Religious Phenomenon in the U.S.
The lack of a national religion resulted in the Bill of Rights attached to the original Constitution. Most Churches in America are characterized by a strong evangelical spirit. A common phenomenon in the U.S. has been the rise of new Churches or sects, such as the Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Christian Scientists. Many preaches make use of television to preach their message.
Religious differences of immigrants and the territories where the immigrant groups settled account for the existing nowadays religious differences among certain regions of the United States:
● the Mormons religion in Utah;
● the Baptist religion mostly in the South;
● most Lutheran Churches in the Midwest;
● some sections of the South and the Midwest form “the Bible Belt” because of many Protestant fundamentalists living there;
● the locations with the population of Latin American and Mexican origin – in the South-west, and in the regions close to the Mexican border – belong to the Catholic Church.
Answer the questions:
1. What sects do you know in the U.S.?
2. What religion forms “the Bible Belt”?
3. Where are the Catholic Churches located?
Translations of the Bible
The Bible (Gr. biblia – “books”) is a set of books comprising the Christian Scripture. The Bible consists of two parts, the Old Testament (50 books) and the New Testament (27 books). The Old Testament is written in Hebrew (some parts in Aramaic), while the New Testament is written in Greek (Matthew – in Aramaic). The first Biblical texts appeared in the 12th century BC, and the latest texts date back to the beginning of the 2nd c. AD. Aramaic was the native language of Jesus Christ.
The first translation of the Old Testament into Greek (“Septuagint”) was made by 70 Jewish translators who spent 72 days, and became the first part of the Christian Bible. It was made on request of Ptolemy II, king of Egypt (285 – 247). The Latin version of the Bile was prepared by Jerome (342 – 420) in the late 4th who translated it directly from the Hebrew text of the Old Testament making use of the Septuagint Greek translation as well. This version is known as “Vulgate” (Lat. vulgata – “public”).It is used by the Roman Catholic Church.
The spread of Christianity necessitated translations of the Bible into Coptic, Ethiopian, and Gothic. In the era of the Reformation new versions in European languages were made.
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The name of the Russian translation of the Bible (from Greek) approved by the Moscow Patriarchate and published in 1876 is called Synodal. The Russian Pravoslavnaya Church uses in its liturgy the translations made by the enlighteners of Slavs Kirill and Mefodii (Cyril and Methodius).
The first English translation was made by John Wycliff who translated the Bible from Latin in XIV c. The popular name of the 1611 English translation of the Bible is the Authorized Version, known as the “King James Version”. It is the first Bible translated from Greek into the Literary Standard English (by 54 translators).
Answer the questions:
1. What parts does the Bible consist of?
2. What languages are they written in?
3. What other versions of the Bible in European languages do you know?
UNIT 5. ECONOMY OF THE USA
The Basis of the U.S. Economy
The economy of the U.S. is the largest national economy in the world. Its nominal gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $ 14.2 trillion in 2009, which is 3 times more than GDP of Japan, the world’s second largest national economy.
The American economy is described as a free enterprise system which allows private business the freedom to operate for profit with minimum government regulation. The theoretical foundation of the American economic system was provided by Adam Smith whose economic ideas of free competition influenced the development of capitalism. Competition benefits society by allowing the consumer to search for the best available product at the lowest price.
Throughout the XIX c. market operated with a minimum government regulations. Since 1930’s American capitalism has undergone a radical change. Although a private enterprises flourishes, government regulation now exists in many areas of business ranging from product safety to labor conditions.
The number of workers and their productivity help determine the health of the U.S. economy. After World War I, most workers were immigrants from Europe, their descendants, or African Americans who were mostly slaves taken from Africa, or slave descendents. Beginning in the early XX c., many Latin Americans immigrated, followed by large numbers of Asians. The promise of high wages brings many highly skilled workers from around the world to the U.S.
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The USA today is a leading economic power with a high standard of living and enormous productivity in industry and agriculture. It is the most affluent nation in the world: 60 % of all families and individuals are in the middle income or high-income rank.
Answer the questions:
1. What place does the USA economy occupy in the world?
2. What is the essence of the American economy?
3. What workers determine the U.S. economy?
4. How many per cents of families and individuals are in the middle or high-income rank?
Major Industries
The USA remains the world’s leading producer of goods and services. In the second half of the XX the c., services have grown faster than any other sector of the U.S. economy. Services are the 2nd contribution after manufacture into GDP. The most important components are health and business services.
Industrial and technological position of the states is very high. The USA is the leading producer of electrical energy, aluminum, copper, sulphur, paper and one of the top producers of natural gas and automobiles. No other nation exports as much high technology as the USA. The U.S. produces nearly 1/5 of the world’s output of coal, copper and crude petroleum.
The USA owes its economical position more to its high developed industry than to its natural resources or agricultural output. Manufacturing accounts for about a fifth of the GDP.
One of the most important sectors in the economy is the manufacture of transportation equipment, including motor vehicles, aircraft, and space equipment. Other important sectors include non-electrical machinery, electrical machinery, food products, and chemicals. Steel mill products go largely to the automotive industry and to the construction industry.
Main industries include petroleum, steel, motor vehicles, aerospace, telecommunications, chemicals, electronics, food processing, consumer goods, lumber and mining.
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The Midwest (stretches from the Appalachians to the Rockies and from the northern forests to Arkansas) is large, economically important region. It contains major industrial cities, like the cities of the Great Lakes region:
– Chicago, Ill.
– Milwaukee, Wisc.
– Detroit, Mich.
– Cleveland, Oh. and also
– Cincinnati, Oh.
– Indianapolis, Ind.
– Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnes.
In Texas there are Houston and Dallas. They prospered thanks to the growth of the ship channel and the cotton industry. In the XX th. c. oil discoveries in East Texas transformed Houston into a modern boom town.
The Rocky Mountains states are rich in natural resources: there are deposits of oil, as well as gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc and other minerals.
Answer the questions:
1. What sector in the U.S. economy is the 1st contribution into GDP?
2. What sector in the U.S. economy is the 2nd contribution into GDP?
3. What sectors does the manufacture include?
4. What does the USA produce?
5. What main industries in the USA do you know?
6. What major industrial cities do you know?
Agriculture
Agriculture is a major industry in the U.S. and the country is a net exporter of food. The U.S. controls almost half of world grain export. Products include wheat, corn, other grains (are all grown in great quantities in 12 mid-western states), fruits, vegetables, cotton; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; forest products; fish (Sitka in Alaska is a fishing town). More than 80 % of timber production is made up of softwoods (the principal trees are Douglas fir and southern yellow pine) and the remainder of hardwoods (oak).
Farming is highly mechanized and commercialized but at the same time it requires much investment. U.S. farmers produce enough food for domestic consumption and still supply 15 % of the world’s food need.
Large fruits and vegetables are grown in Palmer (Alaska) in short summers because of 20 hours of day light. Hawaii’s agricultural products include sugar, pineapple, pineapple wine, coffee, and macadamia nuts.
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However, high efficiency and productivity of American agriculture has its negative side. On one hand farming has become too productive to be profitable to many American farmers. Low crop prices, which have resulted from overproduction, often do not bring farmers enough income to live on. Another difficulty is the decline of agricultural exports. The share of the U.S. crops on the world’s market is shrinking while the shares of the European community expand.
Answer the questions:
1. What products are exported by the U.S.?
2. What are grown in Alaska and Hawaii?
3. What advantages and disadvantages are there in American agriculture?
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