II. Answer the questions about the text.

1. What is the implication of the opening quotation? How does that re- flect the society’s attitude to Members of Parliament and why?

2. Why is Parliament referred to as the supreme law-making body in the

UK?

3. What two main duties does Parliament perform?

4. What is Parliament made up of?

5. What is the history of the Palace oa Westminster and who does it still

belong to?

6. Explain the origin of the terms „Commons“ and „commoners“.

7. Why do you think peers are prohibited from beeing MPs?

8. What is a constituency and how is the election process organised?

9. What two categories of deputies (as regards the party affiliation) are there in Great Britain?

10. What is a by-election? Why and in what circumstances does it take place?

11. What functions do the MPs perform and what are their duties?

12. How does the method of voting in the House of Commons ensure the observance of democracy?

13. What are the advantages of democracy as a state system as explai- ned by Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysberg Address?

14. How do you understand devolution and why is it applied?

15. Why is leadership indispensable for any efficient system of govern- ment? What body provides leadership in the House of Commons?

16. How does the British government differ from the Russian govern- ment? Who are the leaders of the British government?

17. What is the role of the Government and how is its functioning balan- ced by Parliament?

18. What have you learned about the office of the Speaker?

19. What do you think is the reason for there being two types of the Peers of the realm?

20. What is the difference between Hereditary Peers and Life Peers?

21. How and why is the House of Lords being reformed? What and how many peers will probably remain in the Lords as a result?

22. What legislative powers do the Lords have and do not have? Is the

House of Lords necessary at all for the legislative process in the UK?

23. What are the roles and duties of the Lord Chancellor and the Lord

Chief Justice?

24. Enumerate and briefly characterise the stages a Bill passes through to become an Act.

25. Is there any power in Great Britain capable of overriding Parliament’s laws?

26. What is the way to change an unpopular law?

III. Draw up the plan for rendering the text and then summarize it.

IV. Discuss the following issues.

1. What is the future of the British Parliament and its two chambers?

2. How will the traditional British society be influenced by the European

Union laws which shall take precedence over local laws since 1972?

3. What is the current attitude in Britain towards monarchy?