US Government and Constitution

Вариант 1

1. Перепишите и переведите письменно текст на русский язык. При переводе пользуйтесь англо – русским словарем.

US Government and Constitution

1. By the Constitution of 1787 (and amendments to it) the Government of the USA is composed of three branches: the executive one, the legislative one and the judicial one. The executive power of the United States is vested in the President of the United States, who is elected for a term of four years by electors of each state. The Presidential election is held every fourth year in November. The president of the USA must be a native born citizen, resident in the country for 14 years and at least 35 year old. The President is to carry out the programs of the government, to recommend much of the legislation to the Congress. He is to appoint Federal Judges, ambassadors to other countries and some heads of various government departments, called secretaries.

2. The legislative power belongs to the Congress of the United States consisting of two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate is composed of two members of each state elected for a term of 6 years, one third being elected every two years. The number of representatives from each state depends on the number of people in each particular state. In order to become a law all bills and resolutions have to pass both houses and must be signed by the President. An important role in American legislation is played by so-called “lobbyists”. They are often more influential than congressmen themselves.

3. The Supreme Court is the highest judicial organ of the United States and the head of the judicial branch of power. The Supreme Court consists of the Chief Justice of the USA and a number of associated Justices.

4. The United States is divided into 11 judicial circuits, each one being served with a Federal Court of Appeals. There are about 90 district courts in the United States. The district courts are the lowest ones in the Federal court system. Most of the criminal and civil cases have been always tried by these courts.

5. The form of the US government is based on the Constitution, adopted after the War of Independence. A “constitution” in the American political language means the set of rules, laws, regulations and customs together provided the political norms or standards regulating the work of the government. The document known as the Constitution of the United States, though the basic document is only the part of the body of rules and customs which form the whole of the American Constitution. Supreme Court decisions, interpreting parts of the US Constitution, laws, regulations, and customs are part of the basic law (the so-called live constitution*). Most Historians regard the US Constitution as an essentially conservative document.

6. The US Constitution consists of the preamble, seven articles and twenty six amendments, the first ten of them called collectively the Bill of Rights adopted under the popular pressure in 1791. When the Constitution was first proposed, there was wide spread dissatisfaction because nothing could contain any guarantee of certain basic freedoms and individual rights. In December, 1791, the Congress adopted ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights. The Bill enumerated what the government was not going to be allowed to do. It was, of course, an important democratic gain for the people of that time. But nowadays some of these ten amendments are relatively unimportant. The Bill of Rights is sometimes violated by the judicial and law enforcement practice.

7. Americans feel that of all the freedoms proclaimed in the Constitution only one freedom – freedom of enterprise is in fact guaranteed. If there is no freedom to work, no guaranteed labor, you’ll have to face unemployment and poverty.

Ответьте письменно на вопросы по тексту. Вопросы переведите.

1. Who does the highest executive power in the United States belong to?

2. What must all bills and resolutions pass in order to become law?

3. Where are most of the criminal and civil cases tried?

4. What is the US Constitution aimed at? Why?

5. Why was there wide-spread dissatisfaction among the people when the

Constitution was first proposed?

Дата добавления: 2015-07-20