American economy in figures

1.Today, service industries make up the most important sector of the economy, employing almost ¾ of the workforce.2. Industry employs approximately 23% of the labour force and agriculture, forestry and fishing about 3% of the workers.3. Forests cover a little less than 1/3 of the United States, or ≈ 298 million hectares. ≈ 198 million ha produce commercially valuable trees for making lumber, paper and other wood products.4.≈73% of the commercial forestland is privately owned by farmers, lumber companies, paper mills and other wood-using industries.5. Softwoods make up ¾ of the producition, and hardwood ≈ 1/5. 6. ¾ of all married couples own their own homes. The size of all dwelling units has increased in living space. The medium number of rooms occupied in each dwelling unit has increased from 4.9 rooms per unit in 1960 to 5.2 rooms today, despite the shrinking family size. About 3.6% of all Americans live in public housing.

Tables of equivalentsBritish-American units of measurement to metric systemLinear measure
1 mile (ml) =1,609 kilometres
1 yard (yd) =91.44 centimetres
1 foot (ft) =30.48 centimetres
1 inch (in.) = 2.54 centimetres

Сanada (Lady of the Snows )
Before reading this text answer the following questions, please: Would you like to go to Canada one day? What is the capital of Canada? What is associated with Canada?Сanada is an independent federative state consisting of 10 provinces and 2 territories, a member of the Commonwealth, headed by the Queen of Great Britain. Occupying the northen half of the North American continent, Canada has a landmass 0f 9,970,620 sq km, making it the second-largest country in the world after Russia. From east to west, Canada encompasses six time zones. To the south, Canada shares a boundary with the USA. To the North, the Arctic Islands come within 800 km of the North Pole. Canada’s neighbour across the Arctic Ocean is Russia.Because of the harsh northen climate, only 12% of the land is suitable for agriculture. Thus , most of the population of 30 million live within a few hundred kilometers of the southern border, where the climate is milder, in a long thin band stretching between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. If you fly over Manitoba or the nothern Ontario in summer, you will see more water than land: lakes, big and small, so many that they could not possibly be counted. It has been estimated that Canada has one-seventh of the world’s fresh water. In addition to the Great Lakes, which it shares with the USA, Canada has many large rivers and lakes. Canada is divided into 7 regions, each with a very different landscape and climate.
1.The Pacific Coast, indented by deep fjords and shielded from the Pacific storms by Vancouver Island, has the most moderate climate of Canada’s regions. Vancouver Island’s west coast recieves an exceptional amount of rain, giving it a temperate rain forest climate. The island’s west coast has the oldest and tallest trees in Canada: Western Red Cedars 1300 years old and Douglas firs 90 m high.
2.The Cordillera is a young land with rugge mountains and high plateaus. The Rocky Mountains, the Coastal Mountains and other ranges, running north to south, pose major engineering problems for the builders of the transcontinental railways amd highways.
3.The Prairies. To drive across the Prairies is to see endless fields of wheat ripening under a sky that seems to go on forever. The plains of Alberta, Saskatchevan and Manitoba are among the richest grain-producing regions in the world.
4.The Canadian Shield. A huge inland sea called Hudson bay extends into the heart of Canada, and wrapped around this bay is a rocky region called the Canadian Shield. The Shield is considered to be the nucleus of the North American continent. The region is a storehouse of minerals, including gold, silver, zinc, copper and uranium.
5.The Great Lakes – St.Lawrence Lowlands. Southern Quebec and Ontario, the industrial heartland of Canada, contain Canada’s 2 largest cities, Montreal and Toronto. In this small region, 50% of Canadians live and 70% of Canada’s manufactured goods are produced. The region also has prime agricultural land, for example, the Niagara Peninsula. The large expenses of lakes Erie and Ontario extend the number of frost free days, permitting the cultivation of grapes, peaches, pears and others. The Great Lakes and St.Lawrence region is sugar maple country.
6.The Atlantis Provinces – Appalachian Region. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland are the smallest Canadian provinces, and were the first to be settled by Europeans, The Grand Banks have been called the “wheat fields” of Newfoundlands. This shallow continental shelf extends 400km of the east coast, where the mixing of ocean currents has created one of the richest fishing grounds in the world. The Atlantic provinces are an extension of the Appalachians. Much of the region has low, rugged hills and plateaus and a deeply indented coastline. Prince Edward Island has a gently rolling landscape with a rich, red soil. This fertile island is Canada’s smallest province, making up a mere 0,1% of Canada’s landmass.
7.The Arctic. North of tree-line is a land of harsh beauty. During the short summer, when the daylight is nearly continuous and a profusion of flowers blooms on the tundra, the temperature can reach 30 C. Yet the winters are long, bitterly cold and dark.

NotesLanguages. English and French are both official languages, but only 20% of the population speak only French, while 13% speak both French and English.Currency. Dollar.Government. Head of government: Prime Minister. Legislative body is Parliament consisting of a Senate and a House of Commons.Largest cities: Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary