The governmental systems in the United States federal, state, county, and local are quite easy to understand, that is, if you grew up with them and studied them in school. One foreign expert complained, for example, that the complexity of just the cities political and governmental structure is almost unbelievable. The real Chicago he explained, spreads over 2 states, 6 counties, 10 towns, 30 cities, 49 townships, and 110 villages.
There are, however, several basic principals which are found at all levels of American government. One of these is the one person, one vote principal which says that legislators are elected from geographical districts directly by the voters. Under this principle, all election districts must have about the same number of residents.
Another fundamental principle of American government is that because of the system of checks and balances, compromise in politics is matter of necessity, not choice. For example, the House of Representatives controls spending and finance, so the President must have its agreement for his proposals and programs. He cannot declare war, either, without the approval of Congress. In foreign affairs, he is also strongly limited. Any treaty must first be approved by the Senate. If there is no approval, there is no treaty. The rule is the President proposes, but Congress disposes. What a President wants to do, therefore, is often a different thing from what a President is able to do.
II. , . .
1. The vast majority of cases are resolved in the state courts.
2. If a person can not afford an attorney, one will be appointed for him prior to any questioning.
3. Mr. Smith has been arrested for dangerous driving.
4. A large sum of money $50.000 was demanded by the kidnapper.
III. , .
1. The US President has the power to name all federal judges.
2. To study this phenomenon requires much knowledge.
3. To read a law article he went to the library.
4. He saw a young man come up to a policeman.
5. He is expected to come home in time.
IV. , .
1. The woman walked out of the shop without paying.
2. Let me finish reading this book.
3. Testing nuclear weapons is a crime against humanity.
V.
2. Time permitting, they will discuss the matter tomorrow.
3. The conference over, he returned to his office.
Crime in Great Britain
About 90 per cent of all crimes are dealt with by Magistrates courts. Sentences (that is, the punishments decided by the court) vary a lot but most people who are found guilty have to pay a fine. Magistrates courts can impose fines of up to £2,000 or prison sentences of up to six months. If the punishment is to be more severe the case must go to a Crown Court. The most severe punishment is life imprisonment: there has been no death penalty in Britain since 1965.
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The level of recorded crime and the number of people sent to prison both increased during the 1970s and 1980s. By the end of that period the average prison population was more than 50.000 and new prisons had to be built as overcrowding had become a serious problem. By 1988 the cost of keeping someone in prison was over £250 per week, which was than the national average wage.
Hercules Poirot
The famous fictional detective, the Belgian Hercules Poirot, made his first appearance in 1920 in The Mysterious Affair at Styles written by the best selling novelist Agatha Christie (1891 1976) and he appeared in many of her stories after that. The heyday of Poirots popularity was the period between the two World Wars, but he is undergoing a revival in films, especially Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. Plump, vain and dapper, Poirot has moustaches of which he is very proud and a weakness for exhorting people to use their little grey cells (their brains).
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I. .
1. shoplifting
2. Magistrates court
3. Magistrate
4. dock
5. bench () ;
6. solicitor ,
