The UK: Political Parties
There are three
main political parties in Great Britain:
the Conservative Party, the Labour Party, and the Liberal Democrats, as well as numerous small parties, such as
the great Party, which is supported by the environmentalists.
The Conservative Party is the most powerful
party and is sometimes called a ‘party of business directors’. It is supported
by the richest sections of society- the monopolists, landowners, business
owners. They are for minimal government interference in the economy. Their
social and economic policy is wage restraint, drastic cuts in social service,
promotion of private property and enterprise, maintenance of a strong military
and foreign policy and preservation of traditional cultural values and
institutions. Most of the money needed to run the party comes from large firms
and companies. Among the outstanding Conservatives was Margaret Thatcher, who
became Britain’s first woman prime minister in 1979.
The Conservative Party is known informally by the nickname of Tories, especially used in newspapers
as it takes less space. The word ‘tory’ means an Irish highwayman and was
applied to the Conservatives by their opponents; later the Conservatives
adopted this nickname.
The Labour Party was founded in 1900 by the
trade unions. Thus it represents the working class, plus a small middle-class intelligentsia.
The Labour Party supports the weaker people in society and stands for equality
and for more government involvement in the economy. Its concern is to provide
full social services. Prime Minister Tony Blair (1997) represents the Labour
Party.
The Liberal Democrats represent the middle
class. The party supports individualism, private enterprise, human rights and
promotion of social justice. It has always been strongly in favour of the
European Union. It also places more emphasis on the environment than other
parties.
The Liberal Democratic Party is nicknamed as the Whigs. A ‘whig’ was a Scottish preacher
who could go on for 4 or 5 hours at a time preaching moralising sermons.
Government in
Britain has alternated between only two political parties since 1945- the
Conservative and the Labour party. No other party has been in office since then
and there have been no coalitions. The Liberals enjoyed moments of success, but
no member of the Liberal party has held government office since 1945.
Theresa Mary May is a British
politician serving as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the
Conservative Party since 2016. She was first elected Member of Parliament for
Maidenhead in the general election of 1997
Key vocabulary:
support – աջակցել
environmentalist – [inˌvaıǝrǝn'mentǝlist] -շրջակա միջավայրի պաշտպանության հետևորդ
be in office – պաշտոն
զբաղեցնել
privileged – արտոնյալ
landowner –
հողատեր, կալվածատեր
interference- [ˌintǝ'fıǝrǝns] - միջամտություն
wage –աշխատավարձ
restraint- սահմանափակում
drastic cuts – սուր
կրճատումներ
enterprise –
ձեռնարկում
maintenance -['meıntǝnǝns] - պահպանում
involvement -
ներգրավվում
preacher - ['prı:tʃǝ]-քարոզիչ
sermon - ['sǝ:mǝn]- քարոզ
alternate – ['ɔ:ltǝneıt]- հաջորդել միմյանց
Talking
points:
1. Which
are the main political parties in Great Britain?
2. How are
the Conservatives/the Liberals most frequently reffered to in the British
press?
3. Which
party represents the rich/ the working class/ the middle class?
4. What policy
does each party support?
5. Who is
the present Prime Minister? Which party does he/she represent?
Robert Burns / biography
Robert Burns
Poet, Folk Hero(1759–1796)
Poet Robert Burns is considered one of the most famous characters of Scotland's cultural history. He is best known as a pioneer of the Romantic movement.
Synopsis
Poet Robert Burns began life as a poor tenant farmer but was able to channel his intellectual energy into poetry and song to become one of the most famous characters of Scotland's cultural history. He is best known as a pioneer of the Romantic movement for his lyrical poetry and his rewriting of Scottish folk songs, many of which are still well known across the world today. Since his death on July 21, 1796, his work has inspired many Western thinkers.
Early Life
Born on January 25, 1759, in Alloway, Scotland, Robert Burns was the eldest son of tenant farmers William Burnes and Agnes Broun. After some rudimentary education, Robert’s parents encouraged him to read books by important contemporary writers as well as Shakespeare and Milton. Since he was a boy, Robert Burns found farm work demanding and detrimental to this health. He broke up the drudgery by writing poetry and engaging with the opposite sex. When his father died in 1784, worn out and bankrupt, it only served to deepen Burns's critical view of the religious and political establishment that perpetuated Scotland's rigid class system.
The Life of a Lover and Writer
In the years 1784 to 1788, Robert Burns engaged in simultaneous illicit relationships that produced several illegitimate children. In 1785, he fathered his first child, Elizabeth, born out of wedlock to his mother’s servant, Elizabeth Paton, while at the same time he was courting Jean Amour. When Jean became pregnant, her father forbade the two to get married, and Jean honored her father’s wishes, at least temporarily. Enraged at Jean's rejection, Burns began wooing Mary Campbell and considered running away with her to the Caribbean. However, Mary suddenly died, changing his plans.
Amidst the domestic chaos in Robert Burns’s life, in July 1786, he published his first major volume of verse, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. Critics praised the work, and its appeal spanned different classes of Scottish society. With this sudden success, Burns decided to stay in Scotland, and that November, he set out for Edinburgh to bask in the glory.
Achievement and Sudden Fame
While in Edinburgh, Robert Burns made many close friends including Agnes “Nancy” McLehose, with whom he exchanged passionate letters, but was unable to consummate the relationship. Frustrated, he began to seduce her servant, Jenny Clow, who bore him a son. Turning to business, Burns befriended James Johnson, a fledgling music publisher, who asked him for help. The result was The Scots Musical Museum, a collection of traditional music of Scotland. Tired of the urban life, Burns settled on a farm at Ellisland in the summer of 1788 and finally married Jean Amour. The couple would ultimately have nine children, only three of whom survived infancy.
In 1791, however, Robert Burns quit farming for good and moved his family to the nearby town of Dumfries. There he accepted the position of excise officer—essentially a tax collector—and continued to write and gather traditional Scottish songs. That year he published “Tam O’Shanter,” a slightly veiled autobiographical story of a ne’er-do-well farmer, which is now considered a masterpiece of narrative poetry. In 1793 he then contributed to publisher George Thomson’s A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice. This work and The Scots Musical Museum make up the bulk of Burns’s poems and folk songs, including the well-known pieces “Auld Lang Syne,” “A Red, Red Rose” and “The Battle of Sherramuir.”
Later Years and Death
In his final three years, Robert Burns sympathized with the French Revolution abroad and radical reform at home, neither of which was popular with many of his neighbors and friends. Never in good health, he had several bouts with illness, possibly attributed to a lifelong heart condition. On the morning of July 21, 1796, Robert Burns died in Dumfries at age 37. The funeral took place on July 25, the same day his son Maxwell was born. A memorial edition of his poems was published to raise money for his wife and children.
Legacy
Robert Burns was a man of great intellect and considered a pioneer of the Romantic movement. Many of the early founders of socialism and liberalism found inspiration in his works. Considered the national poet of Scotland, he is celebrated there and around the world every year on "Burns Night,” January 25.
Bow down
Bow [bou] / Homonym Bough=branch =bow [bau]
noun
a knot tied with two loops and two loose ends, used especially for tying shoelaces and decorative ribbons.
a girl with long hair tied back in a bow
a weapon for shooting arrows, typically made of a curved piece of wood whose ends are joined by a taut string.
They had walked and driven for hours to get there, carrying the only weapons they possessed - bows and arrows, spears and machetes.
synonyms: longbow, crossbow, recurve
verb
play (a stringed instrument or music) using a bow.
the techniques by which the pieces were bowed
See also
Bow, take a bow, bow tie, bow down, bow and arrow, bow out, violin bow, bow window, bow thruster, bow wow, bow-legged
verb
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խոնարհվել
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bow, crouch, ebb, droop, condescend, incline
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ծռել
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buckle, warp, crank, bow, heel, crankle
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ծռվել
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heel, warp, buckle, bow, hog, scorch
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բարեվել
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bow
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կռանալ
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nod, stoop, crouch, bow, lean
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հակել
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bow
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հակվել
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lean, bow, tend
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noun
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ծիածան
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rainbow, bow, arc
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աղեղ
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bow, arc, arch, arbalest
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կամար
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vault, arch, bow, vaulting, cincture
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ողջույն
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greeting, salute, welcome, salutation, bow, accost
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քիթ
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toe, nose, beak, bow, conk, snook
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առջեվի մաս
|
forepart, front, bow
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կնտնտոցաղեղ
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bow
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