Culture UK & USA – Key

1. Quiz: Facts about the UK

a. (The) United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

b. England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland.

c. Britain, or Great Britain is England + Scotland + Wales.

d. They mean the group of islands that includes Great Britain (i.e. England + Scotland + Wales), Ireland (i.e. Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland) and all the smaller islands around them.

e. No, Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom.

f. London is the capital of England and of the United Kingdom.

g. The king or queen. The present monarch is Queen Elizabeth II.

h. The prime minister. The current prime minister is Tony Blair.

i. (Bundes-)Innenminister(in).

j. (Bundes-)Finanzminister(in).

k. The Conservative Party (or: the Conservatives, the Tories), the Labour Party (or: Labour, New Labour), the Liberal Democratic Party (or: the Liberal Democrats, the Lib Dems).

l. Anglican (= the Church of England + the Episcopal Church in Scotland, the Church in Wales + the Church of Ireland), Roman Catholic, Muslim.

m. "God save the Queen": God save our gracious Queen, / Long live our noble Queen, / God save the Queen! / Send her victorious, / Happy and glorious, / Long to reign over us; / God save the Queen!

n. The pound sterling (written as £ before a figure), consisting of 100 pence (written as p after a figure).

o. A quid is a pound (sterling). The plural is quid, too: He wants fifty quid (= fifty pounds).

p. Eine Dreizimmerwohnung (= 2 Schlafzimmer + 1 Wohnzimmer).

q. 60 million.

r. Wild boars (= Wildschweine), wolves.

s. Football and cricket.

t. Die mittlere Reife / der mittlere Bildungsabschluss / der Realschulabschluss.

u. Das Abitur.

v. Das Banken- und Börsenviertel Londons, die britische Finanzwelt.

2. Quiz: Facts about the USA

a. The USA comprises 50 states (plus the District of Columbia with the capital, Washington DC).

b. Here is an alphabetical list of the 50 states that make up the USA:
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

c. Alaska and Hawaii.

d. Alaska. ("Largest" means "in terms of area, not population".)

e. California.

f. Mexico. (But there is a US state called New Mexico.)

g. Washington DC.

h. The President of the United States.

i. The President of the United States.

j. (Bundes-)Außenminister(in).

k. The US Congress consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The main job of Congress is making laws.

l. The US Senate has 100 members, two from each state.

m. The vice president of the United States is President of the Senate. He doesn't normally have a vote but can break a tie vote.

n. The Democratic Party (or: the Democrats) and the Republican Party (or: the Republicans).

o. John F. Kennedy (1917–63), the 35th president (1961–63).

p. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), the 32nd president (1933–45).

q. Barack Obama.

r. Schwarzenegger is Governor of California.

s. No. According to the US Constitution, only a "natural-born" United States citizen can become president. "Natural-born" is generally understood to mean "born in the United States or its territories".

t. Yes.

u. Yes.

v. No.

w. The dollar (written as $ before a figure), consisting of 100 cents (written as c or ¢ after a figure).

x. A dollar. (The plural is bucks: I need fifty bucks.)

y. The population of the USA is 300 million. The other countries are Russia (145 million), India (1.1 billion), China (1.3 billion).