The United Kingdom is a constitutional or parliamentary monarchy. It means that it has a monarch (either a queen or a king) as its Head of State but the monarch has very little power. The Queen (or King) reigns but she(he) doesn’t rule. Parliament and the existent government have the power. Parliament and the monarch have different roles and they only meet together on symbolic occasions such as the coronation of a new monarch or the traditional annual opening of the Parlia­ment.

There is no written constitution in Britain. The rules for governing the country have been devel­oped over the centuries. Between 1066 and 1215, the king ruled alone, but in 1215 the nobles forced King John to accept Magna Carta (the Great Charter), which took away some of the king’s powers. In 1264 the first parliament of nobles met together. Since then the British Constitution has grown up slowly as a result of countless Acts of Parliament. There have been no violent changes in the constitution since the «bloodless revolution» of 1688 when the Parliament invited William and Mary to become Britain’s first constitutional monarchs who could rule only with the support of the Parliament. The Bill of Rights in 1689 was the first step towards constitutional monarchy because it prevented the monarch from making laws or raising the army without Parlia­ments’ approval. Since 1689 the power of Parliament has grown steadily while the power of the monarch has weakened.

The present British monarch is Queen Elizabeth (since 1953) and the next in line to the throne is her son, Charles, the Prince of Wales, and then his son, Prince William of Wales.

Britain is a democracy. Men and women over 18 have the right to vote, but it is not compulsory. They have the right to elect a Member of Parliament(M.P.) for their electoral area (constituency). Most M. Ps belong to a different political party. Although there is no limit to the number of politi­cal parties, and at present there are more than 100 of them, Britain in reality has a two-party system of government, since most people vote either Labour or Conservative.

The party that wins the most seats in a general election forms the government and its leader becomes the Prime Minister, the head of the government. He or she (the only woman Prime Minister in the history of Britain was Margaret Thatcher, the leader of the Conservative party from 1979 to 1990) usually takes policy decisions with the agreement of the Cabinet of Ministers. The power of the Cabinet, in its turn, is controlled by the Parliament, for no bill can become law until it is passed by an Act of Parliament.

All important bills are presented to the House of Commons (the lower chamber of the Parlia­ment, all 659 members of which are elected by people), where they are explained and debated. If they receive a majority vote they go to the House of Lords (the upper chamber consisting of 92 hereditary or life-time peers, clergy, and supreme judges) and after that to the monarch to be signed. Although a bill must be supported by all three bodies, the House of Lords has only limited powers, and the monarch has not refused to sign any bill for about 200 years. The monarch always acts on the advice of the Prime Minister. So the House of Commons is the main law-making body while the Cabinet of Ministers and the government are the main executive bodies.

Scotland and Wales have their own governments: the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh and the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff. Both opened in 1999.

Exercise 6. Read the following statements and decide if they are true or false:

1. The British monarch is the head of the government.

2. Magna Carta was the document that limited the monarch’s power.

3. William and Mary were the first monarchs who reigned but not ruled.

4. Members of Parliament represent two main political parties.

5. The Cabinet of Ministers is responsible and accountable to the Parliament.

6. The House of Commons is more numerous than the House of Lords.

Lesson 2

GRAMMAR. Absolute Participle Construction. (Grammar Comment §1 ).

Exercise 1. Define the type of Participle Construction . Translate the sentences.

1. Modern automobile is equipped with several microprocessors operating a variety of its functions. 2. Modern automobile is equipped with several microprocessors, the latter operating a variety of its functions. 3. Automated systems removing workers from their workplaces safeguard them against the hazards of the factory environment. 4. The term "automation" is widely used in manufacturing being also applied outside production. 5. The automated system operating without human intervention, computers became very important part of this system. 6. Every year the National Industrial Automation Show takes place in Chicago, automation and control specialists from all over the world gathering at this show. 7. Having visited the exhibition of industrial robots in Paris our specialists bought eight robots presented by the Renault Automation Company. 8. The plant equipment having been modernized, the plant started to produce laser cutting machines.

Exercise 2. Read and translate the sentences. Pay attention to using Absolute Participle Constructions.

1. Industrial robotics is an automation technology, the latter receiving considerable attention since I960. 2. Automatic machines relieved men of many monotonous or hazardous operations, their functions being beyond the physical abilities of men. 3. The capacity for learning, understanding language, solving problems and similar mental capabilities being the main characteristics of modern robots, up-to-date "intelligent" machines are able to communicate with humans. 4. Robots can be programmed to perform useful tasks, loading and unloading parts being the most typical. 5. Advanced automatic systems having been introduced, the number of working places at the plant was reduced.

READING   

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London

London is the capital of Great Britain, its political, economic and cultural centre. It’s one of the largest cities in the world. Its population is more than 9 million people. London is situated on the river Thames. It was founded more than two thousand years ago.

London is an ancient city. It appeared at the place where the Roman invaders decided to build a bridge over the Thames. There are four parts in London: West End, East End, the City and Westminster.

The City is the oldest part of London, its financial and business centre. There are many offices, companies and banks in this part of the capital. The heart of the City is the Stock Exchange. The Tower of London and St Paul’s Cathedral are situated in the City.

Westminster is also important part of the capital. It’s the administrative centre of London. The Houses of Parliament, the seat of the British Government, are there. Opposite the Houses of Parliament is Westminster Abbey where kings and queens have been crowned and many famous people were buried. The Houses of Parliament are often referred to as the Palace of Westminster.

The Towers of the Houses of Parliament stand high above the city. On the highest tower there is the largest clock in the country, Big Ben. Big Ben strikes every quarter of an hour.

To the west of Westminster is West End, the richest part of London. It is full of luxury hotels, supermarkets, cinemas and concert-halls. In the centre of the West End the Trafalgar Square is situated with the famous statue of Lord Nelson.

To the east of Westminster is East End, an industrial district of the capital. Most of plants and factories are situated there.

The official London residence of the Queen is Buckingham Palace. The palace was built in 1703 by the Duke Buckingham. The daily ceremony of the Changing of the Guard takes place in its courtyard.

There are many museums in London. For example, the British Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum. The British Museum is the biggest museum in London. The museum is famous for its library — one of the richest in the world.

There are many beautiful parks in London. St James’s Park, Green Park, Hyde Park, and Kensington Gardens are linked together and form above 300 hectares of parkland in the heart of London.

Exercise 4.   Make up the presentation about London.

Lesson 3

GRAMMAR. Gerund. (Grammar Comment §2).