Text 2. Washington, D. C.

The Unites States is a federal union which is made up of fifty states and one independent district — the District of Columbia. The District of Columbia is the territory of the national capital of the USA, Washington, with its own law and regulations. Washington, D. C. is situated on both banks of the Potomac river, between the two states, Maryland and Virginia. This place was chosen by the first American President George Washington. The plot of land of a hundred square miles was bought from private owners by the state. So the area is not a municipality, it is a federal land.

The place was called the District of Columbia in honour of Columbus, the discoverer of America, and the capital got the name of Washington after the name of its founder. In 1790 George Washington laid the cornerstone of the Capitol where the Congress sits. Washington has been the federal capital since 1800. In fact t is the first carefully planned capital in the world.

Washington is sometimes called the heart of America. It is the place where the federal government works and where each President of the United States lives. Washington is smaller in size than the largest cities of the USA, such as New York, Chicago, Detroit or Los Angeles. The population of Washington is 581,530 people (2006). The buildings in Washington are not very tall because no building can be taller than the Capitol. But in political sense Washington is the center of the country and the most important city of the United States.

So the highest building in the city that doesn't have any sky-scrapers is the Capitol Building, home of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. It contains about 430 rooms. Topping the domeis the 19-foot bronze statueof Freedom. The 36 columns of this impressive structure surround thelower part of the dome, and they represent the states in the Union at the time it was designed (the construction began in 1793, and was finished in 1867).

The White House has been the official residence of every American President, except G. Washington. The original design of the «President's House» was drawn by James Hoban, an Irish-born architect.Burnt by the British in 1814 it was restored and painted white and thus got its current name. It has a lot of beautiful rooms, each one has its own distinctive style. The largest is the East Room, which is used for State balls, receptions, press conferences and other events. The finest room is the Blue Room used by the President to receive guests. The Red Room is used for small recep­tions. It is the favourite room of First Ladies. The Capitol and the White House are open to visitors.

The Washington Monument, 180 meters tall, is situated in Po­tomac Park. The top may be reached in 70 seconds by elevator or by an iron stairway, consisting of 50 landings. From the observation platform the visitors can see the entire District of Columbia and parts of Virginia and Maryland.

The Lincoln Memorial was designed like a Greek Templewith columns, representing the states in the Union at the time of Lincoln's death. The main feature of the building is the magnificent, realistic figure of Lincoln seated in the center of the open temple.

The Jefferson Memorial with wonderful cherry trees around (a gift from the city of Tokyo), is a circular stone structure. In the central chamber there is a full-length figure of the third president of the U. S., the author of the Declaration of Independence. On the interior walls are four panels with inscriptions from Jefferson’s writings.

John Kennedy Centre for Performing Arts is the official memorial to President Kennedy in the nation’s capital. Arlington National Cemetery is another national memorial with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. John Kennedy was buried there in 1963.

Answer the questions:

1. How many parts is the USA made up of?

2. What is the District of Columbia?

3. How was Washington, D. C., founded?

4. What is Washington famous for?

5. Which building is the highest in Washington?

6. What other sights in Washington are worth seeing? Why?

7. In what sense is Washington the most important city in the USA?

UNIT 4

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