2. Ответьте на вопросы к тексту:

   1. What is a legislature of the UK and other countries?

2. Are most parliaments bicameral? What does it mean?

3. What house represented the elite?

4. Is one of the oldest parliaments the Parliament of the UK or Australia?

5. What countries have unicameral legislatures?

6. What is separation of powers?

7. Who can become a prime minister in the UK?

8. Can a president be a member of Congress in the US?

2. Скажите, соответствуют ли данные утверждения прочитанному тексту:

   1. The legislative assembly of the EU is called the European Parliament.

   2. The Congress of the US is unicameral.

   3. Members of a “lower” house are hereditary.

4. Canada has a Senate and a House of Representative.

5. Sweden and Finland have unicameral legislatures.

6. The federal government of the USA is noted for its separation of powers.

7. In Britain the prime minister is not always a member of Parliament.

8. A prime minister in Great Britain is a leader of the minority party.

9. In the US the length of a president's term is not affected by election results in Congress.

9. In Britain the highest court in the land is the House of Commons.

4. Найдите синонимы:

1.	bicameral	A carried out
2.	exercised	B common people
3.	fiscal matters	C lawmaking body
4.	legislature	D one-house legislature
5.	lower house	E so-called money bills
6.	unicameral	F the elite
7.	upper house	G two houses system

5. Найдите в тексте английские эквиваленты:

   1. Japan has законодательство парламентского типа.

   2. The upper house of a parliament usually consist of избранных,

назначенных or наследственных members.

3. Finland has однопалатное legislature.

4. Elected representatives meet to debate and обсудить proposed laws.

5. The US has разделение властей.

6. The British Prime minister always занимает пост as a leader of the партии большинства.

7. Government usually take care about оборона and other important issues.

Text 7

1. Прочитайте текст

Elections

Part 1

Alternatives are central to elections. The word election is derived from the Latin verb legere, meaning “to choose.” Elections are the process through which citizens choose who will represent them in government or what will be done about a particular public issue. If there is to be a real choice, there must be alternatives. If public officials are being chosen, there must be at least two candidates. If an issue is being decided, voters must be free to say yes or no.

Types of Elections

Elections may be categorized in several ways. They include what is being voted for, the level of government at which the voting takes place, and whether the election is held to select candidates or to elect public officials.

Levels of Election

In every large democratic nation, elections take place at a variety of levels: local, state, and national. A local election may be a citywide affair, or it may only include part of a city. A special aldermanic election, for instance, takes place only within one ward, or election district, of a city. In some countries there may be an election in one province or state without the rest of the country being affected.

Geographical Districts

Most candidates for public office run in specific geographical districts. Each member of the House of Representatives, for instance, is elected from a district within a state. The size of the district is based on population. As states gain or lose population, they are redistricted and gain or lose representatives. The same is true of most large cities. They are divided into wards, and each ward is entitled to one representative—usually called an alderman.

At-large Elections

Sometimes, however, candidates are elected at-large. In an at-large aldermanic election, the candidate who wins does not represent a ward but all the city residents. A state legislator at-large represents all the people of the state, not just one legislative district. Such elections are not common, but they are occasionally used to avoid district or geographical representation in a legislative body.