23. Speak about the present Prime Minister and his political ideas and beliefs.

The present Prime Minister of The UK is David William Donald Cameron, who is not only Prime Minister of

the country, but also First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and the youngest Leader of the

Conservative Party. David Cameron is an aristocrat, who has wide and modern approach to a life and a policy.

To illustrate this fact I want to mention that quite often he comes for his work on a bicycle and his favourite

music style is Indi-rock!

However, of course, not for these beliefs and ideas he was chosen to become the Prime Minister. He has made

furore, having said his speech without notes and later this became his corporate style. Before David Cameron

became the Prime Minister the Conservative Party was famous for it's dislike of the European Union, but when

Cameron won the elections he decided to pay more attention to internal policy: with him the Conservative

Party starts to improve health care system and develop business sector in economy. Cameron also wants to

toughen Labor policy in immigration matter, and to simplify tax system in the country. Cameron also promises

to decide all the national issues on national referenda.

To close the books, it should be said that David Cameron is going to 'refresh' Britain's political system.

But today his main aim is to show that during last 5 years of being in the shadow of the Labour Party, the

Conservative Party hasn't lost its capability to rule the country and to provide clear and deliberate policy.

24. What are the powers of the monarch in the UK?

Despite the fact that Queen of the UK is more like a figurehead, she does have some powers. The Queen's

involvement is required in many important acts of Government. The Queen summons, discontinues and

dissolves Parliament, she opens every new session of Parliament with a speech from the throne. This speech

is written for her by Government and outlines government's programme. Before a bill becomes law the Queen

must give it her Royal Assent which is announced to both Houses of Parliament.

The Queen can show pardon or show mercy to those convicted of crimes, in law she's a private person who can

do no wrong, she's immune from civil or criminal proceedings.

The Queen has power to confer honours (peerages and knighthoods). She normally does it on the

recommendation of The Prime Minister, a few honours are conferred by the sovereign personally.

The Queen has a power to conclude treaties, to declare war and to make peace, to recognize foreign states

and governments and to give away territory. What is more, she is supreme head of the Church of England and

the Church of Scotland, so she has some religious duties.

25. Which members of the British Royal Family are best known in your country? Why?

In our country people know of course Queen Elizabeth II and now Prince William is also rather popular,

because of his wedding. All our newspapers are full of his photos. Princess Diana was also rather famous in

Russia, and you still can see some programmes related to her on TV (for example there were a lot of them

at the anniversary of her death). Other members of the Royal Family aren't so popular, because they don't

appear on television very often.

26. What are the most important English titles, awards and decorations?

The British honours system is a means of rewarding individuals' personal bravery, achievement, or service

to the United Kingdom and its remaining overseas colonies. The system consists of three types of award:

honours, decorations and medals:

* Honours are used to recognise merit in terms of achievement and service.

* Decorations tend to be used to recognise specific deeds.

* Medals are used to recognise bravery, long and/or valuable service and/or good conduct.

As the head of state, the Sovereign remains the "fount of honour",[1] but the system for identifying and

recognising candidates to honour has changed considerably over time. Various orders of knighthood have

been created as well as awards for military service, bravery, merit, and achievement which take the form of

decorations or medals.

Some famous Decoraions are:

* Victoria Cross (VC)

* George Cross (GC)

* Military Cross (MC)

On 1 July 2009, BBC News reported[17] that the Queen had approved a new posthumous award, the Elizabeth

Cross, to honour members of the armed forces killed in action or by terrorist attack since World War II. The

cross itself given to the family of the honoured.

Most medals are not graded. Each one recognises specific service and as such there are normally set criteria

which must be met. These criteria may include a period of time and will often delimit a particular geographic

region. Medals are not normally presented by the Sovereign.

Honours are split into classes ("orders") and are graded to distinguish different degrees of achievement or

service. Candidates are identified by public or private bodies, by government departments or are nominated by

members of the public.

The current system is made up of ten orders of chivalry. (The Most Noble Order of the Garter, The Most

Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle).

There are five ranks of hereditary peerage: Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount and Baron. Hereditary peerages

are now normally only given to members of the Royal Family. The most recent were the grants to the Queen's

youngest son, the Earl of Wessex, on his marriage in 1999 and to the Queen's eldest grandson Prince William

who was made the Duke of Cambridge on his marriage to Catherine Middleton on April 29, 2011.

Descended from medieval chivalry, knights exist both within the orders of chivalry and in a class known as

Knights Bachelor. Knighthood carries the title Sir; the female equivalent Dame only exists within the orders of

chivalry.

27. What are the most well-known character traits of the British?

Many books have been written of British ways of life and the British character, and their authors point to an

unusual geographical position of the country which produced a certain insular spirit among the inhabitants.

The British have been known as reserved, unsociable, snobbish and hypocritical. They are typically polite,

modest and helpful, have a gift for understatement and they often awkward with women and children. British

people pride themselves on fair play and a generous for competition. They think that their important national

values are tolerance, distance, moderation and consensus. The British people are known to be profoundly

conservative. They have strong civic sense and participate in public affairs. The British aren’t only community

minded but individualist minded as well. The emphasize individuality because they hate the idea of appearing

the same. And it’s individualism which explains why British sense and feeling for privacy is too notorious.

The British people more strongly then other nations are attached to their country and home. Britain is often

called the land of law and order. The British are prudent and careful about almost everything. Many people

are guided by Victorian values (work hard, improve yourself, live within your income, give a hand to your

neighbor, respect yourself, be a good member of your community, tremendous pride in your country). The

best known and universally marked qualities of the British people are coldness and reserve. Snobbery isn’t so

common in Britain as it was at the beginning of the XX century. It still exists, however, as the British accept

the distinguish of social classes. British people are also known to be practical and realistic.