Interview

It's not important to me, personally, but I think it's important to the social structure of British society. And I think it's important also to the political structure of British society.

Why? They're apolitical, it's a hereditary institution, in what way is it important to the political structure?

Exactly. It's hereditary, OK, but it's, you say apolitical but in fact not apolitical. The British constitution is a very difficult constitution, because it doesn't exist. It exists by, through history, basically, through acquired points of reference, through acquired gentlemen's agreements, if you like. What is important about the royal family is that it's a figurehead, and, like other figurehead institutions, it performs a useful socio-political role.

But isn't it much better to have somebody elected which comes from the people, than somebody who simply inherits the title who could and has often been in English history somebody of dubious ancestry who is half-mad and who is not even English anyway?

Half-mad, yes, often; not even English, absolutely. I don't think that's important, in absolute terms. When, you know...let's face it - not English? What is English? I call myself an Englishman and I'm a quarter Dutch. The English Royal Family,after all, have German origins, yes, but they've been in England for, for, for five generations. Anybody who can count back five generations and be completely English is indeed very unusual and rare.

Its important function, its important role, is to, is to represent the state. And symbolically. To say that it, perhaps it's better to have somebody elected from the people, yes, but it's not part of British social tradition.

But the quality of the people produced, I mean, maybe we're lucky, maybe Prince Charles is going to be a wonderful king, but somewhere it's described that it's a very, the royal family is a very average, middle-class family, doing a boring job very well. Would you agree with that definition?

Yes, insofar as I think they are average in their talents, I think they are middle class in their aspirations, in their, in their tastes, let's say, doing a difficult job very well, yes, I think so, too. I, personally, would not like to do that job.

And Jean, would you like to do the job of a member of the royal family?

I certainly wouldn't mind being the Queen. She is the single largest landowner in all of Britain. And they have vast wealth, they own great estates, and at the same time they manage to take a goodly slice of the taxpayer's money. And I don't think that the expense is justified in keeping this family up just for show.

Their role to me is very mystifying; I can't understand why people want to read about Diana going to discos and Fergie taking flying lessons, and yet they seem to have this fascination for the British general public.

Why? Now, why is this? Why, why are people so fascinated by images of the royal family in the press?

I'll tell you my theory about the royal family. I think they are there to distract people from the social ills of present-day Britain. I think that when the unemployment level climbs to an unacceptable figure, the royal family will do something to distract. The Queen will abdicate; something will be done. There'll be a wedding; there'll be another baby. There's always something to keep the proletariat happy.

TASK 7. Answer the questions.

Obviously Patrick and Jean have very different opinions about the British royal family. How much did you understand of what they said?

Patrick said:

What is important about the royal family is that it's a figurehead.

Did he mean:

a sign? a symbol?

And now see what Jean said:

I certainly wouldn't mind being the Queen. She is the single largest landowner in all of Britain. And they have vast wealth, they own great estates, and at the same time they manage to take a goodly...of the taxpayers' money.

What word is used to describe the royal family's share of the taxpayers'

money:

a slice?

a portion? If you have great estates, do you have:

a lot of land?

a lot of businesses? And if you have vast wealth, do you have:

a lot of money?

a lot of free time?

Now see what Jean said:

I don't think that the expense is justified in keeping this family up just fo£

show.

Does "for show " mean: to entertain?

for appearances, to make an impression? Does "justified" mean: explained? proved to be right?

TASK 8. Find in the tapescript the English equivalents for the words and expressions below.

- тираж;

- наследственный;

- сомнительное происхождение;

- посредственный;

- стремления;

- деньги налогоплательщиков;

- пороки общества;

- поколение;

- выбранный из народа;

- расходы;

- отрекаться от престола.

TASK 9. Answer the questions.

\. Why does any information published about the royal family increase the circulation figures?

2. What makes the Britishers feel so strongly about the royal family?

3. How can you explain the fact that their opinions tend to be quite opposite? What social groups tend to favour the Queen and the royal family? Why?

TASK 10. A. List four countries which have monarchies.

B. Which of these adjectives do you associate with the British monarch •

ostentatious; greedy; modest; vulgar; hard-working; lazy; wealthy; dignified; popular.

TASK II. Listen to the tape. In this tape the speaker tells us avout his attitudes to the British monarchy.

TASK 12. Answer the questions

1. Does the speaker approve:

a) of the British monarchy?

b) of monarchies in general?

2. How does he compare monarchs and presidents?

3. Which monarchies does he praise? Why?

4. Does he feel sorry for the British Royal Family?

5. How does he compare monarchs and "soap operas" (popular television dramas)?

6. Which of the adjectives in TASK 10 does he associate with the British monarchy? Is your own list different?

TASK 13. Listen again and complete the quotations from the tape.

a) I used to............royal families in general.

b) I think now I...............the idea of a royal family.

c) I...............them personally, if you like.

d) I think I would...............a monarchy of the sort you find in

other countries in Northern Europe.

TASK 14. Answer the questions.

1. What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages of having a monarchy?

2. Would you exchange lives with a member of the British Royal Family? Why (Why not)? If so, which member would you swoop with?

Revision

TASK 1. Explain the meanings of these expressions from the unit. Make one sentence from each set of words, using them in any order, to describe the British system.

5-6858

TASK 2. Turn the following nouns into adjectives.

constitution administration

ceremony empire

politics royalty

TASK 3. Complete the following text with the words and expressions from the box and translate them into Russian

cabinet; alliance; coalition; majority;

right-wing; prime minister; split; left-wing; opposition; one-party states.

In most countries, except (a) political parties. The one with the (b)

____, there are several different

____of seats normally forms the

government, and the parties which are against the government are called

(c)_______. Sometimes no single party wins enough seats, and several

parties must combine together in a (d)_______to form a government. The

principal ministers in the government from a group are called the

(e)_______. The leader of this group, and of the government, is the

(f)________. Of course, there are many different kinds of parties and

governments. A socialist or communist party is often described as

. A conservative party on the other hand, is usually said to be . Political situations are always changing. Sometimes in a party

(g)____

00____

or between two parties there is a big argument or deep difference of opinion.

This is called a (i)_________. When, on the other hand, two parties work

together, this is sometimes called an (j)________.

TASK 4 Explain the difference between

(a) pro- and anti-

(b) an election and a referendum

TASK 5. Complete the following sentences with the words from the box.

with;

for;

against;

in;

between

(a) I voted________

(b) Put your voting papers

the Liberal candidate.

________the ballot box.

the socialists.

(c) He's very right-wing, so he's_____

(d) She belongs________the Communist Party.

(e) The Liberals formed an alliance________the Social Democrats.

(f) There's a split

(g) There's a split

the two parties. _the party.

TASK 6. Complete the following text with the words and expressions from the box.

proportional representation; Member of Parliament; call an election; House of Commons; stand for election; General Election;

polling day; canvassing; secret ballot; constituents; constituencies; polling stations

by-election; eligible; campaigns; turn-out.

Middleford. Election Result. No. of registered voters: 100,000

Mr G. Smith (Labour) Mrs R. Green (Conservative) Miss L. Jones (Independent) Mr W. Woods (Communist)

30,000 votes 25,000 votes 10,000 votes 5,000 votes

A (a)______has just taken place all over the United Kingdom. These

must take place every five years unless the Prime Minister decides to

(b)_______earlier. Above is the result in Middleford, one of the

approximately 650 (c)_______into which the country is divided for this

purpose. (d)________was last Thursday, when the election

(e)_______and door-to-door (f)_______stopped and the people of

Middleford went to the (g)_______to make their choice, in a

(h).

(i)

0).

(k).

(1)

____________ ---- —-" «•Aivyxuv, in a

_, from the four candidates (anyone over the age of 21 can

__. Voting is not compulsory and the number of people

to vote in Middleford (everyone over 18) was 100,000, so the

was 70 per cent. Now Mr Smith will become the

_____for Middleford, which means he will represent the people of

Middleford in the (m)________in London. If he should die or be forced to

give up his seat, the people of Middleford will have to vote again, in a

(n)______to replace him. It is a very simple system and Mr Smith will try

to represent all his (o)_______fairly, whether they voted for him or not.

However, the fact remains that most voters in Middleford voted for candidates (and parties) other than Mr. Smith, and their votes are now lost. It is seats which are important in Parliament, not votes, and it is easy to see why smaller parties

would like a system of (p)_______, in which the number of votes they won

was reflected in the number of seats they received in Parliament.

Just for Fun

Here are some more facts about the Queen and her family.

The Queen meets thousands of people every year. She has to shake hands with each of them, and she has to find something interesting to say. If you meet the Queen you should call her "Your Majesty", then "Ma'am". The other Princes and Princesses are "Your Highness", then "Sir" or "Madam". When she wants to end a conversation, she takes a half step backwards, smiling broadly, then moves on.

Here are some favourite royal conversation starters.

1. "How long have you been waiting?" (The Queen).

2. "What exactly are you doing?" (Prince Charles).

3. "How long have you been working here?" (Princess Anne).

4. "Keep you busy, do they?" (Prince Charles).

5. "What's your job?" (Prince Philip).

At the reply: "I'm a postman," he will say "Oh, you're a postman, are you?"

6. "Where have you come from?" (The Queen).

7. "Pay you enough, do they?" (Prince Charles).

8. "Have you done this sort of thing before?" (Princess Anne).

How would you start a conversation with Her Majesty?