Text 7 Parliament. The Palace of Westminster

Vocabulary

to be made up of [tu: bi: meid up ov] — состоять из

elected [i’lektid] — избираемый

inherited [in’heritid] — унаследованный

seat [si:t] — место

candidate [‘kændideit] — кандидат

vote [vәut] — голосование, право голоса

Britain is administrated from the Palace of Westminster in London. This is also known as the House of Parliament. Parliament is made up of two chambers – the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The members of House of Lords are not elected: they qualify to sit in the House because they are bishops of the Church of England, aristocrats who have inherited their seats from their fathers, people with titles. There has been talk of reform in this century because many Britons think that system is undemocratic. The House of Commons, by contrast, has 651 seats which are occupied by Members of Parliament (MPs) who are elected by the British public. The United Kingdom is divided into constituencies, each of which has an elected MP in the House of Commons.

Each of the major political parties appoints a representative (candidate) to complete for each seat. Smaller parties may a candidate in only a few constituencies. There may be five or more parties, fighting for one seat, but only one person – the candidate who gets the greatest number of votes – can win. Some parties win a lot of seats and some win very few, or none at all.

The Queen, who is the head of State, opens and closes Parliament. All new laws are debated (discussed) by MPs in the Commons, then debated in the Lords, and finally signed by the Queen. All three are part of Parliament in Britain.

Task 1. Answer the questions to the text:

1. What is Parliament made up of?

2. Are the members of the House of Lords elected?

3. What do Britons think about this system?

4. Who appoints a representative to compete for each state?

5. Who can win the seat?

6. Who is the Head of State?

Task 2. Match the parts of the sentences:

1. Aristocrats who have А reform in this century

2. Тhey qualify to sit in the House В may have a candidate in only a few

constituencies

3. This system С of Parliament

4. There has been talk of D are debated by MPs in the Commons,

then debated in the Lords and finally signed by the Queen

5. All new laws E inherited their seats from their fathers

6. smaller parties F is undemocratic

7. Members G because they are bishops of Church

of England

Task 3. Translate into English, using vocabulary:

1. Правительство Британии находится в Вестминстерском дворце в Лондоне.

2. Вестминстерский дворец известен также как Дом Парламента.

3. Парламент состоит из двух палат: палаты общин и палаты лордов.

4. Членов палаты лордов не избирают.

5. Палата общин имеет 650 мест.

6. Соединенное Королевство разделено на избирательные округа.

7. Каждая из основных политических партий назначает представителя (кандидата), чтобы бороться за место в парламенте.

8. Королева, глава государства, открывает и закрывает Парламент.

9. Парламент в Британии составляют: королева, палата общин, палата лордов.

Task 4. Express the main idea of the text and give a short retelling.