Annotations

Vest – to furnish with authority; inferior – lower in rank, order, place; appeal – an urgent call for sympathy or aid; resign – to give up a position; maritime cases – cases, relating to the sea; quorum – the number of persons who must, by the rules, be present at a meeting,, to make its decisions valid; judiciary (federal) – judicial branch of power; claim – the right to ask for; allege – to present a statement (as a fact), to claim smth. to be true; customs – import duties ( tax ).

Task 17. Fill in the blank with the correct word:

1. The judicial power consists of a system of courts spread throughout the country and is headed by ….

2. By Constitution the courts have the power to hear and decide the two classes of cases - ….

3. One of the most important duties of the Supreme Court is to decide whether laws passed by the Congress agree with the ….

4. The legal … of Justices of the Supreme Court, participating in the decisions, is six.

5. The United States is divided into 11 separate regions, each of them being served by a court of ….

6. Almost all accused of committing federal crimes are tried in the ….

7. Another important special court is the Customs Court, which has exclusive jurisdiction over cases, connected with taxes or quotas on ….

Task 18. Find out whether the statement is true or false according to the information in the text:

1. The Congress has the authority to create and abolish federal courts, as well as to determine the number of judges in the federal judicial system.

2. The federal judges are appointed by the Congress for life, in practice, until they die, retire or resign.

3. The Supreme Court consists of a Chief Justice and nine Associate Justices.

4. Most of the cases heard by the Supreme Court are on appeal from lower federal courts.

5. Each state has at least two district courts.

6. Usually claims are for unpaid salary, property taken for public use, contractual obligations, and personal injuries for which the Federal Government is allegedly responsible.

7. Another important special court is the Customs Court, which has exclusive jurisdiction over cases, connected with monetary problems.

Task 19. Answer the following questions:

1. What are the powers of federal and state courts?

2. What are the chief functions of the Appeals Courts?

3. What are the functions of the Supreme Court of the USA?

4. Who does the Supreme Court consist of?

5. Are the Supreme Court Justices elected?

6. What is the role of the district courts?

7. Examine special courts and their functions.

Task 20. Make up a dialogue about the US State Structure.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-20