2. Readthe following international words and guess what they mean in Russian:

constitution, conflict, federal, state, local laws, effective, confederation, sovereign, contrast, subordinate, preamble, define, balance, authority, system, problem, nation, affair, control, army, individual, focus, religion, press, enumerate, explicitly, guarantee, basic, method, result, ratify, ratification, convention, demonstrate, document, adaptability, document, general, articulate, interpretation.
3. Translate the following words paying attention to word-building elements.

Constitution - constitutional; institution - institutional- to institute; presidency - president; congress - congressional; balance - to balance; system - systematic; federal - federalism – federalist - federalize; problem - problematic; nation - national - to nationalize; control - to control; to ratify - ratification; to demonstrate demonstration - demonstrative; adapt –adaptability, document – documentary, nation - national – nationalize – nationalization, effect - effective - ineffective – effectively, define – definition – definite - indefinite

3. 
   Look through the text andfind English equivalents to the following Russian words and expressions:
   

воля народа; изменяющиеся условия; ответственность за эту задачу; ветви и полномочия федеральной власти; использовать полномочия; двойная система власти; большинство в две трети; свобода слова, религии и прессы; предложить поправку; из-за несоответствия; однако; хотя; в соответствии с.

TEXT 1

THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

The United States Constitution is the supreme law, which trumps any conflicting federal, state, or local laws.

Prior to the creation of the Constitution, the United States was ineffectively governed by the Articles of Confederation, which allowed states to remain sovereign governments and choose to work together only when it suited their needs. In contrast, the Constitution provides for a sovereign national government with subordinate yet somewhat independent state governments.

The Constitution consists of a preamble, seven articles, and 27 amendments. The preamble establishes that this document’s purpose is to preserve the union by the rule of laws which emanate from the will of the people. The preamble reads “We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America”.

The seven articles define the branches and powers of the federal government (the Presidency, Congress and the Courts). A series of checks and balances, whereby each branch of power has certain authority over the others, were also included to make sure that these powers were not abused. Next, government power was further limited by means of a dual system of government according to which the federal government was only given the powers and responsibilities to deal with problems facing the nation as a whole (foreign affairs, trade, control of the Army and Navy, etc.). The remaining responsibilities and duties of government were given to the individual state governments.

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The first 10 amendments are known as the Bill of Rights because they focus on the rights of individuals, such as the freedom of religion, speech and the press. Although specific individual rights are enumerated in the Bill of Rights, the Ninth Amendment explicitly guarantees that individuals retain other basic rights as well.

Two methods for amending the Constitution are established in Article V. However, all of the amendments to date have resulted from the following method: two-thirds of both houses of Congress have voted to propose an amendment and then the amendment has been ratified by three-fourths of the states. The alternate method for amending the Constitution is that two-thirds of the states can request that Congress call a convention where amendments can be proposed. The ratification process for amendments proposed at a convention is the same as that for those proposed by Congress. That the Constitution has only been amended 27 times since it was written demonstrates the document’s inherent adaptability to changing circumstances.

Because the Constitution is a concise document dealing with broad general issues, its meaning for current events must often be inferred from the text. The responsibility for this task lies with the Supreme Court, which first articulated and exercised this power in 1803 by ruling that a law passed by Congress was invalid due to its inconsistency with the Court’s interpretation of the Constitution.

4. 
   Read the text and say if the following statements are true or false:
   

Useful expressions:

Agreement:	Disagreement:
It is quite so. It is true. You are right. No doubt. Exactly. That’s right. I quite agree with you. Yes, certainly	I’m afraid it is not true You are not right in saying so. You are wrong here. Far from that. Quite on the contrary. I can’t agree.

1. The American Constitution is based on the doctrine of separation of powers between the federal and local governments.

2. There are three methods for amending the Constitution established in Article V.

3. The seven articles define the branches and powers of the federal government.

4. Amendments to the Constitution must be passed by two-thirds of the states.

5. So far only 26 amendments have been made to the Constitution.

6. The Supreme Court first articulated and exercised the power to interpret the Constitution in 1805.
6. Match the following English and Russian equivalents:

presidency checks and balances to abuse separation of powers federal government Congress to infer foreign affairs trade freedom of speech Bill of Rights amendment

a) федеральное правительство b) система сдержек и противовесов c) конгресс d) выводить e) президентская власть f) торговля g) Биль о правах h) иностранные дела i) поправка j) свобода слова k) злоупотреблять l) разделение властей

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7. Fill in the table below.

Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
		demonstrate
creation
	individual
			conventionally
		govern
	free
nation

8. Fill in the correct preposition.

1. ___ the creation of the Constitution, the United States was ineffectively governed by the Articles of Confederation. 2. The Constitution provides ___ a sovereign national government. 3. The Constitution consists ___ a preamble, seven articles, and 27 amendments. 4. The preamble establishes that this document's purpose is to preserve the union ___ the rule of laws. 5. The federal government was only given the powers and responsibilities to deal ___ problems facing the nation as a whole. 6. The responsibility for this task lies ___ the Supreme Court. 7. The law passed by Congress was invalid due to its inconsistency ___ the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Constitution.

9. 
   Answer the following questions:
   

1. What is the United States Constitution?

2. What was the United States governed by prior to the creation of the Constitution?

3. What does the US Constitution consist of?

4. What is the purpose of a series of checks and balances?

5. What is the dual system of government in the USA?

6. What is the Bill of Rights?

7. What does Article V of the Constitution establish?

7. How many amendments have been made to the US Constitution so far?

8. What body has the right to interpret the Constitution?

10. 
    Read text 2 for more information about the US Constitution and prepare its summary in Russian.
    

Text 2

THE BILL OF RIGHTS

The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. These amendments guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and reserve some powers to the states and the public. While originally the amendments applied only to the federal government, most of their provisions have since been extended to the states by way of the Fourteenth Amendment, a process known as incorporation.

The amendments were introduced by James Madison to the 1st United States Congress as a series of legislative articles. They were adopted by the House of Representatives on August 21, 1789, formally proposed by joint resolution of Congress on September 25, 1789, and came into effect as Constitutional Amendments on December 15, 1791, through the process of

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ratification by three-fourths of the states. While twelve amendments were proposed by Congress, only ten were originally ratified by the states.

The Bill of Rights enumerates freedoms not explicitly indicated in the main body of the Constitution, such as freedom of religion, freedom of speech, a free press, and free assembly; the right to keep and bear arms; freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, security in personal effects, and freedom from warrants issued without probable cause; indictment by a grand jury for any capital or "infamous crime"; guarantee of a speedy, public trial with an impartial jury; and prohibition of double jeopardy. In addition, the Bill of Rights reserves for the people any rights not specifically mentioned in the Constitution and reserves all powers not specifically granted to the federal government to the people or the States. The Bill was influenced by George Mason's 1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights, the English Bill of Rights 1689, and earlier English political documents such as Magna Carta (1215).

The Bill of Rights had little judicial impact for the first 150 years of its existence, but was the basis for many Supreme Court decisions of the 20th and 21st centuries. One of the first fourteen copies of the Bill of Rights is on public display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
SUPPLEMENTARY READING

Text 3

1. Translate the following text in writing:

THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION

A “constitution” in American political language has acquired a wide meaning of a set of rules (набор правил), laws, regulations and customs which together provide the practical norms or standards regulating the work of the government. The single document known as the Constitution of the United States, though a basic document, is only a part of the body of rules and customs which form the whole of the American Constitution. Supreme Court decisions, interpreting parts of the US Constitution, laws, regulations and customs are part of the basic law called “the whole live constitution”.

In 1787, the Constitutional Convention met behind the closed doors in Philadelphia to formulate a Constitution of the new nation. This document embodied (воплотил) the political theories of the Founding Fathers (отцы-основатели), who represented the interests of the propertied minority in the country. The Constitution agreed upon, is, with some amendments, in force to this day.

The US constitution consists of the Preamble, seven Articles and 27 Amendments. It is based on the doctrine of the separation of powers between the executive, legislative and judicial bodies. It means that respective government institutions - the Presidency, Congress and the Courts - were given limited and specific powers. A series of checks and balances, whereby each branch of power has certain authority over the others, were also included to make sure that these powers were not abused. Next, government power was further limited by means of a dual system of government according to which the federal government was only given the powers and responsibilities to deal with problems facing the nation as a whole (foreign affairs, trade, control of the Army and Navy, etc.). The remaining responsibilities and duties of government were given to the individual state governments.

Article V allowed for amendments to be made to the Constitution. If they are passed by a two-thirds majority in both houses of the Congress and then ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states. The Constitution was finally ratified by all 13 states in 1791 and it contained already 10 amendments collectively known as the Bill of Rights which proclaimed the freedom of religion, speech and the press. These freedoms protected the citizen against possible tyranny by the federal government. So far only 27 amendments have been made to the Constitution.
CONVERSATION & WRITING PRACTICE
1. Study the following phrases:

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Ways of Adding Extra Information

namely	а именно
incidentally	между прочим, кстати
furthermore	более того
anyhow	во всяком случае, так или иначе
anyway	так или иначе, в любом случае
not to mention	не говоря уже о
even so	все-таки, несмотря на, все же, однако, хотя
the fact that	тот факт, что
in any case	в любом случае
by the way	между прочим

Agreeing

• 
  I couldn’t agree more.
  
• 
  On the whole, I think the speaker’s arguments are fair.
  
• 
  I (quite) agree.
  
• 
  I think you’re absolutely right.
  
• 
  That’s a very good point.
  
• 
  You’ve got a very good point there.
  
• 
  I fully support what you say.
  
• 
  I totally agree.
  
• 
  Exactly!
  

2.Make up a dialogue using the phrases above and role-play the conversation with your partner.

.MODULE II LEGISLATIVE POWER

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