Additional texts for reading u.K. Political system

The U.K of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch, Queen Elizabeth II as head of state.

The legislature, Parliament, is the supreme authority. It comprises 2 chambers – the House of Lords and House of Commons – together with the Queen in her constitutional role.

The executive consists of the central Government – that is the Prime-Minister and Cabinet and other ministers who are responsible for initiating and directing the national policy, government departments, local authorities, and public corporations. The judiciary determines common law and interpret status and is independent of both the legislature and executive.

The Government derives its authority from the elected House of Commons. A general election for all seats in the House of Commons must be held every 5 years. The Government is normally formed by the political party which is supported by the majority in the House of Commons. The Party's leader is appointed Prime-Minister by the Queen. He chooses a team of ministers of whom 20 or so are in the Cabinet. The second largest party becomes the official opposition with its own leader and Shadow Cabinet. The House of Commons comprises members from the constituencies in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who represent people whose history and traditions differ.

The House of Lords is a hereditary Chamber.

The weather in great britain

It is never too hot or too cold m Great Britain. This is because of the sea, which keeps the island warm in winter and makes the air cool in summer. The winds are also very often in Great Britain. They blow from the south-west two days out of every three. But the warm winds from the Atlantic are very wet. They also bring a lot of rain to the island. The east or north-east winds are cold and dry.

The weather very often changes in Great Britain. You can never have the same kind of weather for a long time. In spring, for example, sunshine and showers follow each other so often during the day that an umbrella or a rain-coat are really necessary in Great Britain. The weather in spring is generally mild, but sometimes the days are really cold. The summer is not so cold as on the continent, and warm days in autumn are beautiful. In winter they have all sorts of weather. Sometimes it rains and sometimes it snows. Still, in Great Britain it is never so cold in winter as in our country and they do not get so much snow there as we get here in Russia. The rivers and lakes are seldom covered with ice. As the ice, if there is any, is not thick enough, they seldom go skating on the rivers in Great Britain.

But the worst thing about the climate in Great Britain is the thick fog they so often have in autumn and in winter. In London it often mixes with the smoke of plants and factories and they call it the “smog”. It is sometimes so thick that cars may run into one another.

Vegetation and wildlife

Britain was originally a land of vast forests, mainly oak and beech in the Lowlands and pine and birch in the Highlands, with great stretches of marshland and smaller areas of moors. In the course of time, much forest land was cleared and almost all Lowlands outside the industrial areas were put under cultivation. Today only about 6 per cent of the total land area remains wooded.

Extensive forests remain in eastern and northern Scotland and in south-eastern and western England. Oak, elm, ash, and beech are the commonest trees in England, while Scotland has much pine and birch. The Highlands with thin soil are largely moorland with heather and grasses. In the cultivated areas that make up most of Britain there are many wild flowers, flowering plants and grasses.

The fauna or animal life of Britain is much like that of north-western Europe, to which it was once joined. Many larger mammals such as bear, wolf have been hunted to extinction, others are now protected by law. There are many foxes. Otters are common along rivers and streams, and seals live along much of the coast. Hedgehogs, hares, rabbits, rats and mice are numerous. Deer live in some of the forests in the Highlands of Scotland and England.

Some 230 kinds of birds live in Britain, and another 200 are regular visitors, many are songbirds. The most numerous are blackbirds, sparrows and starlings. Robin Redbreast is the national bird of Britain. The number of ducks, geese and other water fowl has diminished during recent years.

There are many threats to wildlife and ecological balance around the coast. The biggest threat to the coastline is pollution. Even much-loved Blackpool is not officially safe. More than 3.500 million tons of industrial waste is pumped into the North Sea every year. “We cannot continue to use our seas as a dustbin and expect our coastline to survive,” says Greenpeace. Many other ecological problems may be caused by privatization of the coast. Many of the rivers are ''biologically dead'', i.e. unable to support fish and wildlife.