Text 3. The US Congress

1.Найдите в тексте эквиваленты словосочетаний:

Федеральное правительство, одна треть уходящих в отставку, самые важные комитеты, Реальные руководители, младший сенатор, старший сенатор, избирательные округа, член правящей партии, палата представителей, юридический комитет, двухпалатное законодательное собрание, нижняя палата, верхняя палата, законодательная ветвь, председательствующее лицо, результаты переписи, члены с правом голоса, двухгодичный срок, ассигнования, вооружённые силы, постоянная бюджетная комиссия конгресса США.

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government. It consists of two houses: the lower house known as the House of Representatives and the upper house known as the Senate. The Congress meets in the Capitol in Washington, D. C. Both representatives and its senators are chosen through direct election. There are 535 voting members in the Congress: 435 members in the House of Representatives and 100 members in the Senate. Members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms representing the people of a district. Congressional districts are apportioned to states by population using the United States Census results, each state in the union having at least one representative in the House of Representatives. Regardless of population, each of the 50 states has two senators; the 100 senators, each serves a six-year term. One-third retiring is re-elected every two years. Two senators from the same state never finish their terms at the same time, one of them is called "Senior Senator" and the other — "Junior Senator". Each group of one-third of the senators is called 'classes'. No state of the United States has two senators from the same class.

The Congress of the United States is the lawmaking branch of federal government. The presiding officer of the Senate is the Vice-President of the United States. The Vice-President is not a member of the chamber over which he presides and he sometimes is not a member of the party in power.

The work of the US Congress is done mostly in different committees. The most important of the Senate committees are Appropriations, Foreign Relations, Finance, and Armed Services.

In the House of Representatives the most important are Rules, Appropriations, Ways and Means, Judiciary, Agriculture. The chairmen of the standing committees are considered the real rulers of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

2. Ответьте на вопросы к тексту:

1. How many houses are there in the US Congress?
2. Where does the Congress meet?
3. How many members are there in the Congress?
4. What is the Vice-President?
5. What branch of federal government is the Congress of the United States?
6. What are the main committees of the Congress?

3. Работа а парах. Подготовьте краткое интервью 1) о структуре Конгресса США, 2) об избрании сенаторов от штатов.

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