Three Branches of Government.

Power in Great Britain is divided among three branches: the legislative branch, the executive branch and the judicial branch.

The legislative branch is represented by Parliament, which consists of two chambers, or houses: the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

The House of Lords consists of more than 1000 peers, including the "lords spiritual". The peers (with the exception of the "lords spiritual") have the right to sit in Parliament during their lifetime and transmit their right to their eldest sons.

During the pre­sent century a new practice of "creating" new peers has appea­red. They are cal­led "life peers", be­cause their children do not inherit their titles like the children of hereditary peers. New peers are created by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minster. About one-third of the Lords today are company di­rectors, bankers, newspaper proprietors and other businessmen.

The members of the House of Commons are elected by a general election. The whole country is divided into constituencies, every one of which chooses one delegate. Big cities are divided into several constitu­encies each. Members of the House of Commons are elected for five years. The executive branch is headed by the Prime Min­ister, who is appointed by the king (queen).

Parliament's main function is to make laws. The procedure of making new laws is as follows: a mem­ber of the House of Commons proposes a bill, which is discussed by the House. If the bill is approved, it is sent to the House of Lords, which, in case it does not like it, has the right to veto it for one year. Finally the bill is sent to the Queen for the "royal assent", after which it becomes a law. Accord­ing to tradition, the Prime Minister is the leader of the party that has won the elections and has the ma­jority in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister appoints the ministers to compose the government. The most important ministers of the government (about twenty) form the Cabinet. Members of the Cabinet make joint decisions or advise the Prime Minister.

The main function of the executive branch of the government is to administer the laws (to see to it that the laws are carried out, actually to rule the country).

The judicial branch interprets the laws.

The highest judicial body is the Supreme Court of Judicature, which consists of two divisions: the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal. It is often said that English law is superior to the law of most other countries. Indeed, the English judicial system contains many rules which protect the individual against arbitrary action by the police and the government.

Political Parties.

The two main political parties of Great Britain are the Conservative Party and the Labour Party.

The Conservative Party is right-wing, tending to be opposed to great and sudden changes in the established order of society. It is against state control of industry.

The Labour Party, sometimes called the Socialists, has a close association with the Trade Unions, although it is now not as left-wing as it used to be. It has many supporters, especially among working-class and middle-class people.

V. Education.

In most schools boys and girls learn together. In the first stage, which is called primary education, all children are educated according to the same pro­gramme. As they grow older, differences in ability and attainment become very marked, so it is consid­ered necessary to offer different programmes.

There are three stages of education: primary, or elementary, education, secondary education and higher education.

Primary education is given to children between 5 and 11 years of age. A primary school is subdivided into an infant school for children aged 5 to 7 and a junior school for children aged 7 to 11. In small country places both the infant department and the junior department may be combined under the roof of one school.

Secondary education embraces the children from 11 years of age to 16 years of age. Until recently there were three main types of secondary schools: grammar schools, technical schools and modern schools. Children were sent to one of these three types of school according to their abilities. These three types of school still exist, but their number is decreasing. They are being replaced by the so-called comprehensive schools. The comprehensive schools are the most modern development in secondary schools. The main advantages of the comprehensive schools are that these schools are open to children of all types of ability from the age of 11; they are large schools which give a much wider range of subjects than smaller schools, so that teenagers can choose a course of studies ac­cording to their individual inclinations and abilities.

Oxford.

The first written record of the town of Oxford dates back to the year 912. Oxford University, the oldest and most famous university in Britain, was founded in the middle of the 12^th century, and by 1300 there were already 1,500 students. At that time Oxford was a wealthy town, but by the middle of the 14^th century it was poorer, because of a decline in trade and because of the terrible plague, which killed many people in England. The relations between the students and the townspeople were very unfriendly, and there was often fighting in the streets.

Nowadays there are about 12,000 students in Ox­ford and over 1000 teachers. Outstanding scientists work in the numerous colleges of the University, teaching and doing research work in physics, chem­istry, mathematics, cybernetics, literature, modern and ancient languages, art and music, philosophy, psychology.

Oxford University has a reputation of a privileged school. Many prominent political figures of the past and present times got their education at Oxford.

The Oxford English Dictionary is well-known to students of English everywhere. It contains approxi­mately 5,000,000 entries, and there are thirteen vol­umes, including a supplement.

Oxford University Press, the publishing house which produces the Oxford English Dictionary has a special department called the Oxford Word and Language Service (OWLS for short). If you have a question about the meaning of a word or its origin, you can write or telephone, and the people there will help you.

Cambridge.

Cambridge is one of the best-known towns in the world, and the principal reason for its fame is its University, the second oldest uni­versity of Britain, which was founded in the 13^th century. Today there are more than twenty colleges in Cam­bridge University.

The oldest college is Peterhouse, which was founded in 1284, and the most recent is Robinson College, which was opened in 1977. The most famous is probably King's College, because of its magnifi­cent chapel. Its choir of boys and undergraduates is also well known.

The University was only for men until 1871. In 1871 the first women's college was opened. Another was opened two years later and a third in 1954. In the 1970s, most colleges opened their doors to both men and women. Nowadays almost all colleges are mixed.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 3262