English-Speaking Countries: The USA and the Great Britain

Министерство образования  и науки РФ

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Секция Иностранные  языки

 

 

 

 

“English-Speaking Countries: The USA and the Great Britain”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Нучный руководитель:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2008-2009 учебный год

 

Оглавление

 

Введение……………………………………………………………….стр

Глава 1. Общее представление о двух странах:…………………….стр.4-6

1.1 Великобритания……………………………………………… …...стр.4

1.2 Соединенные Штаты Америки (США)…………………………стр.5-6

Глава 2. Административное деление:……………………………...стр.7-8

2.1 Великобритании…………………………………………………...стр.7

2.2 США………………………………………………………………..стр.8

Глава 3. Религия:…………………………………………………….стр.9-10

3.1 Великобритании…………………………………………………...стр.9

3.2 США………………………………………………………………..стр.10

Глава 4. Образование:……………………………………………..стр. 11-13

4.1 Великобритании………………………………………………...стр.11-12

4.2 США…………………………………………………………….стр.13

Глава 5. Столица:………………………………………………….стр.14-15

5.1 Великобритании – Лондон ……………………………………...стр.14

5.2 США – Вашингтон……………………………………………….стр.15

Глава 6. Достопримечательные места……………………………стр.16-18

6.1 Великобритании (Лондона)………………………………….стр.16-17

6.2 США……………….………………………………………….....стр.17-18

Список использованной литературы………………………………….стр.19

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thesis

“English-Speaking Countries The USA and the Great Britain”.

 

As far as we know, there are a lot of English-speaking countries in our world. They are the Great Britain,the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zeland and others. Every country has its own history, own native language and official language.

English is major international language for communication is such areas as science technology, business and mass entertainment. Therefore to know English is necessary for every educated person. I would like to learn about English-speaking countries more. That is why I explore two these countries.

The aims of my project is not only to study grammar and learn new words, but also study the history, culture, traditions, manners of the USA and Great Britain and also to compare countries.

The Great Britain is one of the world’s smallest countries. Its population is over 57 million. The UK is situated on the British Isles. The British Isles consist of two large islands, Great Britain and Ireland, and about five thousand small islands. Their total area is over 244.000 square kilometers.The capital of the UK is London.

The USA is the fourth largest country in the world. It occupies the southern part of North America and stretches from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. It also includes Alaska in the norh and Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The total area of the country is about nine and a half million square kilometers. The population of the country is about 250 million. The capital of the USA is Washington.

Conclusion. Learning two countries, I can make conclusion, that the USA and Great Britain are different, though they have common feautures. Even English language has different meanings of the words, phrases, ideas. I understood, speaking English not every English-speaking person can understand everything. That’s why it’s necessary to read, write and learn a lot.

 

 

 

 

                              1. Two countries

 

                   1.1. United Kingdom

 

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain, is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning Great Britain, the northeast part of Ireland, and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land border, sharing it with the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea. The largest island, Great Britain, is linked to France by the Channel Tunnel.

The United Kingdom is a unitary state consisting of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It is governed by a parliamentary system with its seat of government in London, the capital, but with three devolved national administrations in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh, the capitals of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland respectively. The UK is a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state. The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are Crown Dependencies and not part of the UK, but form a federacy with it. The UK has fourteen overseas territories, all remnants of the British Empire, which at its height in 1922 encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface, the largest empire in history. British influence can continue to be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. Queen Elizabeth II remains the head of the Commonwealth of Nations and head of state of each of the Commonwealth realms.

The UK is a developed country, with the fifth (nominal GDP) or sixth (PPP) largest economy in the world. It was the world's first industrialised country and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries, but the economic cost of two world wars and the decline of its empire in the latter half of the 20th century diminished its leading role in global affairs. The UK nevertheless remains a major power with strong economic, cultural, military and political influence worldwide. It is a nuclear power and has the second or third highest defence spending in the world. It is a Member State of the European Union, holds a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, and is a member of the G8, NATO, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, World Trade Organisation and the Commonwealth of Nations.

 

 

 

                 

                          1.2. United State.                      

                           

The United States of America (commonly              referred to as the United States, the U.S., the   USA, or America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to its east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories, or insular areas, scattered around the Caribbean and Pacific.

At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km?) and with about 305 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and third largest by land area and by population. The United States is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the largest national economy in the world, with an estimated 2008 gross domestic product (GDP) of US$14.3 trillion (23% of the world total based on nominal GDP and almost 21% at purchasing power parity).

The nation was founded by thirteen colonies of Great Britain located along the Atlantic seaboard. On July 4, 1776, they issued the Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed their independence from Great Britain and their formation of a cooperative union. The rebellious states defeated Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, the first successful colonial war of independence. A federal convention adopted the current United States Constitution on September 17, 1787; its ratification the following year made the states part of a single republic with a strong central government. The Bill of Rights, comprising ten constitutional amendments guaranteeing many fundamental civil rights and freedoms, was ratified in 1791.

In the 19th century, the United States acquired land from France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Russia, and annexed the Republic of Texas and the Republic of Hawaii. Disputes between the agrarian South and industrial North over states' rights and the expansion of the institution of slavery provoked the American Civil War of the 1860s. The North's victory prevented a permanent split of the country and led to the end of legal slavery in the United States. By the 1870s, the national economy was the world's largest. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a military power. In 1945, the United States emerged from World War II as the first country with nuclear weapons, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and a founding member of NATO. The end of the Cold War left the United States as the sole superpower. The country accounts for approximately 50% of global military spending and is a leading economic, political, and cultural force in the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Devolved national administrations

 

2.1. Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales each has its own government or Executive, led by a First Minister, and a devolved, unicameral legislature. England, the largest country of the United Kingdom, has no devolved executive or legislature and is administered and legislated for directly by the UK government and parliament on all issues. This situation has given rise to the so-called West Lothian question which concerns the fact that MPs from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales can vote, sometimes decisively, on matters affecting England that are handled by devolved legislatures for their own constituencies.

The Scottish Government and Parliament have wide ranging powers over any matter that has not been specifically 'reserved' to the UK parliament, including education, healthcare, Scots law and local government. Following their victory at the 2007 elections, the pro-independence SNP formed a minority government with its leader, Alex Salmond, becoming First Minister of Scotland. The pro-union parties responded to the electoral success of the SNP by creating a Commission to examine the case for devolving additional powers while excluding Scottish independence as an option, though the then leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Wendy Alexander, indicated that Labour would support calls for independence to be placed before the people in a referendum in the hope that a vote to reject independence would settle the constitutional debate for a generation.

The Welsh Assembly Government and the National Assembly for Wales have more limited powers than those devolved to Scotland, although following the passing of the Government of Wales Act 2006, the Assembly can now legislate in some areas through Legislative Competency Orders which can be granted on a case by case basis. The current Welsh Assembly Government was formed several weeks after the 2007 elections, following a brief period of minority administration, when Plaid Cymru joined Labour in a coalition government under the continuing leadership of First Minister Rhodri Morgan.

The Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly have powers closer to those already devolved to Scotland. The Northern Ireland Executive is currently led by First Minister Peter Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party) and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.

 

 

                                     

 

 

2.2. The United States is a federal union of fifty states. The original thirteen states were the successors of the thirteen colonies that rebelled against British rule. Most of the rest have been carved from territory obtained through war or purchase by the U.S. government. One set of exceptions comprises Vermont, Texas, and Hawaii: each was an independent republic before joining the union. Another set of exceptions comprises those states created out of the territory of the original thirteen. Early in the country's history, three states were created in this manner: Kentucky from Virginia; Tennessee from North Carolina; and Maine from Massachusetts. During the American Civil War, West Virginia broke away from Virginia. The most recent state—Hawaii—achieved statehood on August 21, 1959. The states do not have the right to secede from the union.

The states compose the vast bulk of the U.S. land mass; the two other areas considered integral parts of the country are the District of Columbia, the federal district where the capital, Washington, is located; and Palmyra Atoll, an uninhabited but incorporated territory in the Pacific Ocean. The United States also possesses five major overseas territories: Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands in the Caribbean; and American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific. Those born in the territories (except for American Samoa) possess U.S. citizenship.

 

 

 

 

                                                   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                            3. Religions

 

3.1. The Treaty of Union that led to the formation of the United Kingdom ensured that there would be a protestant succession as well as a link between church and state that still remains. Christianity is the major religion, followed by Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and then Judaism in terms of number of adherents. The 2007 Tearfund Survey revealed 53% identified themselves as Christian which was similar to the 2004 British Social Attitudes Survey, and to the 2001 Census in which 71.6% said that

Christianity was their religion, (though the

latter used "a softer question".) However, the Tearfund

          Westminster abbey ↑                survey showed only one in ten Britons actually attend church weekly. There is also a large and growing atheist and agnostic population with 9.1 million (15% of the UK population) claiming no religion in the 2001 census. There is a disparity between the figures for those identifying themselves with a particular religion and for those proclaiming a belief in a God: research suggests that just 38% of the population have a belief in a God with a further 40% believing in a 'spirit or life force'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.2. The United States is an officially secular nation; the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion and forbids the establishment of any religious governance. In a 2002 study, 59% of

Americans said that religion played a

"very important role in their lives," a

    A Southern Baptist church                    far higher figure than that of any other

Most Americans identify as Christian  ↑          wealthy nation. According to a 2007 survey, 78.4% of adults identified themselves as Christian,[138] down from 86.4% in 1990. Protestant denominations accounted for 51.3%, while Roman Catholicism, at 23.9%, was the largest individual denomination. The study categorizes white evangelicals, 26.3% of the population, as the country's largest religious cohort; another study estimates evangelicals of all races at 30–35%. The total reporting non-Christian religions in 2007 was 4.7%, up from 3.3% in 1990. The leading non-Christian faiths were Judaism (1.7%), Buddhism (0.7%), Islam (0.6%), Hinduism (0.4%), and Unitarian Universalism (0.3%). From 8.2% in 1990, 16.1% in 2007 described themselves as agnostic, atheist, or simply having no religion, still significantly less than in other postindustrial countries such as Britain (2005: 44%) and Sweden (2005: 85%).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                        4.Education

4.1. Education in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter with England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales having separate systems.

Education in England is the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families and the Secretary of State for Innovation,

Universities and Skills, though the day to day

       King's College, part of the            administration and funding of state schools is the

        University of Cambridge ↑       responsibility of Local Authorities (previously named Local Education Authorities). Universal state education in England and Wales was introduced for primary level in 1870 and secondary level in 1900. Education is mandatory from ages five to sixteen (15 if born in late July or August). The majority of children are educated in state-sector schools, only a small proportion of which select on the grounds of academic ability. Despite a fall in actual numbers, the proportion of children in England attending private schools has risen to over 7%. Just over half of students at the leading universities of Cambridge and Oxford had attended state schools. State schools which are allowed to select pupils according to intelligence and academic ability can achieve comparable results to the most selective private schools: out of the top ten performing schools in terms of GCSE results in 2006 two were state-run grammar schools. England has some of the top universities in the world; University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, and University of London are ranked among the top 20 in the 2007 THES - QS World University Rankings. There are fears, however, that a decline in the number of English students studying a foreign language will have a negative effect on business, which has led to calls for languages to be given greater priority. However, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (Timss) rated pupils in England 7th in the world for Maths, and 6th for Science. The results put England's pupils ahead of other European countries, including Germany and Scandinavian countries.

Education in Scotland is the responsibility of the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, with day to day administration and funding of state schools the responsibility of Local Authorities. Two non-departmental public bodies have key roles in Scottish education: the Scottish Qualifications Authority is responsible for the development, accreditation, assessment and certification of qualifications other than degrees which are delivered at secondary schools, post-secondary colleges of further education and other centres; and Learning and Teaching Scotland provides advice, resources and staff development to the education community to promote curriculum development and create a culture of innovation, ambition and excellence. Scotland first legislated for compulsory education in 1496. The proportion of children in Scotland attending private schools is just over 4%, although it has been rising slowly in recent years. Scottish students who attend Scottish universities pay neither tuition fees nor graduate endowment charges as the fees were abolished in 2001 and the graduate endowment scheme was abolished in 2008.

Education in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Minister for Education, currently Caitriona Ruane (Sinn Fein), although responsibility at a local level is administered by five Education and Library Boards, covering different geographical areas. The 'Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment (CCEA) is the body responsible for advising the government on what should be taught in Northern Ireland's schools, monitoring standards and awarding qualifications.

The National Assembly for Wales has responsibility for education in Wales. A significant number of Welsh students are taught either wholly or largely in the Welsh language; lessons in Welsh are compulsory for all until the age of 16. There are plans to increase the provision of Welsh Medium schools as part of the policy of having a fully bi-lingual Wales.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.2. American public education is operated by state and local governments, regulated by the United States Department of Education through restrictions on federal grants. Children are required in most states to attend school from the age of six or seven (generally, kindergarten or

first grade) until they turn eighteen

(generally bringing them through twelfth

        The University of Virginia,                       grade, the end of high school); some

     designed by Thomas Jefferson,                states allow students to leave school at sixteen or

    a UNESCO World Heritage Site ↑        seventeen. About 12% of children are enrolled in parochial or nonsectarian private schools. Just over 2% of children are homeschooled. The United States has many competitive private and public institutions of higher education, as well as local community colleges with open admission policies. Of Americans twenty-five and older, 84.6% graduated from high school, 52.6% attended some college, 27.2% earned a bachelor's degree, and 9.6% earned graduate degrees. The basic literacy rate is approximately 99%. The United Nations assigns the United States an Education Index of 0.97, tying it for 12th in the world.        

 

                                                                                А hall of Annenberg  is in the                                                                                                                                                                                       

                                                                                              Harvard university   ↑      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                         5.Capitals