Driving in the usa

In 1974 there was set a national speed limit of 55 mph. In 1987 it was modified to 65 mph on some rural freeways. In 1995 this federal law was repealed by Congress, so that each state was able to set its on speed limit. In 2000 the maximum daylight speed limit was 65 mph or more (except Hawaii). Montana had no speed limit from 1995 to 1998. In 1999 the speed limit was set to 75 mph.

state	postal abbreviations	minimum licence age	age for unrestricted driver's licence	maximum allowable speed limit
Alabama	AL	16	17	70
Alaska	AK	16	16	65
Arizona	AZ	16	16	75
Arkansas	AR	16	16	70
California	CA	16	17	70
Colorado	CO	16	17	75
Connecticut	CT	16 + 4 months	16 + 10 months	65
Delaware	DE	16 + 5 months	16 + 10 months	65
D.C.	DC	16 + 6 months	18	-
Florida	FL	16	18	70
Georgia	GA	16	18	70
Hawaii	HI	16	16	60
Idaho	ID	16	16	75
Illinois	IL	16	17	65
Indiana	IN	16	18	65
Iowa	IA	16	17	65
Kansas	KS	16	16	70
Kentucky	KY	16 + 6 months	16 + 6 months	65
Louisiana	LA	16 + 6 months	17	70
Maine	ME	16 + 6 months	16 + 6 months	65
Maryland	MD	16 + 1 month	17 + 7 months	65
Massachusetts	MA	16 + 1 month	18	65
Michigan	MI	16	17	70
Minnesota	MN	16	16	70
Mississippi	MS	16 + 6 months	16	70
Missouri	MO	16	18	70
Montana	MT	15	15	75
Nebraska	NE	16	17	75
Nevada	NV	16	16	75
New Hampshire	NH	16 + 3 months	17 + 1 months	65
New Jersey	NJ	17	18	65
New Mexico	NM	15 + 6 months	16 + 6 months	75
New York	NY	16	17	65
North Carolina	NC	16	16 + 6 months	70
North Dakota	ND	16	16	75
Ohio	OH	16	17	65
Oklahoma	OK	16	16	75
Oregon	OR	16	17	65
Pennsylvania	PA	16 + 6 months	17	65
Rhode Island	RI	16 + 6 months	17 + 6 months	65
South Carolina	SC	15 + 3 months	16 + 6 months	70
South Dakota	SD	16	16	75
Tennessee	TN	16	17	70
Texas	TX	16	16 + 6 months	75
Utah	UT	16	17	75
Vermont	VT	16	16 + 6 months	65
Virginia	VA	16 + 3 months	18	65
Washington	WA	16	17	70
West Virginia	WV	16	17	70
Wisconsin	WI	16	16 + 9 months	65
Wyoming	WY	16	16	75

Source: www.infoplease.com

Writing section

Write an essay on the topic: Customs and Traditions in Ukraine

UNIT 8. LOVE, DATING AND MARRIAGE. FAMILY VALUES.

Reading Comprehension Exercises.

Exercise 1. Read the article and dwell on the family values described.

New Family Values

Hague is right to break with the past

William Hague may not look much like a child of the Sixties. But he is young enough to appreciate the need to rid his party of one of its least attractive traits: an attachment to the priggish and sometimes prejudiced morality of the Fifties and before. In a speech on the family to the Social Market Foundation, the Tory leader admitted that social mores have changed. "We have to live comfortably in our own time," he said, "rather than be fogeys wishing we had lived in some time or in some place else."

Too many members of the last administration raged against the dying of an old moral code, rather than trying to shape their policies to a new one. Because they saw homosexuality as a moral infirmity, because they thought single parenthood was wrong rather than ill-advised, because they believed working women should return to the kitchen, voters increasingly saw them as fatally out-of-date. Moreover, since their views seemed to emanate from moral absolutism, their rhetoric sounded as harsh as that of a fire-and-brimstone preacher.

Those Tory ministers may have consoled themselves with the knowledge that this talk went down well with their activists. But Conservative members are – literally – a dying breed, representatives of an age long gone. And, if the party continued to cling to those values, its members would not be replaced by younger ones. Even if people tend to become more conservative as they age, those who have spent their lives believing in women's equality, or tolerating homosexuality, are hardly going to turn against these beliefs when they collect a pension.

For there is a generational divide in British society. The majority of people born after the War, and particularly those brought up during and after the Sixties, share a certain set of attitudes about women, homosexuality and marriage. Some of their parents now do too, as a result of seeing their children live their lives according to these post-Sixties values. Liberally-inclined voters will become an ever-increasing element of the electorate. Any party that tried to shut its eyes to this demographic trend would be condemning itself to electoral oblivion.

But to accept social change is not to condone all social behaviour. Politicians can still point out that some personal actions have public consequences. But they will be listened to only if they restrict themselves to talking about social damage rather than "immorality". Cohabitation, for instance, is no longer considered by most people as "living in sin". Childless adults who decide to live together rather than – or before – marrying are doing something that causes no harm to society. But if there are children involved, and the relationship breaks down, then the children will be hurt and the taxpayer is likely to be called on for support.

Equally, it is fair for a politician to bemoan the rise in "never-married" single mothers. Their children will lack male role models and they are likely to spend much of their life living off the State. But most people have close friends or family who have become single parents through divorce or bereavement, often through no fault of their own. Attacking all lone parenthood as immoral, therefore, will not wash. Removing the incentives for teenage girls to become pregnant would, however, be acceptable.

Mr Hague's tone was well judged. Without being censorious, he praised the family as one of the most successful institutions in society. And he drew attention to the social and personal costs of family breakdown. These words will carry more weight because they do not form part of a moral crusade. The emphasis has to be on what works – and two-parent families tend to work better than one – rather than on Victorian values that no longer hold sway for most British people today.

Exercise 2. Answer the Conversation Questions.