Teaching Profession in the USA

Requirements for teachers' certificate vary among 50 states. Usually the state department of education, or a state certification board, issues certificates which permit teachers to be employed within the state. Forty- four of the 50 states require at least the completion of a four-year course, with the bachelor's degree, as a minimum for high school teaching: the tendency to require a fifth year beyond the bachelor's degree is increasing. Graduation from a two-year normal school or at least two years of college education is the minimum requirement for elementary teaching in 36 states; others demand the completion of a four-year course and the bachelor's degree.

Because of the decentralization of school control in the USA teachers are employed by local districts rather than by the national government. The American teacher does not have the absolute security of tenure which the French or Australian teacher enjoys. A higher proportion of the teaching force are women than in some other countries. The teacher-training institutions have not been able to provide sufficient numbers of fully trained teachers to replace those retiring and dropping out of the profession and at the same time to meet the requirements for new classes each year. The problem of recruiting and supply

of teachers remains a serious one. In general the problem of shortage of teachers has not been met by lowering certification standards.

JACK LONDON

The novelist and short-story writer Jack London was, in his lifetime, one of the most popular authors in the world. After World War I his fame was eclipsed in the United States by a new generation of writers, but he remained popular in many other countries, especially in the Soviet Union, for his romantic tales of adventure mixed with elemental struggles for survival.

John Griffith London was born in San Francisco on January 12, 1876. His family was poor, and he was forced to go to work early in life to support himself. At 17 he sailed to Japan and Siberia on a seal-hunting voyage. He was largely self-taught, reading voluminously in libraries and spending a year at the University of California. In the late 1890s he joined the gold rush to the Klondike. This experience gave him material for his first book, 'The Son of Wolf', published in 1900, and for 'Call of the Wild' (1903), one of his most popular stories.

In his writing career of 17 years, London produced 50 books and many short stories. He wrote mostly for money, to meet ever-increasing expenses. His fame as a writer gave him a ready audience as a spokesman for a peculiar and inconsistent blend of socialism and racial superiority. London's works, all hastily written, are of uneven quality. The best books are the Klondike tales, which also include 'White Fang' (1906) and 'Burning Daylight' (1910). His most enduring novel is probably the autobiographical 'Martin Eden' (1909), but the exciting 'Sea Wolf' (1904) continues to have great appeal for young readers.

In 1910 London settled near Glen Ellen, California, where he intended to build his dream home, "Wolf House." After the house burned down before completion in 1913, he was a broken and sick man. His death on November 22, 1916, from an overdose of drugs, was probably a suicide.

NEW YORK CITY

Although New York is not the capital of the United States, it is the biggest and most important city of the country. New York is situated on the Atlantic coast, in the North-East of the country, in the state of New York at the mouth of the deep Hudson River. It is the financial and media capital of the world, the center of the American cultural life and the national leader in fashion and entertainment.

The “Big Apple” is nickname of the city. New York, with the population of 16 million people, is the second largest city and the biggest sea port in the world. It was founded in 1613 by Dutch settlers. It consists of 5 large boroughs: Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Richmond. There are a lot of places of interest in New York.

The most famous of them is The Statue of Liberty, given to the USA by France in 1886. Its torch towers about 200 feet above the harbor and can be seen at night for many miles. It is the largest statue in the world. The Empire State Building used to be the first, but now it is only the third tallest building in the world. It is a 102- stored building with an observatory on the 86 floor. Broadway is the longest street in the world. It is 12 miles long. It is the center of entertainments.

The Metropolitan Museum is by now probably the richest museum in the world in painting and other objects of Art, due to what had been bought from Europeans after World War Two. Besides, we can see the works of American painters there. The Central Park is the largest park in the world. The Fifth Avenue has the best houses, hotels and fashionable shops. Times Square is known as New York’s theatre land the Metropolitan Museum of Art and many other museums are situated there. The Rockefeller center belongs to the Rockefeller family. It is 15 skyscrapers housing several large corporations. It is also known as “Radio City”. There is a theatre, too. The United Nations Headquarters was built in 1952. The building and the grounds contain sculptures and other works of art, donated by member nations.

ENTERTAINMENT

I am fond of good books and good music, and when I have some time to spare, I like to go to the theatre or a concert. There are more than a dozen very good orchestras in Britain and some of them are world famous. Orchestras in Britain have no concert halls of their own, but play in halls rented from local authorities or private companies. There are 2 big concert halls in London. The Old Royal Albert Hall and the New Royal Festival Hall, which is one of the most modern concert halls in the world.

Theatrical performances are given by theatre companies. There are about 200 professional theatres in Britain. Like orchestras, the theatre companies usually play in rented theatres, but there are several theatres which have their own homes. The center of the actor life is London. London is also the main center of opera and ballet. The British are not fond of cinema. Rather then take trouble of going out to see a film, they would stay at home and watch television. In Britain the choice of films is limited to young people. Films are placed in one of three categories. "U" means suitable for everybody, "A" stands for more suitable for adults and films of "X" category are suitable only for adults. A person under 16 years of age may see an "A" film only in company of an adult. Only person over 16 years of age may see "X" films. Those, who prefer to stay at home, may spend their free time, watching TV, listening to the radio. They have many TV and radio programmes to choose from.

As for me, I am a great cinema-goer. I like the cinema tremendously. I see all the best films that are on. I prefer feature films, though I enjoy documentaries almost as much to say nothing of animated cartoons films, news-reels or popular science films. I usually go to the cinema for morning or day shows. If I want to go to an evening show I book tickets beforehand. I like to come to the cinema a couple of minutes before the movie starts. If I have long time to wait I can always look at the portraits of film stars hanging on the walls in the foyer, or listen to a little concert that is usually given for the spectators. It is a good idea that those who are late are not allowed to enter the hall until the news-reel is over. I hate being disturbed when a film is on. If I like a movie very much I go to see it again, and besides, I see many of the movies televised. I often read the paper "Film Week" to know which films have been released and which ones are being shot. I know all the famous script writers, producers and cameramen.

NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand is a very interesting coun­try. It has got total area of 269,000 square kilometers. It is situated to south-east of Australia in the Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (North Island and South Island) and some smaller ones. Nearly 3.5 million people live in the coun­try. The capital of New Zealand is Wellington. It is a financial center too. The city was founded in 1840 and has been the capital since 1865. The official language is English.

The climate of New Zealand is moist. New Zealand is rich in minerals. There are some main industries in the country, for example, iron and steel industry. The country has gas and petroleum. There are many mountains in New Zealand. The highest is Mount Cook (3,764 meters or 12,349 feet).

There are many rivers and lakes in the country. The chief rivers are the Waikato and the Wairu. You have heard about the native animals in the country. One of them is the kiwi. This interesting bird lives in the wet parts of the thick bushes. In the day-time the bird does not go out. It comes out only at night to find food. Kiwis cannot fly. Many years ago kiwis were hunted for food. Now the govern­ment does not permit the hunting the ki­wis. The kiwi is now the symbol of New Zealand people. Small children are often called kiwis.

New Zealand is independent state, but formerly it is a part of the British

Empire. The head of the state is the Queen. New Zealand is self-governing state. The Parliament consists of one House only, the House of Representati­ves. The Prime Minister is the head of the government.

New Zealand has got heavy industry. There are many plants in the country. Pa­per and rubber industries are developed too. New Zealand exports wool, meat, butter.

There are some big cities such as Auck­land, Wellington, Christchurch, Dune-din, Nelson. Auckland and Wellington are the main ports of the country.

There are some educational and cultu­ral institutions in Wellington. They are the University of New Zealand, Victoria University College and others. Victoria University was established in 1897.

New Zealand is a very interesting and beautiful country.

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