
representation of the states in the lower house (House of Representatives) and equal
representation in the upper house (Senate).
By September 1787, the convention’s five-member Committee of Style
(Hamilton, Madison, William Samuel Johnson of Connecticut, Gouverneur
Morris of New York, Rufus King of Massachusetts) had drafted the final text of the
Constitution, which consisted of some 4,200 words. On September 17,
George Washington was the first to sign the document. Of the 55 delegates, a total
of 39 signed; some had already left Philadelphia, and three refused to approve the
document. In order for the Constitution to become law, it then had to be ratified by
nine of the 13 states.
Beginning on December 7, 1787, five states–Delaware, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, Georgiaand Connecticut – ratified the Constitution in quick succession.
However, other states, especially Massachusetts, opposed the document, as it failed
to reserve undelegated powers to the states and lacked constitutional protection of
basic political rights, such as freedom of speech, religion and the press. In February

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1788, a compromise was reached under which Massachusetts and other states would
agree to ratify the document with the assurance that amendments would be
immediately proposed. The Constitution was thus narrowly ratified in
Massachusetts, followed by Maryland and South Carolina. On June 21, 1788, New
Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the document, and it was subsequently
agreed that government under the U.S. Constitution would begin on March 4, 1789.
George Washington was inaugurated as America’s first president on April 30, 1789.
In June of that same year, Virginia ratified the Constitution, and New York
followed in July. On February 2, 1790, the U.S. Supreme Court held its first
session, marking the date when the government was fully operative.
4.1.2. The Bill of Rights
The Constitution written in Philadelphia in 1787 could not go into effect
until it was ratified by a majority of citizens of the country. During this ratification
process, misgivings arose. Many citizens felt uneasy because the document failed to
explicitly guarantee the rights of individuals. The desired language was added in 10
amendments to the Constitution, collectively known as the Bill of Rights.
In 1789, Madison, then a member of the newly established U.S. House of
Representatives, introduced 19 amendments to the Constitution. On September 25,
1789, Congress adopted 12 of the amendments and sent them to the states for
ratification. Ten of these amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights,
were ratified and became part of the Constitution on December 10, 1791. The Bill
of Rights guarantees individuals certain basic protections as citizens, including
freedom of speech, religion and the press; the right to bear and keep arms; the right
to peaceably assemble; protection from unreasonable search and seizure; and the
right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury. For his contributions to the
drafting of the Constitution, as well as its ratification, Madison became known as
“Father of the Constitution.”
To date, there have been thousands of proposed amendments to the
Constitution. However, only 17 amendments – the most important including the
Thirteenth and Fourteenth, which outlaw slavery and guarantee all citizens equal
protection of the laws, and the Nineteenth, which gives women the right to vote -
have been ratified in addition to the Bill of Rights because the process isn’t easy–
after a proposed amendment makes it through Congress, it must be ratified by three-
fourths of the states. The most recent amendment to the Constitution, Article
XXVII, which deals with congressional pay raises, was proposed in 1789 and
ratified in 1992.

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4.1.3. The Constitution Today

In the more than 200 years since the Constitution was created, America has
stretched across an entire continent and its population and economy have expanded
more than the document’s framers likely ever could have envisioned. Through all
the changes, the Constitution has endured and adapted.
The framers knew it wasn’t a perfect document. However, as Benjamin
Franklin said on the closing day of the convention in 1787: “I agree to this
Constitution with all its faults, if they are such, because I think a central
government is necessary for us… I doubt too whether any other Convention we can
obtain may be able to make a better Constitution.” Today, the original Constitution
is on display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
Overall, as in many other countries, this Constitution is the supreme law of
the United States of America. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the
national frame of government:
(1) Its first three articles entrench the doctrine of the separation of powers
(2) The federal government is divided into three branches:
(i) the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Congress – namely the
House of Representatives and the Senate;
(ii) the executive, consisting of the President and his cabinet;
(iii) and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court and other federal
courts.
(3) Articles Four, Five and Six entrench concepts of federalism, describing the
rights and responsibilities of state governments and of the states in
relationship to the federal government.
(4) Article Seven establishes the procedure subsequently used by the
thirteen States to ratify it.
The Constitution is interpreted, supplemented, and implemented by a large
body of constitutional law. The Constitution of the United States is the first
constitution of its kind, adopted by the people’s representatives for an expansive
nation; and it has influenced the constitutions of other nations.
By law, the Congress can propose an amendment, provided that two-thirds of
the members of both the House and the Senate vote in favor of it. Or the legislatures
of two-thirds of the states can call a convention to propose amendments.

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4.2. The US government

4.2.1. The legislative
The legislative branch -- the
Congress -- is made up of elected
representatives from each of the 50
states. It is the only branch of U.S.
government that can make federal laws,
levy federal taxes, declare war, and put
foreign treaties into effect.
Members of the House of
Representatives are elected to two-year
terms. Each member represents a district in his or her home state. The number of
districts is determined by a census, which is conducted every 10 years. The most
populous states are allowed more representatives than the smaller ones, some of
which have only one. In all, there are 435 representatives in the House.
Senators are elected to six-year terms. Each state has two senators, regardless
of population. Senators' terms are staggered, so that one-third of the Senate stands
for election every two years. There are 100 senators in total.
Both the House and the Senate have the right to make Federal laws which
approved by both Houses by over ½ of members. Besides, they can levy Federal
taxes, appropriate Federal funds and declare war.
4.2.2. The executive
(1) The US President
The chief executive of the United States is the president, who, together with
the vice president, is elected to a four-year term. As a result of a constitutional
amendment that went into effect in 1951, a president may be elected to only two
terms. Other than succeeding a president who dies or is disabled, the vice
president's only official duty is presiding over the Senate. The vice president may
vote in the Senate only to break a tie.
The president proposes legislation to Congress and may veto any bill passed
by Congress. The president is commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The
president has the authority to appoint federal judges as vacancies occur, including
justices of the Supreme Court. The president has broad powers to issue regulations
and directives carrying out the work of the federal government's departments and
agencies. The president appoints the heads and senior officials of those departments
and agencies. Heads of the major departments, called "secretaries," are part of the
president's cabinet.

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(2) The Cabinet

Established in Article II,

Section 2 of the Constitution, the
Cabinet's role is to advise the
President on any subject he may
require relating to the duties of
each member's respective office.

The tradition of the Cabinet dates back to the beginnings of the Presidency
itself. Established in Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, the Cabinet's role is
to advise the President on any subject he may require relating to the duties of each
member's respective office.
The Cabinet includes the Vice President and the heads of 15 executive
departments — the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education,
Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban
Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans
Affairs, as well as the Attorney General.
In order of succession to the Presidency, by laws, there are 10 positions as
follows:
(1) Vice President of the United States
(2) Department of the Treasury
(3) Department of Defense
(4) Department of Justice
(5) Department of the Interior
(6) Department of Labor
(7) Department of Health and Human Services
(8) Department of Housing and Urban Development
(9) Department of Transportation
(10) Department of Energy
4.2.3. The judicial
The judicial branch is headed by the U.S. Supreme Court, which is the only
court specifically created by the Constitution. In addition, the Congress has
established 13 federal courts of appeals and, below them, about 95 federal district
courts. The Supreme Court meets in Washington, D.C., and the other federal courts
are located in cities throughout the United States. Federal judges are appointed for

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life or until they retire voluntarily; they can be removed from office only via a
laborious process of impeachment and trial in the Congress.
The federal courts hear cases arising out of the Constitution and federal laws
and treaties, maritime cases, cases involving foreign citizens or governments, and
cases in which the federal government is itself a party.

The Supreme Court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices and
federal laws, state laws must be consistent with the U.S. Constitution. Often the
Supreme Court has the last word on an issue. The courts can rule a law
unconstitutional, which makes it void. Most such rulings are appealed to the
Supreme Court, which is thus the final arbiter of what the Constitution means.
4.3. Political parties and elections
Americans regularly exercise their democratic rights by voting in elections
and by participating in political parties and election campaigns. Today, there are
two major political parties in the United States, the Democratic and the Republican.

The Democratic Party is considered to be the more liberal party, and the
Republican, the more conservative. Democrats generally believe that government
has an obligation to provide social and economic programs for those who need

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them. Republicans are not necessarily opposed to such programs but believe they
are too costly to taxpayers. Republicans put more emphasis on encouraging private
enterprise in the belief that a strong private sector makes citizens less dependent on
government.
Both major parties have supporters among a wide variety of Americans and
embrace a wide range of political views. Members, and even elected officials, of
one party do not necessarily agree with each other on every issue. Americans do not
have to join a political party to vote or to be a candidate for public office, but
running for office without the money and campaign workers a party can provide is
difficult.
At the national level, elections (including
Presidential and House of Representatives) are held
every two years, in even-numbered years, on the first
Tuesday following the first Monday in November. State
and local elections often coincide with national
elections, but they also are held in other years and can
take place at other times of year.

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PRACTICE
I. Multiple choice
Choose the best answers
1. Which of the following branches is called the legislative?
a. The President b. The Federal Courts
c. The Cabinet d. The Congress
2. What does the Bill of Right guarantee Americans?
a. Freedom of speech b. The right to protest government actions
c. A right to own firearms d. All of the above
3. By whom is the executive headed?
a. The senator b. The Prime Minister
c. The President d. All of them
4. When was the constitution ratified by all states?
a.1689 b.1789
c.1889 d.1879
5. What is the title for the heads of the major departments?
a. Senators b. Prime Ministers
c. Presidents d. Secretaries
6. At the national level, how many years are elections held?
a. Every two years b. Every three years
c. Every four years d. None is correct
7. Where did the Constitutional Convention open?
a. In Philadelphia b. In Washington, D.C.
c. In New York d. In Massachusetts
8. Which article of the Constitution establishes the procedure subsequently used
by the thirteen States to ratify it?
a. First b. Third
c. Fifth d. Seventh
9. Which of the following is the duty of the Cabinet?
a. to advise the President on any subject
b. to make laws
c. to declare war
d. to rule a law unconstitutional
10. By current law, how long can an American president stay in the White
House?
a. Up to 4 years b. Up to 8 years
c. Up to two terms d. b&c

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II. True or false

Decide whether the following statements are true or false
1. Separation of church and state in America was ordained by the First
Amendment to the US Constitution.
2. The US Supreme Court is the only court especially created by the
Constitution
3. President is elected to four terms
4. The Democratic Party is considered to be the more liberal party, and the
Republican, the more conservative
5. American judicial branch is headed by the U.S. Supreme Court
6. In America, the president is commander-in-chief of the armed forces
7. The Articles of Confederation fail as a governing document for the US
because the states did not cooperate
8. The Constitution was written in 1883, then ratified and went into effect in
1789.
9. Americans do not have to join a political party to vote or to be a
candidate for public office
10. The Connecticut Compromise proposed a bicameral legislature with
proportional representation of the states in the lower house (House of
Representatives) and equal representation in the upper house (Senate)
III. Discussion
Answer these questions
1. What are the three branches of the American Government? What are their
functions?
2. Name two things the President has the power to do.
3. Why has the number of stars on the American flag changed many times?
4. Compare the political system of the US and that of the UK. Which one is
more effective in running the country? Why?

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UNIT 5: A REPUBLIC OF SCIENCE

& BUSINESS

Aims and objectives:

- To understand the development of US science and business
- To be aware of the contribution of America to the world of science and
business

Lead-in questions

1. What famous scientists in

America do you know? What are
their contributions to USA science?
2. Why were American winners in a
distinct minority in the science
categories during the first half-
century of Nobel Prizes from 1901
to 1950?
3. What is one of the most successful
businesses of The United States?

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5.1. American Science and Technology

The United States came into being around
the Age of Enlightenment (circa 1680 to 1800), an
era in Western philosophy in which writers and
thinkers rejecting the superstitions of the past
instead, chose to emphasize the intellectual,
scientific and cultural life, centered upon the 18th
century, in which reason was advocated as the
primary source for legitimacy and authority. Enlightenment philosophers envisioned
a "republic of science," where ideas would be exchanged freely and useful
knowledge would improve the lot of all citizens.
5.1.1. A good climate for science
The United States Constitution itself reflects the desire to encourage
scientific creativity. It gives the United States Congress the power "to promote the
progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and
inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries”. This
clause formed the basis for the U.S. patent and copyright systems, whereby creators
of original art and technology would get a government granted monopoly, which
after a limited period would become free to all citizens, thereby enriching the public
domain
In the early decades of its history, the United
States was relatively isolated from Europe and also
rather poor. At this stage America's scientific
infrastructure was still quite primitive compared to
the long-established societies, institutes, and
universities in Europe.
Two of America's founding fathers were
scientists of some repute, Benjamin Franklin – who
conducted a series of experiments that deepened
human understanding of electricity, and Thomas
Jefferson –one of the most influential leaders in
early America; during the American Revolutionary
War.
Besides, there are other scientists of this early age. Charles Wilson Peale is
best remembered as an artist, but he also was a natural historian, inventor, educator,
and politician. He created the first major museum in the United States, the Peale
Museum in Philadelphia, which housed the young nation's only collection of North
American natural history specimens.

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American political leaders' enthusiasm for knowledge also helped ensure a

warm welcome for scientists from other countries. A notable early immigrant was
the British chemist Joseph Priestley, who was driven from his homeland because of
his dissenting politics. Priestley, who came to the United States in 1794, was the
first of thousands of talented scientists who emigrated in search of a free, creative
environment. Alexander Graham Bell, who arrived from Scotland by way of
Canada in 1872, developed and patented the telephone and related inventions.
Charles P. Steinmetz, who came from Germany in 1889, developed new alternating-
current electrical systems at General Electric Company.
When Americans combined theoretical knowledge with "Yankee ingenuity,"
the result was a flow of important inventions. The great American inventors include
Robert Fulton (the steamboat); Samuel F.B. Morse (the telegraph); Eli Whitney (the
cotton gin); Cyrus McCormick (the reaper); and Thomas Alva Edison, the most
fertile of them all, with more than a thousand inventions credited to his name.
Edison was not always the first to devise a scientific application, but he was
frequently the one to bring an idea to a practical finish. Edison followed up his
improvement of the light bulb with the development of electrical generating
systems. Within 30 years, his inventions had introduced electric lighting into
millions of homes.
The changing pattern can be seen in the winners of the Nobel Prizes in
physics and chemistry. During the first half-century of Nobel Prizes -- from 1901 to
1950 -- American winners were in a distinct minority in the science categories.
Since 1950, Americans have won approximately half of the Nobel Prizes awarded
in the sciences.
5.1.2 The Atomic Age
The development of the bomb and its use
against Japan in August of 1945 initiated the Atomic
Age, a time of anxiety over weapons of mass
destruction that has lasted through the Cold War and
down to the ant proliferation efforts of today. The
first U.S. commercial nuclear power plant started
operation in Illinois in 1956. At the time, the future
for nuclear energy in the United States looked bright.
But opponents criticized the safety of power plants
and questioned whether safe disposal of nuclear waste
could be assured. Meanwhile, solar power is also one
of renewable sources of energy in the United Sates.

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5.1.3 The Space Age

Running almost in tandem with the
Atomic Age has been the Space Age.
American Robert H. Goddard was one of the
first scientists to experiment with rocket
propulsion systems. Expendable rockets
provided the means for launching artificial
satellites, as well as manned spacecraft with
the manned space flight of the American space.
5.1.4 Medicine and health care
The National Institutes of Health, the focal point for biomedical research in
the United States, has played a key role in this achievement. Consisting of 24
separate institutes, the NIH occupies 75 buildings on more than 120 hectares in
Bethesda, Maryland. The goal of NIH research is knowledge that helps prevent,
detect, diagnose, and treat disease and disability -- everything from the rarest
genetic disorder to the common cold and help make possible numerous medical
achievements. Besides, one type of drug that has shown promise in treating the
AIDS virus is the protease inhibitor and NIH funded the basic research on Acquired
Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

5.2 The business of America

"The business of America," President
Calvin Coolidge said in 1925, "is business."
This formulation is actually earlier than it
may appear. In substitution for
"preoccupation" for the first "business," a
capsule summary of the entrepreneurial
spirit behind America's prosperity can be
found. While, especially, the stock market is
one of the most successful businesses of the
United States.
5.2.1. History of American business
The U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1787, established that the entire nation was
a unified, or common market, with no internal tariffs or taxes on interstate
commerce. The extent of federal power was much debated, with Alexander
Hamilton taking a very broad view as the first Secretary of the Treasury during the
presidential administration of George Washington. He believed the United States

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should pursue economic growth through diversified shipping, manufacturing, and

banking. He sought and achieved Congressional authority to create the First Bank of
the United States in 1791; the charter lasted until 1811.
After the war, the older cities finally restored their economic basis; newer
growing cities included Salem, Massachusetts (which opened a new trade with
China), New London, Connecticut, and Baltimore, Maryland. The Washington
administration under the leadership of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander
Hamilton set up a national bank in 1791, and local banks began to flourish in all the
cities. Merchant entrepreneurship flourished and was a powerful engine of
prosperity in the cities
The period from the end of World War II to the early 1970s was a golden era
of economic growth. $200 billion in war bonds matured, and the G.I. Bill financed a
well-educated work force. The middle class swelled, as did GDP and productivity.
This growth was distributed fairly evenly across the economic classes, which some
attribute to the strength of labor unions in this period—labor union membership
peaked historically in the U.S. during the 1950s, in the midst of this massive
economic growth. Much of the growth came from the movement of low income
farm workers into better paying jobs in the towns and cities—a process largely
completed by 1960. Congress created the Council of Economic Advisors, to
promote high employment, high profits and low inflation. The Eisenhower
administration (1953–1961) supported an activist contracyclical approach that
helped to establish Keynesianism as a bipartisan economic policy for the nation.
Especially important in formulating the CEA response to the recession—
accelerating public works programs, easing credit, and reducing taxes.
Today, though witnessing some recession in the economy as a whole,
American business is still on the progress and play an important role in the
development of the nation.

5.2.2. American Stock Market

Very early in America's history, people saw that they could make money by
lending it to those who wanted to start or expand a business. To this day, small
American entrepreneurs usually borrow the money they need from friends,
relatives, or banks. Larger businesses, however, are more likely to acquire cash by
selling stocks or bonds to unrelated parties. These transactions usually take place
through a stock exchange, or stock market.
A stock market or equity market is a public market (a loose network of
economic transactions, not a physical facility or discrete entity) for the trading of
company stock (shares) and derivatives at an agreed price; these are securities listed
on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately.

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Except for weekends and holidays, the stock exchanges are very busy every
day. In general, prices for shares of stock are rather low, and even Americans of
modest means buy and sell shares in hopes of making profits in the form of periodic
stock dividends. They also hope that the price of the stock will go up over time, so
that in selling their shares they will make an additional profit. There is no guarantee,
of course, that the business behind the stock will perform well. If it does not,
dividends may be low or nonexistent, and the stock's price may go down.
The size of the world stock market was estimated at about $36.6 trillion USD
at the beginning of October 2008. The total world derivatives market has been
estimated at about $791 trillion face or nominal value, 11 times the size of the entire
world economy. The value of the derivatives market, because it is stated in terms of
notional values, cannot be directly compared to a stock or a fixed income security,
which traditionally refers to an actual value. Moreover, the vast majority of
derivatives 'cancel' each other out. Many such relatively illiquid securities are
valued as marked to model, rather than an actual market price.
The stocks are listed and traded on stock exchanges which are entities of a
corporation or mutual organization specialized in the business of bringing buyers
and sellers of the organizations to a listing of stocks and securities together. The
largest stock market in the United States, by market cap, is the New York Stock
Exchange, NYSE.

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PRACTICE
I. Questions
Give short answers to the following questions:
1. By whom was the foundations of American science laid?
2. What did Alexander Graham Bell invent?
3. Where is the very first commercial nuclear power plant of the US?
4. Which American scientist made the first experiment with rocket propulsion
systems?
5. Where is major biomedical research carried out in the US?
6. Who was the first Secretary of the Treasury of America?
7. When was First Bank of the United States founded?
8. What is a stock market?
9. When are stock markets open for transactions?
10. What is the largest stock market in the United States, by market cap?

II. Critical writing

Write an essay of about 250 words on the following topic:
“What factors have contributed in the success of America in winning
Nobel Prizes, since the mid-20th century?”

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UNIT 6:
A DIVERSE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

Aims and objectives:

- To be aware of the educational system of the US
- To know about some typical points in American education

Harvard University

Lead-in questions:
1. What grades is the system of American education divided into? Is that the
same or different from your country’s?
2. What do you know about the IVY league?
3. What exams do American students have to take for university/college
entrance?

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6.1. American education

6.1.1. An overview
American education is
a complex topic because a
single school can draw upon
resources from several
different public and private
institutions. For example, a
student may attend a private
high school whose curriculum
must meet standards set by the
state, some of whose science
courses may be financed by federal funds, and whose sports teams may play on
local, publicly owned fields.
Almost 90 percent of American students below the college level attend
public elementary and secondary schools, which do not charge tuition but rely on
local and state taxes for funding. Traditionally, elementary school includes
kindergarten through the eighth grade. In some places, however, elementary school
ends after the sixth grade, and students attend middle school, or junior high school,
from grades seven through nine. Similarly, secondary school, or high school,
traditionally comprises grades nine through twelve, but in some places begins at the
tenth grade.
Students who don’t attend public elementary and secondary schools attend
private schools, for tuition from families, usually private schools run by religious
groups and occupies as part of the curriculum. Besides, there is also a small but
growing number of parents who educate their children themselves, a practice known
as home schooling.
A college is a four-year institution of higher learning that offers courses in
related subjects and independent and award bachelor's degrees to those completing
a program of instruction that typically takes four years. A large university typically
comprises several colleges, graduate programs in various fields, one or more
professional schools and one or more research facilities.
Every state has its own university and some cities also have their own public
universities. Junior or community colleges provide a bridge between high school
and four-year colleges for some students. Public colleges and universities usually
charge tuition. However, the amount often is much lower than that charged by
comparable private institutions. About 25 percent of colleges and universities are
privately operated by religious groups. And whether public or private, colleges

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depend on three sources of income: student tuition, endowments and government

funding.
6.1.2. Education, a local matter
From Hawaii to Delaware, from Alaska to Louisiana, each of the 50 states
has its own laws regulating education. From state to state, some laws are similar
while others are not. For example:
 All states require young people to attend school. The age limit varies,
however. Most states require attendance up to age 16, some up to 18. Thus,
every child in America receives at least 11 years of education. This is true
regardless of a child's sex, race, religion, learning problems, physical
handicaps, and ability to speak English, citizenship, or status as an
immigrant. (Although some members of Congress have advocated permitting
the states to deny public education to children of illegal immigrants, such a
proposal has not become law.)
 Some states play a strong central role in the selection of learning material for
their students. For example, state committees may decide which textbooks
can be purchased with state funds. In other states, such decisions are left to
local school officials.
6.1.3. Education reform
In 1989 President George Bush and the governors of all 50 states gave the
movement to reform American education a new impetus when they set six goals to
be achieved by the year 2000:
 That all children will start school ready to learn.
 That 90 percent of all high school students will graduate.
 That all students will achieve competence in core subjects at certain key
points in their progress.
 Those American students will be first in the world in math and science
achievement.
 That every American adult will be literate and have the skills to function as a
citizen and a worker.
 That all schools will be free of drugs and violence and offer a disciplined
environment that is conducive to learning.

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6.1.4. Social issues in American Schools

Schools must cope with an influx of immigrant children, many of whom
speak little or no English. They must respond to demands that the curriculum reflect
the various cultures of all children. Schools are addressing these problems in ways
that reflect the diversity of the U.S. educational system. They are hiring or training
large numbers of teachers of English as a second language and, in some
communities, setting up bilingual schools. Schools are also teaching cognitive skills
to the nearly 40 percent of American students who do not go on to higher education.
6.1.5. Terms and school years
Most colleges and universities follow either a quarter-based calendar system
or a semester-based calendar system. In a quarter system, the academic year is
divided into three sessions called quarters. Each quarter lasts about 12 weeks. There
is usually an additional quarter in the summer, where registration is optional.
Foreign students are not required to attend courses in the summer to maintain their
status. In a semester system, the academic year is divided into two sessions called
semesters. Each semester lasts 16 weeks. Again, there may be an optional session
during the summer.
Students who have registered for at least 12 units in a session (either a
quarter or semester) are said to be “full-time” students. Students who have
registered for fewer than 12 units in a session are called “part-time” students.
Foreign students must maintain a “full-time course load” (in other words, they must
always register for at least 12 units) in order to maintain their visa status.

6.2. Educational system

Overall, like many other countries, American education is divided into three
distinctive stages for their learners:
(i) Preschool stage: for kids below the age of 5
(ii) Compulsory education: for learners aged 5- 18
(iii) Higher education: optional for students above 18 years of age
The illustration below will give a better description of this system:

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6.2.1. Primary school

American children start school at the age of five years. The first year at
school is called kindergarten. It is required of all American children enrolled in the
American education system. The second year at school is considered the first year
of primary school and is referred to as first grade. Primary school most commonly
consists of five years of education, referred to as first through fifth grades.

6.2.2. Secondary/Junior high school

Upon completion of fifth grade (the last year of primary school), American
children enrolled in the American education system advance to secondary school, or
junior high school. Secondary school most commonly consists of a total of two to
three years, referred to as five or sixth through eighth grades.
6.2.3. High school
The ninth through twelfth grades are most commonly referred to as high
school. Upon completion of twelfth grade, American students are awarded a
certificate called the high school diploma. In the American education system,

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students must have obtained a high school diploma before they are admitted into
college or university. Foreign students who would like to attend an American
college or university must have completed coursework that is equivalent to what is
taught at an American high school. Foreign students, who would like to attend an
American high school, need to consider how the high school they select will give
them access to the best colleges.
Interestingly, the USA high school system is unlike that in many other
countries. In the US, there is little national standardization in the high school (or
secondary school) curriculum. Individual states have great control over what
coursework is taught in the high schools within their borders, as well as in the
requirements that students must meet in order to graduate with a high school
diploma. Therefore, what courses and subjects are offered at a US high school will
vary depending on where the school is located. Many international students choose
to study at one of the many fine USA boarding schools. The coursework will also
vary depending on whether the US high school is public or private. US Public
schools are operated by the government and are financed by public funds. They are
free to all students, even foreigners. The quality of education can vary greatly
between different USA public high schools, primarily because of differences in the
amount of funding that different schools receive. Private USA high schools are
operated by private individuals and are financed by private funds. They are not
controlled by any government agency, but their students must still meet the
minimum graduation requirements set by the state. All students must pay tuition,
regardless of their nationality.
Private high schools are popular in the US because they offer options that are
not available at public high schools. These may include advanced math and science
courses, a broader selection of foreign languages, and better art, music and athletic
programs.
6.2.4. Vocational education
Like high schools, American colleges are sometimes criticized for discarding
required courses and offering too many electives. In the mid-1980s the Association
of American Colleges issued a report that called for teaching a body of common
knowledge to all college students. A similar report, "Involvement in Learning,"
issued by the National Institute of Education, concluded that the college curriculum
had become "excessively...work-related." The report also warned that college
education may no longer be developing in students "the shared values and
knowledge" that traditionally bind Americans together.

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6.2.5. Higher education

In American educational system, higher education is sub-divided into various
grades with various kinds of institutions.
(1) US COMMUNITY COLLEGES AND US JUNIOR COLLEGES &
ASSOCIATE DEGREE PROGRAMS.
A US associate degree is a 2-year degree given by two types of colleges
upon completion of an associate degree program: US community colleges and US
junior colleges. The two classes of US associate degrees offered are the associate of
arts degree (also called the A.A.) and the associate of applied science degree (also
called the A.A.S.). US Community colleges are operated by the local government
and are financed by public funds.
There are three general groups of students that US community colleges
serve:
(i) students who do not want to pursue a bachelor’s degree but want to attend
a US community college, enroll in an associate degree program, and pursue
an associate degree;
(ii) students who want to pursue a bachelor’s degree but who want to
complete the first 2 years of their undergraduate education (by enrolling in
one of the many associate degree programs) at a US community college and
then transfer to a four-year US college for the last 2 years;
(iii) members of the local community want to attend classes in various
subjects at US community colleges without pursuing any type of degree or
enrolling in formal associate degree programs (this is called “continuing
education”).
The tuition at US community colleges is typically much less than at a four-
year college or university, even a public one. Therefore, many American students
choose to attend a US community college for two years and enroll in one of the
many associate degree programs as a way of lowering the cost of getting a
bachelor’s degree in the USA. US community colleges offer a great education at a
great price.
(2) PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES
These are schools that are operated by a state government and are financed
by public funds. They are also called state universities and sometimes have the
word “state” in their names (for example, San Diego State University). The tuition
charged by these schools is typically much lower for students who are residents of
the state where the school is located. Students who are residents of other states and
foreign students will pay higher tuition because they and their parents have not

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contributed to the taxes that help finance the schools. The bachelor degree programs
offered at public universities vary per school and are popular with international
students.
(3) PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES
These are schools that are operated by private individuals and are financed
by private funds. These schools are not controlled by any government agency and
offer bachelor's degrees. Tuition at private schools is normally much higher than at
public schools because of the lack of financial support from the government. There
is no difference between the amount of tuition paid by American students and
foreign students. Obtaining a bachelor's degree at a private university or college is
what many international students choose. Make sure the university is properly
accredited so that your bachelor's degree will be recognized.
6.3. Examinations and degrees
6.3.1. Grades
Professors give letter grades to show the quality of a student’s work. The
grade tells how well the student is performing on tests, research papers, and class
participation. Most colleges or universities require that students maintain a
minimum grade point average to continue their studies. Here are the grades and the
grade point averages:

A+ (4.0) C+ (2.3) F (0) (failure)

A (4.0) C (2.0)
A– (3.7) (excellent) C– (1.7) (average)

B+ (3.3) D+ (1.3)
B (3.0) D (1.0)
B– (2.7) (above average) D– (0.7) (poor)

6.3.2. Unit system

College courses are assigned a value in what are called “credits” or “units.”
The number of units assigned to a course corresponds to the number of hours that a
student will attend class for that course. For example, a course that consists of three
class sessions per week, and where each class session last for 50 minutes, will be
assigned a value of three units. Typically, colleges require that students complete a
minimum number of units in order to graduate, rather than a minimum number of
courses. This gives students more flexibility in what courses they decide to take to
complete their graduation requirements.

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6.3.3. Exit examination

An exit examination is a test that students must pass to receive a diploma
and graduate from high school in the United States. These are usually criterion-
referenced tests which were implemented as part of a comprehensive standards-
based education reform program which sets into place new standards intended to
increase the learning of all students.
When any test is directly tied to significant consequences, such as
determining whether the student may receive a high school diploma, it is called
a high-stakes test. Many organizations such as the National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics (NCTM) oppose high-stakes tests in general, with the NCTM saying
that "placing too much emphasis on a single test or on testing can undermine the
quality of education and jeopardize equality of opportunity. At the same time,
almost all states that hold an exit exam for graduation allow students to take the test
multiple times and further allow routes to graduation for students that fail.
In 2011, 24 states required passing a high school exit examination for
graduation, and three additional states had legislation instituting such exams in the
future
6.3.4. Degrees
(1) BACHELOR’S DEGREE
U.S. students can go on to college or university after finishing high school
(12th grade). Therefore, you need to know which level of education in your country
matches up with the 12th grade in the United States.
Upon entering a college or university, students work toward their bachelor’s degree
during the first four years. Students in the first year are called "freshmen." They are
"sophomores" in the second year. "Junior" and "senior" refer to the third and fourth
years.
The U.S. undergraduate educational system is different from many other
systems because students have more control over their courses. Also, students are
not typically admitted directly into their "major" field of study. Instead, most
undergraduates are in general studies programs until just before their junior year.
Students must take a certain number of courses in areas outside their major
department or field in order to earn a bachelor’s degree in the United States. This is
based on the philosophy that students at the undergraduate level get the best
education by being exposed to several areas of study.
In some degree programs, students also choose a "minor" field that may or
may not be closely related to their major. For example, a student could choose to

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major in marketing and minor in French. Students also choose some "elective"
(extra) courses in other subjects.
(2) US MASTER’S DEGREE AND DOCTOROUS PROGRAMS
A college graduate with a bachelor’s degree may find that degree to be
insufficient for the type of profession he would like to have. It may often be
necessary to pursue an advanced degree,
Not all USA colleges and universities offer USA master’s degree programs.
Even fewer offer US PhD degree programs. Also, the number of majors offered at
the graduate level by a graduate school will usually be much smaller than the
number of majors at the undergraduate level. Occasionally, a school will only offer
a major at the graduate program level.
The US master’s degree is a graduate school degree that typically requires
two years of full-time graduate school coursework to complete. Unlike students
pursuing a bachelor’s degree, students in a master’s degree program will complete
courses that are highly focused in their field of study (their major). As such,
students must have already decided on their major before applying to a master’s
degree program.
The US PhD degree or doctoral degree is even more focused and specialized
than the master’s degree. Some students will complete a master’s degree before
applying to a doctorate degree program, but that is not always necessary.
Completion of a US doctorate degree typically takes between three and six years.
The length of time will depend on the student’s educational background (a student
with a master’s degree may take less time to complete his PhD if it is in the same
field), the field of study selected, the student’s dedication and ability, and the
complexity of the thesis the student has chosen for his PhD. The thesis is a very
long, extensive, and original research paper that is a requirement for completing the
PhD program. (Some master’s degree programs also require a thesis, but it is much
simpler and shorter than the PhD program thesis.)

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PRACTICE
I. Gap – filling
Fill in the gaps with appropriate words to complete the chart

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II. True/ false

Decide whether these statements are true or false
1. “All high school students will graduate” was the goal of American education
to be achieved by the year2000.
2. The degree A.A. stands for the Application of Arts
3. After completing the 5th grade, American children can enroll for secondary
school
4. State universities, sometimes have the word “state” in their names, are
operated by the local government and funded by public funds.
5. The six goals of American education have been set to be achieved by the
year 2000 by President George Bush and governors of every state.
6. About 25% of colleges and universities are operated by religious groups
7. Foreign students must maintain a “full time course load” to keep their visa
status
8. According to reform of education, American students will be first in the
world in math and science.
9. Public elementary and secondary schools do not charge tuition but rely on
local and state taxes for funding
10. At American college, each quarter lasts about 12 weeks

11. Every state of America has the same laws regulating education

12. A US associate degree is a 2-year degree given by three types of colleges

upon completion of an associate degree program: US community colleges,
US junior colleges and US universities
III. Discussion
Answer the following questions:
1. What makes American education a diverse issue?
2. Does your country have to face the same social matters with those of
America? Why (not)?
3. What higher diplomas can American students earn? How can they get those?
4. Why is public universities’ tuition fee much lower than that of private
institution? Is this fair or unfair for learners? Why?
5. What must international students do to be admitted to and keep their
studying at a university in the US?

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UNIT 7: SOCIAL SERVICES

& CURRENT ISSUES

Aims and objectives:

- To understand the social services of America
- To be aware of some American social issues

Lead-n questions
1. How can unemployed people in the US get helped by the government?
2. What policies are currently applied for the disable and the old in
America?
3. What are some of the big problems faced up by American society
nowadays?

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7.1. American social welfare systems

The American economic system is based on private, free enterprise, and the
"self-reliance" that writer and lecturer Ralph Waldo Emerson advocated is a virtue
much valued by Americans. Generally, the majority of Americans can live
comfortable lives on the salaries they earn, without the support of a universal
public-welfare system. Most buy insurance, especially life and medical insurance,
frequently with contributions from the companies for which they work. Many
companies also have retirement plans by which they and their employees put aside
money for their retirement pensions.
7.1.1. Social programs
Currently, social programs in the United
States are welfare subsidies designed to aid the needs of the American population.
Federal and state welfare programs include cash assistance, healthcare and medical
provisions, food assistance, housing subsidies, energy and utilities subsidies,
education and childcare assistance, and subsidies and assistance for other basic
services. Private provisions from employers, either mandated by policy or
voluntary, also provide similar social welfare benefits.
The programs vary in eligibility requirements and are provided by various
organizations on a federal, state, local and private level. They help to provide food,
shelter, education, healthcare and money to U.S. citizens
through primary and secondary education, subsidies of college education,
unemployment disability insurance, subsidies for eligible low-wage workers,
subsidies for housing, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, and
pensions for eligible persons and health insurance programs that cover public
employees. The Social Security system is sometimes considered to be a social aid
program and has some characteristics of such programs, but unlike these programs,
social security was designed as a self-funded security blanket - so that as the payee
pays in (during working years), they are pre-paying for the payments they'll receive
back out of the system when they are no longer working. Medicare is another
prominent program, among other healthcare provisions such as Medicaid and
the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
In these years, 50% of the Federal budget is spent on assistance for the old,
sick and poor. Much of the money is for people over 65 years old in the form of
help with medical bills (Medicare/Medicaid) and monthly pension benefits called
“Social Security”. However, there is no welfare administered locally by the State
governments and provides assistance for things like food, clothes and shelter for
illegal immigrants or legal immigrants if they do not become citizens of the USA
after a short period of time living in the USA

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The law also limits lifetime welfare assistance to five years, requires most
able-bodied adults to work after two years on welfare, eliminates welfare benefits
for legal immigrants who have not become U.S. citizens, and limits food stamps to a
period of three months unless the recipients are working.
There are worries about this system, however. In fact, many people believe
that the system welfare encourages young women to have children out of wedlock,
because welfare payments increase with each child born. Other experts maintain
that unless the root causes of poverty -- lack of education and opportunity -- are
addressed, the welfare system is all that stands between the poor and utter
destitution.
7.1.2. Medicaid and Medicare
Although most Americans have some form of private health insurance, some
people cannot afford insurance. They can get medical coverage through two social
programs established in 1965.
Medicaid is a joint federal-state program that funds medical care for the
poor. The requirements for receiving Medicaid and the scope of care available vary
widely from state to state. At a cost of about $156 thousand million a year,
Medicaid is the nation's largest social-welfare program.
Medicare, another form of federal health insurance, pays a large part of the
medical bills incurred by Americans who are 65 and older or who are disabled,
regardless of age. Medicare is financed by a portion of the Social Security tax, by
premiums paid by recipients, and by federal funds. Everyone who receives Social
Security payments is covered by Medicare.
7.2. Current issues
7.2.1. Poor People in America
According to American human report in 2015, only about 7% of American
families are considered “poor” while. Of the poor people, 50% own a house and
most of the rest have adequate rented housing, 83% own a car and almost all own a
TV and have hot and cold running water.
Poor people also receive assistance from charities like local churches. People
do not receive benefits except for short term emergencies unless they are not able to
work. Many homeless that can be seen in the streets are alcoholics and drug addicts,
and they still receive assistance from charity organizations like the “Salvation
Army” but not from the government. Some people choose to be homeless rather
than face the daily task of going to work and being responsible.

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There should not be anyone going to bed hungry in a country as rich as the
USA but it happens when people “fall through the cracks” and others who won’t try
to help themselves
7.2.2. Crime
USA crime rates are similar to other Western countries and higher than
Asian countries although figures are hard compare because different countries
report in different ways or do not report at all. Crimes against property are generally
lower than other Western countries
The violent crime rate (murder, armed robbery, assault) is probably much
higher mainly due to the ready availability of guns causing very high crime rate in
many areas of the big cities. A large part of the crime is between people dealing in
drugs or trying to steal something of value so that they can buy illegal drugs
7.2.3. Guns
The U.S. is one of three
countries to include gun-ownership
rights in its constitution. (Mexico and
Guatemala are the others.) The right
“of the people to keep and bear
arms,” enshrined in the Second
Amendment, was established in the
18th century to allow states to form
militias to protect themselves against
oppression by the federal
government. Interpretation has evolved, and in 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled
that the amendment protected the gun rights of individuals, not just militias. Beyond
the legalities, the gun is a cultural icon in the U.S. — a necessary instrument of
soldiers in the Revolutionary War, frontiersmen conquering the Great Plains,
cowboys roaming the Wild West. The number of guns in private hands in 2015 is
considered to have grown to as high as 390 million, even as recent surveys show
that a record low of 36 percent of Americans own at least one of those firearms or
live with someone who does, down from more than 50 percent in the late 1970s to
early 1980s.
However, opponents to this may argue that that gun regulations only hurt
law-abiding gun owners because criminals simply ignore them. They note that since
Congress let a ban on assault weapons expire in 2004, violent crime in America
has fallen significantly, while fatal and non-fatal shootings are also down slightly.
Meanwhile gun-control advocates say limiting weapons will drive down gun-related
crimes. An editorial in the Annals of Internal Medicine said the level of gun

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violence in the U.S. amounts to a public health crisis; the left-leaning magazine
Mother Jones calculated direct and indirect costs of $229 billion a year.
As a result, today, guns are restricted – no fully military capable weapons,
new handguns require permits, you must be 18 to purchase a gun or ammunition,
you can not purchase a new gun if you have been convicted of a serious crime
7.2.4. Marriage and Divorce
Marriage in the United States is a
legal, social, and religious institution.
The legal recognition of marriage is
regulated by individual states, each of
which sets an "age of majority" at which
individuals are free to enter into marriage
solely on their own consent, as well as in
what age minors are able to marry with
parental and/or judicial consent. Marriage
laws have changed considerably during United States history, including the removal
of bans on interracial marriage and same-sex marriage. In 2009, there were
2,077,000 marriages, according to the Census bureau. The median age for the first
marriage has increased in recent years. The median age in the early 1970s was 21
for women and 23 for men, and it rose to 26 for women and 28 for men by 2009.
Marriages vary considerably in
terms of religion, socioeconomic status,
age, commitment, and so forth. As a rough
rule, marriage has more legal ramifications
than other types of bonds between
consenting adults. A civil union is "a
formal union between two people of the
same or of different genders which results
in, but falls short of, marriage-like rights and obligations," according to one
view. Cohabitation is when two unmarried people who are in an intimate
relationship live together
There is a 43% chance of a marriage ending in divorce and 53% of adults are
married living with their spouses. Many couples live together before they marry and
that is not considered a wrong or bad thing to do except by a few religious
organizations. First marriages are usually “white weddings” with the bride in a
white wedding dress. The white dress use to stand for pure or virginity but is now
just a tradition. Interracial marriage is highly accepted except many areas of the
country still do not approve of marriage between a white and an African American

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7.2.5. Drugs and Alcohol

Most drug use is “recreational” as it used for occasional “highs” or “lows”
and people do not become addicted but there are also many people addicted to
cocaine and other hard drugs. All are illegal and people caught with them are
punished with the most severe punishment to those selling the drugs. However,
drugs are all expensive meaning that unless you are wealthy, we need to steal to
obtain the drugs causing crime problems.
Alcohol is legal and inexpensive but its sale is limited to people at least 21
years old and this is strictly enforced.
7.3. Cultural tips
7.3.1. American Greetings
(1) Telephone
- Say “Hello” when answering but sometimes people say Good
Morning/Afternoon/Evening or answer with their name
- The caller should then always identify themselves before asking questions or
starting the conversation
- In the USA the use of answering machines is very common and you should
be ready to leaving a clear, short massage
- Cell phone use in cars in illegal (but common)
- You should not answer or attempt to make a call as the driver of a car unless
you have a hands free microphone
(2) Informal and Formal First Meetings
- When meeting people present your right hand and give the person a firm
hand shake (do not use two hands or put your left hand on your right arm)
- Make eye contact when first making contact and during the conversation
- Stand friendly but confident (not head down)
- Women are equal with men and should show confidence but normally use a
lighter hand shake
- Either party may initiate light conversation but not to personal (don’t ask
age, marital status, weight, income, etc). More appropriate would be to ask
when they arrived or where are they from, talk about the weather, etc.
- People will normally introduce themselves by the name that they want to be
called by other people. Take this as a cue as what name you should use
when addressing them

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- If people introduce themselves with both their first and their last names (e.g.
Richard Peterson) it is usually acceptable to call them by their first name
(e.g. Richard) from that time forward. If you are meeting a person for who
you which to show special respect then you would use Mr./Miss (e.g. Mr.
Peterson)
- If you are about 18 years old or older you should stand friendly but with
confidence as an equal, even with people who are older than you and senior
to you
(3) Informal Meetings with Friends
- You may use a hand shake or maybe just a friendly informal verbal greeting
(e.g. Hi!).
- Women to women and women to men who are friends often greet and/or part
with a hug or a kiss on the cheek.
- Men meeting men usually shake hands. Men rarely hug each other unless
they are close family.
(4) Respectful Greetings
- People normally show special respect by using “Mr. or Mrs. or Miss” or their
title (e.g. Reverend) for the old people, police, senior and clergy, etc. but not
necessarily just because they are older
- Children should show respect for adults but this is not always the case in
practice
- In some parts of the USA, especially the southern USA, younger people still
often refer to older men as “sir” or use “Mr.” to show respect for someone
older or in a position of authority
(5) Personal Contact
Open affection has long been acceptable in most areas of the US with
couples holding hands or putting their arms around each other in public.
Affectionate kissing in public is common but not always proper. Of course, men
and women shake hands when they meet and when they part. Women and women
or men and women often hug or kiss on the cheek when they separate or greet each
other if they know each other as friends. Girls/women or boys/men holding hands
or having an arm wrapped around each other is accepted in many countries but
might be considered homosexual in America.

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(6) Clothing
(i) Business
- Men’s suit (matching coat and pants) and tie have decreased dramatically in last
20 years. For most work situations, smart casual is hot. Some businesses still
require suit and tie especially when people deal with the public or other businesses.
No tennis shoes, jeans or T shirts.
- Women also wear smart casual (pants or skirt and blouse) but when men are
wearing suit and tie, women often wear suits (with skirt or pants)
- Some businesses have gone completely casual with the attitude that it is what you
do, not what you wear (blue jeans and T-shirts, tennis shoes/sneakers)
(ii) Funerals
- Smart or maybe a Dark Suit and tie for men. A dark tie is not necessary but
normal. Women dress in non-bright dresses or other smart clothes.
(iii) Weddings
Smart and dress-up but whatever suits you
(iv) Clothes – Casual
- Most anything goes with men and women wearing mostly loose clothes – unisex
and lack of bright colors. Snug jeans are always popular for women but never for
men.
- Most restaurants don’t have a dress code but all require at least a shirt and shoes
(legal requirement). Expensive or exclusive places might require a sport coat (like a
suit coat but not matching the pants)
- When the weather is warm short pants for both men and women are ok for just
about any activity except work but not “short, shorts”. The women may wear loose
dresses to be cool and comfortable and either sex may wear sandals. It’s not cool to
wear sandals with socks.
- Hip hugger jeans and flared pants are in fashion but these things change rapidly.
- For young men, supper baggie (African American look) is cool
In general, clothing is casual but it is always good to ask if you have any doubt
about what kind of clothes to wear, especially women. It is hard to be over dressed
or under dressed unless you are just sloppy or dirty.

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(7) Food
Every kind of food is available in most of the USA because the immigrants
have brought their taste in food to America. There are some favorites as reflected in
the kinds of restaurants you see just about everywhere:
(i) Italian: Always a favorite. Pizza and all kinds of pasta of (wheat noodles
covered with different kinds of sauces and cheese)
(ii) Mexican: It has spread across the US in the last 40 years. Tacos, burritos
(corn or wheat flour formed in around shape bread wrapped around various
seasoned meat, cheese, lettuce, etc)
(iii) Chinese: Chinese restaurants and take-out shops have been all over
America for many years usually run by a Chinese family that lives in the
community
(iv) Fast Food: McDonalds, Burger King, plus many others for ready or
fast made hamburgers (round bun filled with a ground beef patty and
tomatoes, lettuce, etc plus French fried potatoes and soft drinks. KFC, plus
others for ready made fried chicken covered with breading. Taco Bell for
fast made Mexican. Dunkin Donuts with about 50 different types of ready
made donuts (soft, sweet bread with fillings or toppings) served with coffee.
(v) Restaurants in General: Every kind of food is available but most “All
American” restaurants will serve beef steaks, pork in various forms, potatoes
in various forms (baked, fried, sliced, wiped) vegetables, rice, chicken in
many forms, sea food mainly fried in a flour based coating (fresh fish is
expensive and is less available unless you are by the East or West coast).
(vi) Bar B Q: At home or in restaurants, this is a big favorite. Hot dogs,
hamburgers, chicken or beef steaks cooked over open charcoal or gas heated
rocks. Bar B Q sauce is a spicy flavored tomato based sauce with a “smoky
flavor.
(vii) Snacks: Potato and corn based salted and flavored chips, candy bars,
cookies, popcorn with salt and butter or sweet
(viii) Deserts: Cakes and pies (flour crust with filling like fruit or custard).
Having a desert after the dinner has become less and less common as people
fill up with other food and don’t have as many full family meals prepared

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PRACTICE
I. True or false
Decide whether the following statements are true or false
1. 90% of the Federal budget is spent on assistance for the old, sick and poor.
2. Medicaid and Medicare are two aiding programs for American people,
established in 1965.
3. In the USA today, there is a 53% chance of a marriage ending in divorce and
43% of adults are married living with their spouses
4. Hardly any Americans can live comfortably on the salaries they earn.
5. The system welfare encourages young women to have children out of wedlock,
because welfare payments increase with each child born.
6. Most Americans can get medical coverage through two social programs
established in the 1960s.
7. Medicare is financed by a portion of the Social Security tax, premiums paid by
recipients, and federal funds.
8. Not everyone receiving Social Security payments is covered by Medicare.
9. Food assistance and housing subsidies are included in federal and state welfare
programs.
10. Poor people also receive assistance from charities like local churches or
Salvation Army

II. Questions
Briefly answer the following questions
1. By whom was the American spirit of "self-reliance" created?
2. How long can able-bodied adults receive welfare assistance?
3. What is American Medicaid?
4. What is paid by Medicare programs?
5. Where is gun-ownership rights included in the nation’s constitution?
6. What are guns used for in the US?
7. What is American "age of majority"?
8. Why is violent crime such a problem in America?
9. What is American “white wedding?
10. What personal contacts are allowed in the US?

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III. Discussion
Questions
1. Should American Medicaid and Medicare be applied in your own country?
Why (not)?
2. Many people believe that gun keeping is a tradition of the US and cannot be
banned. Do you agree or disagree? Why?
3. Is cohabitation a good or bad way of living in America? Why? What about
the situation in your country?
4. In what ways do Americans hold their weddings? Are they the same or
different from your country’s?

IV. Critical writing

Write an essay of 250-300 words to answer the following question:
“What are the similarities and differences in Vietnamese and American ways of
socializing?”

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UNIT 8:
SEPARATING CHURCH AND STATE

Aims and objectives:

- To understand the separate system of state and religion in the US
- To know about the development of main religions in the US

Separation of church and

state was ordained by the First
Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution, which provides in part
that "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof...."

The intent of this clause was to limit the power of the Federal Government in
regard to religion thus ensuring freedom of religion in the United States of America.

Lead-in questions
1. Who was considered the spiritual father of America? Why did they come
to this land?
2. What is the national religion of the USA?
3. Which religion has the biggest number of followers in America?
4. Do American people have their own traditional beliefs? If yes, what is it?
If no, why not?

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8.1. Early history of American religions

From a broad view, it can be said that many early immigrant groups traveled
to America to worship freely, particularly after the English Civil War and religious
conflict in France and Germany. They included nonconformists like the Puritans,
who were Protestant Christians fleeing religious persecution from the Anglican
King of England. Despite a common background, the groups' views on religious
toleration were mixed. While some such as Roger Williams of Rhode
Island and William Penn of Pennsylvania ensured the protection of religious
minorities within their colonies, others like the Plymouth Colony and Massachusetts
Bay Colony had established churches. The Dutch colony of New
Netherland established the Dutch Reformed Church and outlawed all other worship,
though enforcement was sparse. Religious conformity was desired partly for
financial reasons: the established Church was responsible for poverty relief, putting
dissenting churches at a significant disadvantage.
Many people believe that the religious history of the United States began
with the first Pilgrim settlers who came on the Mayflower in the year 1620. Their
Protestant faith motivated their movement as a community to the New World from
Europe where they could practice in peace. The Spanish set up a famous network of
Catholic missions in
California, but they had
all closed long before
1848 when California
became part of the U.S.
There were a few
French Catholic
churches and institutions
in Louisiana, especially
New Orleans.
Most of the settlers came from Protestant backgrounds in Britain and the
Continent, with a small proportion of Catholics (chiefly in Maryland) and a few
Jews in port cities. The English and the German Americans brought along multiple
Protestant denominations. Several colonies had an "established" church, which
meant that local tax money went to the established denomination. Freedom of
religion became a basic American principle, and numerous new movements
emerged, many of which became established denominations in their own right.
Historians debate how influential Christianity was in the era of the American
Revolution. Many of the founding fathers were active in a local church; some of
them, such as Jefferson, Franklin, and Washington had Deist sentiments.

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The First Great Awakening, the nation's first major religious revival in the
middle of the 18th century injected new vigor into Christian faith. Religion in the
period of the Second Great Awakening became increasingly involved in social
reform movements, such as anti-slavery. Most of the denominations set up colleges
to train new generations of leaders and nearly all were originally founded as
Christian institutions. Later the Roman Catholics also set up colleges and a separate
parochial school system to avoid the Protestant tone of the public schools.
Black Americans, once freed from slavery, were very active in forming their
own churches, most of them Baptist or Methodist, and giving their ministers both
moral and political leadership roles. In the late 19th and early 20th century most
major denominations started overseas missionary activity. The "Mainline
Protestant" denominations promoted the "Social Gospel" in the early 20th century,
calling on Americans to reform their society; the demand for prohibition of liquor
was especially strong. After 1970, the Mainline denominations (such as Methodists,
Presbyterians and Episcopalians) lost membership and influence. The more
conservative evangelical, fundamentalist, and charismatic denominations (such as
the Southern Baptists) grew rapidly until the 1990s and helped form the Religious
Right in politics. The Catholic element grew steadily, especially from Hispanic
immigration after 1970.
As Europe secularized in the late 20th century, the Americans largely
resisted the trend, so that by the 21st century the U.S. was one of the most strongly
Christian of all major nations. Religiously based moral positions on issues such as
abortion and homosexuality played a hotly debated role in American politics
8.2. Religions in the USA
Today, according to figures of 2015, religion in the United States is
characterized by a diversity of religious beliefs and practices. Various religious
faiths have flourished in the United States. A majority of Americans report that
religion plays a very important role in their lives, a proportion unique
among developed countries.
The majority of Americans
identify themselves as Christians,
while close to a quarter claim no
religious affiliation. According to
a 2014 study by the Pew Research
Center, 70.6% of the American
population identified themselves
as Christians, with 46.5%
professing attendance at a variety

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of churches that could be considered Protestant, and 20.8% professing Roman

Catholic beliefs. The same study says that other religions
(including Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism) collectively make up about
6% of the population. According to a 2012 survey by the Pew forum, 36 percent of
Americans state that they attend services nearly every week or more. According to
the 2013 Gallup poll, Mississippi with 61% of its population described as very
religious (say that religion is important to them and attend religious services almost
every week) is the most religious state in the country, while Vermont with only 22%
as very religious is the least religious state.
The United States federal government was the first national government to
have no official state-endorsed religion. However, some states had established
religions in some form until the 1830s.
Modeling the provisions concerning religion within the Virginia Statute for
Religious Freedom, the framers of the Constitution rejected any religious test for
office, and the First Amendment specifically denied the federal government any
power to enact any law respecting either an establishment of religion or prohibiting
its free exercise, thus protecting any religious organization, institution, or
denomination from government interference. The decision was mainly influenced
by European Rationalist and Protestant ideals, but was also a consequence of the
pragmatic concerns of minority religious groups and small states that did not want
to be under the power or influence of a national religion that did not represent them
One of the first permanent settlements in what became the North American
colonies was founded by English Puritans, Calvinists who had been outsiders in
their homeland, where the Church of England was established.
Even after the adoption of the Constitution in 1787 and the Bill of Rights
(which includes the First Amendment) in 1791, Protestantism continued to enjoy a
favored status in some states. . The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, forbids
states to "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of
law."
In the 20th century, the relationship between church and state reached a new
stage of conflict -- that between civic duty and individual conscience.
Three years earlier, the Supreme Court had upheld a nearly identical law -- a
decision that had been roundly criticized. In the 1943 case, the Court in effect
overruled itself by invoking a different clause in the First Amendment, the one
guaranteeing freedom of speech.

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8.2.1. Protestants -- liberal and conservative

Liberal American Protestantism in the 19th century was allied with similar
trends in Europe, where scholars were reading and interpreting the Bible in a new
way. They questioned the validity of biblical miracles and traditional beliefs about
the authorship of biblical books.
Today's liberal clergymen -- not just Protestants but Catholics and others, too
-- may be less convinced that progress is inevitable, but many of them have
continued their efforts on behalf of the poor by managing shelters for homeless
people, feeding the hungry, running day-care centers for children, and speaking out
on social issues. While liberal Protestants sought a relaxation of doctrine,
conservatives believed that departures from the literal truth of the Bible were
unjustified. Their branch of Protestantism is often called "evangelical," after their
enthusiasm for the gospels of the New Testament.
In 1925 the conflict between conservative faith and modern science
crystallized in what is known as the Scopes trial in Tennessee. The Supreme Court
has ruled that laws banning the teaching of evolution violate the First Amendment's
prohibition of establishing religion. However, Religious conservatives argue that
teaching evolution alone elevates human reason above revealed truth and thus is
antireligious.
8.2.2. Catholics and religious schools
Although Catholics were never denied access to public schools or hospitals,
beginning in the 19th century they built institutions of their own, which met
accepted standards while observing the tenets of Catholic belief and morality. On
the other hand, the Catholic Church does not require its members to go to church-
run institutions. Many Catholic students attend public schools and secular colleges.
But Catholic schools still educate many Catholic young people, as well as a
growing number of non-Catholics, whose parents are attracted by the discipline and
quality of instruction.
The most controversial aspect of religion in the United States today is
probably its role in politics. In recent decades some Americans have come to
believe that separation of church and state has been interpreted in ways hostile to
religion. Religious conservatives and fundamentalists have joined forces to become
a powerful political movement known as the Christian right.
Students in public schools may not pray publicly as part of the school day
but students who attend church-affiliated colleges may receive federal loans like
other students.

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8.3. American traditional beliefs of native people

Native American religions are the spiritual practices of
the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Traditional
Native American ceremonial ways can vary widely, and
are based on the differing histories and beliefs of
individual tribes, clans and bands. Early European
explorers describe individual Native American tribes and
even small bands as each having their own religious
practices. Theology may
be monotheistic, polytheistic, henotheistic, animistic, or
some combination thereof. Traditional beliefs are usually
passed down in the forms of oral histories, stories, allegories and principles, and
rely on face to face teaching in one's family and community.
From time to time important religious leaders organized revivals. In Indiana
in 1805, Tenskwatawa (called the Shanee Prophet by Americans) led a religious
revival following a smallpox epidemic and a series of witch-hunts. His beliefs were
based on the earlier teachings of the Lenape prophets, Scattamek and Neolin, who
predicted a coming apocalypse that would destroy the European-American settlers.
Tenskwatawa urged the tribes to reject the ways of the Americans: to give up
firearms, liquor, American style clothing, to pay traders only half the value of their
debts, and to refrain from ceding any more lands to the United States. The revival
led to warfare led by his brother Tecumseh against the white settlers.
Native Americans were the target of extensive Christian missionary activity.
Catholics launched Jesuit Missions amongst the Huron and the Spanish missions in
California) and various Protestant denominations. Numerous Protestant
denominations were active. By the late-19th century, most Native Americans
integrated into American society generally have become Christians, along with a
large portion of those living on reservations. The Navajo, the largest and most
isolated tribe, resisted missionary overtures until Pentecostal revivalism attracted
their support after 1950

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PRACTICE
I. True or false
Decide whether the following statements are true or false
1. The first Pilgrim settlers who came on the Mayflower in the year 1620 were
Protestants.
2. Separation of church and state was ordained by the First Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution.
3. The Dutch Reformed Church was founded by the Dutch colony of New
Netherland
4. It was in the period of the American Revolution that Christianity has a big
influence on American people
5. In order to avoid the Protestant tone of the public schools, the Roman
Catholics set up colleges and a separate parochial school system in the USA
6. After being freed from slavery, Black Americans were very active in forming
their own churches, most of them Baptist or Methodist.
7. There was about one-third of American population having no religions.
8. Today, extensive Christian missionary activity still aims at native American
people
9. Approximately 80% American are Christians
10. The US has no national religions, nor a national church.
11. In some states, Protestantism has been favoured by the citizens.
12. Conservative Protestants believed that departures from the literal truth of the
Bible were unjustified
13. The Scopes trial in Tennessee was the result of the conflict between
conservative faith and modern science in 1925
14. Native Americans living on reservations accepted to be integrated into
American society and have become Christians
15. Though considered to be more conservative, many Catholic children are
allowed to attend public schools and secular colleges.
16. Traditional religions in the US are the spiritual practices of the Native
peoples of the Americas.
17. Traditionally, Native Americans’ beliefs are usually passed down in the
forms of oral histories, stories, allegories and principles.
18. Described as very religious, Mississippi has 61% of its population following
Christianity.
19. The First Great Awakening was American first major religious revival in the
middle of the 18th century
20. The intent of the first Amendment was to limit the power of the Federal
Government in regard to religion.

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II. Discussion
Answer the following questions:
1. Why doesn’t the US set up its national religions?
2. What roles do religions play in the spiritual life of Americans?
3. How did America get various religions in its history?
4. Compare the traditional beliefs in the USA with those in your own country.

III. Writing
Write an essay of 250 words on the following topic:
“In seeking for a land of freedom for their God’s worshipping, English pilgrims
found a new horizon for their next generations.”

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UNIT 9:
AMERICAN ARTS, SPORTS,
ENTERTAINMENT AND THE MEDIA

Aims and objectives:

- To be aware of recreational development in America
- To understand different forms of entertainment in the US

The development of the

arts in America -- music, dance,
architecture, the visual arts, and
literature -- has been marked by
a tension between two strong
sources of inspiration:
European sophistication and
domestic originality.

Lead – in questions
1. Why has American art been affected by European trends?
2. What kinds of sports are popular in the US?
3. What is America’s biggest entertainment industry?
4. What is American football? Is it the same or different from international
football? In what way?

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9.1. Music
The music of the United
States reflects the country's multi-
ethnic population through a
diverse array of styles. It is a
mixture of music influenced
by West African, Irish, Scottish,
Mexican, and Cuban music
traditions among others. The
country's most internationally
renowned genres are jazz, blues, c
ountry, bluegrass, rock, rhythm and blues, ragtime, hip hop, barbershop, pop,
experimental, techno, house, dance, salsa, and rock and roll. The United States has
the world's largest music market with a total retail value of 4,898.3 million dollars
in 2014, rand its music is heard around the world. Since the beginning of the 20th
century, some forms of American popular music have gained a near global
audience.
Native Americans were the earliest inhabitants of the land that is today
known as the United States and played its first music. Beginning in the 17th
century, immigrants from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Germany, and
France began arriving in large numbers, bringing with them new styles and
instruments. African slaves brought musical traditions, and each subsequent wave
of immigrants contributed to a melting pot.
Much of modern popular music can trace its roots to the emergence in the
late 19th century of African American blues and the growth of gospel music in the
1920s. The African American basis for popular music used elements derived from
European and indigenous musics. There are also strong African roots in the music
tradition of the original white settlers, such as country and bluegrass. The United
States has also seen documented folk music and recorded popular music produced
in the ethnic styles of the Ukrainian, Irish, Scottish, Polish, Hispanic,
and Jewish communities, among others.
Many American cities and towns have vibrant music scenes which, in turn,
support a number of regional musical styles. Along with musical centers such
as Philadelphia, Seattle, New York City, San Francisco, New
Orleans, Detroit, Minneapolis, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, and Los Angeles, many
smaller cities such as Asbury Park, New Jersey have produced distinctive styles of
music. The Cajun and Creole traditions in Louisiana music, the folk and popular
styles of Hawaiian music, and the bluegrass and old time music of
the Southeastern states are a few examples of diversity in American music. Modern

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day music is heavily influenced by previous and present African-American

music genres.
9.1.1. Jazz
Jazz was the most popular music in
the USA in the period of 1920 – 1940. It
started in New Orleans and originated from
slave songs and ragtime. One of the
distinguishing elements of jazz was its
fluidity: in live performances, the musicians
would almost never play a song the same
way twice but would improvise variations on
its notes and words. It uses brass horns and
the saxophone as the main musical instruments. It is still very popular today and
has spread all over the world.
Though jazz had long since achieved some limited popularity, it was Louis
Armstrong who became one of the first popular stars and a major force in the
development of jazz, along with his friend pianist Earl Hines. Armstrong, Hines,
and their colleagues were improvisers, capable of creating numerous variations on a
single melody. Armstrong and Hines were influential in the rise of a kind of pop big
band jazz called Swing, which became a major part of African American dance, and
came to be accompanied by a popular dance called the swing dance.
Jazz influenced many performers of all the major styles of later popular
music, though jazz itself never again became such a major part of American popular
music as during the swing era. The later 20th-century American jazz scene did,
however, produce some popular crossover stars, such as Miles Davis. In the middle
of the 20th century, jazz evolved into a variety of subgenres, beginning with bebop,
which is a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos, improvisation based on
harmonic structure rather than melody.
9.1.2. Rock and Roll
Rock and roll (often written
as rock & roll or rock 'n' roll) is a genre
of popular music that originated and
evolved in the United States during the
late 1940s and early 1950s, from a
combination of African-
American genres such as blues, boogie-
woogie, jump blues, jazz, and gospel
music, together with Western

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swing and country music. Though elements of rock and roll can be heard in blues
records from the 1920s and in country records of the 1930s, the genre did not
acquire its name until the 1950s.
In the earliest rock and roll styles of the late 1940s and early 1950s, either
the piano or saxophone was often the lead instrument, but these were generally
replaced or supplemented by guitar in the middle to late 1950s. Classic rock and roll
is usually played with one or two electric guitars (one lead, one rhythm), a string
bass or (after the mid-1950s) an electric bass guitar, and a drum kit
Beyond simply a musical style, rock and roll, as seen in movies and on
television, influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language. In addition, rock
and roll may have contributed to the civil rights movement because both African-
American and white American teens enjoyed the music. It went on to spawn various
genres, often without the initially characteristic backbeat, that are now more
commonly called simply "rock music" or "rock".
Originally, rock and roll comes from black rhythm and blues that was picked
up by white singers like Elvis Presley to make it appeal to white teenagers. It
spread to Great Britain where groups like The Beatles help spread it all over the
world.
9.1.3. Other kinds of popular music
(1) American Folk Ballads: Also starting in the 1950’s, music from Scotland,
England and Ireland was adapted to the American life style and the music tells of
modern life and love.
(2) Country Music: Starting in the 1920’s, it was music whose lyrics told of the
hardships of the cowboy and of country life. Tends to have a “twang”, became
popular all over the nation starting in the 1970’s and has a broad following today.
(3) Rap, hip – Hop: New music that has come from the African American culture
that tells of life in the intercity (drugs, discrimination, guns, poor). It has now been
picked up by white singers and the popularity continues to grow
9.2. ARCHITECTURE
Generally speaking, the architecture of the United States demonstrates a
broad variety of architectural styles and built forms over the country's history of
over four centuries of independence and former British rule.
Architecture in the United States is as diverse as its multicultural society and
has been shaped by many internal and external factors and regional distinctions. As
a whole it represents a rich eclectic and innovative tradition

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Obviously, America's unmistakable contribution to architecture has been the

skyscraper. Many of the most graceful early towers were designed by Louis
Sullivan (1856-1924), America's first great modern architect. His most talented
student was Frank Lloyd Wright (1869-1959), who spent much of his career
designing private residences with matching furniture and generous use of open
space. One of his best-known buildings, however, is a public one: the Guggenheim
Museum in New York City.
(1) Skyscraper

With the invention of the elevator,

the first skyscraper was built in Chicago,
Illinois State in 1884. It has gone on to
dominate the skyline of American cities
and many other cities all over the world.

(2) Glass Boxes

With the development of tinted glass, most office buildings have become
“glass boxes” providing natural light in the buildings and mostly with flat surfaces.
9.3. THE ARTS
Before colonization there were many flourishing traditions of Native
American art, and where the Spanish colonized Spanish Colonial architecture and
the accompanying styles in other media were quickly in place. Early colonial art on
the East Coast initially relied on artists from Europe, with John White (1540-c.
1593) the earliest example. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, artists primarily
painted portraits, and some landscapes in a style based mainly on English painting.
Furniture-makers imitating English styles and similar craftsmen were also
established in the major cities, but in the English colonies, locally made pottery
remained resolutely utilitarian until the 19th century, with fancy products imported.
But in the later 18th century two American artists, Benjamin West and John
Singleton Copley, became the most successful painters in London of history
painting, then regarded as the highest form of art, giving the first sign of an
emerging force in Western art. American artists who remained at home became
increasingly skilled, although there was little awareness of them in Europe. In the
early 19th century the infrastructure to train artists began to be established, and

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from 1820 the Hudson River School began to

produce Romantic landscape painting that was
original and matched the huge scale of American
landscapes. The American Revolution produced
a demand for patriotic art, especially history
painting, while other artists recorded the frontier
country. A parallel development taking shape in
rural America was the American
craft movement, which began as a reaction to
the industrial revolution.
After 1850 Academic art in the European
style flourished, and as richer Americans
became very wealthy, the flow of European art,
new and old, to the US began; this has continued ever since. Museums began to be
opened to display much of this. Developments in modern art in Europe came to
America from exhibitions in New York City such as the Armory Show in 1913.
After World War II, New York replaced Paris as the center of the art world. Since
then many American movements have shaped Modern and Postmodern art. Art in
the United States today covers a huge range of styles.
So far, controversy soon has become a way of life for American artists. In
fact, much of American painting and sculpture since 1900 has been a series of
revolts against tradition. "To hell with the artistic values," announced Robert Henri
(1865-1929). In the years after World War II, a group of young New York artists
formed the first native American movement to exert major influence on foreign
artists: abstract expressionism. Abstract expressionists abandoned formal
composition and representation of real objects to concentrate on instinctual
arrangements of space and color and to demonstrate the effects of the physical
action of painting on the canvas.
Members of the next artistic generation favored a different form of
abstraction: works of mixed media. Today artists in America tend not to restrict
themselves to schools, styles, or a single medium. A work of art might be a
performance on stage or a hand-written manifesto; it might be a massive design cut
into a Western desert or a severe arrangement of marble panels inscribed with the
names of American soldiers who died in Vietnam.

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9.4. LITERATURE
Much early American
writing is derivative: European
forms and styles transferred to
new locales. For example,
Washington Irving (1783-1859),
with "Rip Van Winkle" and "The
Legend of Sleepy Hollow" . The
first American writer to produce
boldly new fiction and poetry was
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) with
"The Masque of the Red Death"
"The Pit and the Pendulum", "The Fall of the House of Usher," and "The Murders
in the Rue Morgue".
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) with The Scarlet Letter, is the stark drama
of a woman cast out of her community for committing adultery.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) called Nature known as
Transcendentalism. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) writings express a deep-
rooted tendency toward individualism in the American character.
At the beginning of the 20th century, American novelists were expanding
fiction's social spectrum to encompass both high and low life, for example, Stephen
Crane (1871-1900), with The Red Badge of Courage.
Faulkner was part of a southern literary renaissance that also included such
figures as Truman Capote (1924-1984) and Flannery O'Connor (1925-1964) with In
Cold Blood and Armies of the Night
Contemporary Fiction and Short Stories - with writers like Edgar Allen Poe,
the modern short story and writing of the dark story, all are originated in America
9.5. SPORTS
Sports in the United States are an important part of the country's culture. The
four major professional sports leagues in the United States are Major League
Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Football
League (NFL), and the National Hockey League (NHL). All four enjoy wide-
ranging domestic media coverage and are considered the preeminent leagues in their
respective sports in the world, although only basketball, baseball, and ice hockey
have substantial followings in other nations. Three of those leagues have teams that
represent Canadian cities, and all four are among the most financially lucrative
sports leagues in the World.

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Professional teams in all major sports in the U.S. operate as franchises within
a league, meaning that a team may move to a different city if the owners believe
financial benefit, but franchise moves are usually subject to some form of league-
level approval. All major sports leagues use a similar type of regular season
schedule with a playoff tournament after the regular season ends. In addition to the
major league-level organizations, several sports also have professional minor
leagues, active in smaller cities across the country. Sports leagues in the United
States are also unique in that they do not practice promotion and relegation, unlike
sports leagues in Europe and other parts of the world.
Sports are particularly associated with education in the United States, with
most high schools and universities having organized sports. College
sports competitions play an important role in the American sporting culture,
and college football and college basketball are as popular as professional sports in
some parts of the country. The major sanctioning body for college sports is the
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
9.5.1. Baseball
Called the American national
pastime, it is very popular today since a
person of average height and weight can
be an excellent player. It can also be
adapted so that youth and both sexes can
play. Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson are
famous players.
This game is played by striking a
ball with a wood stick and then running
9.5.2. Basketball
Played by throwing a large
ball through a round ring, now
basketball is very popular with over
250 million players worldwide. It’s
excellent for indoor play and in
small outside areas in the city. Now,
the game is dominated by African
Americans with very tall players.
Michael Jordan is the most famous
player alive today.

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9.5.3. American Football

American football (referred
to as football in the United States
and Canada, also known as soccer
or rugby elsewhere) is a sport
played by two teams of eleven
players on a rectangular field with
goalposts at each end. The offense,
the team with control of the oval-
shaped football, attempts to
advance down the field
by running with or passing the ball, while the team without control of the ball, the
defense, aims to stop their advance and take control of the ball for themselves. The
offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs, or plays, or else they turn
over the football to the opposing team; if they succeed, they are given a new set of
four downs. Points are primarily scored by advancing the ball into the opposing
team's end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponent's
goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins.
American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports
of association football and rugby football. The first game of American football was
played on November 6, 1869, between two college teams, Rutgers and Princeton,
under rules based on the association football rules of the time. During the latter half
of the 1870s, colleges playing association football switched to the Rugby Union
code, which allowed carrying the ball. A set of rule changes drawn up
from 1880 onward by Walter Camp, the "Father of American Football," established
the snap, eleven-player teams, and the concept of downs; later rule changes
legalized the forward pass, created the neutral zone, and specified the size and shape
of the football.
American football as a whole is the most popular sport in the United
States; professional football and college football are the most popular forms of the
game, with the other major levels being high school and youth football.
The National Football League, the most popular American football league, has the
highest average attendance of any sports league in the world; its championship
game, the Super Bowl, ranks among the most-watched club sporting events in the
world, and the league has an annual revenue of around US$10 billion.

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9.6. THE MOVIES

9.6.1. American motion pictures
The movie industry of the United States, often generally referred to
as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early
20th century. The dominant style of American cinema is Classical Hollywood
Cinema, which developed from 1917 to 1960 and characterizes most films to this
day. While the French Lumière Brothers are generally credited with the birth of
modern cinema, it is American cinema that soon became the most dominant force in
an emerging industry. Since the 1920s, the American film industry has grossed
more money every year than that of any other country.
In 1878, Eadweard Muybridge demonstrated the power of photography to
capture motion. In 1894, the world's first commercial motion picture exhibition was
given in New York City, using Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope. The United States
was in the forefront of sound film development in the following decades. Since the
early 20th century, the U.S. film industry has largely been based in and
around Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.
The major film studios of Hollywood are the primary source of the most
commercially successful movies in the world, such as The Birth of a
Nation (1915), Gone with the Wind (1939), The Sound of Music (1965), Star
Wars (1977), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)Titanic (1997), Avatar (2009), The
Avengers (2012), Furious 7 (2015), Jurassic World (2015) and Star Wars: The
Force Awakens(2015). Today, American film studios collectively generate several
hundred movies every year, making the United States one of the most prolific
producers of films in the world.
9.6.2. Hollywood
Hollywood (informally Tinseltown) is a neighborhood in the central
region of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood is notable for its place as the
home of the U.S. film industry, including several of its historic studios. Its name has
come to be a metonym for the motion picture industry of the United States.
Hollywood is also a highly ethnically diverse, densely populated, economically
diverse neighborhood and retail business district.
Hollywood was a small community in
1870 and was incorporated as a municipality in
1903. It officially merged with the city of Los
Angeles in 1910, and soon thereafter a
prominent film industry began to emerge,
eventually becoming the most recognizable film

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industry in the world

By 1912, major motion-picture companies had set up production near or in
Los Angeles. In the early 1900s, most motion picture patents were held by Thomas
Edison's Motion Picture Patents Company in New Jersey, and filmmakers were
often sued to stop their productions. To escape this, filmmakers began moving out
west, where Edison's patents could not be enforced. Also, the weather was ideal and
there was quick access to various settings. Los Angeles became the capital of the
film industry.
Director D. W. Griffith was the first
to make a motion picture in Hollywood. His
17-minute short film In Old
California (1910) was filmed for
the Biograph Company. Although
Hollywood banned movie theaters—of
which it had none—before annexation that
year, Los Angeles had no such restriction. The first film by a Hollywood
studio, Nestor Motion Picture Company, was shot on October 26, 1911. The
Whitley home was used as its set, and the unnamed movie was filmed in the middle
of their groves at the corner of Whitley Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard.
The first studio in Hollywood, the Nestor Company, was established by the
New Jersey–based Centaur Company in a roadhouse at 6121Sunset Boulevard (the
corner of Gower), in October 1911.
Four major film companies – Paramount, Warner Bros., RKO,
and Columbia – had studios in Hollywood, as did several minor companies and
rental studios. In the 1920s, Hollywood
was the fifth largest industry in the
nation.
Hollywood became known
as Tinseltown because of the glittering
image of the movie industry.
Hollywood has since become a major
center for film study in the United
States.
9.6.3. Beverly Hills
Tourists arriving in Southern California often confuse Hollywood with
Beverly Hills. Many visitors come to Hollywood expecting to find a gleaming city
filled with movie stars, posh restaurants, grand mansions and expensive shopping
areas They are, of course, very disappointed; the actual suburb of Hollywood is far

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from glamorous. The real “Hollywood” is a state of mind, not a place; it’s not so
much a city as it is shorthand for the general movie and entertainment industry.
But if that fabled, glittering Hollywood of the tourists imaginations exists
anywhere, it exist is in Beverly Hills. It is in Beverly Hills, not Hollywood, where
many stars actually live, dine and shop. Only a few minutes drive southwest of
downtown Hollywood, the City of Beverly Hills offers all of the glamour and
opulence that anyone could reasonably hope for.
But what is Beverly Hills really like?
Beverly Hills is above all, a small town for the
wealthy. Less than six square miles in size,
Beverly Hills is strictly a neighborhood of
homes and shops. The city has churches, but it
has no smokestacks; it has restaurants, but no
industry; boutiques, but no billboards; parks
but no eyesores. There’s not even a hospital or a cemetery in the city to remind the
residents of their mortality. IT has been said that, technically, no one is born or dies
in Beverly Hills.
Beverly Hills is a place for the fortunate to live in comfort, and to ship and
dine at their leisure. It just so happens that many of the se fortunate few are
celebrities. One the city’s tree-lined streets, you’ll see more stretch limos, shining
Mercedes-Benzes, and sleek Ferraris per square mile than at any other place on
earth. Even the fireplugs in Beverly Hills are painted a gleaming silver. The city’s
fist major (back in 1926) was a celebrity: actor Will Rodgers.
9.7. MEDIA
Media of the United States consist of several different types of media:
television, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, and Internet-based Web sites.
The U.S. also has a strong music industry. Many of the media are controlled by
large for-profit corporations who reap revenue from advertising, subscriptions, and
sale of copyrighted material. American media conglomerates tend to be leading
global players, generating large revenues as well as large opposition in many parts
of the world. With the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996,
further deregulation and convergence are under way, leading to mega-mergers,
further concentration of media ownership, and the emergence of multinational
media conglomerates. These mergers enable tighter control of information.
Currently, six corporations control roughly 90% of the media. Critics allege
that localism, local news and other content at the community level, media spending
and coverage of news, and diversity of ownership and views have suffered as a
result of these processes of media concentration.

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Theories to explain the success of such companies include reliance on certain

policies of the American federal government or a tendency to natural monopolies in
the industry.
The organisation Reporters Without Borders compiles and publishes an
annual ranking of countries based upon the organisation's assessment of their press
freedom records. In 2013-14 United States was ranked 46th out of 180 countries, a
drop of thirteen points from the preceding year
9.7.1. NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES
The first newspaper in the colonies, Public Occurrences: Both Foreign and
Domestic, lasted only one day in 1690 before British officials suppressed it. This
standard of objective reporting is today one of American journalism's most
important traditions. Another dominant feature of early 20th-century journalism was
the creation of chains of newspapers operating under the same ownership, led by a
group owned by Hearst. The top five daily newspapers by circulation in 1995 were
the Wall Street Journal (1,823,207), USA Today (1,570,624), the New York Times
(1,170,869), the Los Angeles Times (1,053,498), and the Washington Post
(840,232). In 1992, the Chicago Sun-Times began to offer articles through America
Online. American newspapers are available on the Internet, and anyone with a
personal computer and a link to the Internet can scan papers from across the country
in his or her own home or office.
The first American magazines appeared a half century after the first
newspapers and took longer to attain a wide audience, for examples, Time, The
Saturday Evening Post in 1969, Look in 1971, and Life in 1972. While Time
became the first magazine to offer an on-line edition that subscribers can call up on
their computers before it hits the newsstands
9.7.2. RADIO
American radio broadcasts in two bands: FM and AM. Some stations are
only talk radio – featuring interviews and discussions – while music radio stations
broadcast one particular type of music: Top 40, hip-hop, country, etc. Radio
broadcast companies have become increasingly consolidated in recent
years. National Public Radio is the nation's primary public radio network, but most
radio stations are commercial and profit-oriented.
Talk radio as a political medium has also exploded in popularity during the
1990s, due to the 1987 repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, which meant that stations no
longer had to "balance" their day by programming alternative points of view.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1970 had limited the
number of radio station one person or company could own to 1 am and 1 FM locally

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and 7 am and 7 FM stations nationally. A new form of radio that is gaining

popularity is satellite radio. The two biggest subscriptions based radio services
are Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio, which have recently merged to
form Sirius XM Radio. Unlike terrestrial radio music channels are commercial free
and other channels feature minimal commercials. Satellite radio also is not
regulated by the FCC.
9.7.3. TELEVISION
Pubic, free television, once watched by almost everyone, is on the decrease
but still popular. The television is free because every 10-15 minutes it stops for
advertising. Some sports are also shown for free but with the same problem of
advertising. The recent trend is for pay TV like cable or satellite where the
customer may decide what kind of programs they want to see and pay to see them
without advertising. On public TV, violence is limited and nudity is not allowed as
children have access to the programs (although more violence is shown late in the
evening when most children have gone to bed). On pay TV, people can pay for
whatever they want to see including uncut sex and violence. Unlike many
countries, the USA government does not have anything to do with what is shown on
the TV or played on the radio (with the regulations as noted). What is going on in
the government is reported to the public by independent news agencies who are
allowed to edit or comment on the actions of the government as they see fit.

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PRACTICE
I. Multiple choices
Choose the best answers for the following questions
1. What kind of music was originated from songs of the cowboys?
a. Jazz c. Country music
b. Pop d. Rock n Roll
2. Which of the following was the main focus of Hudson River School ?
a. Portraits c. American landscapes
b. industrial revolution d. Western landscapes
3. Which of the following authors was NOT American?
a. Nathaniel Hawthorne c. Flannery O’ Connor
b. Washington Irving d. William Wordsworth
4. Which of the following is considered “American pastime”?
a. Basketball c. Baseball
b. Soccer d. Volleyball
5. ……………….is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the
United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, from a combination
of African-American genres such as blues, boogie-woogie, jump blues, jazz,
etc.
a. Jazz c. Blues
b. Rock d. Rock n Roll
6. ……………. was America's first great modern architect.
a. Louis Sullivan c. Frank Lloyd Wright
b. Guggenheim d. John White
7. Who was the first American writer to produce boldly new fiction and poetry?
a. Nathaniel Hawthorne c. Edgar A. Poe
b. Stephen Crane d. Washington Irving
8. Who was a writer of American Transcendentalism?
a. Ralph Waldo Emerson c. Flannery O'Connor
b. William Faulkner d. Stephen Crane

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9. Which movie was the first to be filmed in Hollywood?

a. In Old California c. Little House on the Prairies
b. Avatar d. Gone with the wind
10. Where is Hollywood?
a. Above Chicago c. In New Work
b. In San Diego d. In Los Angeles
II. Questions
Briefly answer the following questions
1. How was jazz music developed in the USA?
2. What has marked the development of American Arts?
3. By whom is American media controlled?
4. What newspaper was the first to be published in America?
5. How was country music born?
6. What made the popularity of American skyscrapers?
7. How are American arts said to be marked by a tension between European
sophistication and domestic originality?
8. What is the other name of Hollywood?
9. Why is American television free?
10. What does the Telecommunications Act of 1996 do?
III. Writing
Write an essay of about 250 words on the following topic:
“It is said that the real “Hollywood” is a state of mind, not a place. How far do you
agree with this saying?”

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UNIT 10:
HOLIDAYS AND CELEBRATIONS
IN THE UNITED STATES

Aims and objectives:

- To be aware of different holidays in the US
- To understand the specific events of America

Americans share three

national holidays with many
countries: Easter Sunday,
Christmas Day, and New
Year's Day. Besides, this
country also has its own
specific national holidays.

Lead-in questions:

1. What is the common name for America’s Independence Day?

2. What food is most common to be eaten on Thanksgiving?
3. What do Americans do on Easter?
4. What song do Americans sing at midnight on December 31 of each year?

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10.1. American public holidays

Public holidays, as it is known in the United States of America, are largely
controlled by private sector employers who employ approximately 62% of the total
U.S. population who are given paid time off. A typical work week is generally 40
hours a week with a Saturday-Sunday weekend. Public holidays with paid time off
are, therefore, generally defined to occur on a day that is within the employee's
work week. When a holiday occurs on Saturday or Sunday, that holiday is shifted to
either Friday or Monday. Most employers follow a holiday schedule similar to
the federal holidays of the United States, with exceptions or additions. The federal
holiday schedule mainly benefits employees of government and government
regulated businesses. However, this sector only comprises 15% of the working
population.
All in all, the US has 10 public (or federal) holidays all year round as
follows:
1. New Year’s Day : January 1
2. Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. 3rd Monday in January
3. Washington’s Birthday 3rd Monday in February
4. Memorial Day last Monday in May
5. Independence Day July 4
6. Labor Day 1st Monday in September
7. Columbus Day 2nd Monday in October
8. Veterans Day November 11
9. Thanksgiving Day 4th Thursday in November
10. Christmas Day December 25

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(1) NEW YEAR’S DAY

Like many other countries,
this holiday is to celebrate the
beginning of the Gregorian
calendar year, January 1st. In the
US, festivities include counting
down to 12:00 midnight on the
preceding night, New Year's Eve,
often with fireworks display and
party. For a long time, the ball
drop at Times Square in New York City has become a national New Year's
festivity. Traditionally, this holiday marks the end of Christmas and holiday season
Nowadays, gatherings and fun moments includes watching of championship
football games in the stadiums. The streets are crowded with youth and elderly
people dressed fashionably to welcome the new year with great joy.
The Times Square in the New York City hosts several events which is hosted
by the television celebrity Dick Clark. Many people love watching these programs
broadcasted on the television with all their family and friends. The streets are
decorated with lanterns, flash lights and colored papers. Flags are also adorned to
express happiness. Giant vibrant colored electric apples are lowered to the ground at
the time when people start saying “Happy New Year”.
American New Year customs are very colorful and entertaining event with
dance parties, which is one of the major celebrations on New Year eve. At the
stroke of midnight all the Americans shares kisses and express their New Year
greetings. This tradition came in existence from the masked ball which symbolizes
evil spirits. It is believed that kisses can wade off the veil spirits and purify the new
beginning. However, with the change of celebrating ways people have altered this
tradition. They honk car horns to express the announcement of New Year party
time. People blow paper blowers and whistles which is very exciting way of
wishing happy new year!
In the United States, it is believed that black-eyed beans are very lucky. It is
American custom on New Year to prepare special dinner with different cuisines to
gather for family feasts. A special soul food with rice which is popularly called
Hoppin’ John is consumed with black eyed beans. During the party people also,
have cakes and champagne which is considered very auspicious

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(2) MARTIN LUTHER KING’S BIRTHDAY

The Rev. Martin Luther
King, Jr., an African-American
clergyman, is considered a great
American because of his tireless
efforts to win civil rights for all
people through nonviolent
means. Since his assassination
in 1968, memorial services have
marked his birthday on January
15. In 1986, that day was replaced by the third Monday of January, which was
declared a national holiday.
(3) WASHINGTON’S BIRTHDAY OR PRESIDENTS’ DAY
Until the mid-1970s, the February 22 - birthday of George Washington, hero
of the Revolutionary War and first president of the United States - was a national
holiday. In addition, the February 12 birthday of Abraham Lincoln, the president
during the Civil War, was a holiday in most states. The two days have been joined,
and the holiday has been expanded to embrace all past presidents. It is celebrated on
the third Monday in February.
(4) MEMORIAL DAY
Celebrated on the last Monday of May, this holiday honors those who died
while serving American Armed Force. Although originated as the Decoration Day
in the aftermath of the Civil War, it has become a day on which the dead of all wars
are remembered in special programs held in cemeteries, churches, and other public
meeting places.
(5) INDEPENDENCE DAY, OR THE FOURTH OF JULY
The Fourth of July, or Independence Day,
honors the nation's birthday -- the signing of the
Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. It
is a day of picnics and patriotic parades, a night
of concerts and fireworks. The flying of the
American flag (which also occurs on Memorial
Day and other holidays) is widespread. On July
4, 1976, the 200th anniversary of the Declaration
Independence Day of Independence was marked by grand festivals
across the nation.

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(6) LABOR DAY

Falling on the first Monday of September, this holiday honors the nation's
working people, typically with parades. For most Americans it marks the end of the
summer vacation season; and for many students, it’s the opening of the school year.
(7) COLUMBUS DAY
On October 12, 1492, Italian navigator Christopher Columbus landed in the
New World. Although most other nations of the Americas observe this holiday on
October 12, in the United States it takes place on the second Monday in October.
(8) VETERANS DAY
Originally called Armistice Day, this holiday was established to honor
Americans who had served in World War I. It falls on November 11, the day when
that war ended in 1918, but it now honors veterans of all wars in which the United
States has fought. Veterans' organizations hold parades, and the president
customarily places a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National
Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.
(9) THANKSGIVING DAY
Thanksgiving Day is the fourth
Thursday in November, but many
Americans take a day of vacation on the
following Friday to make a four-day
weekend, during which they may travel
long distances to visit family and friends.
The holiday dates back to 1621, the year
after the Puritans arrived in Massachusetts,
determined to practice their dissenting
religion without interference.
After a rough winter, in which about half of them died, they turned for help
to neighboring Indians, who taught them how to plant corn and other crops. The
next fall's bountiful harvest inspired the Pilgrims to give thanks by holding a feast.
The Thanksgiving feast became a national tradition -- not only because so many
other Americans have found prosperity but also because the Pilgrims' sacrifices for
their freedom still captivate the imagination. To this day, Thanksgiving dinner
almost always includes some of the foods served at the first feast: roast turkey,
cranberry sauce, potatoes, pumpkin pie. Before the meal begins, families or friends
usually pause to give thanks for their blessings, including the joy of being united for
the occasion.

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(10) CHRISTMAS DAY

Christmas Day, December 25, is another Christian holiday; it marks the birth
of the Christ Child. Decorating houses and yards with lights, putting up Christmas
trees, giving gifts, and sending greeting cards have become traditions even for many
non-Christian Americans.
The United States of America has
many different traditions and ways that
people in celebrate Christmas, because of
its multi-cultural nature. Many customs
are similar to ones in
the UK, France, Italy, The
Netherlands, Poland and Mexico. The
traditional meal for Western European
families is turkey or ham with cranberry
sauce. Families from Eastern European
origins favour turkey with trimmings,
keilbasi (a Polish sausage), cabbage
dishes, and soups; and some Italian
families prefer lasagna. Besides, some
Americans use pop-corn threaded on
string to help decorate their Christmas Trees. They also send out Christmas Cards,
like Carol singing and there's the unusual custom of the Christmas Pickle. Besides,
the outsides of their houses are decorated with lights and sometimes even statues
of Santa Claus, Snowmen and Reindeer. Some cookies and glass of milk are often
left out as a snack for Santa on Christmas Eve. Towns and cities often decorate the
streets with lights to celebrate Christmas. Perhaps the most famous Christmas street
lights in the USA are at the Rockerfeller Center in New York where there is a huge
Christmas Tree with a public ice skating rink in front of it over Christmas and the
New Year
As a melting pot, American Christmas has different traditions in different
areas. In New England (the American States of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode
Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine), there are shops called 'Christmas
Shops' that only sell Christmas decorations and toys all the year round. In Hawaii,
Santa is called Kanakaloka! In the Southwest USA, there are some special customs
which have some similarities to those in parts of Mexico. These include 'luminarias'
or 'farolitos' which are paper sacks partly filled with sand and then have a candle put
in them. They are lit on Christmas Eve and are put the edges of paths. They
represent 'lighting the way' for somewhere for Mary and Joseph to stay. In the south
of Louisiana, on Christmas Eve, families in small communities along the

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Mississippi River light bonfires along the levees (the high river banks) to help 'Papa
Noel' (the name for Santa in French as Louisiana has a strong historical connection
with France) find his way to the children's homes!
10.2 . Other holidays
At the discretion of the employer, other non-federal holidays such
as Christmas Eve and the Day after Thanksgiving are common additions to the list
of paid holidays while Columbus Day and Veterans Day are common omissions.
Besides paid holidays are festival and food holidays that also have wide acceptance
based on sales of goods and services that are typically associated with that
holiday. Halloween and Valentine's Day are such examples of widely celebrated
uncompensated holidays. With the exception of blue law holidays such as
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, most other holidays observed are not
mandated by any government, whether it is at the federal, state, or local levels.
Besides, various ethnic groups in America celebrate days with special
meaning to them even though these are not national holidays. Jews, for example,
observe their high holy days in September, and most employers show consideration
by allowing them to take these days off. Irish Americans celebrate the old country's
patron saint, St. Patrick, on March 17; this is a high-spirited day on which many
Americans wear green clothing in honor of the "Emerald Isle." The celebration of
Mardi Gras -- the day before the Christian season of Lent begins in late winter -- is
a big occasion in New Orleans, Louisiana, where huge parades and wild revels take
place. As its French name implies (Mardi Gras means "Fat Tuesday," the last day of
hearty eating before the penitential season of Lent), the tradition goes back to the
city's settlement by French immigrants. There are many other such ethnic
celebrations, and New York City is particularly rich in them.
It should be noted that, with the many levels of American government,
confusion can arise as to what public and private facilities are open on a given
holiday. The daily newspaper is a good source of general information, but visitors
who are in doubt should call for information ahead of time.
(1) EASTER
Easter, which falls on a spring Sunday that
varies from year to year, celebrates the Christian
belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For
Christians, Easter is a day of religious services and
the gathering of family.
Officially, Easter Sunday is not a federal
holiday but a number of stores are closed in many
parts of the US and if they are open, they may

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have limited trading hours. In some cities, public

transit systems usually run their regular Sunday
schedule.
Today, many Americans follow old traditions
of coloring hard-boiled eggs and giving children
baskets of candy. On the next day, Easter Monday,
the president of the United States holds an annual
Easter egg hunt on the White House lawn for young
children.
(2) VALENTINE’S DAY
On February 14, named after an early Christian martyr, Americans give
presents, usually candy or flowers, to the ones they love. Officially, Valentine's Day
is not a public holiday. Government offices, stores, schools and other organizations
are open as usual. Public transit systems run on their regular schedule. Restaurants
may be busier than usual as many people go out for an evening with their spouse or
partner. Valentine's Day is also a very popular date for weddings. Many people
celebrate their love for their partner by sending cards or letters, giving gifts or
flowers and arranging meals in restaurants or romantic nights in hotels. People who
would like to have a romantic relationship with somebody may use the occasion to
make this known, often anonymously. Valentine's cards are often decorated with
images of hearts, red roses or Cupid. Common Valentine's Day gifts are flowers
chocolates, candy, lingerie and champagne or sparkling wine. However, some
people use the occasion to present lavish gifts, such as jewelry. Many restaurants
and hotels have special offers at this time. These can include romantic meals or
weekend breaks
(3) HALLOWEEN
On October 31, the evening before
All Saints or All Hallows Day, American
children dress up in funny or scary costumes
and go "trick or treating": knocking on doors
in their neighborhood. The neighbors are
expected to respond by giving them small
gifts of candy or money. Adults may also
dress in costume for Halloween parties.

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PRACTICE
I. Multiple choices
Choose the best answers for the following questions
1. Memorial Day, on the fourth Monday of May, is for honoring…………..
a. the dead c. unknown soldiers
b. veterans d. all of them
2. Where is Thanksgiving day held at present?
a. In Canada c. In Pilgrims’ area
b. In America d. All are correct
3. When was the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence?
a. On July 4,1776 c. On July 4,1779
b. On July 4,1976 d. On July 4,2076
4. What does American President do on Easter Monday?
a. Gives children baskets of candies
b. Participates in an annual Easter egg hunt on the White House lawn.
c. Holds an annual Easter egg hunt on the White House lawn
d. All of the above
5. Who was Martin Luther King?
a. An African-American President
b. An African-American King
c. An African-American Clergyman
d. An African-American Immigrant
6. When is Halloween held?
a. The evening before All Saints’ Day
b. The evening before All Hallows’ Day
c. The evening before Independence Day
d. a&b
7. Memorial Day, on the fourth Monday of May, is for honoring the ………….
a. death c. senior citizens
b. soldiers d. all of them

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8. Whose image is carved on Mt Rushmore?

a. T. Roosevelt b. J. Kennedy
b. B. Franklin d. All of them
9. Which of the following holidays is unique to America?
a. Easter c. The Fourth of July
b. Christmas d. Valentine’s Day
10. Who was honored in Veterans’ Day?
a. Americans serving in World War I
b. Americans serving in World War II
c. Americans serving in Civil War
d. All Americans soldiers
II. Discussion
Answer the following questions:
1. When is American’s National Day? Why is it chosen to be a national
celebration? What are its common names in the USA?
2. What are the differences between American and British Christmas? Easter?
3. Why and how do Americans have their own Thanksgiving Day?
4. Is American New Year the same or different from your country’s? In what
way?
III. Writing
Write an essay of about 250 words on the following topic:
“The humane values of people lie in the way they hold holidays for the country”

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CONSOLIDATION
I. Multiple choices
Choose the best answers
1. The USA was colony of ___________ before it obtained its independence.
a. France
b. England
c. Spain
d. Greece
2. Native Americans were called Indians because ________.
a. The originally came from India
b. They were free to worship religion the way they please
c. Explorers that discovered America thought they had found India
d. George Washington was an Indian
3. America originally had __________ states when it first became nation after
the War of Independence.
a. 50
b. 48
c. 100
d. 13
4. America was an isolated country but entered the fighting in World War II
because ________.
a. It was attacked by Japan
b. It was attacked by Germany
c. America wanted to invade Japan
d. Americans hate people from other countries
5. People first started to come to America as immigrants _____.
a. when people started arriving from Ireland
b. After World War II
c. When the early settlers came to America from Europe in late 1700’s.
d. When Vietnamese people came to America after the
Vietnam/American war.

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6. The largest State in America by population is __________ and the largest

state by area is ________.
a. Montana, Florida
b. Main, Rhode Island
c. Iowa, Utah
d. California, Alaska
7. In the winter it is very _______ in the northern United States.
a. Sunny
b. Warm
c. Cold
d. Tropical
8. The Capital of the United Sates is ______.
a. Washington D.C.
b. New York City, New York
c. San Francisco, California
d. Seattle, Washington
9. Immigrants that have come to America are from _______
a. England
b. England and France
c. Vietnam
d. Every country in the world
10. Americans speak English because __________ .
a. It is an easy language to learn
b. America was a colony of France
c. Mexico speaks Spanish
d. America was a colony of England before they declared independence
11. American holidays include Christmas, New Year, Easter, and ______.
a. Independence Day
b. Thanksgiving
c. Martin Luther King Day
d. a, b, and c

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12. The American holiday on July 4 every year celebrates ___________

a. The birth of the Christ child
b. The labor movement in America
c. The day it declared independence
d. Its victory in World War II
13. Americans consider ___________ as the father of their country.
a. George W Bush
b. Bill Clinton
c. George Washington
d. Abraham Lincoln
14. Life was difficult for the early settlers and immigrants so the early
Americans had to be __________.
a. Weak
b. Independent and Strong
c. Peaceful and passive
d. All of the above
15. American public High School students wear school uniforms
because ………….
a. They like how they look
b. They don’t get dirty easy
c. Americans do not like to be individuals and independent
d. (American students do no wear uniforms)
16. There are ________ colleges and universities in the USA so there is room
for almost everyone to attend.
a. 20
b. 50
c. 35,000
d. 2,000,000

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17. American High School students receive a ____________when they

graduate from High School.
a. High School Diploma
b. Bachelors Degree
c. Nothing
d. A kiss from their girlfriend or boyfriend
18. USA high schools provide students with many extra activities like
__________ that are available after regular classes.
a. Sports competition
b. Illegal drugs
c. Beer drinking
d. “Hanging Out”
19. The Legislative Branch of the American Government includes________.
a. The President and Vice President
b. The Senate and the House of Representatives
c. The Supreme Court
d. The Governor of California
20. The official advisors to the President of the USA is his ___________ .
a. Presidential Cabinet
b. Senate
c. Supreme Court
d. His wife and children
21. The President is elected for _______ years and can be reelected for
_______ years if the people want him.
a. Two, six
b. Four, four
c. Six, two
d. Twenty, twenty

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22. The President of the USA can ___________ .

a. Do whatever he/she wants
b. Approve laws
c. Make laws
d. Stay in office for a lifetime
23. American homes _______.
a. Do not have a TV
b. Are generally large and comfortable
c. Are cold in the winter and hot in the summer
d. Are always close to work and schools
24. When Americans go to the “mall” they are going __________.
a. Out to eat breakfast
b. Shopping for food
c. Going to visit their relatives
d. Shopping for clothes and merchandise
25. The current American Flag __________.
a. Is the symbol of the country
b. Has 13 strips that stand for the original 13 states
c. Has 50 stars that stand for the current 50 states
d. a, b, and c

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II. Gap - filling

Fill in the following table with events and dates of American history

Year Events

……………..(41) The first Thanksgiving Day was celebrated

……………..(42) Boston Tea Party

……………...(43) The constitution went into effect

1820 ……………(44) was made illegal in several new

western states, by the ……………..(45)

……………..(46) The Civil War ended

……………. (47) Medicaid and Medicare were established

1920 - Jazz became the most popular music in the USA

……………..(48)

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III. Map – filling

Complete the following map

THE FIRST THIRTEEN STATES OF THE USA

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)
(1) ……………………………………
(5)
(2) ……………………………………

(6) (3) ……………………………………

(4) ……………………………………

(5) ……………………………………

(6) ……………………………………

(7) NH = New Hampshire

(8) MA= ………………………………

(9) CT = ………………………………

(10) RI=………………………………

(11) NJ=………………………………

(12) MD=………………………………

(13) DE=……………………………

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IV. True / False

Read the following statements and decide whether they are true or false
1. The United States of America with 50 states (Alaska and Hawaii
included) spreads across 4,500 kilometers and four time zones.
2. From the 10th century until well into the 17th, New England was the
country's cultural and economic center.
3. Early settlers of the Mid Atlantic were mostly farmers and traders,
and the region served as a bridge between the North and the South
4. The Sound is commonly referred to as the American South or the
Dixie
5. Alaska is situated in the North Pole and considered the northernmost
state in the Union
6. When Spain's Christopher Columbus "discovered" the New World in
1492, about 1.5 million Native Americans lived in what is now the
continental United States.
7. A lot of American place-names derive from Indian words, including
the states of California, New York and New England.
8. Ellis Island was the doorway to America for 12 million people
9. The process of ending slavery began in April 1861 with the outbreak
of the American Civil War between the free states of the North and
the slave states of the South
10. In 1965, Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, which
did away with quotas based on nationality and allowed Americans to
sponsor relatives from their countries of origin
11. In the USA, no official language exists at the federal level
12. The end of the Seven Years' War in 1763 left England in control of
Canada and all of North America east of the Mississippi
13. Colonial leaders convened the First Continental Congress in 1774 to
discuss the colonies' opposition to British rule
14. The last major battle of the American Revolution took place at
Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781
15. In 1889, George Washington was elected the first president
16. The first transcontinental railroad in America was completed in 1869

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17. When World War I erupted in Europe in 1939, President Woodrow

Wilson of the US urged a policy of strict American neutrality
18. June 14, 1777, congress declares the flag should have thirteen white
stars in a blue background and thirteen alternate red and white stripes
19. The Bill of Rights–20 amendments guaranteeing basic individual
protections such as freedom of speech and religion–became part of the
US Constitution in 1791.
20. American legislative branch -- the Congress -- is made up of elected
representatives from each of the 50 states.
21. The United States came into being around the Age of
Enlightenment (circa 1680 to 1800)
22. The National Institutes of Health, the focal point for atomic research
in the United States, has played a key role in this achievement
23. Public elementary and secondary schools in the US do not charge
tuition but rely on local and state taxes for funding
24. In America, each of the 50 states has its own laws regulating
education.
25. An exit examination is a test that students must pass to receive a
diploma and graduate from primary school in the United States
26. Social programs in the United States are welfare subsidies designed to
aid the needs of the American population
27. The religious history of the United States began with the first Pilgrim
settlers who came on the Mayflower in the year 1620
28. American country music started in New Orleans and originated from
slave songs and ragtime
29. Basket ball is considered the American national pastime
30. Celebrated on the fourth Monday of May, Memorial Day honors the
dead
31. Thanksgiving Day is the fourth Thursday in December.

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REFERENCES
1. Aldridge, John (1958). After the Lost Generation: A Critical Study of the
Writers of Two Wars, Noonday Press.
2. Davis, Fred (1992). Fashion, Culture, and Identity. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
3. Einhorn, Lois J. The Native American Oral Tradition: Voices of the Spirit and
Soul
4. Jessie Carney Smith (1988), Images of Blacks in American Culture: A
Reference Guide to Information Sources, Greenwood Press
5. Klapthor, James N. (2003-08-23). "What, When, and Where Americans Eat in
2003". Institute of Food Technologists.
6. Levenstein, Harvey (2003). Revolution at the Table: The Transformation of
the American Diet. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of
California Press.
7. McDonald, Gail (2007), American literature and culture, 1900-1960,
Blackwell Publishing
8. Meyers, Jeffrey (1999). Hemingway: A Biography. New York: Da Capo
9. Oxford Guide To British And American Culture (2005), Oxford University
Press
10. Pirovano, Tom (2007). "Health & Wellness Trends—The Speculation Is
Over". AC Nielsen.
11. Smith, Andrew F. (2004). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in
America. New York: Oxford University Press.
Internet
12. http://songlyric.phanvien.com/song1762/american-culture.html
13. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_the_United_States
14. http://www.newschool.edu/centers/jdp/documents/american_studies/jrnl_amrc
n_cltr.doc

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