AJ maturitní okruhy

The USA is a federation of 50 states. It is a republic, the head of the state is the president Donald Trump. The main symbol of the USA is the flag, which is called „Stars and Stripes“ (they symbolise 50 states and 13 red and white stripes symbolise 13 former British colonies). The capital city is Washington, D.C. (= District of Columbia).In the history of the USA there are two most important events: The War of Independence in the second half of the 18th century (the main leader was George Washington, later the first president of the USA. As a result of the war, the USA became an independant state on 4th of July, 1776) and the Civil War in the second half of the 19th century (the president Abraham Lincoln gave freedom to slaves). The total population of the USA is over 260 million people. People living in the USA are of different origin, because in the past they came to America from different countries (for example from Britain, Spain, Portugal, Africa). During centuries they mixed together and now they are all Americans. The official language is English. In the USA there are big mountain ranges: the Rocky Mountains in the west , and the Appalachian in the east. The highest peak is Mount McKinley in Alaska. The largest river is the river Mississippi, which flows into the gulf of Mexico. Another famous river is the river Colorado, which has formed the famous Grand Canyon, or the river Rio Grande, which forms natural boundary between the USA and Mexico. There are a lot of lakes in the USA. On the border with Canada, in the northeast, we can find five Great Lakes: Lake Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario. Between Lake Erie and Ontario there are famous Niagara Falls. Climate is different in different parts of the USA. It is arctic in Alaska, subtropical in Hawaii. On the western coast there are small differences between summers and winters, but the north central states have different weather in summer and winter. In the USA there are a lot of interesting places. Besides the US capital and New York there is Los Angeles and San Francisco on the western coast. In Los Angeles we can find the famous film centre Hollywood, in San Francisco there is a famous Golden Gate Bridge. Las Vegas in Nevada is famous for its night life, big hotels, casinos. There are many national parks in the USA, e.g. Yellowstone, Grand Canyon. A lot of visitors come to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore. It is a National Memorial – a sculpture of the heads of four American presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln. The heads are 18 metres high.

Golden Gate Bridge: Las Vegas:

Grand Canyon: Mount Rushmore:

12. NEW YORK AND WASHINGTON D. C.New York is the biggest city in the USA, but it is not its capital. It is situated in the north-east coast of the USA. New York has five parts: Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island. The centre of the city is situated on Manhattan Island, which is between two rivers: the East River and the Hudson River. Manhattan was built on a modern plan of streets and avenues, which have no names but numbers.Avenues run from north to south while streets run from west to east. The only exception is Broadway, which runs almost diagonally across the streets and avenues through the whole island. Broadway is the centre of cultural life. Another famous street is Wall Street (in the south of Manhattan), where we can find the most important stock-exchange in the world. In the middle of Manhattan there is the Central Park, the only quiet place in a busy city.