Культура США (XXI век)

МИНИСТЕРСТВО НАУКИ И ВЫСШЕГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ 
РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ 
 
РОСТОВСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ 
ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ (РИНХ) 
 
 
 
 
Абраменко Е. В., Николаева Е. С. 
 
 
 
Культура США 
(XXI век) 
 
 
 
Учебное пособие для студентов 
направления 45.03.02 «Лингвистика», 
профиль 45.03.02.02 «Перевод и переводоведение» 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ростов-на-Дону 
Издательско-полиграфический комплекс РГЭУ (РИНХ) 
2024 
 

УДК 811.111(075) 
ББК 81.2 
      А16 
 
Рецензенты: 
Капитонова Н. С., кандидат филологических наук, 
доцент кафедры иберо-американских исследований в области языка, 
перевода и межкультурной коммуникации 
ФГАОУ ВО «Южный федеральный университет»; 
Барабанова И. Г., кандидат филологических наук, доцент, 
зав. кафедрой лингвистики и межкультурной коммуникации 
ФГБОУ ВО «Ростовский государственный экономический университет (РИНХ)». 
 
Абраменко, Екатерина Валерьевна 
А16 Культура США (XXI век) : учебное пособие для студентов направления 
45.03.02 «Лингвистика», профиль 45.03.02.02 «Перевод и переводоведение» / 
Е. В. Абраменко, Е. С. Николаева. – Ростов-на-Дону : Издательско-полиграфический комплекс Ростовского государственного эконмического университета 
(РИНХ), 2024. – 80 с. 
ISBN 978-5-7972-3288-9 
 
В данном пособии представлено краткое изложение теоретических положений курса «Культура США (XXI век)». Пособие знакомит читателя с культурой 
США указанной эпохи. Каждый раздел снабжен вопросами, контролирующими 
понимание и стимулирующими самостоятельный анализ обучающихся. 
Пособие состоит из семи разделов, в которых представлены тексты по таким темам культуры США, как «Общественная жизнь и образование», «Политика», «Праздники», «Спорт», «Выдающиеся личности», «Известные писатели», 
«Кинематограф». 
Настоящее учебное пособие предназначено для работы студентов 
2-х курсов направления 45.03.02 «Лингвистика» и рекомендуется в качестве вспомогательного материала как для самостоятельной работы студентов, так и для использования преподавателями вуза языковых профилей. 
УДК 811.111(075) 
ББК 81.2 
 
 
Утверждено в качестве учебного пособия 
учебно-методическим советом РГЭУ (РИНХ). 
 
 
 
 
ISBN 978-5-7972-3288-9 
     © Ростовский государственный 
экономический университет (РИНХ), 2024 
© Абраменко Е. В., Николаева Е. С., 2024 

ОГЛАВЛЕНИЕ 
 
UNIT 1. SOCIAL LIFE AND EDUCATION 
5 
US Newspapers 
5 
University Education in the USA 
6 
 
UNIT 2. US POLITICS 
 
9 
George W. Bush 
9 
Barack Obama 
10 
Arnold Schwarzenegger 
11 
Hillary Clinton 
12 
Donald Trump 
14 
Joe Biden 
15 
Kamala Harris 
17 
Republican Party  
18 
Democratic Party 
19 
 
UNIT 3. HOLIDAYS IN THE UNITED STATES 
OF AMERICA 
 
 
21 
New Year’s Day 
21 
St. Valentine’s Day 
22 
Saint Patrick’s Day 
23 
April Fools’ Day 
24 
Easter 
25 
Independence Day 
27 
Halloween 
29 
Veterans Day 
30 
Thanksgiving 
32 
Christmas 
34 
 
UNIT 4. SPORTS IN THE UNITED STATES 
OF AMERICA 
 
 
37 
Baseball 
37 
American Football 
39 
Soccer 
41 
Basketball 
43 
Ice Hockey 
46 

UNIT 5. OUTSTANDING PERSONALITIES 
OF THE 21ST CENTURY 
 
49 
Bill Gates 
49 
Steve Jobs 
51 
Oprah Winfrey 
53 
Jeff Bezos 
55 
Elon Musk 
57 
Mark Zuckerberg 
59 
 
UNIT 6. PROMINENT WRITERS 
OF THE 21ST CENTURY 
 
 
62 
Ray Bradbury 
62 
Stan Lee 
64 
Kurt Vonnegut 
65 
Nelle Harper Lee 
66 
Stephen King 
68 
George R. R. Martin 
69 
Donna Tartt 
71 
Rebecca F. Kuang 
72 
 
UNIT 7. AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHY 
 
74 
American Films 
74 
American Actors 
76 
American Actresses 
77 
 
 
 

UNIT 1. SOCIAL LIFE AND EDUCATION 
 
US Newspapers 
The role of the newspaper as an institution in the education of individual citizens living together under a single unified government has 
been noted in historical studies. In American Education: The National 
Experience, 1783-1876, Lawrence A. Cremin (1980), an historian of 
education and former president of Columbia University’s Teachers College, surveys “the press as educator of the populace” during the late 
18th century and first half of the 19th. Cremin suggests that the steady 
growth of population and the development of civilization on the American frontier during what is now called the early national era was directly paralleled by the establishment of newspapers and the increasing 
efficiency of news gathering and transmittal. As for the press, it is important to bear in mind that the purveying of messages of news, information, and opinion became increasingly efficient during the early national era. Given the steady improvement in the efficacy and speed of 
communication and the consequent growth of the audiences reached, an 
extraordinary fund of common knowledge was disseminated. 
The New York Times has for many years been deeply and actively 
interested in the field of education. This interest has been due to the 
conviction that only an informed and intelligent public can maintain our 
forum of free democracy. The New York Times presents daily to its readers as full and unbiased a coverage of the news as its great staff can 
gather, but it is the teachers who must train the minds of the young 
readers to understand and evaluate what they find in the news columns. 
National newspapers are compatible with the philosophy of liberal 
arts education. National newspapers are an intellectual resource that 
mirrors the interdisciplinary curriculum of a good liberal arts education. 
The kind of reading, critical thinking, analytical skills, and synthesis 
skills needed for comprehension and application of the information provided in national newspapers is synonymous with the kind of interdisciplinary thinking encouraged by the liberal arts education process. Use 

of national newspapers for serious engagement of the liberal arts helps 
college students make connections between different fields, subjects, 
topics, issues, and events, and hence helps them ask the right questions. 
National newspapers are a tool for educational and personal empowerment. At the risk of using an overworked phrase, we want to use 
it anyway: Information is power. At further risk of overusing another 
element of educational jargon, the use of national newspapers is a tool 
for “empowerment.” If college students constantly have to depend on 
someone else to give them the information they need, they will remain 
more dependent and thus weaker than others who are capable of retrieving their own information. Particularly vulnerable are new college students. Many of them arrive on a college campus expecting to be provided information by someone else, and hence they have a very dependent attitude toward this critical information-retrieval process. In order 
for students to become more independent and increase their active 
learning, they must be able to find, evaluate, and communicate information independently. National newspapers are an excellent source for 
the presentation of information and extensive commentary to assist in 
its evaluation. College-educated citizens in the 21st century have to become independent and self-reliant seekers, gatherers, and interpreters 
of information. National newspapers, therefore, can facilitate the development of these skills through both an intellectual and personal empowerment process. 
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/ref/ 
college/faculty/coll_mono_gard.html?scp=11&sq= 
national%2520events&st=Search 
 
 
University Education in the USA 
The system of higher education in the United States differs from 
its counterparts in Europe in certain ways. In the United States, there is 
a nationwide assumption that students who have completed secondary 
school should have at least two years of university education. Hence, a 
great number of “junior colleges” and “community colleges” have 

sprung up to provide two years of undergraduate study, in contrast to 
the traditional universities and colleges, where a majority of students 
complete four years of study for a degree and where substantial numbers go on for one to three years of postgraduate study in a “graduate 
school.” Universities that provide four-year study courses are either privately funded foundations or are state or city foundations that depend 
heavily on the government for financial support. Private universities 
and colleges depend largely on tuition charges levied on students. 
The individual state governments fund the nation’s highly developed system of state universities, which ensure the provision of higher 
education for the vast majority of those willing and academically qualified to receive such education. 
In the American system, the four-year, or “bachelor’s,” degree is 
ordinarily obtained not by passing a “finals” examination but rather by 
the accumulation of course “credits,” or hours of classroom study. The 
quality of work done in these courses is assessed by means of a continuous record of marks and grades in a course transcript. The completion 
of a certain number (and variety) of courses with passing grades leads 
to the “bachelor’s” degree. 
The first two years of a student’s studies are generally taken up 
with prescribed courses in a broad range of subject areas, along 
with some “elective” courses selected by the student. In the third 
and fourth years of study, the student specializes in one or perhaps two 
subject fields. 
Postgraduate students can pursue either advanced studies or research in one of the many graduate schools, which are usually specialized institutions. At these schools students work toward either a 
“master’s” degree (which involves one to two years of postgraduate 
study) or a doctoral degree (which involves two to four years of study 
and other requirements). 
A marked feature of American education that derives from the 
German model is the de-emphasis on lecture and examination. In both 
of these countries, students are evaluated according to their performance in individual courses where discussion and written essays figure 

importantly. The American model of higher learning was adopted 
wholesale by the Philippines and influenced the educational systems of 
Japan and Taiwan after World War II. 
https://www.britannica.com/topic/higher-education/ 
The-system-of-higher-education-in-the-United-States 
 
QUESTIONS 
1. 
How newspapers influence on the education? 
2. 
What’s the main features of American education?