IV. Mark the sentences true (T) or false (F). Correct the false ones.

1. The UK is a federal republic.

2. The Head of State is the monarch.

3. There are two chambers in the House of Commons.

4. People elect the members of the House of Lords.

5. The real governing body in the UK is the House of Commons.

6. The Prime Minister chooses the team of ministers.

7. The Prime Minister appoints the Queen.

8. There are 12 Ministers in the Cabinet.

9. The official opposition is the second largest party.

10. The two leading parties in Great Britain are the Liberal Party and the Labour Party.

11. The legislative and the executive branches form the judiciary branch of the Government.

12. The first Prime Minister wrote British Constitution.

V. Answer the questions.

1. What does the term "constitutional monarchy" mean?

2. What body exercises the legislative power in the country?

3. How are the chambers of Parliament composed?

4. What body exercises the executive power?

5. How is the executive branch of the government formed?

6. What is the official opposition?

7. What does the judiciary branch of the government do?

8. Is there a written Constitution in Great Britain?

 

VI. Use the plan and key words to speak about UK political system.

the UK - constitutional monarchy     (Parliament + the Queen) branches · the legislative power – Parliament ü the House of Lords – hereditary peers                            – life ü the House of Commons            people (governing body) · the executive power                                                                                                         the Queen ü the Prime Minister           the majority party leader         ü The Cabinet (20 Ministers)                                                                             the Opposition – 2^nd largest party                                       (the leader + the Shadow Cabinet)                                       2 parties – the Conservative                                                             the Labour                                                                                                                                                    · the judiciary branch – common law, independent no written constitution

to govern to exercise to consist to elect to appoint to choose to determine

1. независимый 2. осуществлять 3. власть 4. правительство 5. наследственный

6. палата общин 7. исполнительный 8. определять 9. назначать 10. избирательный округ

11. законодательный 12. большинство 13. поддерживать 14. ветвь власти 15. судебный

PRESENT SIMPLE

1. Complete the sentences with the verb in the correct form.

1 Children ask a lot of questions. (ask)

2 You always...........................my birthday. (forget)

3 She never...........................to me. (listen)

4 The village shop............at 8 o'clock in the morning. (open)

5 We...........................her a diary every year. (give)

6 He...........................Arabic. (understand)

 

2. Complete the sentences with the verb in the correct form.

1 She.. goes.. to college on her bike. (go)

2 She..................very hard at the weekends. (study)

3 My father..................television most evenings. (watch)

4 I often..................at the cinema. (cry)

5 She..................a lot of homework in the evenings. (do)

6 You..................language very well. (teach)

 

3. Add do or does to make questions and do, don't, does or doesn't to make short answers.

1 Does she live with her parents?' 'Yes, she .. does..'.

2 Do ... you like your job?' No, I.. don’t.. ..:

3..........I speak Italian well?' 'Yes, you...............

4..........you drive to work?' 'No, I...................'

5..........they work hard at university?' 'Yes, they ……..

6..........Alan smoke?" 'No, he...................'

7..........your sister visit you very often?" 'Yes, she……

8..........we usually give her a birthday present?' 'No, we......'

9..........you write to your parents very often?" 'No, I.....

10..........he help you very much?" 'Yes, he...............

 

4. Make these sentences into questions.

1 The shop closes at 5 o'clock.

Does the shop close at 5 o'clock?

2 They go swimming every weekend.

Do they go swimming every weekend?

3 She speaks English well. ………………………………

4 It rains a lot here in winter. ……………………………..

5 You drink a lot of tea.      ………………………………

6 I eat too much, doctor.     ………………………………

7 Tony often plays golf at the weekends. …………………...

8 His friends visit him most evenings. ……………………

 

5. Write the questions in the present simple.

1 Where / you / work?             Where do you work?

2 What / she / do?                    What does she do?

3 Where / he / live?                   …………………………

4 What music / your husband / like? ………………………

5 When / she / do her homework? ……………………….

6 Why / we / learn Latin?          ……………………….

7 Who / she / teach?                     ……………………….

8 How / I / turn on the television? ……………………….

 

6. Change these sentences from the positive to the negative.

1 She works very hard.            She doesn't work very hard.

2 It usually snows here in the winter. …………………….

3 I like a big breakfast every morning. ……………………

4 The film starts very early.              …………………….

5 He swims every morning.              …………………….

6 They always open the windows at night. ……………….

7 We often see our neighbours in the garden. ………………

 

7. Complete the conversation putting the verbs into the present simple.

A: Hello. Nice to see you. (1) Do you work (work) here?

B: Yes, I do. I'm the head waiter.

A: Oh good. And (2)............ you.............. (like) it?

B: Oh yes, I (3)............... (love) it here. It's an excellent restaurant. The chef (4)................(cook) wonderful food and the waiters all (5)................ (work) very hard. The only problem is that I (6)................. (not/go out) in the evenings any more because I'm always busy here.

A: Ah, that's why we (7)..............(not/see) you now at the club.

B: That's right. 1 only (8)...................... (have) one evening free and I usually (9)..............(stay) at home then. (10).......... Maria.......(go) to the club now?

A: Oh yes, she does. She (11)..............(talk) about you sometimes. (12)...............you (see) her?

В: No, I don't. I'm always busy and she (13)............ (not/know) about this new job. I (14)............... (telephone) her sometimes but she's always out.

A: Well, she (15)............... (go out) quite often. But I (16)............(know) she (17)............(want) to see you again.

B: Look at the door! It's Maria. She's coming in here.

PARLIAMENT AT WORK

Read the words:

A.

purpose, various, throughout, term, enforce, to conduct, parliamentary, procedure, judgement, control, previously, concern, foreign, criticize, permission, committee

B.

legislation, criticize, finance, permission, scrutinize, inherit, Chancellor, supervise, suggest, restrict, budget, reject, amendment, review, proposal, legal appeal, concern, attempt, hereditary

 

Read the text:

Parliament is the most important law-making body of the British people consisting of the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Sovereign (i.e., king or queen).

A. The House of Commons, the lower house of the British Parliament, consists of 650 elected MPs: 523 for England, 72 for Scotland, 38 for Wales, 17 for Northern Ireland.

The main purpose of the House of Commons is to make laws of the land by passing various Acts (of Parliament), as well as to discuss current political issues. The House sits for five days each week. Each "sitting'' starts in the afternoon and may go on throughout the night. The House sits for about 175 days in the year, and has a maximum term of five years.

All speeches in the House of Commons are addressed to the Speaker who is elected at the beginning of each new Parliament to preside over the House and enforce the rules of order.

The Speaker must be a person with a rare mix of qualities: he has to be able to cope with the difficult task of conducting debates; be respected for impartiality; possess a sound knowledge of parliamentary procedure; have tact and judgement in handling debates; and have a firmness of command in controlling the House.

The debates take place in accordance with a programme previously arranged. It often concerns a broad issue of foreign or home policy, or it may be the examination of the contents of a bill.

So, the House of Commons is themain place where legislation and other decisions of government are criticized. Its work includes the following:

a) legislation: the House spends nearly half of its time making laws,

b) controlling finance: before the Government can raise or spend money, it must have permission from the House of Commons,

c) scrutinizing the Government by asking questions, by holding debates and by committee work.

B. The House of Lords

There are over 1,000 members of the House of Lords. They are an unelected group of people who have either inherited their seats or have been given them by the Government. The Lord Chancellor sits in the middle and supervises debates. He sits on "the wool sack", a seat which contains wool from all the Commonwealth countries.

The House of Lords takes part in the making of laws, the examination of the Government's work and in debating important matters of the day. This second chamber is not as powerful as the House of Commons. It can suggest changes in laws, but is restricted to laws that have nothing to do with the finances of the country (for example, it cannot suggest any changes to the Budget). The House of Lords cannot reject laws that the House of Commons wants to pass, though it can amend them. Even then, the Commons can reject these amendments. The work of the House of Lords includes:

a) legislation: reviewing and giving further consideration to Bills;

b) examining the work of the Government by debate;

c) examining European proposals;

d) hearing legal appeals.

There is an ongoing debate concerning the role of the House of Lords in British politics and there have been attempts to limit its power further. One example of this which has come under frequent scrutiny is the system of hereditary peerage.

Vocabulary Notes

i.e.= id est= that is – т.е.

current issues – текущие проблемы

sitting – заседание

a quality – качество

impartiality – беспристрастность

sound – зд. точный, глубокий

to handle debates – вести дебаты

to scrutinize – тщательно исследовать

to reject – отвергать

to amend, to make amendments — вносить поправки

to review – пересмотреть

 

I. Find the words close in their meaning in (a) and (b):

1. term 2. chamber 3. limit 4. reject 5. propose 6. control 7. happen 8. pass 9. issue 10. amend 11. examine

a. veto b. supervise c. adopt d. period e. house f. suggest g. make amendments h. matter i. restrict j. take place k. scrutinize