7. Fill in the gaps with the words (in an appropriate form) from Act. 6:

1) The United States Range is one of the most northern mountain … in the world and of the Arctic Cordillera 2) Before European settlement, forests in the United States … nearly 4,000,000 km². 3) The United States has two international land …. 4) Rising crude oil production in the United States … to relatively stable global crude oil prices in 2013 5) Which state has the most wonderful …? 6) The following table includes the … population of the USA. 7) Does North America have a … climate?

8. Translate the sentences into Russian, then make up your own sentences with the highlighted words:

1) Most of the U.S. state of Florida is a peninsula that separates the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. 2) These procedures were put into practice in addition toother rights of employees. 3) The United States and Canada have signed an agreement to share data on orbiting space debris, asteroids and other hazards to space flight. 4) In 2012, the average annual electricity consumption for a U.S. residential utility customer was 10,837 kWh. 5) Why is the US economy comparatively strong? 6) US court websites went down due to technical problems. 7) Why is there a lack ofqualified IT programmers in the US?

9. Read the text and answer the questions:

1) What bodies share powers? 2) What are three branches of power? 3) Who do the Senators and the members of the House represent? 4) How are justices nominated? 5) What are the main political parties?

Text C. THE POLITICAL SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES

The United States is a constitutional republic, in which the President of the United States (the head of state and head of government), Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments.

The legislative power is vested in the Congress and made up of two houses: the Senate and the House of Repsesentatives. There are 435 members in the House of Repsesentatives and 100 senators in the Senate. One third of the Senators are elected every two years for six-year terms of office. The Senators represent all of the people in a state and their interests. The members of the House are elected every two years for two-year terms. They represent the population of “congressional districts” into which each state is divided. The number of Representatives from each state is based upon its population. For instance, California, the state with the largest population, has 45 Representatives, while Delaware has one. Congress makes all laws, controls finances (foreign and domestic spending).

The executive branch is headed by the President, who proposes bills to the Congress, enforces federal laws, controls foreign policy, serves as a Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and with the approval of the Senate, makes treaties and appoints secretaries. President can veto a bill unless Congress by a two-thirds vote shall overture it. The President is chosen in nation-wide elections every 4 years together with the Vice-President. He must be a natural born citizen, at least 35 years old and for at least 14 years as resident of the country. As is true with Senators and Representatives, the President is elected directly by the voters. In other words, the political party with the most Senators and Representatives does not choose the President. This means that the President can be from one party and the majority of those in the House of Representatives or Senate (or both) from another.

The judicial branch is made up of Federal District Courts, 11 Federal Courts and the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. They are nominated by the President but must be approved by the Senate. Once approved, they hold office as Supreme Court Justices for life. A decision of the Supreme Court cannot be appealed to any other court. Neither the President nor Congress can change their decisions.

The modern political party system in the United States is a two-party systemdominated by theDemocratic Partyand theRepublican Party. These two parties have won everyUnited States presidential electionsince 1852 and have controlled theUnited States Congresssince 1856. The Democratic Party generally positions itself asleft-of-centerin American politics and supports amodern American liberalplatform, while the Republican Party generally positions itself asright-of-centerand supports amodern American conservativeplatform.Third parties have achieved relatively minor representation from time to time at national and state levels. The Libertarian Partyis the largest third party in the country, claiming more than 250,000 registered voters; it generally positions itself ascentristorradical centristand supports aclassical liberalposition. Other third parties today include theGreen Party, supportingGreen politics, and theright-wingConstitution Party.

10. Study the words from Text C and give Russian equivalents: legislative, to be elected, a term, domestic, executive, an approval, judicial, a justice, to nominate, to appeal, to support, to achieve.