System of Government

Britain is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch –Queen Elizabeth II – as head of State.

Today the Queen is not only head of State but also an important symbol of national unity.

In law the Queen is head of the executive, an integral part of the legislature, head of the judiciary, the Commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of the Crown and the Supreme Governor of the established Church of England.

In practice the monarch has no actual power: they say, the monarch reigns but doesn’t rule. Queen’s power is limited by the Parliament. Parliament is the supreme legislative authority in Britain and the Prime Minister is the virtual ruler of the country.

Parliament comprises the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Queen in her constitutional role.

The House of Lords is made up of 1, 185 hereditary and life peers, the two archbishops and the 24 most senior bishops of the established Church of England.

The House of Commons is the center of parliamentary power. The leader of the party that obtains a majority in the House of Commons is the Prime Minister. The party which has majority of the seats in the House of Commons is called the Government, and the other is the Opposition. The Government may hold office for five years.

H.T.

1. Learn the new words.

2. Revise the grammar rule: Articles with geographical names.

Fill in the blanks with the correct articles (a, an or the):

a) Great Britain has ___ queen. b)The country is washed by ___ Atlantic Ocean.

c) __ Thames flows through London.

d) __ popular food in England is fish and chips with ___ pint of beer.

3. Write down five questions you would like to ask somebody living in the United Kingdom.

Lesson 82

London

Plan

1. warm-up

2. reading: London

3. revision: verb forms, word order, prepositions of place

4. answering questions

5. vocabulary work: synonyms, translation

6. writing: facts about London. Dictation ‘The British Museum’

7. H.T.

Warm up: This is a poem by a famous English poet Dylan Thomas. Read the poem and say what you think the author wanted to express.

Twenty-Four Years

Twenty-four years remind the tears of my eyes.

(Bury the dead for fear that they walk to the grave in labour.)

In the groin of the natural doorway I crouched like a tailor

Sewing a shroud for a journey

By the light of the meat-eating sun.

Dressed to die, the sensual strut begun.

With my red veins full of money,

In the final direction of the elementary town

I advance as long as forever is.

Task 1 Read the text and say which facts are new for you and what

you already know.

London

London is one of the biggest and most interesting cities in the world. More than 8 million people (1. to live) there and in its suburbs. London (2. to be) more than twenty centuries old. I love big cities so last year I (3. to decide) to visit London.

London lies on both sides of the river Thames which has boats on it all year. There are many beautiful bridges over the Thames, and when I (4. to go) there I tried to see them all.

The important parts of London are the City, the West End and the East End, and I often (5. to remember) walking through them. The heart of London is the City- its commercial and business centre. It is a very small part of London: the City is only one square mile in area. High office buildings, banks and firms stand on both sides of the streets. Over 1, 000, 000 people (6. to come) to the City every day. And at the end of the day the businessmen and clerks go home and the City becomes silent and empty.

There are many famous building and places to visit in London, such as St. Paul’s Cathedral, Wren’s masterpiece and the Tower of London which was built nine centuries ago and used as a royal palace, a fortress and a political prison. Now it is a museum. Of course, when I went to London I (7.to visit) Buckingham Palace where the Royal Family lives. I wanted to see where the Prime Minister lives at 10 Downing Street, but I didn’t have time.

The West End is the richest part of London with its cosy mansion s, beautiful avenues, fashionable shopping centres, the finest theatres and concert halls. Its gardens and parks (8. to be) the best in the capital. I (9. to want) to go shopping here, but I didn’t have enough money.

The East End of London includes the port, docks, plants and factories. This district is inhabited by the workers and the poor. Quite an army of people live from hand to mouth in its slums and miserable houses lining narrow dirty streets. I suppose in every city and town there has to be a poor area.

The thing that (10. to amaze) me about London when I was there, was all the different nationalities that live there. Every person I (11. to walk) by was speaking a different language. I think at least one person from every country in the world lives in London.

London is a city of great contrasts.

Task 2 Read the text once more and open the brackets using the verbs in the correct form.

Task 3 A nswer the questions:

1. What is the capital of Great Britain?