In matters of religiontheUnitedStateshaslongbeenone of themostpluralistic of nations.Thelack of a nationalreligionresulted in religiousfreedombeingexplicitlyrecognized in theBill of Rightsattached to theoriginalConstitution. One of thereasonsforwhichmany of thefirstimmigrants left theirowncountrieswas to escapereligiouspersecution. Fromearliesttimesreligionhasofferedstrengthandsolace to Americans of manyfaiths. It hasalsobeen a factor in shapingtheNation'shistory.CenturiesagotheglobalrivalrybetweenCatholicismandProtestantism,helped to spurexplorationandcolonization of theNewWorld.Britain'schronicneedfornewsettlers to peopleherempireencouragedher to allowherAmericanColonies a widemeasure of religiousfreedom.Thatpolicy, in turn, established America as a likelysanctuaryfordissentersfrommanylands.Theseimmigrantsbroughtwiththemtheirownparticularbrands of differentreligions. Americabecame a saferhavenforbelieversandnon-believersalikewhentheConstitutionandtheBill of Rightsmadefreedom of conscience a matter of rightratherthanprivilegeforthefirsttime in history. Thevariety of religionsincreased at theend of the19thandbeginning of the20thcenturieswiththemassiveinflux of immigrantsfromcentralandsouthernEurope.Succeedingdecades saw oldchurchesalteredandmanyinfluentialnewonesborn.Andmost of thesechurchesinvolvedthemselves in causesrangingfromtemperanceandforeignmissions to slavery. OverwhelminglyProtestant at first,AmericabecameincreasinglypluralisticaftertheCivilWar as successivewaves of immigrationbroughtmorebelievers of theRomanCatholic,Jewish,andEasternOrthodoxpersuasions.Themajority of thepopulation,however,belongs to one of the1,000 of ProtestantChurches.Nearly a quarter of thepresentpopulation is Catholicandtherearealsoabout 6 millionJews. Withnewreligiousconceptsproliferating, a commonphenomenon in theUnitedStateshasbecometherise of newChurches or sects,such as theMormons,Jehovah'sWitnessesandChristianScientists. By theend of the20thcenturythereweremorethan250establishedcults,sects,anddenominations. To whatcanthisextraordinaryrichness be attributed?Somefaiths—likeAnglicanismandCatholicism—outwardlychangedrelativelylittleformanyyears.Others—likeQuakerism—weregreatlyaltered by life in theNewWorld.Stillothersarrivedwiththe19thcenturyimmigranttide or were"made in America". In Americathereused to be manypreacherstravelingaroundthenationwiththeirbibles.Thereareveryfew of themnow, as mostpreachersmakeuse of television to preachtheirmessage.
Answer the following questions:
Is the information TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN?
Match the words and the translation.
Read about the Past Simple and the Present Perfect and choose the proper form of the verb.
Change the sentences using the Participle I /Participle II.