Washington, D.C., New York and Other Places of Interest

The specific part of maturita topic 11 (Travelling and transport), at B2 level. The geography, political system and national parks of the USA are in The USA – Geography and Places of Interest.

Washington, D.C.

Basic facts

Washington is the capital of the USA and the seat of the federal government. It lies on the Potomac River between the states of Maryland and Virginia, in a special federal territory called the District of Columbia (D.C.), which does not belong to any state. It has about 700,000 inhabitants, but more than six million people live in the whole metropolitan area. Unlike New York, it has no skyscrapers: no building may be much taller than the Capitol.

History

After independence, the Congress decided to build a completely new capital that would not belong to any of the states. George Washington, the first president, chose the place in 1790, and the city was named after him. The French engineer Pierre L’Enfant designed its plan with wide avenues and parks. The government moved there in 1800. In 1814, during a war with Britain, British troops set fire to the Capitol and the President’s house.

Sights

• The Capitol – the seat of Congress, with its huge white dome, standing on Capitol Hill.
• The White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue – the official residence and office of the President since 1800.
• The National Mall – a long park between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial, lined with museums and monuments.
• The Washington Monument – a white obelisk about 169 m high, built in honour of George Washington.
• The Lincoln Memorial – a temple-like building with a giant statue of Abraham Lincoln. In 1963 Martin Luther King gave his famous speech “I Have a Dream” on its steps.
• The Jefferson Memorial and memorials to the soldiers of the Second World War, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, whose black wall bears the names of more than 58,000 dead soldiers.
• The Smithsonian Institution – the world’s largest museum complex, with free entry; its museums include the National Air and Space Museum and the Museum of Natural History.
• Arlington National Cemetery on the other side of the Potomac, where President John F. Kennedy is buried.

The city has a Metro system, and most of the sights on the Mall can be reached on foot.

New York City

Basic facts

New York is the largest city in the USA, with about 8.5 million people (almost 20 million in the metropolitan area). It is a world centre of finance, business, media, fashion and culture, and the seat of the United Nations. Its nicknames are the Big Apple and the City That Never Sleeps. It consists of five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island.

History

The original inhabitants were Native Americans. In 1609 the English explorer Henry Hudson, working for the Dutch, sailed up the river that now bears his name. In 1626, according to legend, the Dutch bought Manhattan from the Native Americans for goods worth 60 guilders (often quoted as 24 dollars) and founded New Amsterdam. In 1664 the English took over the colony and renamed it New York after the Duke of York. From 1892 to 1954 millions of immigrants entered the USA through Ellis Island. On 11 September 2001 terrorists destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center; in their place there is now a memorial and the One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the USA.

Sights

• The Statue of Liberty – a gift from France (1886), designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, with an inner structure by Gustave Eiffel. The woman holding a torch and a tablet with the date of independence is a symbol of freedom and was the first thing immigrants saw when they arrived.
• Manhattan’s skyline – the Empire State Building, the Art Deco Chrysler Building, the Rockefeller Center and One World Trade Center.
• Times Square – the bright heart of the theatre district, famous for its giant digital billboards and the New Year’s Eve ball drop.
• Broadway – the centre of American theatre and musicals.
• Wall Street – the financial district with the New York Stock Exchange.
• Central Park – a huge park in the middle of Manhattan, ideal for walking, jogging, skating and concerts.
• Museums – the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Guggenheim Museum.
• Brooklyn Bridge – one of the first steel suspension bridges in the world (1883).
• Neighbourhoods such as Chinatown, Little Italy, Greenwich Village and Harlem, the centre of African American culture.

The subway runs 24 hours a day and has more stations than any other metro system in the world; the famous yellow cabs are another symbol of the city.

Other places of interest

Key vocabulary

Useful phrases

• It is the seat of… / It is home to…
• It was designed by… / It was a gift from…
• If I had a week in New York, I would…
• I’d recommend taking the subway / walking along… because…
• What I’d most like to see is…, because…
• Washington is very different from New York – while…, …

Questions the examiner may ask

Try to answer each question in two or three sentences, then click on the hint to compare.