III. Agree or disagree with the statements:

1. The Constitution outlines the structure of the national government and doesn’t specify its powers and duties.

2. Under the Constitution the powers of the goverment are divided into four branches.

3. The Verkhovna Rada is not the only body of the legislative power in Ukraine.

4. There are 450 people’s deputies who are elected for a term of five years on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot.

5. The Verkhovna Rada’s main funсtion is working out legislation.

6. The President of Ukraine is the head of the state and speaks on behalf of the Government.

7. The President is elected directly by the voters for a term of four years with no more than two full terms.

8. The Cabinet of Ministers is the executive power in Ukraine.

9. Justice in Ukraine is administered by the Constitutional Court and by courts of general jurisdiction.

10. The Goverment defines the territorial structure of Ukraine.

IV. Answer the questions:

1. How many branches are powers of the government divided into?

2. What is the monetary unit in Ukraine?

3. What is the only body of the legislative power in Ukraine?

4. What is the Verkhovna Rada’s main funсtion?

5. What is justice in Ukraine exercised by?

V. Match the first part of the sentence (1-5) with the second one (a-e).

1	Justice in Ukraine is exercised	a	is performed by the Committees.
2	The President of Ukraine is the head of the state	b	by courts by the courts of general jurisdiction.
3	Law drafting work	c	and speaks on behalf of it.
4	The Verkhovna Rada’s main funсtion	d	the structure of the national government.
5	The Constitution outlines	e	is making laws.

VI. Make up a plan of the text.

VII. Retell the text in a written form (in English or Ukrainian). Text 19. Basic laws of ukraine

I. Read and memorize the following words and word combinations:

To proclaim – проголосити, Orthodox faith – православна віра, a boundary – кордон, alliance – союз, overwhelming majority – переважна більшість, precondition – передумова.

II. Listen to the text: Basic Laws of Ukraine

The first constitutional document in Ukrainian history was the Constitution of Bendery, adopted in 1710. The constitution of Bendery is a covenant signed on 16 April, 1710 in Bendery by the newly elected Hetman P.Orlyk with his officers and the Zaporozhian Cossacks. The document consisted of 16 articles, which can be divided into four thematic groups.

Some articles dealt with general Ukrainian affairs. They proclaimed the Orthodox faith to be faith of Ukraine and independent of the patriarch of Moscow, designed the Sluch River as the boundary between Ukraine and Poland, and recognized the need for an anti-Russian alliance between Ukraine and the Crimean Khanate.

Another articles reflected the interests of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, who constituted the overwhelming majority of the Bendery emigration. They obligated the hetman to expel the Russians from Zaporozhian territories. Articles 6-10 limited the powers of the hetman and established a unique Cossack parliament, which met three times a year.

Some other articles protected the rights of towns, limited the taxation of peasants and poor Cossacks. In the introduction to the constitution, Ukraine's independence of Russia and Poland was stipulated as a precondition.

The Ukrainian state that arose in 1917-20 had several constitutions. The structure of the Ukrainian National Republic was defined by several legislative acts of the Ukrainian Central Rada before the Central Rada adopted the Constitution of the Ukrainian National Republic on 29 April, 1918. In the Ukrainian SSR four constitutions were adopted (1919, 1929, 1937, 1978). They were closely modeled on the Constitution of the Russian SFSR and then of the USSR.