The System of Government

The United States is a federal union of 50 states plus one independent district – the District of Columbia. Forty nine states, including Alaska, form the continental United States. The 50^th state is the state of Hawaii - a group of islands in mid-Pacific Ocean.

The District of Columbia is the territory of the city of Washington, the national capital. Washington, D.C., is the seat of the federal government of the United States. The federal government is made up of three branches – the Executive, the Legislative and the Judicial branches.

The function of the Executive branch is to carry out the laws of the nation. It consists of the president, vice-president and the president’s cabinet. The president and vice-president are chosen in a national election for a four-year term of office and may be reelected for a second time. In the United State there are two major parties: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, and many small parties.

The Legislative branch, the Congress, is where the laws are made and adopted.

The judicial branch is headed by the Supreme Court, which settles any disputes involving the national government or disputes between two or more states in accordance with the Constitution. The Supreme Court makes sure that laws are constitutional. Nine Supreme Court judges are appointed for life. There are 12 courts of appeal and 91 district courts.

Individual states hold sovereignty over their territory and have rights that are not reserved by the federal government. Each state has its own legislature. The federal government deals with national and international problems that involve more than one state.

Задание 4. Составьте словосочетания, используя слова из обеих колонок, переведите их.

1)

federal	branch
executive	problem
four-year	capital
judicial	term
legislative	union
two-year	election
national	government

2)

to choose	a law
to head	a president
to elect	the judicial branch
to carry out	the state
to reelect
to adopt
to make

Задание 5. Заполните пропуски словами или словосочетаниями из текста, подходящими по смыслу.

There are 50 ______________ in the USA. Washington, D.C., is the national _________.

The federal government in the US consists of three ______. There are the ____, the____ and the______. The _______ branch is the Congress, which makes and adopts all _________. The Executive________ consists of the________, the_________ and the ______. Their task is to ________ the laws. The _________ branch consists of federal and other courts. It is headed by ______.

Задание 6. Вставьте подходящее по смыслу слово там, где это необходимо.

1. The District of Columbia is the …. of …. the city of Washington, the national …. (capital, territory).

2. Washington, D.C., is the ….. of the federal ….. of the United States. (government, seat)

3. The function of the …. branch is to carry out the …… of the nation. (executive, laws).

4. The ….. branch, the …. , is where the laws are made and adopted. (Congress, legislative).

5. The …. branch is headed by the …. , which settles any disputes involving the national government (Supreme Court, judicial)

Задание 7. Определите верно или неверно каждое высказывание. Объясните почему.

1. The judicial branch is headed by the Congress.

2. The United States is a federal union of 50 states plus one independent district – the District of Columbia.

3. The Legislative branch, the Supreme Court, is where the laws are made and adopted.

4. The Executive branch consists of the president, vice-president and the president’s cabinet.

5. The federal government deals with national and international problems and problems that involve more than one state.

6. In the United States there is one major party: the Democratic party.

7. The District of Columbia is territory of the city of Washington, the national capital.

8. Fifty nine states, including Alaska, form the continental United States.

9. The function of the Legislative branch is to carry out the laws of the nation.

10. The federal government is made up of three branches – the Executive, the Legislative and the Judicial branches.

Задание 8. Какие функции относятся к каждой ветви власти?

Legislative branch	Executive branch	Judicial branch
-to make and adopt the laws -…	-to carry out the laws of the nation -….	-to declare laws unconstitutional -….

Here are the functions:

• to appoint judges

• to collect taxes

• to approve presidential appointment; to control the budget; to pass laws over the president’s veto

• to declare presidential acts unconstitutional

• to settle any disputes involving the national government or disputes between two or more states in accordance with the Constitution

• to collect taxes

• to impeach and remove judges from office

• to declare war and make peace

• to make sure that laws are constitutional

Задание 8. Заполните схему и продолжите предложения.

1. The United States is a federal union of … states plus one independent district - ….. .

2. There are three branches of power in the USA: the …., the…. and …. branch of power.

3. The Legislative branch of power consists of the ….. .

4. The Congress consists of the …. and the ….

5. The function of the Legislative branch of power is to ….

6. The Executive branch of power consists of the …. , ….. and vice-president.

7. The function of the Executive branch of power is to … .

8. The Judicial branch of power consists of the …. .

9. The function of the Judicial branch is to … .