Topic:English Speaking Countries.Political system.

Read the text and do the given tasks:

The English Language
There are over 2,700 different languages in the world. However, millions of people are learning English.
Why? Because it’s the most important international language in the world. English is the most popular
language of communications nowadays. One billion people speak English. That’s 20 % of the world’s
population.
It is spoken by 400 million people as their first language. For the other 600 million it’s either a second
language or a foreign language.
Nearly all the companies in Europe communicate with each other in English. 75% of all international
letters, telexes and e-mails are in English.
English is the first language in: Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, the
USA, South Africa, India and many Carribean islands.
English is the language used in politics, pop music, computing, science and medicine, TV , satelites and
aeroplanes and Internet.
English developed because the English travelled around the world and were the rulers of the biggest
Empire ever. Now everything is different. English reaches all the corners of the world because of TV,
satelites and aeroplanes and Internet. New words travel quickly. English vocabulary is getting bigger and
bigger every year. No one knows the future of English, but everybody knows that if you don’t learn it,
you’ll feel culturaly illiterate.
Ex.1 Answer TRUE or FALSE and support your choice from the text.
1.English is spoken as first language in every continent.
2.More than a billion people speak English as their first language.
3.English is the only language used for business and communication.
4. English is spoken in so many countries in the world only because of the means of communication.
5.If you don’t know English it is almost as if you didn’t know how to read and write.

UK Political System
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is constitutional monarchy. This means
that Great Britain is governed by the Parliament and the Queen is Head of State.
The legislative power in the country is exercised by the Houses of Parliament. The British
Parliament consists of two chambers: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of
Lords is composed of hereditary and life peers and peeresses. The members of the House of
Commons are elected by the people. They are elected from the constituencies in England, Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland. The House of Commons is the real governing body of the United Kingdom.
The executive power is exercised by Prime Minister and his Cabinet. The government is
usually formed by the political party which is supported by the majority in the House of Commons.
Prime Minister is the majority party leader and is appointed by the Queen. Prime Minister chooses a
team of ministers; twenty of the ministers are in the Cabinet.
The second largest party becomes the official opposition with its own leader and the Shadow
Cabinet. The two leading parties in Great Britain are the Conservative Party (the Tories) and the Labour
Party.
The judiciary branch of the government determines common law and is independent of both the
legislative and the executive branches.
There is no written constitution in Great Britain, only precedents and traditions.
Ex.2 Answer the questions:
1.What does the term «constitutional monarchy» mean?
2.What body (орган) exercises the legislative power in the country?
3.How are the chambers of the Parliament composed?
4.What body exercises the executive power?
5.How is the executive branch of the government formed?
6What is the official opposition?
7. What does the judiciary branch of the government do?
8.Is there a written Constitution in Great Britain?