Материалы для аудиторной работы

The historical development of the forms of government

Unit 1

Подберите русские эквиваленты следующим словам и словосочетаниям, содержащим интернациональные корни:

social group/organisation, association, limited, pre-political form, region, Amazonian jungle, modern, control, co-ordinate, central authority, calendar

Прочитайте текст. Пользуясь словарем, определите значение незнакомых слов и выпишите их в тетрадь.

Agricultural society

So long as humankind was few, there was hardly any government. The division of functions between a ruler and the ruled occurred only, if at all, within the family.

The largest social groups, whether tribes or villages, were little more than loose associations of families, in which every elder or family head had an equal voice.

Chieftains, if any, had strictly limited powers; some tribes, no doubt, did without chieftains altogether. This pre-political form of social organisation may still be found in undeveloped regions of the world, such as the Amazonian jungle in South America or the Upper Nile Valley in Africa.

The rise of agriculture began to change this state of affairs. In the land of Sumer (modern Iraq) the invention of irrigation necessitated grander arrangements.

Control of the flow of water down the Tigris and Euphrates rivers had to be co-ordinated by a central authority, so that downstream fields could be watered as well as those further up. It also became necessary to devise a calendar, so as to know when the spring floods might be expected. As these skills evolved, society evolved with them.

Запомните необходимый минимум профессиональной лексики:

society - общество

humankind - человечество

government - правительство

rule - править, управлять

tribe - племя, клан

village - деревня

head - глава, руководитель, начальник

equal - равный

power - власть

state of affairs - состояние дел

control - контроль, управление, регулирование

Задание I

А. Определите

а) какой частью речи являются следующие слова:

hardly, functions, ruler, ruled, largest, groups, tribes, villages, associations, families, strictly, pre-political, undeveloped, regions, invention, irrigation, rivers, authority, downstream, fields

б) переведите приведенные выше слова, учитывая значение их суффиксов/префиксов.

Б. Образуйте и переведите однокоренные слова, относящиеся к другим частям речи (при затруднении обратитесь к словарю):

hardly (adj), functions (v, adj), strictly (adj), pre-political (n), undeveloped (v, n), regions (adj), invention (n, v)

Задание II

А. Подберите эквиваленты к словам, обозначенным цифрами:

1. head a) вождь

2. region b) управление

3. chieftain c) правительство

4. government d) район

5. control e) руководитель

Б. Подберите эквиваленты к словосочетаниям, обозначенным цифрами:

1. division of functions a) ограниченная власть

2. limited powers b) центральная власть

3. central authority c) организация общества

4. social organisation d) равное право голоса

5. equal voice e) разделение обязанностей

В. Заполните пропуски, используя предложенные слова:

governments, equal, control, a family, to rule

1. As the weakness of Rome's neighbours became apparent, the Romans began to believe in their mission __________ .

2. __________ is a group of individuals living under one roof and usually under one head.

3. What differentiates primitive from later __________ is that the primitive one usually lacks writing, currency, or autonomous administrative institutions.

4. All men are created __________ .

5. Central government officers exercise __________ over local authorities.

Задание III

А. Найдите в тексте прилагательные в сравнительной и превосходной степени.

Б. Найдите в тексте предложения, в которых использованы модальные глаголы или их эквиваленты.

В. Определите время, вид и залог сказуемых.

Г. Найдите в тексте причастия II, укажите их форму и функцию в предложении.

Д. Найдите в тексте инфинитивы, укажите их форму и функцию в предложении.

Задание IV

А. Укажите фрагмент текста, в котором обосновывается необходимость введения централизованного управления в древнем сельскохозяйственном обществе.

Б. Завершите предложение в соответствии с содержанием текста:

In the largest social groups every elder or family head had

a) a limited power. b) an equal voice.

c) an unlimited power.

В. Выберите предложение, смысл которого противоречит содержанию текста:

1. There were no governments in pre-political form of social organisation.

2. The primitive form of social organisation can’t be found anywhere in the modern world.

3. When humankind was few, the division of functions occurred only within the family.

Задание V

Выполните письменный перевод текста.

Unit 2

Подберите русские эквиваленты следующим словам и словосочетаниям, содержащим интернациональные корни:

monarchy, division, labour, specialised, tax, figures, civilised, organisation, complex, religion, system, protect, attack, natural, political, group, civilisation, historical, leadership, sanction, military

Прочитайте текст. Пользуясь словарем, определите значение незнакомых слов и выпишите их в тетрадь.

Young cities of Sumer

In early Sumer the heads of the first cities, which were little more than enlarged villages, only gradually assumed the special attributes of monarchy, the rule of one; and the village council only gradually undertook a division of labour, so that some specialised as priests and others as warriors, farmers, or tax gatherers (key figures in every civilised society). As organisation grew more complex, so did religion: an elaborate system of worship was necessary to propitiate the quite elaborate family of gods who, it was hoped, would protect the city from attack, from natural disaster, and from any questioning of the political arrangements deemed necessary by the ruler group.

Unfortunately, but inevitably, the young cities of Sumer quarrelled over the distribution of the rivers’ water, and their wealth excited the greed of nomads outside the still comparatively small area of civilisation. War, perhaps the most potent of all forces of historical change, announced its arrival, and military leadership became at least as important an element of kingship as divine sanction. It was to remain so throughout the long history of monarchy: whenever kings have neglected their military duties they have endangered their thrones. The wars of Sumer also laid bare another imperative of monarchy – the drive for empire, arising from the need to defend and define frontiers by extending them, and the need to find the means to pay for troops and weapons, whether by the plunder of an enemy or by the conquest of new lands.