Blus Alexander – 32 group
                                  Kiev 2002
      The United States of America is a very diverse country.
      Its nature, climate, population varies from  the  East  Coast  to  the
west, from the northern border to the southern.
      It is a multicultural and multiracial country.
      Though its history dates back only to the  15th  century  despite  the
European countries, its cities and towns  have  so  many  peculiar  features
that it is very interesting for us to have a “tour” around  the  USA  making
short stop at the biggest cities of the USA.
      Among the USA’s  biggest  cities  are  New  York  City,  Los  Angeles,
Chicago, Houston, and Philadelphia.
      The country’s most important city is its capital – Washington, D.C.
      With its Grand  neoclassical  building  and  its  tree-lined  avenues,
Washington,  D.C.  strikes  the  visitor  as  a  lovely  and  formal   city.
Washington wasn’t always this way.
      On September 8, 1664, British troops occupied  New  Amsterdam  without
resistance, overthrew the Dutch government, and called the place  New  York.
Seven years later the Dutch recaptured the city and called  it  New  Orange,
but in 1674 the city was in the hands of the British again who returned  the
name New York.
      In America there are a lot of large cities but I want  to  tell  about
Chicago.
      Chicago is the third-largest city in the United States and one of  the
country’s leading industrial, commercial, financial, and  transport  center.
It extends some  47  km  (29  mi)  along  the  southwestern  shore  of  Lake
Michigan, occupying flatland traversed by  two  short  rivers:  the  Chicago
River and the Calumet River.
      The city’s rapid growth was due in large part to  its  location,  with
ready access to markets and  raw  materials;  it  has  the  world’s  busiest
airport, Chicago-O’Hare International Airport.
      Aided by an excellent distribution network, Chicago is America’s  most
important rail and haulage center and is a significant  port  handling  both
domestic and international trade. Great Lakes freighters  and  river  barges
deliver bulk commodities such as iron ore, coal, chemicals, oil, and grain.
      The Chicago metropolitan area has the highest number of  manufacturing
employees in the United States. City’s largest employers is  the  electrical
goods industry, followed by the steel, machinery, fabricated metals,  foods,
printing and publishing, chemicals, and transport equipment industries.
      The Chicago Board of Trade and the  Chicago  Mercantile  Exchange  are
among  the  world’s  largest  commodity  markets.  The  city  is  a  leading
convention center with extensive hotel facilities, including McCormick.
      Chicago has one of the world’s most beautiful lakefronts.
      The world’s first skyscraper was  constructed  in  Chicago,  in  1885,
spawning the innovative Chicago School of architecture. The central part  of
the city has several of the world’s tallest buildings, including  the  Sears
Tower, which at 110 storeys high  is  the  tallest  in  the  United  States.
Construction of tall office buildings continues.
      Chicago is a major center of higher education, with numerous  colleges
and universities. The prestigious University of Chicago (1890) was the  site
in 1942 of the world’s first controlled nuclear chain reaction.