III. Agree or disagree with the statements:

1. The present political system depends upon the existence of organized political parties.

2. Each of the parties presents its policies to the monarch.

3. Almost all winning candidates belong to one of the main parties.

4. For the last 150 years there were only 3 parties.

5. A new Communists party was formed in 1988.

6. Social Democratic Party is also the new one founded in 1981.

7. The effective work of the party system in Parliament largely depends on the relationship between the Government and the Opposition parties.

8. People belonging to smaller political parties join one of the larger parties.

9. Her Majesty's Government is ministers responsible for the administration of international affairs.

10. All the ministers are members of Commons.

IV. Answer the questions:

1. What does the present political system depend upon?

2. How many parties were there for the last 150 years?

3. What does the effectiveness of the party system in Parliament rest largely on?

4. What is Her Majesty's Government about?

5. Who is the Prime Minister appointed by?

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

1	Her Majesty's Government is the body of ministers	a	rests on the relationship between the Government and the Opposition parties.
2	People belonging to smaller political parties	b	but most candidates in elections belong to one of the main parties.
3	The effectiveness of the party system in Parliament	c	the existence of organized political parties.
4	The parties are not registered in law,	d	join one of the larger parties.
5	The present political system depends upon	e	responsible for the administration of national affairs.

VI. Make up a plan of the text.

VII. Retell the text in a written form (in English or Ukrainian). Text 32. British cabinet

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

Majority of seats – більшість місць, general election – загальні вибори, to be responsible for – відповідати за щось, the Home Secretary – міністр внутрішніх справ, the Foreign Secretary – міністр закордонних справ, title – назва, Shadow Cabinet – тіньовий кабінет.

II. Listen to the text: British Cabinet

The party that wins the majority of seats in the House of Com­mons in a general election forms the government, and the leader of the party becomes the Prime Minister, the head of the government.

The term “government” can be used to refer to all politicians who have been appointed by the monarch (on the advice of the Prime Minister) to help run government departments. There are about a hundred members of the government in this sense. The members of the government are known as ministers. All ministers come from the ranks of Parliament, most of them from the House of Commons.

The other meaning of the term “government” is more limited. It refers only to Prime Minister and the members of the Cabinet. There are usually about twenty people in the Cabinet (though there are no rules about it). They are heads of the government depart­ments. Each minister is responsible for a particular area of govern­ment. For example, the Minister of Defence is responsible for the Army, Air Force and Navy; the Home Secretary for law and order and immigration; the Foreign Secretary is responsible for relations with other countries; the Chancellor of the Exchequer deals with money matters.

The Prime Minister (PM) is the head of government. He heads cabinet meetings, appoints all government ministers, sets out gov­ernment policy and rules the country in the name of the King or Queen. This system was created in the 17th and 18th centuries. There is some criticism today that the PM has too much power and does not explain his/ her actions to Parliament.

The Opposition is the party in the House of Commons with the sec­ond largest number of seats. The head of the party is given the official title “Leader of the Opposition”. He forms the Shadow Cabinet. Each member of this Cabinet is the “shadow” of the real minister, for exam­ple, the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. They take responsibility for opposing the government in different areas.