HOUDAYS IN THE USA

Every country has its own holidays. They reflect the history of the country and its cultural and religious traditions. Some religious holidays are common in differ­ ent countries. They are Christmas and Easter.

Americans celebrate Christmas on the 25^th of Decem­ ber. They buy a lot of presents for each other, for their parents, children and friends.

The New Year's day, the 1^st of January is not so wide­ ly celebrated in the United States as we do it in Russia.

Of course, the most important holiday in America is the 4^th of July, The Independence Day. People like to watch colourful fireworks in the evening. The 4^th of July is the day-off and people don't go to work.

The holidays when people don't go to work are: Mar­ tin Luther King's day on the 20^th of January, Labour Day on the 7^th of September and Thanksgiving on the last Friday of November. On Thanksgiving Americans usually eat turkey. This holiday reminds the time when the first colonists (pilgrims) from England came to America in 1620 and could survive in the unknown land. There is still a big white stone on the shore in Plymouth in Massachusetts, that the pilgrims landed on. It is called •The Plymouth Rock*.

The 31st of October is the children's most favourite holiday — Halloween. On this day children, dressed in

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Английский язык

funny dresses visit their neighbours and say «Trick or treat!* and get sweets.

The rest of the holidays are usually on weekends. They are: the Flag's Day, Mother's Day, Armed Forces Day. Americans also celebrate Lincoln's birthday, Washing­ ton's birthday, President's Day in February.

The 14th of February is Valentine's day or as it is called «А11 Lovers Day*.

Words

To reflect — отражать Christmas — Рождество Easter — Пасха

Widely celebrated — широко празднуется day-off — выходной

Fireworks — фейерверк turkey — индейка

To remind — напоминать to survive — выживать

Questions

What do the holidays reflect?

When do Americans celebrate Christmas?

3. Is l^at of January widely celebrated?

What is the most important holiday in USA?

What are the holidays when people stay off work?

What is and where is Plymouth Rock?

What's children most favourite holiday?

Приложение 1

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

The United States of America lies in the central part of the North American Continent between the two oceans: the Atlantic Ocean in the East and the Pacific Ocean in the West.

Canada in the North and Mexico in the South are the only countries that have borders with the USA.

The USA consists of three separate parts. They are the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean, Alaska and the main part. There are fifty States in the USA. They are very different in size, population and economic development. The smallest state is Rhode Island and the biggest is Texas. The total area of the USA is about 9 million square kilometres. The population is about 230 million people.

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