Elections in Great Britain

1. The maximum life of the House of Commons has been restricted to five years since the Parliament Act 1911. The franchise (right to vote) became universal for men in the nineteenth century. Women's suffrage came in two stages (1918 and 1928).

2. For parliamentary elections the United Kingdom is divided into 650 constituencies of roughly equal population. The average constituency contains about 60,000 registered votes. Any British citizen from the age of 18 registered as an elector for the constituency elects a single member to the House of Commons.

3. Voting is on the same day (usually on Thursday) in all constituencies, and the voting stations are open from 7 in the morning till 9 at night. Each voter has only one vote, if he knows that he will be unable to vote, because he is ill or has moved away or must be away on business, he may apply in advance to be allowed to send his vote by post. Voting is not compulsory. But in the autumn of each year every householder is obliged by law to enter on the register of electors the name of every resident who is entitled to vote. Much work is done to ensure that the register is complete and accurate. It's only possible to vote at the polling station appropriate to one's address.

4. As in Britain the political scene is dominated by the Conservatives and the Labour Party, in every constituency each of these parties has a local organization whose first task is to choose the candidate and which then helps him to conduct his local campaign. Any British subject can be nominated as a candidate, there is no need to live in the area, though peers, clergymen, lunatics and felons in prison are disqualified from sitting in the House of Commons.

5. There are usually more than two candidates for each seat. The candidate who wins the most votes is elected. This practice is known as the majority electoral system.

1. How often are the elections held in Great Britain?

2. How many constituencies are there in the United Kingdom?

3. re electors allowed to vote by post?

4. Is voting compulsory?

5. Who can be nominated a candidate at the election?

6. What's «the majority electoral system»?

II. Письменно переведите 2-й и 4-й абзацы текста.

III. По суффиксу определите и отберите: 1) существительные. 2) прилагательные, 3) глаголы, 4) наречия:

Restriction, universal, parliamentary, elections, roughly, population, equally, constituency, Parliament, station, voter, compulsory, householder, elector, accurate, appropriate, organization, conservative, local, majority, electoral, broaden.

IV. Определите видо-временные формы глаголов в следующих предложениях.

1. People did not realize the importance of this problem a few years ago. 2. Only by the beginning of the 20th century the actual evidence of the strength of the British labour movement had appeared. 3. I think he has achieved great success in his studies. 4. Economic cooperation with foreign countries is gaining a growing importance now. 5. We shall discuss new aspects of privatization at the next seminar.

V. Преобразуйте предложения из действительного залога в страдательный.

1. The Parliament Act 1911 has restricted the life of the House of Commons. 2. Electoral law divides the United Kingdom into 650 constituencies. 3. Each constituency will elect a single member to the House of Commons. 4. The authorities allowed their electors to send votes by post. 5. The committee is still discussing the bill.

VI. Переведите предложения, содержащие модальные глаголы и их эквиваленты.

1. Any British citizen from the age of 18 can be registered as an elector for the constituency. 2. If a person is unable to vote because he is ill he may be allowed to vote by post. 3. To be a candidate a person needn't live in the area. 4. Every householder must enter on the register of electors the names of all residents who can vote. 5. During the cold war Europe had to choose between another war or peaceful coexistence. 6. Each member of the General Assembly is to vote only once.

VIII. Выберите нужное местоимение из данных в скобках.

1. At present (some, any) person knows almost everything about this phenomenon. 2. He is absent today. I'm afraid (something, anything) has happened to him. 3. (Some, any) centuries ago people did not know (anything, nothing) about electricity. 4. I'm sorry, I couldn't find (something, anything) in this article.

IX. Поставьте сказуемое в придаточных предложениях в нужную видо-временную форму, учитывая правила согласования времен.

1. She said she (to be) a first-year student of the Law Faculty.

2. They hoped they (to become) qualified specialists in future.

3. My friend told me he already (to translate) the article.

4. I knew he (to be going) on a business trip.

UNIT III

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