TEST 7
VARIANT 1
(4th Year 7th Term)
TASK 1. Read the following text.
WHAT IS LAW?
The English word ‘law’ refers to limits upon various forms of behavior. Some laws are descriptive: they simply describe how people, or even natural phenomena, usually behave. An example is the rather consistent law of gravity; another is the less consistent laws of economics. Other laws are prescriptive - they prescribe how people ought to behave. For example, the speed limits imposed upon drivers that prescribe how fact we should drive. They rarely describe how fact we actually do drive, of course.
In all societies, relations between people are regulated by prescriptive laws. Some of them are customs - that is, informal rules of social and moral behavior. Some are rules we accept if we belong to particular social institutions, such as religious, educational and cultural groups. And some are precise laws made by nations and enforced against all citizens within their power.
Customs need not be made by government, and they need not be written down. We learn how we are expected to behave in society through the instruction of family and teachers, the advice of friends, and our experiences in dealing with strangers. Sometimes, we can break these norms of behavior without suffering any penalty. But if we continually break these rules, or break a very important one, other members of society may ridicule us, act violently toward us or refuse to have anything to do with us. The ways in which people talk, eat and drink, work, relax together are usually called customs.
The rules of social institutions tend to be more formal that customs, carrying precise penalties for those who break them. They are not, however, enforceable by any political authority. Sports clubs, for example, often have detailed rules for their members. But if a member breaks a rule and refuses to accept any punishment, the club may have no power other than to ask him or her to leave the club.
However, when governments make laws for their citizens, they use a system of courts backed by the power of the police to enforce these laws. The general nature of the law is that it is enforced equally against all members of the nation.
Members of every community have made laws for themselves in self-protection. If it were not for the law, you could not go out in daylight without the fear of being kidnapped, robbed or murdered. There are far more good people in the world than bad, but there are enough of the bad to make law necessary in the interests of everyone. Even if we were all as good as we ought to be, laws would still be necessary. How is one good man in a motorcar to pass another good man also in a motorcar coming in an opposite direction, unless there is some rule of the road?
In the absence of law you could only rely upon the law of the jungle. Without laws, people would live like predators, stealing and killing for personal benefit.
a) Decide whether the statements that follow the text are TRUE or FALSE. Correct the false ones.
1) The word ‘law’ implies various restrictions on people’s behavior. True
2) Descriptive laws usually describe how people ought to behave. False
Descriptive laws simply describe how people usually behave.
3) Prescriptive laws regulate relations between people. True
4) People usually do not break customs because they are threatened by a severe punishment. False
Sometimes, we can break these norms of behavior without suffering any penalty. But if we continually break these rules, or break a very important one, other members of society may ridicule us, act violently toward us or refuse to have anything to do with us.
5) Decisions made by organizations about what can or cannot be done are called rules of social institutions. True
6) Government - made laws are enforced by the police and a system of courts. True
7) If all people were kind and generous, laws would not be necessary. False
Even if we were all as good as we ought to be, laws would still be necessary.
8) If there was no law we could only rely on our friends. False
Inthe absence of law we could only rely upon the law of the jungle.
