Society and government – vocabulary exercises

1. Complete the table with the words from the box.

to administer, to approve, to implement, to interpret, to pass, to represent, to resolve

BRANCH BODY FUNCTIONS

LEGISTLATIVE parliament/congress to ________ or adopt laws; to
___________ country’s annual
budget
EXECUTIVE president / prime minister, to ____________ the legislation
cabinet passed by the parliament; to
_________ (i.e. manage) the
country; to _________ the
country abroad
JUDICIARY the courts to ___________ and apply the
law; to provide a mechanism for
__________ disputes

2. Complete each text with the words from the box above it.

Fundamental human rights

rights, liberty, happiness, equal

a) The US Declaration of Independence sets out basic human rights in these words:
‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created _________, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable ___________, the among these are life,
_________ and the pursuit of ______________.

Civil liberties
assembly, censorship, conscience, speech

b) Civil liberties include:

Freedom of __________, which means the right to express opinions freely, without __________.
Freedom of __________, which means the right to hold any moral or religious views;
 Freedom of ________ and association, which means the right to gather in public places (for
example, in order to protest) and to form organisations.

The rule of law

judgement, law, process

c) The Magna Carta established the rule of law in England through Clause XXIX: ‘No freeman shall be
taken or imprisoned (…) or be outlawed, or exile, or any other wise destroyed (…) but by lawful
____________ of his peers, or by the _____________ of the land.’

The Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees that ‘No person shall be (…) deprived of
life, liberty or property without due ___________ of law.

The right of the accused

doubt, guilty, innocent, proof

d) In criminal trials, the burden of _________ is on the prosecution. The accused is presumed
_________ until proven _____________. If members of a jury have reasonable ___________
about a person’s guilt, they are obliged to deliver a verdict of ‘not guilty’.

counsel, trial, witness

e) A person accused of a crime has the right to a fair _________. He cannot be forced to be a
__________ against himself. He has the right to be represented by _____________ (i.e. by a
lawyer)

3. Match contrasting pairs of words.

a) export
b) supply
c) (to make) a profit
d) (economic) boom
e) private (sector)
f) income
g) domestic (trade)

- loss
- recession, downturn
- public
- expenditure
- foreign
- import
- demand
 4. Complete the table with words formed from the word ‘economy’.

Noun (abstract): economy, ______________

Noun (person): ______________
Adjective: __________, ______________
Verb: _____________________

5. Complete the sentences with the words from Exercise 4.

a) We are facing a worldwide ____________ crisis.

b) The country’s ____________ is in the worst condition since the great depression.
c) The Wealth of Nations is a classic book by the 18th-century Scottish __________ Adam Smith.
d) This is not a very __________ solution. It would cost a lot more than the alternatives.
e) My sister intends to study ______________ at university.
f) In the light of the current crisis, we’ll have to ____________. We can no longer afford this huge
spending.

6. What do these abbreviation stand for?

a) PM
b) MP
c) GDP
d) WMD
e) WTO