Учебнометодическое пособие Петрозаводск 2010 ббк 81. 2Англ удк 811. 11 Г 613 Рецензенты
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3) What are the differences between the English and American political systems (refer to Text 7.19). 4) Make a brief plan of the text. 7.6 The Separation of Powers in the USA 1) Read the text and answer the question: “What is the role of the US Constitution in creating the so called “a more perfect union?” Since the Second Continental Congress declared America’s independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776, the United States government has sought to realize the fundamental principle on which the nation was founded: that all people have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This principle was formalized in 1788 with the ratification of the Constitution. That document – still the supreme law of the United States – became the foundation of a federal government that allowed the several states to act together as one, while protecting the sovereignty of each individual state. To ensure that no person or group would amass too much power, the founders established a government in which the powers to create, implement, and adjudicate laws were separated. Each branch of government is balanced by powers in the other two coequal branches: the President can veto the laws of the Congress; the Congress confirms or rejects the President’s appointments and can remove the President from office in exceptional circumstances; and the justices of the Supreme Court, who can overturn unconstitutional laws, are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. In creating this balance, the framers of the Constitution hoped to form what they called “a more perfect union” – a government that would not only serve the people but would also be a long-lived exemplar to other nations around the world. 2) Name the statements which are true: a) America’s independence from Great Britain on July 14, 1776. b) The supreme law of the United States is the Constitution. c) The Constitution of the USA protects the sovereignty of each individual state. d) The powers of the US government to create, implement, and adjudicate laws were not separated. e) The President of the USA cannot veto the laws of the Congress. f) The justices of the US Supreme Court are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. g) “A more perfect union” – this expression means a more perfect country. 3) Compare the Constitution of the USA and the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Is there anything in common between the two Constitutions? 7.7 The President of the USA 1) Read the text and answer the question: “Can you be the President of the USA?” Do you want to be the President of the United States of America? Maybe you can apply for a job. Answer these three questions. Are you a U.S. citizen? Are you thirty five years old or older? Have you been a resident of the United States for fourteen years or longer? Did you say “yes” to all three questions? Then you can take the first steps to the White House. You become President for a term. A term is four years. You can only serve two terms. This means that you can only be President twice. This became law in 1951. Before that, the law was different. In fact, Franklin D. Roosevelt became president in 1933. He was still President when he died in 1945. He was President for twelve years. No one was President longer than he was. As President of the United States, you earn $200,000 a year. You also get extra $50,000 for expenses, tax free. You have your own limousine, jet, and housekeepers, all free. You also live rent free, in the White house, D.C. And you are Head of the richest country in the world. Presidents of the United States are very different people. Twenty two were lawyers, four soldiers, four farmers, four teachers, two writers, two businessmen, one tailor, and one actor. Eight of them didn’t have a college education! 2) Answer the questions concerning the current President of the USA: a) What is his name? b) Is he a U.S. citizen? c) How old was he when he became the President of the USA? d) When does his term expire? e) What education does he have? 7.8 Half a Million Lawyers in the USA 1) What does the title of the text imply? “It was you, wasn’t it?” says the district attorney, pointing to the woman on the other side of the courtroom. “It was you who murdered your husband.” “Yes!” says the woman, hiding her face in her hands. “Oh God, yes, it was me!” “OK. Cut!” shouts the movie director. “One minute break, everyone.” He is pleased. He knows that his TV series will be a success. The great interest that Americans have in the law and the courts will make sure of that. It is extraordinary, in fact, how important the law is in America’s national life. Indeed, the justices of the Supreme Court are some of the most powerful people in America. It is often they, rather than the politicians, who make the big decisions that will change people’s daily lives. It is the justices who decide that black children and white children should go to school together. It is they who decide whether criminals should be punished by death. Politicians, after all, can lose an election if they make unpopular decisions. Justices keep their job for life. The nine justices of the Supreme Court are probably the most respected people in the U.S.A., but Americans do not think so highly of the less important lawyers. Perhaps this is because there are so many of them. One in every 450 Americans is a lawyer, and in Washington, D.C., the number is one in every sixty-four. One reason for the large number of lawyers is that each state has different laws. In Alabama, for example, the school age is from seven to sixteen years old. In Pennsylvania, it is eight to seventeen. In addition to the different state laws, there are also federal laws, which everyone must obey. Americans hurry to the courts of law to fight for their rights for all kinds of reasons. This can be a good thing. No employer can afford to be careless about safety. The workers might take him to court. No doctor can be careless with her patient. She will find herself in court, ordered to pay millions of dollars for her mistake. Some people feel that things have gone too far. Take Mr. and Mrs. Zak, for example. One evening they offered scotch to a guest who then drove off in his car and crashed. The court decided that the Zaks had been wrong to give their guest scotch and allow him to drive away drunk. They were ordered to pay $72,500. It must have been the most expensive bottle of scotch the Zaks ever bought. 2) Find the definition of the word “attorney” in the dictionary. 3) Prove that it is often the justices, rather than the politicians, “who make the big decisions that will change people’s daily lives” in the USA. 7.9 JURY DUTY 1) Answer the questions: a) Would you like to be a lawyer? Would you like to be a judge? b) Have you ever been in court? What did you do there? c) Have you ever been a member of a jury? Was it difficult? Jerry Owens is a member of a jury. Now he is hearing a case that involves robbery and theft. The accused man, the defendant, has a past criminal record and has served a term in prison. He is accused of holding up a bank as well as stealing jewelry from five homes in the area. The trial has lasted five days, but today seems to be the day to give a verdict of guilty or no guilty. Jerry thinks that the evidence against the defendant is not very strong. He plans to vote “not guilty.” 2) Answer the questions: a) Who is Jerry Owens? b) Who has a past criminal record? c) Why is today important? d) What is the defendant accused of? e) How does Jerry Owens plan to vote? 7.10 Trial by jury 1) What title might be good for this selection? 2) Could you comment on the phrase “Trial by jury may not be a perfect system of administering criminal justice”? Trial by jury may not be a perfect system of administering criminal justice, but it is a great improvement over some earlier methods. In old England, under Saxon rule, cruel and barbaric methods were used to determine the guilt or innocence of the accused. These procedures were known as “ordeal by fire” and “ordeal by water.” Fire was customarily used for nobility. Ordinary people were tried by water. In one variety of “ordeal by fire,” the accused was forced to take three steps while grasping a red hot piece of iron in his or her bare hands. The hands were then bandaged and the defendant was judged on the degree of healing that took place in three days. A variation on this technique involved walking barefoot and blindfolded on irregularly spaced red-hot irons. God supposedly guided the feet of the innocent. For “ordeal by water” the accused was bound with ropes and tossed into a deep body of water. Those who floated were guilty. A person who sank was presumed innocent and, hopefully, pulled from the water before drowning. This quaint practice was based on the notion that the water would reject the guilty and accept the innocent. Our judicial system may have flaws, but it’s certainly preferable to the Saxon system! 3) Answer the questions: a) What is “ordeal by fire”? b) Who were the Saxons? c) What layer of the population was fire used for? d) What does the word “barbaric” mean? e) What does the word “flaws” mean? 7.11 The Federal Bureau of Investigation 1) Look through the text and make a supposition which category of readers this text will be interesting for. Prove your supposition. 2) Name the paragraphs which give answers to these questions: a) Where is the headquarters of the FBI located? b) What is the main goal of the FBI? c) What are the requirements to the applicants for an FBI agent? d) How are the FBI agents trained? e) Who is director of FBI? f) Since what time did he start reporting to the Director of National Intelligence? g) How many categories of crime does the FBI deal with? h) How many branches / departments are there in the FBI? 3) What do the following verb combinations and verb forms refer to: are appointed; must be confirmed; serve; resign; are fired; is up; is responsible; makes sure; is in charge of; would brief; reports to; had to make sure? (1) The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency. The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime. Its motto is “Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity,” corresponding to the FBI initials. (2) The FBI’s headquarters, the J. Edgar Hoover Building, is located in Washington, D.C. Fifty-six field offices are located in major cities throughout the United States as well as over 400 resident agencies in smaller cities and towns across the country. The FBI is organized into five functional branches and the Office of the Director, which contains most administrative offices. Each branch is managed by an Executive Assistant Director. Each office and division within the branch is managed by an Assistant Director. More than 50 international offices called “legal attachés” are in U.S. embassies worldwide. (3) The FBI was established in 1908 as the Bureau of Investigation (BOI), complete with its own staff of special agents. The Secret Service provided the Department of Justice 12 Special Agents and these agents became the first agents in the new BOI. Its first official task was visiting and making surveys of the houses of prostitution in preparation for enforcing the “White Slave Traffic Act.” The Director of the BOI, J. Edgar Hoover, became the first FBI Director and served for 48 years. After Hoover’s death, legislation was passed limiting the tenure of future FBI Directors to a maximum of ten years. (4) The FBI’s main goal is to protect and defend the United States against terrorist and foreign intelligence threats, to uphold and enforce the criminal laws of the United States, and to provide leadership and criminal justice services to federal, state, municipal, and international agencies and partners. The following offences are classified by the FBI as violent crimes, defined as offences involving force or the threat of force: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. The following offences are considered property crimes: burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. (5) FBI Directors are appointed by the President of the United States. They must be confirmed by the United States Senate and serve ten-year terms unless they resign or are fired by the President before their term is up. The FBI director is responsible for the day-to-day operations at the FBI. Along with his deputies, the director makes sure cases and operations are handled correctly. The director also is in charge of making sure the leadership in any one of the FBI field offices are manned with qualified agents. Before the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act was passed in the wake of the September 11 attacks, the FBI director would brief the President of the United States on any issues that arise from within the FBI. Since then, the director now reports to the Director of National Intelligence who in turn reports to the President. The FBI Directors had to make sure the FBI got as much training as needed. (6) In order to apply to become an FBI agent, an applicant must be between the ages of 23 and 37. The applicant must also hold American citizenship, have a clean record, and hold a four-year bachelor’s degree. All FBI employees require a Top Secret security clearance, and in many instances, employees need a higher level, a Top Secret security clearance. In order to get a security clearance, all potential FBI personnel must pass a series of Single Scope Background Investigations, which are conducted by the Office of Personnel Management. Special Agents candidates also have to pass a Physical Fitness Test that includes a 300-meter run, one-minute sit-ups, maximum push-ups, and a 2.4 km run. There is also a polygraph test personnel have to pass, with questions including possible drug use. (7) After potential special agent candidates are cleared with a Top Secret security clearance and the Form SF-312 non-disclosure agreement is signed, they attend the FBI training facility located on Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. Candidates spend approximately 21 weeks at the FBI Academy, where they receive over 500 classroom hours and over 1,000 simulated law enforcement hours to train. Upon graduation, new FBI Special Agents are placed all around the country and the world, depending on their areas of expertise. Professional support staff works out of one of the many support buildings the FBI maintains. However, any Agent or Support staff member can be transferred to any location for any length of time if their skills are deemed necessary at one of the FBI field offices or one of the 400 resident agencies the FBI maintains. 4) Look through the texts you’ve already read and choose the facts on the topic “The FBI Agents.” 7.12 FBI’S INVESTIGATIONS 1) Before reading the text, exchange the information on the FBI that you have with your group mates. 2) Read the text and answer the questions: a) Who began using wiretapping in the FBI? b) Did the wiretaps used by the FBI violate the Fourth Amendment? c) What does “the RICO Act” mean? d) Is the FBI empowered to search a house while the residents are away? e) What notorious criminals were apprehended by FBI agents during the “War on Crime”? f) What other Federal agencies does the FBI work in conjunction with? g) How many law enforcement agencies are there across the country? J. Edgar Hoover began using wiretapping in the 1920s during Prohibition to arrest bootleggers. A 1927 case in which a bootlegger was caught through telephone tapping went to the United States Supreme Court, which ruled that the FBI could use wiretaps in its investigations and did not violate the Fourth Amendment as unlawful search and seizure as long as the FBI did not break in to a person’s home to complete the tapping. In response to organized crime, on August 25, 1953, the Top Hoodlum Program was created. It asked all field offices to gather information on mobsters in their territories and to report it regularly to Washington for a centralized collection of intelligence on racketeers. After the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO Act), the FBI’s chief tool against organized crime, took effect, the FBI began investigating the former Prohibition-organized groups, which had become fronts for crime in major cities and even small towns. All of the FBI work was done undercover and from within these organizations using the provisions provided in the RICO Act and these groups were dismantled. The Bureau conducted operations against known organized crime syndicates and families, including those headed by Sam Giancana and John Gotti. The RICO Act is still used today for all organized crime and any individuals that might fall under the Act. The USA PATRIOT Act increased the powers allotted to the FBI, especially in wiretapping and monitoring of Internet activity. One of the most controversial provisions of the act is the so-called sneak and peek provision, granting the FBI powers to search a house while the residents are away, and not requiring them to notify the residents for several weeks afterwards. Under the PATRIOT Act’s provisions the FBI also resumed inquiring into the library records of those who are suspected of terrorism (something it had supposedly not done since the 1970s). Information obtained through an FBI investigation is presented to the appropriate U.S. Attorney or Department of Justice official, who decides if prosecution or other action is warranted. During the “War on Crime” of the 1930s, FBI agents apprehended or killed a number of notorious criminals who carried out kidnappings, robberies, and murders throughout the nation, including John Dillinger, “Baby Face” Nelson, Kate “Ma” Barker, Alvin “Creepy” Karpis, and George “Machine Gun” Kelly. The FBI often works in conjunction with other Federal agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Customs and Border Protection in seaport and airport security, and the National Transportation Safety Board in investigating airplane crashes and other critical incidents. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is the only other agency with the closest amount of investigative power. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, the FBI maintains a role in most federal criminal investigations. The Uniform Crime Reports compile data from over 17,000 law enforcement agencies across the country. They provide detailed data regarding the volume of crimes to include arrest, clearance (or closing a case), and law enforcement officer information. The UCR focuses its data collection on violent crimes, hate crimes, and property crimes. According to the Annual Uniform Crime Report for 2006, violent crime offenses rose by 1.3%, but the number of property crime offenses decreased by 2.9% compared to 2005. |