Culture, Leisure, Entertainment, Sports.

The United States is an international center of culture. Its major cities (like New York, Boston, Washington, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles) regularly host many concerts, art exhibitions, lectures, and theatrical performances. And on a smaller scale, the same is true of smaller cities. Some of the world’s greatest museums, orchestras, theaters, and concert halls are located in the United States. Performances and exhibitions are usually very well attended. Tickets can be hard to get, despite their high prices! Many cities also have large communities of artists, actors, dancers, and musicians.

The national and state governments, as well as private organizations, have traditionally supported the arts with money. Recently, however, problems in the US economy have decreased this support.

Though art and “high culture” are important in America, the most popular source of entertainment and information are television, movies, radio, and recorded music. With cable TV, a lot more programs are available, but many people still complain about the low intellectual level of TV. They also feel that the emphasize on youth, sex, and money teaches children (and adults) the wrong values and goals. These criticisms are often made about American movies too. But despite the “bad” movies, many wonderful and internationally successful movies are produced in the US. The rapid spread of video, CD and DVD movies, watched nightly by millions of Americans in their homes, has made movies an even more popular and influential form of entertainment in recent years.

Most Americans enjoy sports – both playing sports themselves and watching their favorite sports and teams. Major professional sports events – baseball, football, basketball, and hockey, as well as golf and tennis – are witnessed by tens of thousands of fans, and by millions more on TV. Boys and girls play in sports teams in school and after school. Many adult Americans regularly engage in sports like tennis, softball, golf, and bowling.

Americans also love to travel. Weekend automobile trips are traditional for many families, as are longer summer vacation trips. Car travel is the most common leisure activity in America.

When Americans take car trips, they don’t usually just drive and sightsee. They like to have a destination. Amusement parks, beaches and other special attractions are always crowded when the weather is good.

Airplane travel is also common in America. At holiday time, many people fly to other cities to visit friends and relatives. During the winter, many people take short vacations to places with warm climates, like Florida and the islands of the Carribean.

Text 13. Famous people.

Art.

Frank Lloyd Wright

Literature.

Fenimore Cooper

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Mark Twain

O.Henry

Ernest Hemingway

Walt Whitman

Music.

George Gershwin

Louis Armstrong

Theater, cinema.

Walt Disney

Charlie Chaplin

Isadora Duncan