Бао-пресс

Вид материалаКнига

Содержание


The US Congress
Конгресс США
Elections in the USA
Подобный материал:
1   ...   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   ...   149

The US Congress


The Congress of the United States is composed of two

houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The

Senate represents the states. Each state is guaranted at least

one representative in the House. The remainder are apportioned

among the states according to their population. The Senate

of US is composed of one hundred members — two being

elected from each state. Senators are chosen for six years,

one-third retiring or seeking 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".

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, 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.


Questions:

1. How many houses are there in the US Congress?

2. What represents the Senate?

3. How many members of Senate are there?

4. Who is the Vice-President?

5. How is the work of the US Congress done?

6. Name the important committees of the Congress.


Vocabulary:

to compose — составлять

according — соответственно

to retire — уходить в отставку

senior — старший

junior — младший

chamber — палата

chairman — председатель


Конгресс США

Конгресс США состоит из 2 палат: сената и палаты

представителей. Сенат представляет штаты. Каждый штат

имеет по меньшей мере одного представителя в палате

представителей, остальные места в ней распределены меж-

ду штатами в зависимости от количества их населения.

Сенат США состоит из 100 членов, по 2 от каждого

штата. Сенаторы избираются сроком на 6 лет, одна треть

из них уходит в отставку или переизбирается каждые два

года. Два сенатора одного и того же штата никогда не

выходят из состава сената одновременно, одного называют

"старший сенатор", другого — "младший сенатор".

Председатель сената — вице-президент Соединенных

Штатов. Вице-президент не является членом сената, а ино-

гда не является даже членом правящей партии.


Деятельность конгресса осуществляется в основном

через различные комитеты. Важнейшими в сенате явля-

ются комитеты по ассигнованиям, иностранным делам,

финансам, вооруженным силам.

В палате представителей важнейшие комитеты — про-

цедурный, по ассигнованиям, бюджетная комиссия, по су-

допроизводству, сельскому хозяйству.

Председатели комитетов считаются реальными руково-

дителями сената и палаты представителей.

Elections in the USA


The US Constitution includes some general provisions on

the franchise. It sets forth certain requirements for candidates

running for a post of a president, vice-president, senator or

member of the House of Representatives. Requirements usually

concern age, residence and citizenship. The candidates who

meet all these requirements are considered eligible for office.


A residence qualification requires a permanent residence

of an individual in order to get the right to vote. The duration

of the residence qualification is, in general, a few months

though it may substantially vary from state to state.

Besides, some states have the so-called literacy qualification

(the voter should be able to read and speak English, he (she)

must know how to interpret the US Constitution, etc.).


And at last it should be mentioned that in some states a

poll tax is levied upon everyone who votes and this certainly

discourages poor citizens and Negroes from voting. In this

context, it is not surprising that not all the Americans

participate in elections, including congressional or presidential

elections.

The voters are registered by clerks of counties or towns

and by local election commissions. When registering, the voter

must produce an identification card. This is done to prevent

fraud.


The administration of elections is vested in an election

commission which ordinarily is composed of two commissioners,

one representing each of the major parties, and a third ex

officio member, usually a sheriff, a county judge, or a clerk.


Prior to holding primary or general election, the commission

appoints election officers for each precinct and also arranges

for polling places. After the ballots have been cast, they are

counted and the results obtained are tabulated and returned

to the election commission which officially counts the precinct

tally sheets.


Questions:

1. What does the US Constitution set forth?

2. What do requirements usually concern?

3. Who is considered eligible for office?

4. What does a residence qualification require?

5. What is meant by literacy qualification?

6. What is levied upon everyone who votes?

7. Who are the voters registered by?

8. What is done to prevent fraud?

9. Who is the administration of elections vested in?

10. What does the election commission do?


Vocabulary:

general provisions <— общие положения

on the franchise — по избирательному праву

residence qualification — ценз оседлости

clerk — чиновник

identification card — удостоверение личности

polling place, the polls — место голосования

salary — зарплата (оклад)