THE WORKING OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

As a hundred years ago government in Britain is called “parliamentary government”. It was true to say that the ministers held office only for so long as they continued to be supported by a majority in the House of Commons.

The two Houses of Parliament, the Lords and the Commons, share the same building, the Palace of Westminster. The present buildings of the Palace were erected between 1840 and 1852 to replace older buildings which had been destroyed by fire in 1834.

The Commons occupy the north part of the Palace, the Lords the south end. The part of the Palace of Westminster induces some hundreds of rooms, among which are library, restaurants, committee rooms and so on. Ministers have offices for themselves within the Palace of Westminster, but ordinary members do not.

The Commons debating chamber is usually called “The House”. It has seats for only about 370 of its total membership of over 600. Members do not have special seats. The shape and arrangement of the House are of great political significance. It is rectangular, with the Speaker’s chair at one end, and with five straight rows of benches running down one side along its whole length, and five rows on the other side so that the rows of benches face each other across the floor...

Members of the House of Commons have received salaries since 1911.

Each chamber has galleries, parts of which are kept for the use of the public. The beginning of a day’s business is at 2.30 p.m. The office of the Speaker has a special importance. The choice of a new Speaker is made by a vote of the House.

The House of Commons meets every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 2.30 in the afternoon, and normally sits until 10.30 p.m. A light at the top of the clock tower, where the famous Big Ben strikes is kept on for so long as the House is sitting.

 

Задание № 2. Ответьте на вопросы по тексту:

1. How is government in Britain called?

2. What is the building the Lords and the Commons share?

3. When was the fire in London?

4. Where is the beginning of a day’s business?

5. What is the sign that the House is sitting?

 

Задание № 3. Выпишите из текста интернациональные слова.

Задание № 4. Выделите в следующих словах суффикс, определите по нему часть речи, переведите слова на русский язык:

moralist, moralize, morality, mainly, nomination, offensive, offender, quantity, tasteless, admission

 

Задание № 5. Выпишите из текста предложения а) с глаголом в прошедшем неопределенном времени в страдательном залоге; б) с причастием I ; в) с глаголом в настоящем совершенном времени в действительном залоге. Выделите указанные грамматические явления.

 

Задание № 6. Переведите предложения, обращая внимание на выделенные слова:

absence	a) Who knows the reason of Pete’s absence from school? b) The boy often forgot his books at home because of his absence of mind. c) Cold is the absence of heat.
bed	a) I suppose, you have time to make the bed. b) Go to bed, it's high time to do it. c) There was a wonderful flowerbed before the house.
ask	a) May I ask you a question? b) He always asks after your sister's health. c) This task asks for your special attention.

 

Задание № 7. Закончите предложения:

a) I am to  ...  .                   b) Can you  ... ?                      c) You may  ... .     

d) She has done  ... .           e) Are you  ... ?

Вариант 9

Задание № 1. Прочитайте и письменно переведите текст:

THE X-RAY’S NEW EYE

In 1895, when the X-ray was discovered by Roentgen, it was a marvel of modern science. Now the X-ray has a brother – the EMI Scanner. This is a machine which can produce pictures of more kinds of body tissues in more detail than the ordinary X-ray can. It can show the difference, for example, between blood and water. The first EMI Scanner was designed to examine the brain. Now EMI also produces a more complicated Scanner which can examine slices of body tissue. It gives doctors more information about their patients and helps doctors make more accurate diagnoses.

The machine is very expensive for the average hospital. It has a bed where the patient lies down and above the bed there is a scanning unit which contains the X-ray tube and sensitive detectors. The computer, control panel and television screen are all in another room, where the operator of the Scanner sits and from where he can watch the patient.

The Scanner examines the body in slices, 13 mms thick. To make a picture of a complete slice takes only 20 seconds. An X-ray beam passes through the slice 18 times at a different angle each time. The way in which X-ray is absorbed by the tissues is read by the detectors. During the 20 seconds, there are 300,000 readings. The computer receives all this information, processes it and makes a picture of the slice, which is seen on the television screen. The information is then stored by the computer. It is very important that the scanning only takes 20 seconds. This means that the patient can stay still and the readings are not affected by the movement of the body or by the patient's breathing.

The Scanner is still young. But EMI have research programmes in many countries. So far there are 600 Scanners being used in over 30 countries in Europe, America, Russia and Japan.

(From “Mozaika”)

 

Задание № 2. Ответьте на вопросы по тексту:

1. When was the X-ray discovered?

2. What is the EMI Scanner?

3. What can it show?

4. How many seconds does it take the Scanner to make a picture?

5. Why is it very important that the information is stored by the computer?

 

Задание № 3. Выпишите из текста интернациональные слова.

 

Задание № 4. Выделите в следующих словах суффикс, определите по нему часть речи, переведите слова на русский язык:

intelligent, laborious, population, transportable, connection, fulfillment,  

normally, whiteness, fasten, useful

 

Задание № 5. Выпишите из текста предложения а) с глаголом в настоящем неопределенном времени в страдательном залоге; б) с глаголом в прошедшем неопределенном времени в страдательном залоге; в) с оборотом there is /( are ). Выделите указанные грамматические явления.

Задание № 6. Переведите предложения, обращая внимание на выделенные слова:

intelligence	a) His intelligence was well known at the institute. b) Have you seen the Him about the foreign intelligence service? Did you like it? c) We know a lot now about animals’ intelligence, don’t we?
entry	a) It is too dark here, where is the entry? b) "No entry", and where is the door? c) The entry of the river was near by and we made up our minds to go there.
story	a) Do you like stories by O. Henry? b) Do you know the story of that old building? c) They all tell the same story. d) He likes to tell stories.

Задание № 7. Закончите предложения :

a) When he was running  ... .  b) She saw … .                  c) What was   ... ?     

d) Have you heard   ... .               e) They did not ... .

Вариант 10

Задание № 1. Прочитайте и письменно переведите текст:

 

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