V. Practice
Exercise 8. Speak on the topic “Geographical Position of Ukraine”. Use the chart.
Agriculture main
products: grain,
sugar beet, flax, sunflowers; potato
VI. Reading and comprehension
Exercise 9. Read and translate the text B.
Text B
Political System of Ukraine
Ukraine
is a sovereign state. On June 16, 1990 the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
passed the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine. On August
24,1991, Ukraine’s independence and the formation of the
independent state of Ukraine was proclaimed by the Ukrainian
Parliament.
On December 1,1991, an all-Ukrainian referendum was held and L.Kravchuk, the former head of the Verkhovna Rada, was elected the first President of Ukraine.
In 1994 and 1999 L.Kuchma won the Presidential election and he was the second President of Ukraine.
After Presidential election in 2004 the Orange Revolution took place in Ukraine. It was a series of protestsand political events from late November 2004 to January 2005. Viktor Yushchenko was declared the official winner and became the third President of Ukraine.
Viktor Yanukovych won the 2010 presidential election. He takes his position since February 25, 2010 as the fourth President of Ukraine.
Ukraine includes 24 administrative regions and the Autonomous Republic of the Crimea. Ukraine has its own Constitution, which was adopted in 1996. The Constitution of Ukraine consists of 15 chapters (161 articles). The day of its adoption (June, 28, 1996) is a state holiday – the Day of the Constitution of Ukraine.
The political system of Ukraine is really democratic. The powers of the Government are divided into legislative, executive and judicial. The President is the head of the state. He is elected for a term of five years. The highest body of the executive power is the Cabinet of Ministers. It is responsible to the President and is accountable to the Verkhovna Rada. It carries out domestic and foreign policy of the state.
The Verkhovna Rada (the Parliament) is the only body of the legislative power in Ukraine. It includes 450 deputies who are elected for a term of four years. The Verkhovna Rada adopts the State Budget and controls the execution of it.
The Ukrainian parliamentary election of 2012 took place on 28 October 2012. This election used a mixed voting system (50% under party lists and 50% under simple-majorityconstituencies) with a 5%election thresholdand the participation of blocs of political parties was not allowed any more. The new parliament was appointed and started its tasks on 12 December 2012.
Ukraine has multi-party system. The main parties are Party of Regions(208 seats in the 2013 Parliament),Fatherland(99 seats), the partyUDAR(42 seats), the partySvoboda(36 seats), theCommunist Party of Ukraine(32 seats). Because of this mixed system three small parties:United Centre(3 seats),People's Party(2 seats),Radical Party of Oleh Lyashko and 27 unaffiliated politicians also made it into Parliament.
Judicial power in Ukraine is led by the Supreme Court.
The National Emblem of Ukraine is a Golden Tryzub (trident) on a blue shield. The National Flag of Ukraine is a rectangular cloth with two horizontal stripes of equal width, the upper colored blue and the lower golden yellow. The National Anthem has been performed since January 1992 (music by M.M.Verbytsky).
The National Holiday, Independence Day, is celebrated on August 24.
Exercise 10. Give Ukrainian equivalents for the following words and word combinations:
to elect, to divide, to rule, to carry out, the Supreme Court, the national anthem, domestic policy,
to be accountable to, foreign policy, the former head, unaffiliated politicians.
Exercise 11. Give English equivalents for the following words and word combinations:
суверенна держава,незалежність,президентські вибори,законодавча влада,виконавча влада,судова влада,приймати (про закон), державне свято, проголошувати,гранична межа, змішана виборча система, партійні списки, більшість виборців.
Exercise 12. Agree or disagree with the following statements:
1. On June 16, 1990, Ukraine’s independence was proclaimed by the Ukrainian Parliament.
2. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is the only body of the executive power.
Ukraine includes 24 administrative regions and the Autonomous Republic of the Crimea.
The Orange Revolution took place in Ukraine from late November 2005 to January 2006.
The powers of the government are divided into legislative, executive and judicial.
The National Holiday, Independence Day, is celebrated on August 28.
The President is elected for a term of five years and the deputies are elected for a term of four years.
The Ukrainian parliamentary election of 2012 took place on 28 October 2012.
Exercise 13. Answer the following questions:
1. When did the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine pass the Declaration of State Sovereignty?
2. What body carries out domestic and foreign policy of the state?
What event took place in Ukraine on December 1, 1991?
Who was elected the first President of Ukraine?
What system did the Ukrainian parliamentary election of 2012 use?
What are the main political parties in Ukraine?
How are the powers of the government divided into?
What is the National Emblem of Ukraine?
Who was a music to the National Anthem written by?