Political Parties of Great Britain

1. Britain has a two-party system. From 1832 to 1918 the
dominant parties were the Conservatives on the one hand and the
Whigs² or Liberals on the other. Later the Labour party backed by
the trade unions replaced the Liberals as the main party of
reform, and since 1924 the political scene has been dominated by
the Conservative and Labour parties.

2. The Conservative party or the Tories is the party supported traditionally by the rich and the privileged — the monopolists and landowners. It expresses the interests and views of the propertied class.

3. The formation of the Labour party at the beginning of the century was a victory of the labour movement. But Labour Government showed no radical change in policy from the Tories. From the very beginning there were two main trends within the party — the left socialist trend represented by the party's rank-and-file members² and the right-wing trend represented by the party's top leadership. In fact, it's sometimes extremely difficult to tell the difference between the Labour and the Conservative policies.

4. The present day political scene is a combination of various political parties: the Conservatives, the Labour, the Liberal-Democratic party. The membership and parliamentary re­presentation of the Liberal-Democratic party today is almost insignificant, although it does play a certain role in tipping the scales between the two largest parties: the Labour and the Conservatives.

5. The main way in which people exert influence over
government is through political parties. These parties organize
opinion on national issues, formulating policies which they feel
will meet the wishes of as many people as possible.

 

Notes:

1 the Whigs- виги (историческое название Либеральной партии)

2 rank-and-file members- рядовые члены

 

1. What are the main political parties in Great Britain?

2. What are the dominant parties in modern Britain?

3. Is the role of the Liberal party today insignificant?

4. There is little difference between the Labour and the Conservative policies, isn’t there?

5. What is the ruling party in Great Britain now?

II. Письменно переведите 3-й и 5-й абзацы текста.

III. По суффиксу определите и отберите: 1/ существительные, 2 / прилагательные, 3/ глаголы, 4/ наречия:

traditionally, landowner, formation, radical, movement, leadership, extremely, conservative, combination, political, powerful, influential, membership, representative, insignificant, social, strengthen.

IV. Определите видо-временнные формы глаголов в следующих предложениях.

1. The Queen has opened the session of Parliament with a throne speech. 2. The cabinet developed from the Queen’s Privy Council. 3. The cabinet consists of 16 to 24 ministers whom the Prime Minister has appointed. 4. Members of the House of Commons are passing into the lobbies to show which way they are voting. 5. if a bill has a majority of votes in the House of Commons it will go before the House of Lords.

 

V. Преобразуйте предложения из страдательного залога в действительный.

1. The Liberals were replaced by the Labour party. 2. Since 1924 the political scene of Great Britain has been dominated by the Conservatives and the Liberals. 3. The Conservatives are traditionally supported by the rich and the privileged. 4. Finally a bill will be signed by the Queen. 5. A bill is being discussed in the House of Commons now.

 

VI. Переведите предложения, содержащие модальные глаголы и их эквиваленты.

1. A broad democratic alliance must be built. 2. The sitting is to take place in 10 Downing Street. 3. They should participate in the movement aiming to bring about fundamental change. 4. The Liberals couldn’t prevent the establishment of the Labour party. 5. Every right enjoyed by the British working class had to be won in the course of bitter struggle. 6. Each constituency is able to elect only one member to Parliament.

 

VII. Выберите нужное местоимение из данных в скобках.

1. I have not seen him for (some, any) years. 2. Is (something, anything) wrong with my papers? 3. (Everybody, somebody) should know his rights and enjoy them. 4.For more than seventy years we knew (anything, nothing) about the true history of our country. 5. You can take this book at (some, any) library.

VIII. Поставьте сказуемое в придаточных предложениях в нужную видо-временную форму, учитывая правила согласования времен.

1. Newspaper reported that the session (to begin) its work two weeks later. 2. he wondered if the committee (to discuss)all the questions on the agenda. 3. She said she (to phone) from the office then. 4. I thought it (to be) a financial bill.

TEST II

I. Прочтите текст и письменно ответьте на вопросы, следу­ющие за ним.

Elections in Great Britain

1. The maximum life of the House of Commons has been restricted to five years since the Parliament Act 1911. The franchise (right to vote) became universal for men in the nineteenth century. Women's suffrage came in two stages (1918 and 1928).

2. For parliamentary elections the United Kingdom is divided into 650 constituencies of roughly equal population. The average constituency contains about 60,000 registered votes. Any British citizen from the age of 18 registered as an elector for the constituency elects a single member to the House of Commons.

3. Voting is on the same day (usually on Thursday) in all constituencies, and the voting stations are open from 7 in the morning till 9 at night. Each voter has only one vote, if he knows that he will be unable to vote, because he is ill or has moved away or must be away on business, he may apply in advance to be allowed to send his vote by post. Voting is not compulsory. But in the autumn of each year every householder is obliged by law to enter on the register of electors the name of every resident who is entitled to vote. Much work is done to ensure that the register is complete and accurate. It's only possible to vote at the polling station appropriate to one's address.

4. As in Britain the political scene is dominated by the Conservatives and the Labour Party, in every constituency each of these parties has a local organization whose first task is to choose the candidate and which then helps him to conduct his local campaign. Any British subject can be nominated as a candidate, there is no need to live in the area, though peers, clergymen, lunatics and felons in prison are disqualified from sitting in the House of Commons.

5. There are usually more than two candidates for each seat. The candidate who wins the most votes is elected. This practice is known as the majority electoral system.

 

1. How often are the elections held in Great Britain?

2. How many constituencies are there in the United Kingdom?

3. Are electors allowed to vote by post?

4. Is voting compulsory?

5. Who can be nominated a candidate at the election?

6. What’s “the majority electoral system”?

 

II. Письменно переведите 2-й и 4-й абзацы текста.

III. По суффиксу определите и отберите: 1) существительные, 2)

прилагательные, 3) глаголы, 4) наречия:

restriction, universal, parliamentary, elections, roughly, population, equally,

constituency, Parliament, station, voter, compulsory, householder, elector, accurate,

appropriate, organization, conservative, local, majority, electoral, broaden.

 

IV. Определите видо- временные формы глаголов в следующих

Предложениях.

1. People did not realize the importance of this problem a few years ago. 2. Only

by the beginning of the 20^th century the actual evidence of the strength of the British labour movement had appeared. 3. I think he has achieved great success in his studies. 4. Economic cooperation with foreign countries is gaining a growing importance now. 5. We shall discuss new aspects of privatization at the next seminar.

 

V. Преобразуйте предложения из действительного залога в страдательный.

1. The Parliament Act 1911 has restricted the life of the House of Commons. 2. Electoral law divides the United Kingdom into 650 constituencies. 3. Each constituency will elect a single member to the House of Commons. 4. The authorities allowed their electors to send votes by post. 5. The committee is still discussing the bill.