Part II

System of government of great britain

Reading with a purpose

Exercise 1 Match the following English political terms with their Ukrainian equivalents. Use them to translate text A. Learn them by heart:

1) chairman; а) Верховний Суд;

2) bishop; b) загальні вибори;

3) county; c) гарантії;

4) Commander-in-Chief; d) головуючий;

5) Supreme Court; e) законодавчий орган;

6) constituency; f) головнокомандувач;

7) general election; g) палата громад;

8) guarantees; h) законопроект;

9) voters; i) виборчий округ;

10) lawmaking body; j) єпископ;

11) bill; k) графство (бр.), округ (ам.);

12) House of Commons; l) виборці.

Exercise 2 Read the following text and translate it.

Text a state system of great britain and northern ireland part I

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the UK) is a parliamentary monarchy with a constitutional monarch as Head of State. The UK does not have a written constitution. Instead, it is made up of a combination of Acts* of Parliament.

The legislative power in the UK belongs to Parliament which comprises the Monarch, the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

In law the Monarch is head of the legislative, executive and judicial powers, the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces and the supreme governor* of the Church of England. But in reality her role is mostly ceremonial.

The House of Commons consists of 650 Members of Parliament (MPs). They are elected by voters over the age of 18, by secret ballot, in each of Britain’s 650 parliamentary constituencies. The main function of the House of Commons is to make laws.

The Speaker is the chairman in the House of Commons. This is the person who controls discussion and makes sure that the rules of procedure are followed.

The House of Lords consists of about 1200 hereditary* and life peers* and some senior bishops named by the Queen. The main function of the House of Lords is to revise* Bills proposed by the House of Commons. But it cannot reject* them, it can only delay* a Bill from becoming law for six months.

The House of Lords is presided* over by the Lord Chancellor. The Lord Chancellor is also responsible for the administration of justice.

Act (BrE) = Bill (AmE) – законопроект, указ, закон

supreme governor – верховний правитель

hereditary – спадковий

peer – пер

to revise – переглядати

to reject – відхиляти

to delay – відкладати

to preside – головувати, вести засідання

Exercise 3 Read the text again and say, whether the statements are true or false. Correct the false statement and translate them.

1 The British monarch is the head of the government.

2 There are two Houses in Parliament in the UK.

3 The House of Commons is more numerous than the House of Lords.

4 The House of Lords can reject the bills for becoming law for seven months.

5 The Commander-in-Chief is the chairman in the House of Commons.

Exercise 4 Decide which is the odd word in each group and explain why. More than one answer may be possible.

1) legislative democratic judiciary executive

2) court law bills judge

3) speaker voter representative member of parliament

4) conservative labour democratic liberal

Exercise 5 Read the second part of the text and translate it.