Exercise 1. Turn the following nouns into adjectives.

Constitution; politics; symbol; ceremony; parliament; democracy; finance; royalty.

Exercise 2. Find English equivalents in the text.

Избирательный округ; представить законопроект; оставаться у власти; быть сторонником чего-либо; наследственный принцип; ограниченные полномочия; достигать соглашения; представлять на выборах; судебная функция; подписывать документы; государственные дела.

Exercise 3. Complete the following sentences.

1) The United Kingdom is divided into …

2) Prime Minister is the leader of the party that …

3) The role of the monarch is …

4) The executive power in the UK belongs to …

5) The House of Lords can not reject bills that …

6) A “Shadow Cabinet” is formed by …

7) Members of the Government are not elected by the House of Commons, they are… 8) The official residence of the British Prime Minister is...

9) The party which has majority of seats in the House of Commons forms … 10) MPs have holidays which last ….

Exercise 4. Agree or disagree to the following. Give your comments.

1) The Queen’s powers in Britain are unlimited.

2) The Prime Minister is the leader of the party, which has majority in the House of Lords.

3) The Queen opens the first session of Parliament with a throne speech.

4) The Royal family is the principal aristocratic house in Britain.

5) The Cabinet formulates comprehensive policy covering all major issues both at home and abroad.

6) The maximum life of the House of Commons has been restricted to 4 years since the Parliament Act 1911.

7) The House of Lords can influence the process of decision making in Parliament.

8) A bill becomes Act of Parliament when the Speaker signs it.

Exercise 5. Discuss the following points.

1) What do you see as advantages and disadvantages of having a monarch?

2) Which members of the Royal family are best known in Russia? Why?

3) What differences are there between Parliament and the Government?

4) What do you know about the elective procedure to the House of Lords?

5) List the differences and similarities between the UK parliamentary system and that of Russia.

Exercise 6. Divide the text into several logical parts and think of the title for each part of the text.

Exercise 7. Translate into English.

1) В Великобритании нет избираемого отдельно президента, их премьер – лидер крупнейшей партии в парламенте.

2) Премьер-министр назначает министров, которые с помощью государственной службы руководят различными министерствами.

3) Самые важные министры во главе с премьер-министром образуют кабинет из примерно 20 членов.

4) Предложения правительства выносятся на обсуждение парламента: они дебатируются в палате общин, а позднее – в палате лордов.

5) Исторически парламентская система стала источником как законодательной, так и исполнительной власти.

6) Британское изобретение – должным образом выстроенная «лояльная оппозиция», которая обладает не только правом, но и обязанностью оппонировать правительству.

7) Права британского монарха носят формальный, а не практический характер.

8) Каждый вторник, когда королева в Лондоне, премьер отправляется в Букингемский дворец, чтобы проинформировать ее о событиях.

Exercise 8. Find some additional information on one of the following topics and describe it.

1) The Royal family.

2) The electoral system of Great Britain.

3) Procedure of passing bills.

4) The Prime minister’s duties.

5) Parliamentary monarchy.

Read and translate.

Text B.

The Political Parties.

The British democratic system depends on political parties and there has been a party system of some kind since the 17^th century. The Conservative and the Liberal parties are the oldest and until the last years of the 19^th century they were the only parties elected to the House of Commons.

The Conservatives, often called the Tories, have always been the party of the Right, the party of big business, industry, commerce and landowners. It can broadly be described as the party of the middle and upper classes although it does receive some working class support. The party represents those who believe in private enterprise as opposed to state-owned undertakings. The Tories are the most powerful party and are often called a party of business directors. (The word “Tories” is an Irish name for thieves and was applied to the Conservatives by their opponents, but later they adopted the name to describe themselves).

The Tories were opposed by the Whigs, a rude name for cattle drivers. In the middle of the 19^th century the Liberal Party (or the Whigs) represented the trading and manufacturing classes. Its slogan of that time was “Civil and Religious Liberty”. During the second half of the 19^th century many working people looked at the Liberal Party as an alternative to the Conservatives and their policy. At the end of the 19^th century and in the first two decades of the 20^th century, the Liberals lost the support of working – class voters.

Around 1900 the Labour Party was formed as the political arm of the trade unions. It was the party that drew away working people’s support. The Labour Party has always had strong links with the trade unions and receives financial support from them. While many Labour voters are middle-class or intellectuals, the traditional Labour Party support is still strongest in industrial areas.

There are also some other parties: the Social Democratic Party, the Liberal Democrats. The Green Party, The Communist Party, the National Front, the Scottish National Party and the Welsh National Party.

Exercise 1. Turn the following verbs into nouns denoting the doer of the action.

To support; to vote; to manufacture; to own; to oppose; to believe; to elect; to win; to defend; to direct; to represent; to preside.

Exercise 2. Rearrange the sentences putting the words in the correct word order.

1) The party, the rich, traditionally, is, the Conservative Party, and, supported, privileged, by.

2) Today, representation, almost, parliamentary, insignificant, and, the Liberal Party, the membership, is, of.

3) A victory, was, at the beginning, the Labour Party, of, the formation, of, movement, the century, of, the labour.

4) Extremely, the Labour, the difference, policies, between, and, to tell, it’s, the Conservative, difficult.

5) To be, the major, parties, activists, members, tend, party, in, of, political, each, hard-working.

Exercise 3. Answer the following questions.

1) What are the dominant parties in modern Britain?

2) What is the difference between the two main political parties?

3) What do you know about the activities of the Green Party in Britain?

4) What is the role of the Liberal Party?

5) What is the ruling party in Great Britain now?

Exercise 4. Imagine that you are a reporter of the Russian newspaper “Izvestija”. Interview the Conservative party member (the Labour party member) on the aims of their national and local policies.

Exercise 5. Translate into English.

Политическая партия в Великобритании – это организация людей, разделяющих одинаковые взгляды на методы управления страной и пытающихся добиться власти, чтобы воплотить эти взгляды в реальность. Цель любой британской политической партии состоит в том, чтобы добиться избрания как можно большего числа своих кандидатов в парламент, поскольку партия, добившаяся большинства, формирует правительство. Из 650 кандидатов, прошедших в парламент, несколько человек войдет в правительство, а остальные будут заседать в парламентских комитетах. Премьер-министром становится лидер победившей на выборах партии. Таким образом, в Великобритании на выборах большее значение приобретает политика, и меньшее – обаятельность кандидатов – в отличие, скажем, от Америки.

Exercise 6.Role play.

Work in two groups, one - acting MPs supporting the bills to be introduced the other – rejecting it. Discuss all pros and cons of the bills given below, and give your arguments:

- The UK accepting the “Euro” as payment.

- Cancelling the heredity principal of Lords as MPs.

- Restrictions of monarch’s powers in the UK.

- Efficiency of the multi-party system.

UNIT III.

Economic Outline of the UK.

Read and translate.

Text A.

The UK is a highly-developed country. It lives by manufacture and trade. For every person employed in agriculture eleven people are employed in mining, manufacturing and building. The United Kingdom is one of the world’s largest exporters of manufactured goods per head of population.

Apart from coal and iron ore Britain has very few natural resources and mostly depends on imports. Its agriculture provides only half of the food it needs. The other half and most of the raw materials for its industries such as oil and various metals (copper, zinc, uranium ore and others) have to be imported. Britain also has to import timber, cotton, fruit and farm products.

Britain used to be richly forested, but most of the forests were cut down to make more room for cultivation. The greater part of land is used for cattle and sheep breeding, and pig raising. Among the crops grown on the farms are wheat, barley and oats. The fields are mainly in the eastern part of the country.

In the past century Britain secured a leading position in the world as manufacturer, merchant and banker. After World War I the world demand for products of Britain’s traditional industries - textiles, coal and machinery - fell off, and Britain began expanding trade in new engineering products and electrical goods.

The crisis of 1929-1933 brought about mass unemployment and Britain’s share in the world industrial output decreased. World War II brought about a further weakening of Britain’s might. It has lost its colonies which used to supply it with cheap raw materials.

The original basis of British industry was coal-mining, and the early factories grew up not far from the main mining areas. Glasgow and Newcastle became great centers of engineering and shipbuilding. Lancashire produced cotton goods and Yorkshire woolen, with Sheffield concentrating on iron and steel. Birmingham developed light engineering.

The structure of industry changed substantially in the last half of the 20th century. As coal production declined, oil production replaced it as a major industry. Motor vehicle production became a significant part of the industrial base. British industrial production also expanded into communications equipment, including fiber optics, computers, computer-controlled machine tools, and robots.

The so-called Silicon Glen between Glasgow and Edinburgh is the site of many overseas computer firms. Scotland and Northern Ireland are still noted for their production of whiskey and textiles, especially linen from Northern Ireland and tweed from Scotland.

Nowadays Britain remains an important manufacturing country. Britain mostly produces articles requiring skilled labour, such as precision instruments, electronic equipment, chemicals and high quality consumer goods. It produces and exports cotton and woolen goods, leather goods and articles made of various kinds of synthetic (man-made) materials. The leading traditional manufacturing regions of England are Greater London and the cities and regions around Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, and Newcastle upon Tyne.

Britain has a large and sophisticated service sector. The service industries include finance, retailing, wholesaling, tourism, business services, transport, insurance, investment, advertising, public relations, market research, education, administration, and government and professional services. Telecommunications has become a dynamic growth industry, particularly with telex, facsimile, and e-mail communications.

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