Match the words to their definitions.

1)	constituency	a)	a seat where a particular group of politicians sit
2)	chamber	b)	the title of the person whose job is to control the discussions in a parliament
3)	speaker	c)	a group of people who have the power to make and change laws
4)	bill	d)	the whole system of rules that everyone in a country or society must obey
5)	noble	e)	the judges of a country or a state, when they are considered as a group
6)	bench	f)	a district that elects its own representative to parliament
7)	legislature	g)	the part of a government responsible for putting laws into effect
8)	executive	h)	a person from a family of high social rank
9)	judiciary	i)	a written suggestion for a new law that is presented to a country’s parliament so that its members can discuss it
10)	law	j)	one of the parts of a parliament

London Parliament

7. Reproduce these pieces of explanation on the House of Commons choosing the right form of the words.

The House of Commonsconsists of 659 (popularity/popularly /popular)elected members. Each member iselected from a constituency in the United Kingdom. Members receive a salary and hold their seats for the (durable /duration) of a Parliament. A general election for all members must be (held/hold)at least every five years. The House of Commons is the (legislate/legislative /legislation)authority in the United Kingdom. Among its powers are the right to impose taxes and to vote on spending issues affecting the (vary/ various/ variety) public departments and services. The (pass/passage of legislation, however, is the primary function of the chamber.

The speaker of the House of Commons is elected by the members and acts as the president of the House. Members of Parliament are controlled by their party whips, who round up members before a vote and (organize/ organizer/ organizational)debates in the Commons.

Members of the House of Commons belong to one of the British political parties. The party that wins the (majority/major) of parliamentary seats forms a government with the party leader as prime minister. Of the remainingparties, the one with the (largest/large) number of seats becomes the (official/officially) opposition.

8. Read the text choosing the right words from the columns. Do you agree that the House of Commons, the lower chamber of Parliament in practice dominates the upper chamber, or House of Lords, in terms of activity and political power?

House of Lords

The beginnings of the House of Lords can be traced back as far as the 11th century. Prior to 1999, this chamber of Parliament included hereditary peers, or nobles by inheritance or birth. That year, however, Parliament passed the House of Lords Act of 1999, which disqualified all hereditary peers for membership in the House, with the a) ... of 92 individuals who had been elected by their fellow peers and were allowed b) ... their seats on a temporary basis. The Act provided that hereditary peers in the future were welcome to run for c) ... to the chamber. Other members of the House include life peers, or individuals with nonhereditary titles conferred by the Crown; law lords; and archbishops and senior bishops of the Church of England. Peers receive no salary. Although more than 670 individuals are qualified to sit in the House of Lords, only a little over half regularly attend sessions. In d) ..., the powers of the modern House of Lords are extremely limited. Despite this, the chamber plays an important role in Parliament. Among its most e) ... functions are the review and revision of bills that the House of Commons has not formulated in sufficient detail. In the House of Lords the Lord Chancellor fulfills the same role as does the f) … in the Commons.

verb noun adjective

to retain retainer retainable

practise practice practical

except exception exceptional

to use usage useful

speak speaker speaking

elect election elective

9. A. Use the picture and text to identify the following:

The Table of the House The Speaker's chair Red lines on the floor

The Government front bench The Opposition front bench

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1108

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