Uk Political System
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a constitutional monarchy. This means that Great Britain is governed by the Parliament and the Queen is Head of State.
The
legislative power in
the country is
exercised
by
the
Houses
of Parliament.
The
British Parliament consists of two chambers the
House of Lords and
the
House of Commons. The
House of Lords is
composed of
hereditary
]
(потомственный)
and
life peers and peeresses
.
The
members
of
the House of Commons are
elected by the people. They
are
elected from the
constituencies
(избирательные
округа)
in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The House of
Commons is the
real
governing (руководящий)
body
of
the United Kingdom
The executive power is exercised by Prime Minister and his Cabinet. The government is usually formed by the political party which is supported by the majority in the House of Commons. Prime Minister is the majority party leader and is appointed by the Queen. Prime Minister chooses a team of ministers; twenty of the ministers are in the Cabinet.
The second largest party becomes the official opposition with its own leader and the Shadow Cabinet. The two leading parties in Great Britain are the Conservative Party (the Tories) and the Labour Party.
The
judicial branch of the
government determines
(определяет,
устанавливает)
common law and is independent of both
the
legislative
and the executive branches.
There
is no written
constitution in
great Britain, only precedents
and
traditions.
The
present Sovereign
is Queen Elisabeth II. Today the Queen isn't only head of the state,
but also an important symbol of national unity. In law the Queen is
head of the executive and the judicial brunches of the government,
the commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of the Royalty and
theestablished (признанная)
Church of England. The monarchy's
absolute power has been progressively
reduced (ограничена),
the Queen is impartial
and acts on the advise of her ministers. The Queen and the Royal
family continue to take part in many traditionalceremonies.
Their visits to different parts of Britain and to many other
countries attract
(притягивает)
considerable interests and publicity.
Keeping the inviring clean progress and problems
The planet Earth is only a tiny part of the universe, but it's the only place where human beings can live.
People always polluted their surroundings. But until now pollution was not such a serious problem. People Lived in uncrowded rural areas and did not have pollution - causing machines. With the development of crowded industrial cities, which put huge amounts of pollutants into small areas, the problem has become more important. Today our planet is in serious danger. Acid rains, global warming, air and water pollution, and overpopulation are the problems that threaten human life on Earth.
Our forests are disappearing because they are cut down or burnt. If this trend continues one day we won't have enough oxygen to breathe.
The seas are in danger. They are filled with poison: industrial and nuclear waste, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The Mediterranean is already nearly dead; the North Sea is following. The Aral Sea is on the brink of extinction. If nothing is done about it, one day nothing will be able to live in the seas.
Every ten minutes one kind of animal, plant or insect dies out forever. If nothing is done about it, one million species that are alive today may soon become extinct.
Air pollution is another serious problem. In Cairo just breathing the air is dangerous - equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. The same holds true for many Russian cites.
Factories emit tons of harmful chemicals. These emissions have disastrous consequences for our planet. They are the main reason for the greenhouse effect and acid rains.
And even greater threat are nuclear power stations. We all know how tragic the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster are.
Fortunately, it's not too late to solve these problems. We have the time, the money and even the technology to make our planet a better, cleaner and safer place. We can plant trees and create parks for endangered species. We can recycle litter. Individuals and groups of people can work together to persuade enterprises to stop polluting activities.