Active vocabulary

legislative/executive/judicial body – законодательный/исполнительный/судебный орган

the Federal Assembly – Федеральное собрание

the  State Duma – Государственная дума

the Federation Council – Совет Федерации

to conduct closed sessions – проводить закрытые заседания

to hold hearings – проводить заседания

federal subject (constituent entity) – субъект федерации

councilor - советник

martial law – военное положение

a state of emergency – чрезвычайное положение

to appoint - назначать

to dismiss - распускать

to bring charges against – выдвигать обвинения против к-либо

to execute monetary policy – проводить финансовую политику

2 Mark the following statements as true (t) / or false (f).

1. Russia is a democratic federative law-governed state.

2. The Russian Federation consists of 87 constituent entities.

3. The judicial power belongs to the Federal Assembly.

4. The Federal Assembly consists of three chambers.

5. The Upper Chamber is the Council of Federation and the Lower Chamber is the State Duma.

6. To become a law a bill must be approved by both Chambers and signed by the President.

7. The President may not veto the bill.

3 Match the words (1-8) with their definitions (a-h).

1) politics	a) to charge an important public figure with a serious crime
2) President	b) the activities involved in getting and using power in public life, and being able to influence decisions that affect a country or society
3) election	c) a formal choice that you make in an election in order to choose smb
4) party	d) a person who heads a state
5) to impeach	e) the group of people who are elected to make and change the laws of a country
6) Parliament	f) a political organization that you can vote for in the elections and whose members have the same ideas and aims
7) bill	j) the process of choosing a person or a group of people for a political position
8) to vote	h) a written suggestion for a new law that is presented to a country’s parliament so its members can discuss it

4 Use the information from the text to complete the chart below .

5 Speak about the Federal Assembly and the Government following the chart above.

Language Focus

1 Circle the word that doesn’t collocate with the underlined word.

1. create / formulate / form a political party

2. lose /gain / graduate/ control of Congress

3. receive / bring down/ overthrow regime

4. resign/ restore / step down as a party leader

5. participate in / contribute to/ deliver political debate

6. reform/ supply /modernize the tax structure

7. change/ forgive / influence government policy