Vocabulary Notes

to leave office — уйти в отставку

no-confidence — вотум недоверия

to probe — зондировать

Ex. 21. Найдите в тексте эквиваленты следующих слов и выражений.

быть ответственным; управление делами государства; партия большинства; под председательством; "теневой кабинет"; проблема; политика правительства; деятельность; распустить парламент; уйти в отставку

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Ex. 22. Составьте предложения, соединив подходящие части, the government is appointed

the government policy is formed

the laws are supported

the ministers are rejected

the "Shadow Cabinet" are selected

can be forced to leave the office

Ex. 23. Прочитайте текст и расскажите (по-английски или по-рус­ски) о политических партиях Великобритании.

The Political Party System

The present system relies upon the existence of organised political parties. Most candidates in elections, and almost all winning candidates, belong to one of the main parties.

For the last 150 years a two-party system has operated and since 1945 either the Conservative Party, which can trace (проследить) its origin (про­исхождение) to the eighteenth century, or the Labour Party, which emerged (появиться) in the last decade of the nineteenth century, has held power. A new party — the Social and Liberal Democrats (now known as the Liberal Democrats) — was formed in 1988 when members of the Liberal Party (which could trace its origins to the eighteenth century) merged (слиться) with members of the Social Democratic Party, which was itself formed in 1981.

Other parties include two nationalistic parties, Plaid Cymru (founded in Wales in 1925) and the Scottish National Party (founded in 1934). In Northern Ireland there are a number of parties; the largest of those represented in the House of Commons is the Ulster Unionist Party, which was formed in the early part of this century, and the Democratic Unionist Party, founded (осно­вывать) in 1971 by a group which broke away from the Ulster Unionists

Parties

the Conservative Party

the Labour Party

the Liberal Democrats

Plaid Cymry (Wales)

The Scottish National Party

The Ulster Unionist Party

The Democratic Unionist Party (Northern Ireland)

Ex. 24. Поставьте знак "+" в ту графу, где обозначенная слева деяг тельность, является функцией: королевы (Q), Палаты Общин (НС) или Лордов (HL)

Activities	Q	HC	HL
Legislation
Controlling finance
Giving Royal approval to laws
Hearing legal appeals
Appearing on radio and TV
Annual opening of Parliament
Running the country
Suggesting changes to the budget
Examining the work of the Government (by debates or in committees)

Ex. 25. Расскажите по-английски, в 3-4 предложениях, как форми­руется правительство Великобритании.

Ex. 26. Прочитайте текст без словаря. Text 5

ELECTIONS

Britain is a democracy. Men and women over 18 years have a vote. They have the right to elect a representative to Parliament. Voting is not compulsory.

The simple majority system of voting is used in parliamentary elections in Britain. This means that the candidate with the largest number of votes in each constituency is elected, although he or she may not necessarily have received more than half the votes cast.

A candidate is elected if he or she has a majority of votes over the next candidate. British citizens may stand and be elected as MPs (members of Parliament) if they are aged 21 or over and are not subject to any disqualifi­cation.

Those disqualified include bankrupts; people sentenced to more than one year's imprisonment; clergy of the Church of England, Church of Scot­land, Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic Church; peers; members of the regular armed forces, or the police service, and some others.

For electoral purposes Britain is divided into constituencies; citizens in all the various British constituencies vote for their local MP.

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The British government is elected for 5 years and it is the Prime Minister who choses the date of the next General Elections. When the date is announced the Prime Minister usually asks the Queen to dissolve Parlia­ment. So, the election campaign is launched all over the country and it usu­ally lasts about three weeks.

Voting takes place on Polling Say. When the results are known and it becomes clear what party has a majority of seats in the House of Commons, its leader forms a government by Her Majesty's request.