Pronounce the following words paying attention to short and long vowels.

[ɔ:]source,authority,law

[ɔ]confidence, monarchy, common, foreign

[a:]parliament, part

[ʌ]country,current, government, ultimate, judge

[i:]Queen, leader, previous

[i]kingdom, simple, minimum, signature

[u:]statute, choose, approval

4. Pronounce the following words. Explain the use of the sounds [s] or [z].

Serves, dependencies, position, those, system, assemblies, states, rises, consists.

5. Pronounce the following words. Explain the use of the sounds [g] or [dʒ].

Legislate, government, legacy, to govern, judge, to manage.

Grammar exercises

Translate the following word combinations into Russian.

The UK’s Constitution; the UK’s head of government; Her Majesty’s Government; the Prime Minister’s choices; members of the Prime Minister’s party; Her Majesty’s Most Honorable Privy Council; the UK’s three major political parties; the King’s powers; Britain’s 1-st constitutional monarch; without Parliament’s approval; St. George’s Cross.

Use the Possessive Case.

ü the head of the state;

ü the monarch of the United Kingdom;

ü the authority of the Queen;

ü the Parliament of the United Kingdom;

ü the position of the Prime Minister;

ü territories of the British Empire;

ü the National Party of Scotland;

ü a legacy of the British Empire.

Write the plural of the following nouns. Mind the spelling.

Country, source, election, hair, territory, judge, house, oversea, authority, difference, woman, half, boundary, lowland, foot, valley.

Fill in the blanks with the articles where necessary.

1). … British Parliament is … oldest in … world. It originated in … 12-th century. … British Parliament consists of … House of … Lords and … House of … Commons and … Queen as its … head. … main functions of … Parliament are: to pass laws; to provide, by voting taxation, … means of carrying on the work of government. … House of … Commons plays … role in law-making. Parliamentary elections are held every 5 years and it is … Prime Minister who decides on the exact day of … election. … leader of … party which wins … majority of seats usually becomes … Prime Minister. … Prime Minister’s Office is situated at … 11 … Downing Street.

2). … United Kingdom of … Great Britain and … Northern Ireland is situated on … British Isles. … British Isles consist of two large islands, Great Britain (GB) and Ireland, and about five thousand small islands.

… UK is made up of four countries: … England, … Scotland, … Wales and … Northern Ireland.

… British Isles are separated from … European continent by … North Sea and … English Channel. … western coast of … GB is washed by … Atlantic Ocean and … Irish Sea.

… surface of … British Isles varies very much. … north of … Scotland is mountainous and is called … Highlands, while … south, which has beautiful valleys and plains, is called … Lowlands.

There are … lot of rivers in … GB, but they are not very long. … Severn is … longest river, while … Thames is … deepest and … most important one.

Insert prepositions.

The Prime Minister is usually the leader … the party that has a majority … the House of Commons. All the affairs of the state are conducted … the name of the Queen (or King), but really the Prime Minister is responsible … every measure submitted … Parliament. He is the virtual ruler of the country, presiding … the meeting of the Cabinet, which are always secret. Unless there is a Coalition Government, the members of the Cabinet belong … one party only.

When once a party has won a majority of votes, it forms the Government, and may hold office … five years, unless it is defeated … the Opposition on some important Bill, or unless it decides to "appeal … the country" and to have another general election. The British Government consists … the Prime Minister and other Ministers. The Cabinet meets … №10 Downing Street, the official residence of the Prime Minister. The Members of the Cabinet introduce legislation, control finance, arrange the time-table of the Houses of Parliament, conduct foreign affairs, dispose military forces and exercise control … every department of administration.

Vocabulary and Comprehension Exercises

Give Russian equivalents.

Constitutional monarchy, the Commonwealth, to have the authority, legal framework, treaty, to pass the law, codified Constitution, the House of Commons, the Cabinet, to be responsible for, Privy Council, legislative authority, to require an assent, to become law, simple plurality, to call a new election, constituency, to exercise power.

Give English equivalents.

Гражданство, править, договор, отменять, назначаться, отвечать за что-либо, исполнительная власть, юридическая власть, законодательная власть, становиться законом, одобрение, выбирать, большинство, срок, конституционная монархия, управлять внешними связями и проблемами обороны, основанный на традициях.

Match the word with its description.

Answer the questions.Use the following expressions to begin your answer.

The text tells the reader that…

I think…

I suppose…

If I got it right…

It seems to me that …

In my opinion …