1.Найдите в тексте эквиваленты словосочетаний:

Федеральное правительство, одна треть уходящих в отставку, самые важные комитеты, Реальные руководители, младший сенатор, старший сенатор, избирательные округа, член правящей партии, палата представителей, юридический комитет, двухпалатное законодательное собрание, нижняя палата, верхняя палата, законодательная ветвь, председательствующее лицо, результаты переписи, члены с правом голоса, двухгодичный срок, ассигнования, вооружённые силы, постоянная бюджетная комиссия конгресса США.

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government. It consists of two houses: the lower house known as the House of Representatives and the upper house known as the Senate. The Congress meets in the Capitol in Washington, D. C. Both representatives and its senators are chosen through direct election. There are 535 voting members in the Congress: 435 members in the House of Representatives and 100 members in the Senate. Members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms representing the people of a district. Congressional districts are apportioned to states by population using the United States Census results, each state in the union having at least one representative in the House of Representatives. Regardless of population, each of the 50 states has two senators; the 100 senators each serve a six-year term. One-third retiring is re-elected every two years. Two senators from the same state never finish their terms at the same time, one of them is called "Senior Senator" and the other — "Junior Senator". Each group of one-third of the senators is called 'classes'. No state of the United States has two senators from the same class.

The Congress of the United States is the lawmaking branch of federal government. The presiding officer of the Senate is the Vice-President of the United States. The Vice-President is not a member of the chamber over which he presides and he sometimes is not a member of the party in power.

The work of the US Congress is done mostly in different committees. The most important of the Senate committees are Appropriations, Foreign Relations, Finance, and Armed Services.

In the House of Representatives the most important are Rules, Appropriations, Ways and Means, Judiciary, Agriculture. The chairmen of the standing committees are considered the real rulers of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

2. Ответьте на вопросы к тексту:

1. How many houses are there in the US Congress? 2. Where does the Congress meet? 3. How many members are there in the Congress? 4. What is the Vice-President? 5. What branch of federal government is the Congress of the United States? 6. What are the main committees of the Congress?

3. Работа а парах. Подготовьте краткое интервью 1) о структуре Конгресса сша, 2) об избрании сенаторов от штатов.

4. Прочитайте тексты о других англоязычных странах и заполните таблицу:

State	Capital	Population	Area	Language(s)
…	…	…	…	…

Australia

Australia - officially the Commonwealth of Australia - is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. Neighboring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north; the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east.

Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of roughly 250 language groups. After discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing Crown Colonies were established.

On 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. The federation comprises six states—New South Wales (NSW), Queensland (QLD), South Australia (SA), Tasmania (TAS), Victoria (VIC) and Western Australia (WA)—and two major mainland territories—the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the Northern Territory (NT). The population of 23,18 million is highly urbanized and heavily concentrated in the eastern states. The capital of Australia is Canberra.

Australia is a constitutional monarchy with a federal division of powers. It uses a parliamentary system of government with Queen Elizabeth II at its apex as the Queen of Australia, a role that is distinct from her position as monarch of the other Commonwealth realms.

The federal government is separated into three branches: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. Each state and major mainland territory has its own parliament.

Australia's landmass of 7,741, 000 square kilometers is on the Indo-Australian Plate. Surrounded by the Indian and Pacific oceans, it is separated from Asia by the Arafura and Timor seas, with the Coral Sea lying off the Queensland coast, and the Tasman Sea lying between Australia and New Zealand. Australia is often dubbed the "island continent", and is sometimes considered the world's largest island.

The climate of Australia is significantly influenced by ocean currents, including the Indian Ocean Dipole and the El Nino–Southern Oscillation, which is correlated with periodic drought, and the seasonal tropical low-pressure system that produces cyclones in northern Australia. These factors cause rainfall to vary markedly from year to year. Much of the northern part of the country has a tropical, predominantly summer-rainfall (monsoon) climate. The southwest corner of the country has a Mediterranean climate. Much of the southeast (including Tasmania) is temperate.

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses that of the North and South Islands and numerous smaller islands. The total area of New Zealand is about 267,7 thousand square kilometers. New Zealand is situated some 1500 kilometers east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1000 kilometers south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans.

New Zealand is organized into 11 regional councils and 67 territorial authorities for local government purposes. Nationally, executive political power is exercised by the Cabinet, led by the Prime Minister. New Zealand is a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Commonwealth of Nations, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pacific Islands Forum, and the United Nations. The capital of New Zealand is Wellington. The population of New Zealand is about 4, 45 million people. English, Maori and New Zealand Sign Language are the official languages, with English predominant.

New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy, although its constitution is not codified. Elizabeth II is the Queen of New Zealand and the head of state. The Queen is represented by the Governor-General, whom she appoints on the advice of the Prime Minister. The powers of the Queen and the Governor-General are limited by constitutional constraints and they cannot normally be exercised without the advice of Cabinet.

New Zealand is identified as one of the world's most stable and well-governed nations.

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean. Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area, and its common border with the United States is the world's longest land border shared by the same two countries.

Canada is a federal state governed as a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. The country is officially bilingual and multicultural at the federal level, with a population of approximately 35 million. Canada's advanced economy is one of the largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed trade networks, especially with the United States, with which it has had a long and complex relationship.

Canada is a developed country, with the ninth highest per capita income globally, and the 11th highest ranking in human development.

Canada stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. Greenland is to the northeast, while Saint Pierre and Miquelon is south of Newfoundland. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second-largest country in the world, after Russia. Its total area is 9, 984, 670 square kilometres. There are also fresh-water glaciers in the Canadian Rockies and the Coast Mountains. Canada is geologically active, having many earthquakes and potentially active volcanoes. Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary from region to region.

Canada has a parliamentary system within the context of a constitutional monarchy, the monarchy of Canada being the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The sovereign is Queen Elizabeth II, who also serves as head of state of 15 other Commonwealth countries and each of Canada's ten provinces. As such, the Queen's representative, the Governor General of Canada (at present David Lloyd Johnston), carries out most of the federal royal duties in Canada.

The direct participation of the royal and vice royal figures in areas of governance is limited. In practice, their use of the executive powers is directed by the Cabinet, a committee of ministers of the Crown responsible to the elected House of Commons and chosen and headed by the Prime Minister of Canada, the head of government. Each of the 308 members of parliament in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in an electoral district or riding. The 105 members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, serve until age 75. The capital of Canada is Ottawa. English and French are recognized by the Constitution of Canada as "official languages."

India

India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. The average area of India is 3.28 million sq. km. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.

The Indian economy is the world's tenth-largest by nominal GDP and third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). India is a federal constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system consisting of 28 states and 7 union territories. India is a pluralistic, multilingual, and multi-ethnic society. It is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats.

The federal government comprises three branches: Executive: The President of India is the head of state and is elected indirectly by a national electoral college for a five-year term. The Prime Minister of India is the head of government and exercises most executive power. Legislative: The legislature of India is the bicameral parliament. It comprises the upper house called the Rajah Sabah ("Council of States") and the lower called the Loc Sabah ("House of the People"). Judicial: India has an unitary three-tier independent judiciary that comprises the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice of India, 24 High Courts, and a large number of trial courts.

The official language of the Republic of India is Hindi with English as an additional language for official work; states in India can legislate their own official languages. Delhi, the capital of India, is the third largest city of the world.