The Mandarins of Whitehall

Ø 1) Read the text and answer the questions:

a) Are civil servants famous?

b) Do civil servants often speak in public?

c) Do civil servants in the UK change jobs after the change of government?

d) Are British civil servants powerful?

e) There are many civil servants in Britain, aren’t there?

f) What do British civil servants do?

g) What is Whitehall?

h) Who are called the “Mandarins of Whitehall”?

i) Why is it good to be a civil servant in the UK?

j) Why do people dislike British civil servants?

k) All civil servants are the most intelligent and best-trained people, aren’t they?

Ø 2) Translate the second paragraph of the text and give your opinion on the sentence “Civil servants in the UK stay in the same department for years.”

(1) Politicians are famous. Civil servants are not. Politicians talk loudly about everything they have done or are going to do. Civil servants almost never speak in public. Politicians come and go as their parties rise or fall. Civil servants stay in the same department for years. People think that politicians are the men and women with the most power. But civil servants can be just as powerful.

(2) The job of the civil service is to carry out the wishes of the government. But in Britain the government changes every three or four years. One government might ask for a big new road to be built. The next government might try to stop it. The civil servants see all the problems and difficulties of introducing new ideas. They often try to compromise. They sometimes try to make the government change its mind, or to delay decisions which they do not like. This can be a good thing. It can stop the country from rushing into hurried changes. It can make sure that governments act sensibly. But it can be a bad thing. It can slow down important reforms.

(3) There are many civil servants in Britain. They collect taxes, pay people’s pensions, look after the prisons, and give help to industries and farms. They look after the country’s defence, and organize hospitals, museums, and roads. The cost of this large civil service is very great indeed, and governments are always trying to cut it down.

(4) On the whole, civil servants are not very popular with the British people. Some people are jealous of their safe jobs and good pensions. Some also feel that civil servants are too slow to change, and too blind to the needs of ordinary people. The top people in the civil service are sometimes called the “Mandarins of Whitehall” (Whitehall is the street in London where many big government departments are located). But the popular idea of the civil service is not always fair. Some departments have plenty of good ideas and can move fast to carry them out. And the top civil servants are some of the most intelligent and best-trained people in the country. Civil servants can still be proud of the good service they give in many areas of life. After all, without them the country would just come to a stop.

Ø 3) Read the text “Vivian Brown: a British Civil Servant” and prove that the main character is a typical British civil servant.

5.23 VIVIAN BROWN: A BRITISH CIVIL SERVANT

Ø 1) Read the text and answer the questions:

a) Vivian Brown has a very good job, doesn’t he?

b) How does he get to work?

c) What does he wear at work?

d) What does he like about his job?

e) Does he have international experience?

f) What is his marital status?

g) What is an “au pair” girl?

In the old days, civil servants wore black “bowler” hats and dark suits, and they carried long umbrellas. But not now.

Take Vivian Brown for example. He has a very good job in the Department of Trade and Industry. He has to make important decisions about the future of British businesses. He works with the top men in his Department, and he often has discussions with government ministers. But Vivian Brown (aged thirty-nine) rides a bicycle to work, wearing a pair of jeans. True, he changes into a suit when he arrives at the office. But at about six-thirty, when his day’s work is over, he changes back into his jeans and cycles home again.

Vivian Brown could have chosen any kind of job. He did well at school, and very well indeed at Oxford University, where he studied Arabic. But the civil service offered lots of interesting chances. Like many other clever young men and women, Vivian chose to make it his career. When he left Oxford, he took the difficult civil service exams, and passed.

For Vivian, the best thing about his job is the variety. He likes changing from one kind of work to another. In the past fifteen years he has worked on Britain’s space programme, and on Concorde, the supersonic aeroplane. He has travelled around Britain, meeting heads of universities, and well-known scientists. He has even travelled abroad. The Department of Trade and Industry lent him to the Foreign Office for three and a half years. During that time he and his family lived in Saudi Arabia.

Vivian is not the only successful person in his family. His wife has a very good job, too. She is a doctor in a large hospital, with a special interest in very young babies. She works long hours, and is often away from home at night. So who looks after their two young children? Like many other middle-class parents, the Browns have an “au pair” girl. “Au pair” girls are usually students from European countries who want to live in an English family and learn English. They work for about four or five hours a day, helping in the house or looking after children. In their free time they go to English classes, or go out with friends. At the same time young Matthew and Oliver Brown can practise their French, Dutch or German. It will be very useful when they grow up, and - who knows? - join the civil service.

Ø 2) Name the words and expressions that belong to the topic “work.”

Ø 3) Describe Vivian Brown’s career path.