24

Political life
SECTION A Quiz 8 Which o f these political parties has not been in
government in the last SO years?
C hoose the co rrect answer. A Conservative
1 How do most people in Britain feel about politicians? B Labour
A angry C Liberal Democrat
B cynical 9 Which o f these political parties is sometimes known
C respectful as ‘the Tories’?
A Conservative
2 Which o f these names is not used to refer to the
position o f Prime Minister? B Labour
A Downing House C Liberal Democrat
B Number Ten 10 Which o f these political parties traditionally draws its
C PM support from the working class?
A Conservative
3 What is the name o f the government department
which is responsible for Britain’s dealings with the B Labour
rest o f the world? C Liberal Democrat
A the Exterior Office 11 Plaid Cymru is the nationalist party for which part o f
B the Foreign Office the UK?
C the Overseas Office A Northern Ireland
4 Which of these does not apply to the British B Scotland
political system? C Wales
A constitutional monarchy 12 Which o f these political parties is usually represented
B parliamentary democracy in parliament?
C presidential democracy A British National Party
5 In which respect is Britain most unusual among B Greens
twenty-first century states? It does not have: C Plaid Cymru
A a written constitution 13 What is the main purpose o f the annual conference
B a monarch held by each big party?
C a president A to discuss policies
6 What is the name o f the British secret service? B to select its leader
A MI6 C to boost morale
B M25 14 What is the name o f the arrangement whereby
C MP two MPs from opposing parties each agree not to
participate in a parliamentary vote?
7 Where does the British parliament meet?
A the buddy system
A Downing Street
B the pairing system
B Buckingham Palace
C the cordial system
C the Palace o f Westminster
 POLITICAL LIFE

SECTION B Summary
Fill in the gaps in this text with the choices from the list b elow to m ake a
paragraph sum m arizing the ‘style o f d em o cracy’, ‘co n stitu tio n ’, and ‘m odern
situ a tio n ’ sections o f ch ap ter 6 o f Britain.

Traditionally, politics in Britain values liberty and privacy more highly than participatory democracy.
The 1.....................................is that the government and the people will2.....................................as much
as possible. What they tell each other to do and not do, and also what they know about each other,
is 3..................................... But this traditional balance has recently been upset. On the one hand, the
authorities can now learn a lot more about individual people than they used to (for example, through
4....................................) while, despite the 5...................................., people still find it difficult to learn much
about th e 6..................................... In addition, while restrictions on what people are allowed to do have
increased, for example with regard to 7...................................., restrictions on what the authorities are
allowed to do, such as how long they can hold a suspect and when they c a n 8....................................,
have decreased.

A activities of the authorities

B CCTV and the DNA databases
C Freedom o f Information Act
D kept to a minimum
E leave each other alone
F protest and publicly expressed opinions
G search a person’s house
H traditional expectation

SECTION C British words and phrases

Find the w ord o r phrase in ch apter 6 o f Britain w hich is used to mean o r describe:
1 free benefits which you get as part o f your job (e.g. car, accommodation)
2 a person who manages to get food, drink, and other things without having to pay for them
3 a vote by all the people to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to a certain proposition
4 shouting in order to try to interrupt someone giving a speech
5 saying or writing things which are insulting to God
6 a dark secret from your past which you try to keep hidden
7 a person who is a close adviser to a politician or political party and whose job is to
make them look good in the media
8 the attitude which takes extreme care not to say anything which might offend a
minority group
 26 POLITICAL LIFE

SECTION D Extension
P u t the follo w ing sentences into the correct o rd er to com plete the paragraph.
The law in England works by precedent as much as by the statute book. As a result, old laws
do not get officially repealed - they just fall out o f use.
1 That’s illegal.
2 Take Christmas for instance.
3 Even some churchgoers take part in this festival o f mass lawbreaking.
4 And that’s not the only way Britons can fall foul o f the law at the table.
5 On Christmas Day, some 30 million people sit down to a meal o f turkey.
Vifc

6 A law of 1551 (never repealed - just like the others) says you must attend church on
Christmas Day on foot.
7 A law dating from 1588 is quite clear about the matter - the only bird that may be eaten
on that day is goose.
8 This means that, from the point o f view o f the letter o f the law, millions o f people in
Britain routinely break the law.
9 During the reign o f the Puritans in the seventeenth century, both Christmas puddings
(of which the British consume some twelve million over the festive period) and mince pies
(250 million), being emblems o f gluttony, were banned.
N o w find the w ord s o r phrases in this text w hich m ean:
1 what has been done (or not done) before in similar circumstances
2 taken away or abolished
3 break the law without intending to
4 greed with regard to food and drink

SECTION E Talking points

1 How does the general attitude to politics and politicians in Britain compare to that in your
country?
2 Do you think the ‘pairing system’ as described in chapter 6 o f Britain is a good practice?
3 How does the role o f political parties in Britain differ from their role in your country?
4 Does mass ‘lawbreaking’ o f the kind described in Section D happen in your country? Does
any other kind o f mass lawbreaking happen?
5 The text in Section B says that ‘Traditionally, politics in Britain values liberty and privacy
more highly than participatory democracy’. What does this mean? Which do you think is
more important?
6 How does the balance between government power and people power in your country
compare with the present situation in Britain?
7 Why does Britain not have a written constitution? Does it need one?