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Task 1. Render the text.

 

Listening Comprehension

Task 1.

The House of Lords

A. Listen to the first part of a dialogue between an American student (A) and an English lawyer (B) and fill in the blanks in their conversation. Each blank may correspond to one or more missing words.

B: Come in.

A: Hi ! Do you have a minute?

B: Well, I've got to leave in ten minutes. What's the problem?

A: Well, I've got this paper to do on a comparison between the American (1)... and the British House of Lords - you know, how the elections are organised, what sort of work they do, that sort of thing. Problem is, I don't know a thing about the House of Lords and the library's closed today, and...

B: O.K. Well, It'll have to be brief.

A: No problem. Do you mind if I record this?

B: No, of course not. Go ahead.

A: Great. O.K. It's recording.

B: Well, the first thing is to forget about the idea that there is any sort of election to

the House of Lords. There are only two ways you can get a seat in the Lords. The first is by birth - by (2)... - and the second is by (3)..., so to speak.

A: I guess the hereditary peers go right back to... William the (4)... , is that right?

B: Well, actually, the vast majority don't go back any further than the (5)... cen­tury.

A: Uh huh. How many hereditary (6)... are there?

B: About (7)... at the moment.

A: And to become a hereditary peer, it's the monarch who... er... gives it to you?

B: That's right. The creation of hereditary peerage is one of the (8)... 's preroga­tives.

A: That means the monarch can make anyone a peer of the realm?

B: Not quite. In fact, what happens is that the monarch will (9)... a peerage on the basis of advice from the Prime Minister who is in turn advised by a Political Honours (10)... .

A: I see. And is it the same procedure for the other category?

B: For the (11)...? Yes. The same rules apply.

A: About how many life peers are there?

B: Roughly (12)... .

A: And they just hold the title for life, right?

B: Exactly. A life peer can't transmit the title to one of his children on his death.

A: O.K. Is there anything else I should know?

B: Well, yes. You really ought to look at how the House is made up in terms of the Lords (13)... or the Lords (14)... .

A: Sorry. I have no idea what that means.

B: It's quite simple. The term 'the Lords spiritual' covers the 26 high-ranking mem­bers of the Church of England - the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, plus 24 senior bishops who have the right to sit in the House. The term 'the Lords temporal' covers everyone else.

A: O.K. B: Then, among the Lords temporal, there are the (15)... .

A: And what do they do?

B: Well, they make up the final (16)... in the land for both civil and criminal mat­ters. Obviously there are specific criteria which have to be met before a case can be heard in the House of Lords, but the idea is that a case must raise a point of law of general public interest. Once leave for appeal has been granted, the case will go befo­re one of the (17)... of the House of Lords, each of which is made up of either (18)... or 3 Law Lords. There has to be an (19)... number so that a majority decision can emerge.



A: So the appeal isn't heard by the whole House?

B: No. This sort of appeal involves highly technical judicial work. There's no point asking ordinary (20)... peers to take part in decisions of this sort.

A: And these (21)... are appointed?

B: That's right.

A: From? I mean -who can become a (22)...?

B: They are chosen from among the most respected judges or (23)... or from those who've held some high judicial office in the country.

A: Now, what about the way the House of Lords acts as part of the legislature?

B: Oh yes. Well, although the theory is that, with the exception of course of (24)... , any (25)... can start its life in either the House of Commons or the House of Lords.

A: But most bills start in the (26)... .

B: Yes. This is for the obvious reason that the bills introduced in the Commons form part of a government's (27)... and obviously have priority.

 


Date: 2015-12-17; view: 793


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