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Glossary

Efficiency эффективность

Charm очарование

To be situated быть расположенным, находиться

Bank берег

To compete соревноваться

Embassy посольство

To remain оставаться

To interpret толковать, объяснять

To devote посвящать

Presidency президенство

To dedicate посвящать

Anniversary годовщина, юбилей

To be self- evident truth истина, не требующая доказательств

Equal равный

Endow наделять, одарять

Certain inalienable rights определенные неотъемлемые права

Among среди

Emancipation Proclamation Декларация об освобождении рабов

Free свободный, освобождат ь

Shelf полка

To bequeath завещать

• Washington cannot compete with New York or Los Angeles. Its population is about one million people. It does not produce anything either. So what makes Washington so important? It is the U.S. government. Washington is the place where the key political buildings in America are situated. Congress, the White House, the Supreme Court, all foreign embassies are here.

Washington D.C.

Washington, the capital of the United States of America is situated on the banks of the Potomac river. The two letters D.C. stands for the District of Columbia. It received its name due to Columbus, the discoverer of America. As Washington is the capital of the country, it is not in any state in the United States.

George Washington chose the place for this city.

The White House

The White House is the official residence of presidents of the United States. All presidents and the first Ladies lived in it. The only president who never lived there is George Washington, because at the time of his presidency the White House was not built yet. It was finished after his death. Its address is the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20500.

If you want to go inside, you have to buy a special ticket.

The Capitol

The Capitol is the place where laws are passed. The Capitol has housed chambers of the Senate and the House of Representatives for almost two centuries. The Capitol is also the tallest building in Washington D.C. There will never be any skyscrapers built in the city, because the Capitol should always remain the tallest building there. In such way the Americans bring up respect to the law.

The Supreme Court

The Washington Monument

This is where the laws are interpreted by the highest judges in the United States.

There are a lot of historical monuments and places of interest in Washington. Most of them are devoted to the history of American presidency.

The Jefferson Memorial

It was dedicated on the 200 th anniversary of Jefferson’s birth and was opened in 1943. The writings of Thomas Jefferson are inscribed on the wall “We hold these truths to be self-evident that the men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

The Lincoln Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial was built in honour of Abraham Lincoln. He became the sixteenth President of the United States in 1861. Lincoln wrote Emancipation Proclamation, which freed the blacks in the South from slavery. Inside the Memorial, in the middle, there is a huge statue of the former president. The Memorial looks like a Greek temple, and it has 36 columns, one for each state at the time of Lincoln’s death. It is a very important symbol, because Lincoln spent his whole life trying to keep the country united .

The Library of Congress is the largest national library in the world. It takes 340 miles of the shelves to hold all of the books.

The Smithsonian Institution includes 14 museums in District of Columbia

(plus two in New York) and National Zoological Park. James Smithson, the English inventor bequeathed money to create Smithsonian .

The Smithsonian

Information Center ( The “Castle” )

Washington State

History Museum

Information about special activities at the Washington museums is provided here .

The National museum of

American Indians

The Museum Of African American History and Culture

The National Air and Space Museum

Here you can see the history of flight, from the plane flown by the Wright brothers to the Apollo space ship.

• The National museum of American art

• The International Spy Museum

• Is Washington or New York the capital of the USA?
• What does “D.C.” stand for?
• What do these letters mean?
• What state is Washington D.C. in?
• Why the Capitol is the tallest building in Washington D.C.?
• What museums of the Smithsonian Institution do you know?

Match the words, make the expressions

1 d-The Potomac river;

2 g- The White House;

3 e- The Washington Monument;

4 f- The Supreme Court;

5 a- The Lincoln Memorial;

6 c- The Library of Congress;

7 h- The National Air and Space Museum;

8 b- The Smithsonian Information Center

• The Potomac a) Memorial
• The White b) Center
• The Washington c) of Congress
• The Supreme d) river
• The Lincoln e) Monument
• The Library f) Court
• The National Air and Space g) House
• The Smithsonian

Information h) Museum

What are the names of these places of interest ?

4 5

1

2

3

• The Supreme Court;
• The Jefferson Memorial;
• The Capitol;
• The Washington Monument;
• The Library of Congress;

What are the names of these places of interest ?

9

6

7

8

6) The Lincoln Memorial;

7) The White House;

8) The National Air and Space Museum;

9) The Smithsonian Information Center (The “Castle”)

Say: true or false

1) All presidents of the United States live in the Capitol

2) The Capitol is the tallest building in Washington, D.C .

3) The first president of the USA lived in the White House.

4) 20500, 1600, Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. is the address of every American president.

5) The entrance to the White House is free.

6) Lincoln was the 16th president of the US.

7) The Lincoln Memorial has 32 columns.

8) D.C. stands for the District of Columbia.

9) The District of Columbia is named after Christopher Columbus.

10) Jefferson wrote Emancipation Proclamation.

11) We can see the history of flights in the National Air and Space Museum.