English for students of law

1.

Презентация к учебнику под
редакцией С.Е. Зайцевой,
Л.А Тинигиной
ENGLISH
FOR STUDENTS
OF LAW
Тема: The US Legislature

2.

Warming up: Answer the questions
◦1. What is the structure and function of the
Legislature?
◦2. Who determines the size of the
Legislature?
◦3. What is a bill?
◦4. Who can draft a bill?
◦5. What is a veto?

3.

Vocabulary
party caucuses
партийные собрания
to raise and allocate
повышать и распределять
majority
большинство
to prevent
предотвращать
to be flawed or
controversial for passage
быть недействительным или спорным для
утверждения
to adjust differences
Найти компромисс
to promote
продвигать
to veto a law
Наложить запрет на закон
simultaneously
одновременно, совместно
to schedule
разработать
a member’s willingness
готовность члена
to restrict amendments
ограничивать поправки
to be entitled
иметь право

4.

Text: The Legislature
The legislative branch of the federal government is represented by Congress. There are two houses of Congress:
the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Its main functions are lawmaking, forming structures and programmes to implement policy, overseeing the
resulting bureaucracy, raising and allocating government funds, and advising the President on foreign affairs and
appointments.
While the chambers of Congress are in theory equally powerful, there are several significant differences in their
membership, organization and practices. As originally intended, the House continues to respond more quickly than the
Senate to the electorate’s mood. Elections every two years in smaller geographical units allow Representatives to more
closely reflect the current views of local voters than do Senators, who serve six-year terms and represent whole states. The
large majority of both chambers has always consisted of middle-aged men, many of whom are usually lawyers. The House
contains the more diverse membership. There are constitutional differences between the chambers as well. To qualify for a
seat in the Senate, a person must be 30 years old, a citizen for 9 years, and a resident of the state where elected.
Representatives must be 25, 7 years a citizen, and (by custom) a resident of their district. Financial bills must begin in the
House, although the Senate can amend them. Treaties and Presidential appointments must be approved by the Senate.
Because of its much greater size, the House of Representatives must regulate its business carefully. The Speaker of
the House and the Rules Committee are given considerable power to schedule the work of the chamber, limit debate, and
restrict amendments to a bill. The Speaker also influences the assignment of members and bills to committees, decides
which bills are brought up for a vote, and has total power over who speaks during debate. The Speaker is chosen by the
majority party and in turn chooses his party’s members on the Rules Committee. Members of Congress organize themselves
in several ways. The most important of these is by party. Members divide along party lines on between a third and a half of
the votes that take place in Congress. Special party groups pick the offices of each chamber and decide which
committees members will work on. Each party gets a number of committee members equal to the percentage of seats it
won in the last elections. The majority party wins the leadership positions and the most committee staffing. Within Congress
there exist party leaders who are selected by congressional party caucuses. The Constitution grants Congress all legislative
powers in the federal government. Only Congress can make laws. Law-making is only the best known of the legislative
branch’s duties.
The national legislature alone can make the federal budget. No federal funds can be raised, allocated, or spent
without its direction. Congress also has the constitutional authority to regulate foreign and interstate commerce. Only it has
the power to raise, finance, and regulate military forces and to declare war. The legislative branch has great power over
the other arms of the national government. It creates all the federal courts below the Supreme Court, can change the
number of Supreme Court justices, and decides which cases the federal courts can hear by defining jurisdictions. Congress,
not the President, establishes the departments and the executive bureaucracy.

5.

Task 1. Find the English equivalents for the words
and word combinations given below.
Сенат и Палата представителей, законотворчество, выполнять
(осуществлять) политику, наблюдать за, повышать и
распределять государственные средства, существует
несколько существенных различий, отражать, более
разнообразный состав, распределение членов, выносить на
голосование, равное проценту мест, партия большинства,
партийные собрания конгресса, законодательные
полномочия, принимать федеральный бюджет, внешняя и
межгосударственная торговля, вооруженные силы, объявлять
войну, огромная власть, федеральные суды могут
рассматривать.

6.

Task 2. Answer the questions about details.
1. How many branches is the Government in
the United States divided into?
a) two;
b) three;
c) four.
2. How is the legislative branch of the
Government called?
a) parliament;
b) congress;
c) court.
3. What branch of the Government has the
responsibility to carry out the law?
a) legislative branch;
b) executive branch;
c) judicial branch.
4. What branch of the Government do the
Supreme Court and lower national courts
make up?
a) legislative branch;
b) judicial branch;
c) executive branch.
5. What branches of the Government are
the most powerful?
a) legislative;
b) judicial;
c) executive.

7.

6. Why do the President and Congress
have almost complete
political independence from each other?
a) they are chosen in the same elections;
b) they are chosen in separate elections.
7. What happens to a legislative bill passed
by Congress, if the
President vetoes it?
a) it becomes a law;
b) it dies.
8. What happens to a treaty with a foreign
government signed by the
President, if Congress refuses to ratify it?
a) it dies;
b) it comes into power.
9. What protects specific individual rights
and freedom of citizens
from government interference?
a) Constitution;
b) Court;
c) Congress.
10.What is the attitude of the Americans to
their system?
a) they are indifferent to it;
b) they are proud of it;
c) they are ashamed of it.

8.

Task 3. Say whether the statements given below are true or false,
express doubt or uncertainty. Make use of the reference list given below.
You are right, certainly, exactly so.
Far from it, I don't think so, surely not.
That's hard to tell, it looks very much like it, I'm not quite sure about it, may be, perhaps.
1. The Government of the USA is not divided into three separate branches.
2. If any one part of the Government has all, or even most of the power, it will become a threat to the
freedom of individual citizens.
3. The legislative branch of the Government is formed by the Supreme Court and lower national
courts.
4. The executive branch has the responsibility to carry out the law, it is headed by the President.
5. The President and Congress have almost complete political independence from each other.
6. The election of the Congress determines who will be elected President, and the Presidential
election determines who will be elected to Congress.
7. It is impossible in the American system to have the leader of one political party win the Presidency,
while the other major political party wins most of the seats in Congress.
8. It is not necessary for the President to sign bills passed by Congress in order for them to become
law.
9. "Bill of Rights" protects specific individual; rights and freedom from government interference.
10. The Government may interfere with freedom of religious worship.

9.

Task 4. Answer the following questions.
1. What are the functions of the Senate and the House of
Representatives?
2. How many voting members is composed the Senate?
3. How many voting members has the House of Representatives?
4. What are the requirements for a seat in the Senate?
5. What are the requirements for a seat in the House of Representatives?
6. Who choses the Speaker?
7. What document does Congress grant all legislative powers in the federal
Government?
8. What is only the best known of the legislative branch’s duties?
9. What does the Legislative branch create?

10.

Home task
1. Learn by heart new words given in vocabulary.
2. Retell the text: “How a Bill Becomes Law”.
The steps in the law-making process are similar in both chambers. Bills can be
introduced in one chamber or in both simultaneously. After that, the bill is referred to a
committee, which usually refers it to a subcommittee. There members air their views,
gather reports from experts and lobbyists, and hold hearings to get opinions on the
proposal. The next step is ‘a markup session’ during which the subcommittee agrees on
changes in the bill. It is then returned to the committee for another mark-up session
before it goes to the whole chamber for debate and a vote on passage. Most bills die in
committee or subcommittee because they were introduced only to publicize a
member’s willingness to do something about an issue, or because they are too flawed or
controversial for passage. If bills pass both chambers, in a few cases amendments
added in one or both result in different texts. Then a conference committee from both
chambers produces a compromise text for final votes in the House and Senate. If the
compromise bill passes, it is sent to the President, who may sign or veto it.