Реферат: English topics

                Topic N1 «The BritishParliament»

TheBritish Parliament is the oldest in the world. It  originated

in th 12th century as Witenagemot, the body of  wise  councellers

whom theKing needed to consult pursuing his policy. The British

Parliamentconsists of the  House  of Lords  and  the House  of

Commonsand the Queen as its head. The House of Commons plays the

majorrole in law-making. It consists of Members  of  Parliament

(calledMPs for short).  Each  of them  represents  an area  in

<st1:country-region w:st=«on»>England</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st=«on»>Scotland</st1:country-region>,<st1:country-region w:st=«on»>Wales</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>Ireland</st1:place></st1:country-region>. MPsare elected either at a

generalelection or at  a  by-election following  the  death or

retirement.Parliamentary elections are held every 5 years and it

is thePrime Minister  who  decides on  the  exact day  of  the

election.The minimum voting age is 18. And the voting is  taken

bysecret ballot. The election campaign lasts about 3 weeks,  The

Britishparliamentary system depends on politicals  parties. The

partywhich wins the majority of seats forms the  goverment  and

itsleader usually becomes Prime Minister.  The  Prime Minister

choosesabout 20 MPs from his party  to  become the  cabinet  of

ministers.Each minister is responsible for a particular area  in

the goverment. The second largest  party  becomes the  official

oppositionwith its own leader and «shadow cabinet».  The leader

of theopposition is a recognized post in the House of  Commons.

Theparliament and  the  monarch have  different  roles in  the

govermentand they only meet together on symbolic occasions, such

ascoronation of a new monarch or the opening of the  parliament.

Inreality, the House of Commons is the one of three  which  has

truepower. The House of Commons is made up of six  hundred  and

fiftyelected members, it is presided over  by  the speaker,  a

memberacceptable to the whole house. MPs sit on two sides of the

hall,one side for the governing party and  the  other for  the

opposition.The first 2 rows of seats are occupied by the leading

membersof both parties (called «front benches») The back benches

belongto the rank-and-life MPs. Each session of  the  House of

Commonslasts for 160-175 days. Parliament has intervals  during

hiswork. MPs are paid for their parliamentary work and  have to

attendthe sittings. As mention above, the House of Commons plays

themajor role in law making. The procedure is the following:  a

proposedlaw («a bill») has to go through three stages  in order

tobecome an act of parliament, these are called «readings».  The

firstreading is a formality and is simply the publication of the

proposal.The second reading involves debate on the principles of

thebill, it is examination by parliamentary committy. And  the

thirdreading is a report stage, when the work of the committyis

reportedon to the house. This  is  usually the  most  important

stage inthe process. When the bill passes through the House  of

Commons,it is sent to the House of Lords for  discussion,  when

theLords agree it, the bill is taken to  the  Queen for  royal

assent,when the Queen sings the bill,  it  becomes act  of  the

Parliamentand the Law of the Land. The House of Lords has  more

than1000 members, although only about 250 take an active part in

the workin the house.  Members  of this  Upper  House are  not

elected,they sit there because of their rank, the  chairman  of

theHouse of Lords is the Lord Chancellor.  And  he sits  on  a

specialseat, called "WoolSack" The members of theHouse of Lords

debatethe bill after it has been passed by the House of Commons.

Somechanges may be recommended and the agreement between the two

housesis reached by negotiations.

                       Topic N2 "<st1:country-region w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>US</st1:place></st1:country-region>Congress"

The <st1:country-region w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>United States of America</st1:place></st1:country-region>is a federal republic consisting  of

50  states. Each of  which  has its  own   goverment    («state

goverment»).In some ways the <st1:country-region w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>United  States</st1:place></st1:country-region>  is like  50  small

countries.Each state has its own governor, its own  police  and

its ownlaws. The present constitution was proclaimed in 1787  in

<st1:City w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:City>, the President is the head of thewhole country  and

the goverment and "commanderingchief" of the  armed  forces. He

makesthe most important decisions and chooses the ministers, the

membersof his cabinet. But the President cannot do just what  he

wants.The Congress must agree  first.  Americans choose  a  new

presidentevery four years. The residence of the President is the

WhiteHouse in <st1:State w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>Washington</st1:place></st1:State>,the Capital city. The goverment of the

wholecountry (the Federal goverment) works from <st1:State w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>Washington</st1:place></st1:State>, this

is wherethe Congress is based. The Capitol is the seat of the <st1:country-region w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>US</st1:place></st1:country-region>

Congress.Congress is the American parliament which consists of 2

chambers.The Senate and the House of Representatives. The  first

Congressmet in 1789  in  <st1:City w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>New  York  city</st1:place></st1:City>.  The membership  then

consistedof 22 senators and 59 representatives. Today the  House

ofRepresentatives has 435 members. Elections to the  house take

placeevery 2 years. There are 100 senators (2 from each  state),

they areelected to serve for a period of six years,  but  every

twoyears elections to the senate took place when  one/third  of

itsmembers must be changed or re-elected. Election day is always

in themonth of November, on the first Tuesday, after the  first

Monday.Americans who aren't yet 25 years old have no right to be

electedto the House of Representatives. Whose, who are under  30

can't beelected in the Senate. The main political parties in the

UnitedStates  of  America are  the  Democratic Party  and  the

RepubllicanParty.

                         Topic N3«Business Trips»

Neverbefore in the history of the world have businessmen  traveled

so muchas they do today. It is not surprising  because  we  are

livingin a world of growing international trade  and  expanding

economicand technical cooperation. Fascinating though it is  for

tourist travelling, however, has become the most  tiring of  all

theoccupations for many  businessmen  and experts.  Choosing  a

comfortablehotel to stay at is,  therefore,  a matter  of  some

importance.There are plently of good hotels, motels,  and guest

houses,in the  world,  conviently  located for  major  business

centers.Many  developing  countries, such  as  <st1:country-region w:st=«on»>India</st1:country-region>,    <st1:country-region w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region>,

<st1:country-region w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>Nigeria</st1:place></st1:country-region>, Lybia, etc  have  excellent hotels.  Their   numerous

facilitiesinclude both: large and small cocktail barber's shops

andconference halls, equipped  with  simultaneous, multilingual

translationsystems. There are parking areas which can accomodate

a lot ofcars. It might be useful for travellingbusinessmen  and

touriststo  know that  tailor  shops, shoe  repair  shops and

laundry,dry cleaning services are available for guests.  People

in theoffice help guests to book train or steamer  tickets  and

rent acar. They are also ready to give all necessary information.

Nowadayspeople who go on business mostly travel by air as it  is

thefastest means of  travelling.  Passengers are  requested  to

arrive  at the  airport  2 hours  before  departure time    on

internationalflights and an hour on domestic flights  as  there

must  be enough  time  to complete  the    necessary   airport

formalities.Passengers must register their tickets, weigh in and

registerthe luggage. Most airlines have at least 2  classes  of

travel:first class and economy  class  which is  cheaper.  Each

passengerof more  than  2 years  of  age has  a  free luggage

allowance.  Generally this limit  is  20kg for  economic  class

passengerand 30kg for first class passenger. Excess luggage must

be paidfor except for some articles that can be carried free  of

charge.Each passenger is given a boarding pass to be  shown  at

geparturegate and again to  the  stewardess when  boarding  the

plane.Watch the electric sign flashes when you  are  on board,

when the«Fasten Seat Belts» sign goes on do it promptly and also

obey the«No Smoking» signal. Do not forget your personal effects

whenleaving the plane.

              Topic N4 «Customs andTraditions»

Thereare many customs and traditions in  <st1:country-region w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>England</st1:place></st1:country-region>.  And I  would

like totell you some of them. First tradition is called  «Wrong

side ofthe bed» When people are bad tempered we say  that  they

musthave got out of bed on the wrong side. Originally,  it  was

meantquiet literally. People belive that the way  they rose  in

themorning affected their behaivor throughout the day.The wrong

side ofthe bed was the left side. The left always  having  been

linkedwith evil.  Second  custom is  called  «Blowing out  the

candles»The custom of having candles on birthday cakes goes back

to theancient Greeks. Worshippers of Artemis, godess of themoon

andhunting, used to place honey  cakes  on the  altars  of  her

templeson her birthday. The cakes were round like the full  moon

and litwith tapers. This custom was next recorded in the  middle

ageswhen German peasants  lit  tapers on  birthday  cakes, the

numberlit indicating the person's age, plus  an  extra one  to

representthe light of life. From earliest days  burning  tapers

had beenendoued with mystical significance and  it was  belived

thatwhen blown out they had the power to grant a secret wish and

ensure ahappy year ahead. And the last tradition I would like to

tell youis called «The 5th of November» On the 5th  of November

inalmost every otwn and village in <st1:country-region w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>England</st1:place></st1:country-region>  you will  see  fire

burning,fireworks, cracking and lighting up the sky.  You  will

see toosmall groups of children pulling round in  a  home made

cart, afigure that looks something like a man but consists of an

old suitof clothes, stuffed with straw. The children will sing:"

Remember,remember the 5th of November; Gun powder, treason  and

plot".And they will ask passers-by for «a penny for the Guy» But

thechildren with «the Guy» are not likely to know  who or  what

day theyare celebrating. They have done this more or less  every

5th ofNovember since 1605. At that time James the First  was  on

thethrone. He was hated with many people  especialy  the Roman

catholicsagainst whom many sever laws had been passed. A number

of catholics chief of whom was Robert Catesby determinedto  kill

the Kingand his ministers by blowing up the house of Parliament

withgunpowder. To help them in  this  they got  Guy  Fawker,  a

soldierof fortune, who would do the actual work. The day  fixed

forattempt was the  5th  of November,  the  day on  which  the

Parliamentwas to open. But one of the consperators  had several

friendsin the parliament and he didn't want them to die.  So  he

wrote aletter to Lord Monteagle begging him to makesome  excuse

tobe  absent  from parliament  if  he valued  his  life. Lord

Monteagletook the letter hurrily to the King. Guards  were sent

at onceto examine the cellars of the house of  Parliament.  And

therethey found Guy Fawker about to fire a trail  of gunpowder.

He wastortured and hanged, Catesby was killed, resisting  arrest

in hisown house. In  memory  of that  day  bonfires are  still

lighted,fireworks shoot across the November sky and figures  of

Guy Fawker are burnt in the streets.

             Topic N5 «Thomas Jefferson(1743-1826)»

ThomasJefferson one of the American President of the  past  was

born in <st1:State w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>Virginia</st1:place></st1:State> in 1743. Whenhe was 14 years  old,  his father

died andthe young boy was left to choose for himself what to do.

<st1:place w:st=«on»>Jefferson</st1:place>studied literature and languages. He also studied to be

alawyer, and later he wrote many of the <st1:State w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>Virginia</st1:place></st1:State>  laws. One  of

the lawsfor which he worked very much was a law to  allow  many

child togo to school free. Schools in <st1:country-region w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>America</st1:place></st1:country-region>were only for  the

childrenwhose parents were rich.  When  <st1:place w:st=«on»>Jefferson</st1:place>  was still  a

youngman he was one of those who wanted freedom  from  <st1:country-region w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>England</st1:place></st1:country-region>.

His mostoutstanding  archivment  was as  chief  author of  the

Declarationof <st1:City w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>Independence</st1:place></st1:City>,a  statement  of human  rights  and

liberties.It was read to the happy people on the 4th  of  July,

1776. <st1:place w:st=«on»>Jefferson</st1:place> also drew up the  constitution  for his  state,

<st1:State w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>Virginia</st1:place></st1:State>, and served as its governor. He wassent  to <st1:country-region w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>France</st1:place></st1:country-region>  as

the  foreign minister  of  the United  States  of America  and

afterwardswas President's <st1:State w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>Washington</st1:place></st1:State>secretary of state.  A  few

yearslater he became the country's third president, serving  in

thisposition for 2 terms.  The  author of  the  Declaration of

<st1:City w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>Independence</st1:place></st1:City>did another important thing for theAmerican people.

Heworked out a plan for a  university  where the  students  and

teacherscould live and work together  in  a village  build  for

them. Itwas one of the first schools to teach science. Today, it

is the <st1:place w:st=«on»><st1:PlaceType w:st=«on»>university</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName w:st=«on»>Virginia</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>. This well known  man was  also  a

self-tought architect. He introduced the simple classical  design

to <st1:country-region w:st=«on»>America</st1:country-region> when he designed the <st1:place w:st=«on»><st1:PlaceName w:st=«on»>Virginia</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st=«on»>State</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st=«on»>Capital</st1:PlaceName>  <st1:PlaceType w:st=«on»>Building</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>.

He alsodesigned his own home, he remained the most  influencial

architectof his time. Thomas Jefferson did many  useful  things

duringhis life time  and  he always  thought  of how  to  help

ordinarypeople. He was a  practical  and theoretical  scientist

too. <st1:place w:st=«on»>Jefferson</st1:place>'s best traditions have been kept  up by  American

progressivepeople in their struggle for peace and democracy.

                         Topic N6«Pets»

TheEnglish people like  animals  very much.  Pet:  dogs, cats,

horses,ducks, canaries, chickens and other friends of men have a

muchbetter life in <st1:country-region w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region>,than anywhere else. In <st1:country-region w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region>  they

havespecial dog shops, selling food, clothes and  other  things

fordogs. There are dog hair-dressing saloons and dog  cemetries.

TheEnglish arrange dogs' shows and organize dogs' supper parties

for winnersof dogs' competitions. They do all they can to  make

animalsfeel well in their home  and  outside their  homes  too.

Therewere photographs in English newspapres of a motherduck and

heryoung family, crossing slowly the road  from  <st1:place w:st=«on»>Hyde  Park</st1:place>  to

<st1:place w:st=«on»><st1:PlaceName w:st=«on»>Kensington</st1:PlaceName><st1:PlaceType w:st=«on»>Garden</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>. All traffic around wasstopped  to  let Mamma

Duck andher little ones walked quitly from one park to  another.

Inrecent years the English began to show love for  more  exotic

animalssuch as crocodiles, elephants, tigers,  cobras,  camels.

Youwon't be surprised, we think, when we tell you  that  <st1:City w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>London</st1:place></st1:City>

Airporthas a special «animal hotel». Every  year  thousands of

animalsarrive at <st1:place w:st=«on»><st1:PlaceName w:st=«on»>London</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st=«on»>Airport</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>, some  stay  the night  there;

othersstay several weeks. In one month, for example, «the hotel»

lookedafter 47000 creatures: birds, insects, fish,  elephants,

mpnkeyand other animals. There are about 4000000 dogs,  6000000

cats,8000000 caged birds and lots of other animals in  <st1:country-region w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region>.

TheEnglish people belive that they are the only  nation on  the

<span Courier New"; mso-ansi-language:EN-US">Earth that is really kind to its animals.

<span Courier New"; mso-ansi-language:EN-US">

                   Topic N7 "<st1:place w:st=«on»><st1:City w:st=«on»>Washington</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st=«on»>DC</st1:State></st1:place>"

The cityof <st1:City w:st=«on»>Washington</st1:City>, the  capital of  the  <st1:country-region w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>United  States</st1:place></st1:country-region>  of

<st1:country-region w:st=«on»>America</st1:country-region>is located in the <st1:State w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>District of  Columbia</st1:place></st1:State>  (DC for  short)

Manypeople consider <st1:place w:st=«on»><st1:City w:st=«on»>Washington</st1:City> <st1:State w:st=«on»>DC</st1:State></st1:place> to be one of the most beatiful

citiesin the world. It is filled with many parks, wide  streets

andimpressive buildings. In the centre of the city,  in Capitol

Park,  visitors' eyes  focus  on  the  Capitol, where  Congress

convenceto inect laws. Many visitors come to  <st1:place w:st=«on»><st1:City w:st=«on»>Washington</st1:City>  <st1:State w:st=«on»>DC</st1:State></st1:place>  to

see theWhite House. It is the greatest attraction for  many  of

them.The White House, the official residence of the  President,

issituated at <st1:Street w:st=«on»><st1:address w:st=«on»>1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.</st1:address></st1:Street> The largest room in

thisbuilding of over the hundreds room is the East Room,  scene

of manystate receptions, balls and musicals. Other famous  rooms

are: theGreen Room, the Blue Room, the Red Room, which are  used

forafternoon teas and for receptions held before state  dinners.

The BlueRoom, the most formal  of  these «colors»  room  is  an

oval-shapedroom connecting the Green and the Red Rooms. On  the

secondfloor, the floor  with  the family  quarters  and quests

rooms,is the Lincoln Room, which one served as  an  office for

president<st1:City w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>Lincoln</st1:place></st1:City> buttoday serves as an  honor  guest room.  In

thisroom Lincoln signed the emansipationproclamation  of  1863.

Otherlandmarks in  <st1:place w:st=«on»><st1:City w:st=«on»>Washington</st1:City>  <st1:State w:st=«on»>DC</st1:State></st1:place> include  memorials  to three

Presidents:The <st1:State w:st=«on»>Washington</st1:State> Memorial, The <st1:City w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>Lincoln</st1:place></st1:City> Memorial and The

<st1:place w:st=«on»>Jefferson</st1:place>Memorial; The Library of Congress, The National Gallary

of Art,The John F. Kennedy center for the  Perfoming  Arts.  The

Capitolis in the very center of <st1:State w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>Washington</st1:place></st1:State>.It is located on the

CapitolHill, the highest point in the city. The Capitol  is  the

highestbuilding in <st1:State w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>Washington</st1:place></st1:State>.There is a law in <st1:State w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>Washington</st1:place></st1:State>  not

to buildbuildings higher than the Capitol. The conrer  stone of

theCapitol was laid by George Washington on Sep 18th, 1793.  The

Capitolis the seat of the goverment  of the  <st1:country-region w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>United  States</st1:place></st1:country-region>  of

<st1:country-region w:st=«on»><st1:place w:st=«on»>America</st1:place></st1:country-region>.

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