Otázka: Washington, D.C.
Jazyk: Angličtina
Přidal(a): darka
Washington, D.C.
Washington D.C. is the capital city of the United States. It is one of America’s most visited cities. It is not just the seat of the federal government, Supreme Court and the President of the United States; there are also memorials to important figures and events in American history, superb museums and many other things to see.
It’s named after the first president, George Washington, and „D.C.“ (it’s a shortcut of „District of Columbia“)
One of th most important places is The White House – the symbol of the American presidency and the official residence and workplace of the President of the United States. It was built in 18th century. It has 2 floors, there are offices and official places on the first floor and private rooms on the second floor. The White House is open to the public, you can see for example the East Room, Green Room, Blue Room, Red Room and State Dining Room. Unfortunately, you can’t see the Oval Office. Outside there is a green place called „the Ellipse“ – president meets there other politicians, too. It is also a location for so-called Easter Egg Rolls which is an event for kids to hunt Easter Eggs on the White House Lawn. From the White House goes a street named the Pennsylvania Avenue that is joining the White house and the Capitol.
THE CAPITOL & MEMORIALS
In the centre, on Capitol Hill, there is the Capitol where Congress meets. Capitol is the highest building in Washington D.C. – there must not be build higher buildings. It is the political center of the US government, where the Senate and House of Representatives meet to make the country’s laws. It sits on the top of Capitol Hill overlooking the Mall. The Capitol has 2 wings: the Library of Congress and Folger Shakespeare Library, which has the world’s largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare. From the west side of the Capitol goes the Mall, which is an area with a lot of museums and parks. The National Mall is a park, it is 1 mile long. There is the Washington Monument, too. People call it „The Needle“ and it serves as a lookout tower. There is a pool in the front of it, which is called „the Reflecting Pool“.
There are also another memorials in Washington – for example the Jefferson Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. They are similar to each other because they are both inspirated by Greek architecture, but the Jefferson Memorial has a cupola on the top. Inside both of them there are statues of the presidents. The Lincoln Memorial honors America’s 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, who was president during the American Civil War, opposed slavery and was assassinated while watching a play. The memorial has the form of a Greek temple, recalling classical period that gave humankind its first democracy. It has been the site of many famous speeches, including Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
OTHER PLACES OF INTEREST
Not far from the Lincoln Memorial the Arlington National Cemetery is located. There are graves espacially for soldiers who died in the World Wars. There are over 300000 graves. Close to Arlington Cemetery is the Pentagon, the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense.
MOUNT VERNON
There is another interesting building 20 miles from Washington. It is called Mount Vernon and it was the mansion of George Washington, he lived there and he is buried there. Now it serves as a museum of president Washington.
DC Streets
Horizontal= Letters
Vertical= Numbers
Diagonals= state names
Washington, DC is not a state, nor is it part of any state. It is a unique „federal district“ created specifically to be the seat of government. DC residents pay federal and local taxes, but they do not have a voting representative in Congress. DC residents do have representation, but the representative cannot vote and can only sit on committees.
