Had better

STRANGE LAWS IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

1. Vocabulary.

Study the vocabulary that can be useful talking about different social rules and obligations

a ban

a rule

a law

a decree

a petition

to be banned from

absurd

bizarre

to be illegal

legislation

bye-law (or bylaw)

to have the right (to)

to be entitled (to)

may (not)

Should, ought to

had better

can (can’t, cannot)

be (not) allowed

be (not) permitted

should (shouldn’t)

must (mustn’t)

have to (don’t have to)

It is against the law to

is not allowed

must have a permit

may be fined and/or jailed

It is unlawful to

2. Read the text.

Part 1

It’s against the law to die in parliament

GLOSSARY

bearing

made up

pregnant

relieve (euphemism)

spokesman

topless

upside down

Among the UK's absurd laws, dying in parliament is illegal, but it's okay for some women to urinate in a policeman's hat.

The British police have many bizarre laws to enforce, including how stamps are placed on envelopes and what people can eat for Christmas.

A ban on people dying in the Houses of Parliament has been named the most absurd legislation in Britain.

In a public vote, the second strangest law was one making it an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the monarch's head upside down on an envelope.

A bizarre Liverpudlian bye-law that apparently banned women from going topless in public unless they worked in a tropical fish store came third. However, the city has denied such a rule existed, saying it was an urban myth. A spokesman for Liverpool City Council said: "It is a myth and totally made up. It has no basis in fact."

Strange laws of Old England

But others are real - the reason people are banned from dying in parliament is that it is a Royal palace. Nigel Cawthorne, author of The Strange Laws of Old England, said: "Anyone who dies there is technically entitled to a state funeral. If they see you looking a bit sick they carry you out quickly". He added: "You can see the sense in the 1279 law banning people from wearing armour to Parliament. It is not supposed to be a violent place".

Other laws on the list include Oliver Cromwell's decree from around 1644 to combat gluttony by banning. From eating mince pies on Christmas Day and the revelation that, according to an old London bye-law a pregnant woman can relieve herself anywhere she wants - including in a policeman's helmet.

"An insult to male police"

Not everyone is happy about that. There is currently a petition on the Downing Street website calling on Gordon Brown to take that right away from pregnant women, calling it an insult to male police officers".

Part 2

Date: 2015-02-16; view: 648