Exercises. 1. Find in the text the English equivalents for the phrases below

1. Find in the text the English equivalents for the phrases below.

1. избирательный округ

2. правящая партия

3. вопрос первостепенной важности

4. дать кому-либо преимущество

5. политическая партия у власти

6. объявляется дата

7. монарх

8. распустить парламент

9. безработный

10. сформировать правительство

11. широкое освещение предвыборной кампании в прессе

12. объявить дату выборов

13. объявить результаты выборов

14. иметь большинство мест в Палате Общин

15. подсчитывать голоса

16. потерпеть поражение в парламенте

17. избирательный участок

18. доверенность

19. всеобщие выборы

2. Answer the following questions:

1. What is called a General Election in Britain?

2. How often does a General Election take place?

3. Who can vote?

4. What do we call the place where people go to vote?

5. How does an MP get a seat in Parliament?

6. Which party has the right to form the government?

7. Who usually becomes the Prime Minister?

3. Complete the sentences:

1. The election of all MPs for each constituency is called …

2. The winning candidate becomes MP and… …

3..The British government is elected for…

4. The place where people go to vote in an election is called and…

5. Voting usually takes place on …

6. Each British citizen over eighteen…

7. The party with the majority of seats in the Commons…

8. The winning party’s leader becomes…

Text 2: “Elections in the USА”

Task 1: read and translate the text

In the Presidential system of the US the President is both the head of state and the head of government. He is elected, indirectly through the ‘Electoral College.’The United States has a two party system. Every president since 1852 has been either a Republican or a Democrat.
In the U.S., a "single-member district system" applies. The candidate who gets elected is the one who gets the highest number of votes in their respective state.
The voters are really voting for electors in each state.

In all states, the candidate who wins a plurality, receives all of that state's electoral votes. All together there are 538 electors in the ‘Electoral College’. It is very important to win in populous states. To win the presidential election, a candidate must earn an absolute majority at least 270 of the 538 electoral votes cast nationwide.

At the primaries (on so called "Super Tuesday") the parties nominate their candidates in at least 8 states. This takes place about a year prior to the election. The winner of the primaries is most likely the candidate for the elections.

A candidate must be a natural-born citizen of the United States, be at least 35 years of age, and have been a resident of the United States for 14 years.

Anyone who is 18 years of age can vote. There is no national list of eligible voters, so a citizen must first qualify by becoming registered. Citizens register to vote in conjunction with the place they live. Registration system has been designed to eliminate fraud.

Election day is the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

The President will be inaugurated on January 20 in the year after the election. From this time he is in оffice. The President is in office for 4 years. He can be reelected once. Overall he can be in office for 8 years.

In December the electors meet in each states’s capitol to formally elect the President. The congress meets in joint session to count the electoral votes in January.In some states a poll tax is levied upon everyone who votes and this certainly discourages poor citizens from voting.