2. In the sentences below substitute the italicized elements with the words and word combinations from column a in exercise 1.

1. The US government consists of various Ministries whose main responsibility is to deal with all fields of national and international relations, including the problems of exercising federal laws and making people obey them, and special committees. 2. The president’s consultant committee, which is called the ‘Cabinet’, though the Constitution does not have any clauses about it or about the requirements to its members, includes heads of the main departments. 3.

The cabinet gives help to the president in fulfilling his duties, and some presidents seriously depended on such help, especially in such areas as finance and commerce, while others paid no attention to it. 4. The White House employees are part of the Executive Office of the President.

5. In any case all cabinet members keep their responsibility for guiding the government actions in specific areas of interest.

3. Work in pairs. Discuss the following: What do you know about the US government? What does it consist of? How many structural components does it have? Who is the head of the US government? Who helps him or her?

4. Work in pairs. Read the text and fill in the chart and the gaps in the sentences below.

The day-today enforcement and administration of federal laws is in the hands of the various executive departments, created by Congress to deal with specific areas of national and international affairs. The heads of the 14 departments, chosen by the president and approved by the Senate, form a council of advisers generally known as the president’s “cabinet”. In addition to departments, there is a number of staff organizations grouped into the Executive Office of the President. These include the White House staff, the National Security Council, the Office of Management and Budget, the Council of Economic Advisers, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

The Constitution makes no provision for a presidential cabinet. It does provide that the president may ask opinions, in writing, from the principal officer in each of the executive departments on any subject in their area of responsibility, but it does not name the departments or describe their duties. Similarly, there are no specific constitutional qualifications for service in the cabinet.

The cabinet developed outside the Constitution as a practical necessity, for even in the days of George Washington, the country’s first president, it was impossible for the president to discharge his duties without advice and assistance. Cabinets are what any particular president makes them. Some presidents have relied heavily on them for advice, others lightly, and some few have largely ignored them. Whether or not cabinet members act as advisers, they retain responsibility for directing the activities of the government in specific areas of concern.

Executive branch — President

Executive Ottice oi lhe'President

STAFF ORGANIZATIONS

CABINET

statf

Council

heads of

Office of

Council of

Office of the

Office of Policy

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS

The functions of the executive departments are:

The functions of the White House staff are:

The functions of the National Security Council are:

The functions of the Office of Management and Budget are:

The functions of the Council of Economic Advisers are:

The functions of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative are: _ The functions of the Office of Science and Technology Policy are: The functions of the Cabinet are:

5. 

   Listen to the text on the US Department of State and fill in the gaps in the sentences below. You will hear the text twice. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

The Department of State advises the (1), who has

overall (2) for formulating and executing the

foreign (3) of the United States. The

(4) assesses American overseas (5), makes

recommendations on policy and future (6), and takes

necessary steps to (7) the established policy. It

maintains contracts and (8) between the United

' ——— ^ States and (9) countries, advises the president on

recognition of new foreign countries and (10), negotiates treaties and

(11) with foreign (12), and speaks for the United (13) in the United

Nations and in other major (14) organizations. The department maintains more

than 250 (15) and consular posts around the (16). In 1999, the

Department of State integrated the U.S. Arms (17) and Disarmament

(18) and the U.S. (19) Agency into its (20) and mission.