База знаний студента. Реферат, курсовая, контрольная, диплом на заказ

                Topic N1 "The British Parliament"

The British Parliament is the oldest in the world. It  originated

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

whom the King needed to consult pursuing his policy. The  British

Parliament consists of the  House  of  Lords  and  the  House  of

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

major role in law-making. It consists of  Members  of  Parliament

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

England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. MPs are elected either at a

general election or at  a  by-election  following  the  death  or

retirement. Parliamentary elections are held every 5 years and it

is the Prime Minister  who  decides  on  the  exact  day  of  the

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

by secret ballot. The election campaign lasts about 3 weeks,  The

British parliamentary system depends on politicals  parties.  The

party which wins the majority of seats forms  the  goverment  and

its leader usually becomes Prime  Minister.  The  Prime  Minister

chooses about 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

opposition with its own leader and "shadow cabinet".  The  leader

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

The parliament and  the  monarch  have  different  roles  in  the

goverment and they only meet together on symbolic occasions, such

as coronation of a new monarch or the opening of the  parliament.

In reality, the House of Commons is the one of  three  which  has

true power. The House of Commons is made up of  six  hundred  and

fifty elected members, it is presided  over  by  the  speaker,  a

member acceptable 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

members of both parties (called "front benches") The back benches

belong to the rank-and-life MPs. Each session  of  the  House  of

Commons lasts for 160-175 days. Parliament has  intervals  during

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

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

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

proposed law ("a bill") has to go through three stages  in  order

to become an act of parliament, these are called "readings".  The

first reading is a formality and is simply the publication of the

proposal. The second reading involves debate on the principles of

the bill, it is examination by parliamentary  committy.  And  the

third reading is a report stage, when the work of the committy is

reported on to the house. This  is  usually  the  most  important

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

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

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

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

Parliament and the Law of the Land. The House of Lords  has  more

than 1000 members, although only about 250 take an active part in

the work in the house.  Members  of  this  Upper  House  are  not

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

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

special seat, called "WoolSack" The members of the House of Lords

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

Some changes may be recommended and the agreement between the two

houses is reached by negotiations.

                       Topic N2 "US Congress"

The United States of America is a federal republic consisting  of

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

goverment"). In some ways the United  States  is  like  50  small

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

its own laws. The present constitution was proclaimed in 1787  in

Philadelphia, the President is the head of the whole country  and

the goverment and "commandering chief" of the  armed  forces.  He

makes the most important decisions and chooses the ministers, the

members of his cabinet. But the President cannot do just what  he

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

president every four years. The residence of the President is the

White House in Washington, the Capital city. The goverment of the

whole country (the Federal goverment) works from Washington, this

is where the Congress is based. The Capitol is the seat of the US

Congress. Congress is the American parliament which consists of 2

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

Congress met in 1789  in  New  York  city.  The  membership  then

consisted of 22 senators and 59 representatives. Today the  House

of Representatives has 435 members. Elections to the  house  take

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

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

two years elections to the senate took place  when  one/third  of

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

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

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

elected to the House of Representatives. Whose, who are under  30

can't be elected in the Senate. The main political parties in the

United States  of  America  are  the  Democratic  Party  and  the

Republlican Party.

                         Topic N3 "Business Trips"

Never before in the history of the world have businessmen  traveled

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

living in a world of growing international  trade  and  expanding

economic and technical cooperation. Fascinating though it is  for

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

the occupations for many  businessmen  and  experts.  Choosing  a

comfortable hotel 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  India,    Egypt,

Nigeria,  Lybia,  etc  have  excellent  hotels.  Their   numerous

facilities include both: large and small cocktail barber's  shops

and conference halls, equipped  with  simultaneous,  multilingual

translation systems. There are parking areas which can accomodate

a lot of cars. It might be useful for travelling businessmen  and

tourists to  know  that  tailor  shops,  shoe  repair  shops  and

laundry, dry cleaning services are available for  guests.  People

in the office help guests to book train or  steamer  tickets  and

rent a car. They are also ready to give all necessary information.

Nowadays people who go on business mostly travel by air as it  is

the fastest means of  travelling.  Passengers  are  requested  to

arrive  at  the  airport  2  hours  before  departure  time    on

international flights 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

register the luggage. Most airlines have at least  2  classes  of

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

passenger of more  than  2  years  of  age  has  a  free  luggage

allowance.  Generally  this limit  is  20kg  for  economic  class

passenger and 30kg for first class passenger. Excess luggage must

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

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

geparture gate 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

when leaving the plane.

              Topic N4 "Customs and Traditions"

There are many customs and traditions in  England.  And  I  would

like to tell you some of them. First tradition is  called  "Wrong

side of the bed" When people are bad tempered we  say  that  they

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

meant quiet literally. People belive that the way  they  rose  in

the morning affected their behaivor throughout the day. The wrong

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

linked with evil.  Second  custom  is  called  "Blowing  out  the

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

to the ancient Greeks. Worshippers of Artemis, godess of the moon

and hunting, used to place honey  cakes  on  the  altars  of  her

temples on her birthday. The cakes were round like the full  moon

and lit with tapers. This custom was next recorded in the  middle

ages when German peasants  lit  tapers  on  birthday  cakes,  the

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

represent the light of life. From earliest  days  burning  tapers

had been endoued with mystical significance and  it  was  belived

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

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

tell you is called "The 5th of November" On the 5th  of  November

in almost every otwn and village in England  you  will  see  fire

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

see too small groups of children pulling round  in  a  home  made

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

old suit of 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

the children with "the Guy" are not likely to know  who  or  what

day they are celebrating. They have done this more or less  every

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

the throne. He was hated with many  people  especialy  the  Roman

catholics against whom many sever laws had been passed. A  number

of catholics chief of whom was Robert Catesby determined to  kill

the King and his ministers by blowing up the house of  Parliament

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

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

for attempt was the  5th  of  November,  the  day  on  which  the

Parliament was to open. But one of the consperators  had  several

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

wrote a letter to Lord Monteagle begging him to make some  excuse

to be  absent  from  parliament  if  he  valued  his  life.  Lord

Monteagle took the letter hurrily to the King. Guards  were  sent

at once to examine the cellars of the house  of  Parliament.  And

there they found Guy Fawker about to fire a trail  of  gunpowder.

He was tortured and hanged, Catesby was killed, resisting  arrest

in his own 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)"

Thomas Jefferson one of the American President of  the  past  was

born in Virginia in 1743. When he was 14 years  old,  his  father

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

Jefferson studied literature and languages. He also studied to be

a lawyer, and later he wrote many of the Virginia  laws.  One  of

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

child to go to school free. Schools in America were only for  the

children whose parents were rich.  When  Jefferson  was  still  a

young man he was one of those who wanted  freedom  from  England.

His most outstanding  archivment  was  as  chief  author  of  the

Declaration of Independence, a  statement  of  human  rights  and

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

1776. Jefferson also drew up  the  constitution  for  his  state,

Virginia, and served as its governor. He was sent  to  France  as

the  foreign  minister  of  the  United  States  of  America  and

afterwards was President's Washington secretary of state.  A  few

years later he became the country's third president,  serving  in

this position for 2 terms.  The  author  of  the  Declaration  of

Independence did another important thing for the American people.

He worked out a plan for a  university  where  the  students  and

teachers could live and work together  in  a  village  build  for

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

is the university of Virginia. This well known  man  was  also  a

self-tought architect. He introduced the simple classical  design

to America when he designed the Virginia State Capital  Building.

He also designed his own home, he remained the  most  influencial

architect of his time. Thomas Jefferson did  many  useful  things

during his life time  and  he  always  thought  of  how  to  help

ordinary people. He was a  practical  and  theoretical  scientist

too. Jefferson's best traditions have been kept  up  by  American

progressive people in their struggle for peace and democracy.

                         Topic N6 "Pets"

The English people like  animals  very  much.  Pet:  dogs,  cats,

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

much better life in Britain, than anywhere else. In Britain  they

have special dog shops, selling food, clothes  and  other  things

for dogs. There are dog hair-dressing saloons and dog  cemetries.

The English arrange dogs' shows and organize dogs' supper parties

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

animals feel well in their home  and  outside  their  homes  too.

There were photographs in English newspapres of a mother duck and

her young family, crossing slowly the  road  from  Hyde  Park  to

Kensington Garden. All traffic around was stopped  to  let  Mamma

Duck and her little ones walked quitly from one park to  another.

In recent years the English began to show love  for  more  exotic

animals such as crocodiles, elephants,  tigers,  cobras,  camels.

You won't be surprised, we think, when we tell  you  that  London

Airport has a special "animal hotel".  Every  year  thousands  of

animals arrive at London Airport,  some  stay  the  night  there;

others stay several weeks. In one month, for example, "the hotel"

looked after 47000 creatures: birds, insects,  fish,  elephants,

mpnkey and other animals. There are about 4000000  dogs,  6000000

cats, 8000000 caged birds and lots of other animals  in  Britain.

The English people belive that they are the only  nation  on  the

Earth that is really kind to its animals.

                   Topic N7 "Washington, DC"

The city of Washington, the  capital  of  the  United  States  of

America is located in the District of  Columbia  (DC  for  short)

Many people consider Washington DC to be one of the most beatiful

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

and impressive buildings. In the centre of the city,  in  Capitol

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

convence to inect laws. Many visitors come to  Washington  DC  to

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

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

is situated at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. The largest room in

this building of over the hundreds room is the East  Room,  scene

of many state receptions, balls and musicals. Other famous  rooms

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

for afternoon teas and for receptions held before state  dinners.

The Blue Room, the most formal  of  these  "colors"  room  is  an

oval-shaped room connecting the Green and the Red Rooms.  On  the

second floor, the floor  with  the  family  quarters  and  quests

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

president Lincoln but today serves as an  honor  guest  room.  In

this room Lincoln signed the emansipation proclamation  of  1863.

Other landmarks in  Washington  DC  include  memorials  to  three

Presidents: The Washington Memorial, The Lincoln Memorial and The

Jefferson Memorial; The Library of Congress, The National Gallary

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

Capitol is in the very center of Washington. It is located on the

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

highest building in Washington. There is a law in Washington  not

to build buildings higher than the Capitol. The conrer  stone  of

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

Capitol is the seat of the goverment  of  the  United  States  of

America.

                Topic N1 "The British Parliament" The British Parliament is the oldest in the world. It  originated in th 12th century as Witenagemot, the body of  wise  councellers whom the King needed to consult pursuing his policy. The  B

 

• 14:21 05 Июля 2016
  Российско-китайский медуниверситет откроет магистерскую программу по TCM
• 01:21 05 Июля 2016
  На форуме МГУ Россия и Китай обсудят научно-образовательное сотрудничество
• 11:00 04 Июля 2016
  Реморенко: "ЕГЭ-туризм" в России сходит на нет
• 10:52 04 Июля 2016
  Летняя российско-австрийская школа откроется в Москве
• 15:31 01 Июля 2016
  В СПбГУ могут воссоздать географический факультет

Заказать уникальную работу