State Structure of English-speaking Countries

Questions for discussion:

1. Would you prefer to live in a class-less society, regulated by a democratically elected government or a society with all levels of income and wealth, regulated by the free market including the power of multinational companies?

2. Should political power be limited to people who have been democratically elected? Is Monarchy now out of date?

3. Should political parties and politicians have to publish all their sources of income, including private donations?

4. Should political power be regionalized or centralized?

 

Task 1. Match the words with their definitions.

1. to vest 2. symbol 3. democracy 4. amendment 5. to appoint 6. sovereignty 7. to abolish 8. to enforce 9. legislative 10. to impeach

a) a sign, shape, or object that is used to represent something else b) the power of a country to control its own government c) to give someone or something the power to do something d) to end an activity or custom officially e) a change or changes made to the words of a text f) a country in which power is held by elected representatives g) to make people obey a law h) to choose someone officially for a job or responsibility i) to make a formal statement saying that a public official is guilty of a serious offence in connection with their job, especially in the US j) relating to laws or the making of laws

 

Now watch the video about the Canadian state structure and complete the tasks.

Source: https://study.com/academy/lesson/canadian-government-structure-type-facts.html

Task 2. Fill in the missinginformation with words or word collocations from the video.

Let's take a couple of moments to review what we've learned about Canada's government and its structure.

The Canadian system of government is both a (1)_______________, with Queen Elizabeth II as the Head of State bound by the written constitution, and a (2)_______________, in which citizens elect representatives to a parliament that is responsible for making all legislation and decisions for a nation, with the (3)_______________ (the leader of the majority party) as the ruling head of government.

The Canadian government functions on three levels:

· The federal government is run by (4)_______________, which consists of the (5) _______________, (6)_______________, and the (7)_______________. The Senate in Canada consists of 105 members chosen by the prime minister from various provinces across Canada. The House of Commons makes Canada's laws.

· The 10 provincial governments of Canada each have a (8)_______________ appointed by the Queen as her representative, as well as a Legislative Assembly that makes the laws for that province. The head of government for each province is called the (9)_______________.

· (10)_______________ oversee the towns, cities, and districts of each province and are led by mayors and council members.

 

Task 3. Check your knowledge using the information from the video.

1. What are Canada's two systems of government?

a) Democratic Monarchy and Constitutional Republic

b) Parliamentary Monarchy and Legislative Democracy

c) Constitutional Democracy and Provincial Democracy

d) Parliamentary Democracy and Constitutional Monarchy

 

2. Which part of Parliament makes the laws that govern Canada?

a) The House of Commons

b) The Lieutenant Governors

c) The Head of State

d) The Senate

 

3. What are the three levels of government in Canada called?

a) National, Provincial, State

b) National, Regional, Local

c) Federal, Territorial, State

d) Federal, Provincial, Municipal

 

4. Who or what rules over the government of Canada?

a) The Governor General

b) Queen Elizabeth II

c) Parliament

d) The House of Commons

 

5. How is the Prime Minister of Canada chosen?

a) Appointed by the Queen

b) By being the leader of the majority party in Parliament

c) Appointed by the Governor General

d) Elected by the citizens of Canada

 

Task 4. Listen to the audio and fill in the gaps.

Source: https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1912/191221-donald-trump-impeachment-l.html

Donald Trump impeached

Donald Trump has been impeached by the House of Representatives in the USA. The House took (1) ___________________ of impeaching the President. It is just the third time in history that a US president has been impeached. President Trump has been charged with (2) ___________________ and obstruction of Congress. These represent the impeachable acts of "high crimes and misdemeanors," which could lead (3) ___________________ from power. This is unlikely, however, as the Republican-controlled US Congress has to (4) ___________________ of that by a majority of two-thirds. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said: "If we do (5) ___________________, we would (6) ___________________ our duty. It is tragic that the President's reckless actions make impeachment necessary."

The impeachment is the culmination (7) ___________________ and acrimonious three-month investigation into allegations that President Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate (8) ___________________ for personal gain. Mr Trump has continually called the (9) ___________________ witch-hunt in history. Republicans also (10) ___________________ the impeachment. Republican Barry Loudermilk compared the process to the fate of Jesus Christ at his death. He said: "Pontius Pilate (11) ___________________ to Jesus than Democrats have afforded this president in this process." Mr Trump said: "The Democrats are surrendering their majority, their dignity. They look like a (12) ___________________." He tweeted: "They are not after me; they are after you."

 

Task 5. Answer the questions using the information from the audio.

1) How many previous presidents have been impeached?

2) What has President Trump been accused of abusing?

3) What impeachable act is Mr. Trump accused of besides misdemeanors?

4) What majority is needed in Congress to remove a president?

5) What did Nancy Pelosi say President Trump's actions were?

6) How long was the impeachment process?

7) Who is President Trump accused of asking Ukraine to investigate?

8) What did President Trump call the impeachment?

9) Who did a Republican say was treated better than President Trump?

10) Who did President Trump say the Democrats were after?

 

Task 6. Match the synonyms from the listening.

1. step 2. misuse 3. unlikely 4. derelict 5. reckless 6. culmination 7. rivals 8. fate 9. surrendering 10. bunch

a) irresponsible b) negligent c) giving up d) exploitation e) adversaries f) destiny g) improbable h) group i) action j) climax

 

Task 7. Put the correct words written below into the article.