Political Parties of Great Britain

1. Britain has a two-party system. From 1832 to 1918 the dominant parties were the Conservatives on the one hand and the Whigs² or Liberals on the other. Later the Labour party backed by the trade unions replaced the Liberals as the main party of reform, and since 1924 the political scene has been dominated by the Conservative and Labour parties.

2. The Conservative party or the Tories is the party supported traditionally by the rich and the privileged - the monopolists and landowners. It expresses the interests and views of the propertied class.

3. The formation of the Labour party at the beginning of the century was a victory of the labour movement. But Labour Government showed no radical change in policy from the Tories. From the very beginning there were two main trends within the party - the left socialist trend represented by the party's rank-and-file members² and the right-wing trend represented by the party's top leadership. In fact, it's sometimes extremely difficult to tell the difference between the Labour and the Conservative policies.

4. The present day political scene is a combination of various political parties: the Conservatives, the Labour, the Liberal-Democratic party. The membership and parliamentary representation of the Liberal-Democratic party today is almost insignificant, although it does play a certain role in tipping the scales between the two largest parties: the Labour and the Conservatives.

5. The main way in which people exert influence over government is through political parties. These parties organise opinion on national issues, formulating policies which they feel will meet the wishes of as many people as possible.

Notes:

¹ the Whigs — виги (историческое название Либеральной партии)

² rank-and-file members — рядовые члены

1. What are the main political parties in Great Britain?

2. What are the dominant parties in modern Britain?

3. Is the role of the Liberal party today insignificant?

4. There is little difference between the Labour and the Conservative policies, isn't there?

5. What is the ruling party in Great Britain now?

II. Письменно переведите 3-й и 5-й абзацы текста.

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

Traditionally, landowner, formation, radical, movement, leadership, extremely, conservative, combination, political, powerful, influential, membership, representative, insignificant, social, strengthen.

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

1. The Queen has opened the session of Parliament with a throne speech. 2. The Cabinet developed from the Queen's Privy Council. 3. The Cabinet consists of 16 to 24 ministers whom the Prime Minister has appointed. 4. Members of the House of Commons are passing into the lobbies to show which way they are voting. 5. If a bill has a majority of votes in the House of Commons it will go before the House of Lords.

V. Преобразуйте предложения из страдательного залога в действительный.

1. The Liberals were replaced by the Labour party. 2. Since 1924 the political scene of Great Britain has been dominated by the Conservatives and the Liberals. 3. The Conservatives are traditionally supported by the rich and the privileged. 4. Finally a bill will be signed by the Queen. 5. A bill is being discussed in the House of Commons now.

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

1. A broad democratic alliance must be built. 2. The sitting is to take place in 10 Downing Street. 3. They should participate in the movement aiming to bring about fundamental change. 4. The Liberals couldn't prevent the establishment of the Labour party. 5. Every right enjoyed by the British working class had to be won in the course of bitter struggle. 6. Each constituency is able to elect only one member to Parliament.

VIII. Выберите нужное местоимение из данных в скобках.

1. I have not seen him for (some, any) years. 2. Is (something, anything) wrong with my papers? 3. (Everybody, somebody) should know his rights and enjoy them. 4. For more than seventy years we knew (anything, nothing) about the true history of our country. 5. You can take this book at (some, any) library.

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

1. Newspapers reported that the session (to begin) its work two weeks later. 2. He wondered if the committee (to discuss) all the questions on the agenda. 3. She said she (to phone) from the office then. 4. I thought it (to be) a financial bill.

TEST II

I. Прочтите текст и письменно ответьте на вопросы, следующие за ним.