THE
STATE OPENING OF PARLIAMENT
The
Queen’s speech always takes place on a Wednesday in November, in
the House of Lords at 11 a. m. It is the centrepiece of the State
Opening of Parliament. This is the event where the Queen puts on her
glittering ceremonial dress and crown and speaks from a throne,
watched by her husband, other members of her family and assembled
Lords and MPs. The ceremony begins with a procession of carriages
from Buckingham Palace, bearing the Queen and her family. On arrival
at the House of Lords, she makes her way to the chamber, where the
throne is situated, to make her speech. This has been the practice
since 1536. She is greeted in the House of Lords by the peers and
peeresses in ermine robes. In the Commons, MPs are waiting to
be summoned, dressed slightly less glamorously.
It
is a long-standing tradition that the Monarch never enters the House
of Commons. Instead he or she uses' a messenger, the Gentleman Usher
of the Black Rod, usually known as Black Rod, to summon MPs to the
Lords.
As
Black Rod approaches the Commons chamber across the Central Lobby of
the Houses of Parliament, the door of the Commons is
traditionally slammed in his face, a custom which dates from the
time Charles I
tried to arrest five MPs in 1642,
Black
Rod then raps three times on the door with his ebony stick and the
door is opened. He proceeds, bowing all the time to the table in
front of the Speaker, who maintains order in the debates in the
Commons, to summon MPs to the Lords. The Speaker is elected by the
House of Commons from among its members. Speakers are MPs, but once
elected, they must resign from their party. The Speaker, followed by
the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, then make their
way into the Lords, followed by MPs walking two by two, to hear the
speech.Now read the text and check your list of events.
What
do you think of the ceremony?
Which
of these words do you think describe it best?
beautiful,
traditional, historic, silly, pompous, important, interesting,
event
procession
speech
tradition
custom
debates
opposition
Listening
^PmPre^ens*0^
^'^ec^ 1. Listen to the
text and then fill in the blanks with the proper
words.
Parliament
is the supreme legislative authority and consists of three
separate (1):
the Sovereign, the House of
Lords
and the elected House of Commons. Over the centuries the balance
between the three parts of the legislature has changed, so that the
Queen’s role is now only formal and
the House of Commons hasAnswer the questions.
Define the following words using the dictionary.
gained
supremacy over the (2).
There
are 659 ; (3)
(MPs)
— each member
representing one of the 659 geographical areas
(constituencies)
into which the (4) is divided
for
electoral purposes. Leaders of the
(5)
and Opposition sit on the front benches of the Commons, with their
supporters (back-benchers) behind them. The House is presided over
by the (6).
The
main function of the House of Commons is to legislate, but the
strong party system in Britain has meant that the initiative in
government lies not with Parliament but with the Government
(most Bills are introduced by the Government, although they may also
be introduced by individual MPs) and party members almost
automatically pass whatever is put before them by their party.
The
House of Lords, which is presided over by the Lord Chancellor, is
probably the only upper House in the democratic world whose
(7)
are not elected. It is made up of the
Lords
Spiritual and the Lords Temporal; the former consist of the '
(8)
of the Church of England (the
Archbishops
of York and Canterbury and 25 bishops). The House of Lords can
revise Bills sent to it by the House of Commons but it can
only
delay
a Bill from becoming (9)
for
a
maximum
of 12 months.
The
silver Thames, her own domestic flood, Shall bear her vessels
like a sweeping train, And often wind, as of his mistress proud,
With
longing eyes to meet her face again.
John
Dryden
Pre-Reading
Reading
Answer
the following questions.
What
do you know about London?
Do
you know any places of interest in
London?
What
places of interest would you visit?
Find
these places on the map of London.
Pairwork.
You are at Piccadilly Circus. Using the map, choose a place to
visit, make up a dialogue with a partner and reproduce it. Take in
turns to be the visitor. Here are some useful phrases:
go
straight ahead
turn
left/right
you’ll
find yourself
can
you tell me how to get to...?
is
it the right way to...?
Read
text "London"
and find out:
why
people do not live in the city centre; when London was destroyed;
why London has more than one centre; what parts London consists of.
LONDON
London
began life as a Roman fortification
at a place where the Thames was narrow enough and it was possible to
build the bridge. A wall was built around
the town for defence, but during the long period of peace which
followed the Norman Conquest, people built outside
the
walls. This building continued, especially to the west
of the city.
In 1665
QJdOG
§
m
there
was a terrible plague in London, so many people left the city and
escaped to the villages in the surrounding countryside. In 1666 the
Great Fire of London ended the plague, but it also destroyed much of
the city. Although people returned to live in the rebuilt city after
the plague and the Great Fire, there were never again so many
Londoners living in the city centre.
These
days not many people live in the city centre. Today the metropolis
of Greater London covers some 610 square miles ("1^80
square kilometres) and the suburbs of London continue even beyond
this area. The gradual growth of the city helps to explain the fact
that
London
does not have just one centre, it has a number of centres,
each with a distinct character: the financial and business centre
called the
City, the shopping and entertainment centre
in the West End. and
the
government centre in Westminster.
The
City of London is one of the major banking centres of the world
and you can find bank§
of many nations in the famous Threadneedlc
Street and the surrounding area. Here you will find the Bank
of England. Nearby is the Stock Exchange which is like
a
busv
market,
except that here no food but shares in commercial companies
are bought and sold.
The
East End covers a wide area to the east of the
Citv
There
art- many docks and warehouses there.
It
is also one of those areas of London where people from abroad
have come to find work. The East End is also famous as the centre of
the clothing industry in London.
The
West End is the name given to the area of central London north from
The Mall
to Oxford Street.
It
includes Trafalgar Square, the main shopping
areas, and the entertainment centres of Soho,
Piccadilly
Circus and Shaftsbury Avenue. Its name is associated with glamour
and bright lights.
(DmflG
0
і
Finish
the sentences.
London
was built at a place where
In
1665 there was a terrible plague in London, so
Today
the metropolis of Greater London covers .
The
gradual growth of the city helps to explain the fact
The
City of London is one of the major banking centres of the world and
»■
Ask
questions for these answers.
Threadneedle
Street.
Shares
in commercial companies.
To
the east of the City.
The
clothing industry.
Glamour
and bright lights.
imagine
that you visited London. Tell your classmates about it.
Places
to see in London
Read
the text, choose any place and make up a dialogue. Advise your
friend to visit this place and explain why you think it is worth
seeing.
THE
TOWER OF LONDON
The
Tower of London is the most outstanding link in the chain of the
history of the country. William the Conqueror ordered the building
of the great stone tower, later called the white Tower.
The
Tower of London long continued to be both a fortress and a palace.
It was also a prison. At first
prisoners were often foreign princes and nobles, who had been
captured in war. But later on, in Tudor times, the Tower became the
place where famous and the infamous people were sent. Among the
great men beheaded in the Tower was Sir Thomas More —
the author of the famous Utopia.
For
centuries the Tower housed the royal menagerie. The wild animals are
not kept in the Tower now, but one can
see six ravens there. There is a legend that the Tower will fall if
it loses its ravens. Therefore the birds with clipped wings are
carefully guarded.
Nowadays
the Tower is still a prison. Usually, a prison is a place where
criminals are locked up. But in this prison the jewels are locked
up. The jewels are the famous “crown jewels” of England.
Crown jewels are treasures that belong to a king or a queen.
According to tradition the Tower is guarded by the Yeoman Warders,
or Beefeaters. They still wear their 16th century bright and
colourful Tudor uniforms.