Reading. Read the text and find the answers to the questions bellow

1. Where is the USA situated?

2. How many states are there in the USA?

3. What is the highest peak? Where is it?

4. What is the climate of the country?

5. What are the most important manufacturing industries of the USA?

The United States of America is the fourth largest country in the world (after Russia, Canada and China). It occupies the southern part of North America and stretches from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. It also includes Alaska in the north and Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The total area of the country is about nine and a half million square kilometres. The USA borders on Canada in the north and on Mexico in the south. It also has a sea-border with Russia.

The USA is made up of 50 states and the District of Columbia, a special federal area where the capital of the country, Washington, is situated. The population of the country is about 270 million.

If we look at the map of the USA, we can see lowlands and mountains. The highest mountains are the Rocky Mountains, the Cordillera and the Sierra Nevada. The highest peak is mount McKinley which is located in Alaska. America’s largest rivers are the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Rio Grande and the Columbia. The Great Lakes on the border with Canada are the largest and deepest in the USA.

Rocky Mountains

Cordillera

Peak McKinley

Great Lakes

The climate of the country varies greatly. The coldest regions are in the north. The climate of Alaska is arctic. The climate of the central part is continental. The south has a subtropical climate. Hot winds blowing from the Gulf of Mexico often bring typhoons. The climate along the Pacific coast is much warmer than that of the Atlantic coast.

The USA is a highly developed industrial country. It is the world’s leading producer of copper and oil and the world’s second producer of iron and coal. Among the most important manufacturing industries are aircraft, cars, textile, radio and television sets, armaments, furniture and paper.

Though mainly European and African in origin, the Americans are made up from nearly all races and nations, including the Chinese and the Native Americans.

The largest cities are: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, San-Francisco, Washington and others.