The Chief Whip’s job is to (a) __________________________________________ (7)

(b) _________________________________________ (8)

(c) _________________________________________ (9)

The party faction members’ job is to _____________ (10)

Parliamentary debate starts with _________________ (11)

Bills go through several_______________________ (12)

Then bills are passed to ________________________ (13)

When the discussion is over, the Speaker __________ (14)

Voting is performed by means of __________________ (15)

MPs vote for or against the motion by ____________ (16)

MPs may either vote or _______________________ (17)

The Govern­ment has to resign if ________________ _(18)

MPs can vote as they like if _____________________(19)

Announcing the result, the Speaker says either ___________(20) or ______________(21)

If the voting cast is equal, the Speaker _____________________________________ (22)

Parliamentary proceedings may be read in ____________(23) or __________________(24)

MPs may ask ministers questions during ___________________________________ (25)

MPs have to submit questions ____________(26) because ministers ______________(27) n having the minister's answer MPs may __________________________________ (28)

MPs may ask questions to the Prime Minister only every ______________________(29)

As compared to PM, the other ministers’ Question Time lasts_____________ much (30)

5. Work in pairs. Match 1-9 with A-I and 10-18 with J-Q.

A	B	A	B
1. metropolitan county	A. the largest administrative division in England and Wales	10. ward	J. local government body in a specific area
2. unitary authorities	B. the largest administrative division in Scotland	11. Lord Mayor	I. elected member of a council
3. borough	C. the second largest administrative division in England, Scotland and Wales	12. local authorities	K. local elections constituency within an administrative division
4. county authorities	D. the largest administrative division in Northern Ireland	13. local government officer	L. office where the council meetings take place
5. parish	E. the smallest administrative division in England	14. county hall	M. public building used for a town's local government
6. county	F. Greater London districts with independent councils	15. council chamber	N. public building used for a county's local government
7. dis­trict	G. administrative division around a large city	16. councillor	O. city council chairperson
		17. town hall	P. civil servant
8. dis­trict	H. one-tier (one-level) system of local government	18. council	Q. local council and committees
9. region	I. two-tier (two-level) system of local government	19. communitу	the smallest administrative division in Scotland and Wales

6. Fill in the gaps in the sentences below with the words from column A in exercise 5.

The oldest small administrative areas that Britain is divided into are called _______ (a). The largest divisions in Scotland are known as _______ (b). English and Welsh _______ (c) are further subdivided into _______ (d). However, the same word in Northern Ireland means the largest administrative division – though this part of the country is sometimes called the Six Counties, the local government there is based on _______ (e). The smallest units of local government in Eng­land are called _______ (f), those originally used to be villages with a church. The smallest administrative division in Scotland and Wales, however, is called a _______ (g). In Greater London there are parts of the city, called _______ (h), which have their own councils. _______ (i) are elected local government bodies to run _______ (j) and _______ (k). During the 1970s some new _______ (l) were created, including _______ (m) around large cities. Counties are based on a _______ (n) structure, which includes _______ (o) and _______ (p) councils. A new _______ (r) system of local government, which is called _____ (s), has been started lately. Elected representatives, called _______ (t), comprise a council, and its chairperson in big cities is called the _______ (u). The work within _______ (v), i.e. within the council and committees, is carried out by _____ (w), who fulfil the same function as civil servants, and who have offices in the buildings of a local _____ (x) or _____ (y), while the councillors meet in a _____ (z).

7. Use the following notes to prepare a short description of the system of Local government in Britain. Write no more than one complete sentence for each numbered set of notes using connecting words and phrases as appropriate. You may add words and change the form of words given, but do not add any extra information. Consider using various formal links (e.g. although, furthermore, however, nevertheless, nonetheless, regardless, whereas) to make your text coherent. The first point has been expanded for you as an example (0).

LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN BRITAIN

0 England: counties – dis­tricts – parishes.

The largest local government administrative divisions in England are called counties, which are further subdivided into dis­tricts and parishes.

1 Scotland: regions – dis­tricts – communities.

_______________________________________________

2 Wales: counties – dis­tricts – communities.

________________________________________________

3 Boroughs: took over political power only in London – 1985 – Greater London Council abolished _________________________________________________

4 Councils: in counties and districts – new metropolitan counties – around large cities.

_________________________________________________

5 1992: Local Government Commission set up – consider – replace counties by unitary authorities.

_______________________________________________________________________

6 Commission recommendation: keep ­counties – but large cities – unitary authorities.

_______________________________________________________________________

7 Unitary authorities: started in 1995 – now: all of Wales and Scotland – many parts of England

_______________________________________________________________________

8 Councillors: elected in wards – for 4 years (Scotland – 3 years) – from a political party.

_______________________________________________________________________

9 County councils: meet – council chamber ­ – local town hall/county hall.

_______________________________________________________________________

10 Councillors: elect chairperson – Lord Mayor (cities) – public allowed to attend council meetings.

_______________________________________________________________________