1 Why is English language considered to be lingua franca?

This common language is referred to as a ‘lingua franca’. According to Richards et al (1996:214) ‘the term lingua franca originated in the Mediterranean region in the Middle Ages among crusaders and traders of different language backgrounds’. Holmes (1997:86) writes that ‘the term lingua franca describes a language serving as a regular means of communication between different linguistic groups in a multilingual speech community’.

The need for a standardized, more or less universally acceptable and recognizable variant, is needed since English is not only the official language of many countries in the world but also the most widely used language in international conferences, meeting, etc, being the main language used by NATO and UN organizations, and having become since World War II a kind of lingua franca of contemporary world.

Is English the national language in USA and UK?

2 What do you know about England?

Great Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people in mid-2008, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller islands and islets.

The entire island is territory of the sovereign state the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and most of the United Kingdom's territory is in Great Britain. Most of England, Scotland, and Wales are on the island, as are their capital cities, London, Edinburgh, and Cardiff. Great Britain is made up of three countries; England, Scotland and Wales. They used to be separate countries, each with its own language and government.

The Kingdom of Great Britain resulted from the political union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland on 1 May, 1707 under Queen Anne. It existed until 1801 when the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland were united. This resulted in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. "Great Britain" refers to the majority of the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" (UK)

In 1975 the government affirmed that the term Britain, not Great Britain, could be used as a shortened form of the United Kingdom. British refer, however, to all citizens of the United Kingdom—including Welsh, Scottish, English, and Northern Irish.

3 Talk about the national symbols of England.

The national symbols of England are flags, icons or cultural expressions that are emblematic, representative or otherwise characteristic of England orEnglish culture.

The national flag of England, known as St. George's Cross, has been England's national flag since the 13th century.

The Royal Banner of England (also known as the Banner of the Royal Arms,

The Royal Arms of England[8] is a coat of arms symbolising England and the English monarchs. Designed in the High Middle Ages, the Royal Arms was subject to significant alteration as the territory, politics and rule of the Kingdom of England shifted throughout the Middle Ages.

The Tudor rose, which takes its name from the Tudor dynasty, was adopted as a national emblem of England around the time of the Wars of the Roses as a symbol of peace.

St Edward's Crown was one of the English Crown Jewels and remains one of the senior British Crown Jewels, being the official coronation crown used in the coronation of first English, then British, and finally Commonwealth realms monarchs.

The rose is the national flower of England.

4 What do you know about Wales?

Wales is located on a peninsula in central-west Great Britain.Wales is bordered by England to the east and by sea in the other three directions: Bristol Channel to the south, Celtic Sea to the west, and the Irish Sea to the north.

The main population and industrial areas are in South Wales, consisting of the cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport and surrounding areas, with another significant population in the north-east around Wrexham.

The capital Cardiff is Wales's largest city with 317,500 people.Two-thirds of the Welsh population live in South Wales, with another concentration in eastern North Wales. Cardiff is the largest media centre in the UK outside of London.

5 Talk about the national symbols of Wales.

The Flag of Wales incorporates the red dragon, now a popular Welsh symbol, along with the Tudor colours of green and white. It was used by Henry VII at the battle of Bosworth in 1485 after which it was carried in state to St. Paul's Cathedral.

The flag of the Princely House of Aberffraw, blazoned Quarterly or and gules, four lions passant guardant two and two counterchanged langued and armed Azure. The flag of  Prince of Wales, the red lion on a yellow field represented Powys, and the yellow lion on a red field represented Deheubarth.

The Flag of Saint David is sometimes used as an alternative to the national flag (and used in part of Crusaders' crest), and is flown on St David's Day.

The Coat of Arms of the Principality of Wales which are the historic arms of the Kingdom of Gwynedd are used by Charles, Prince of Wales in his personal standard.

The leek is also a national emblem of Wales. According to legend, Saint David ordered his Welsh soldiers to identify themselves by wearing the vegetable on their helmets in an ancient battle against the Saxons that took place in a leek field.

The Sessile Oak, also called the Welsh Oak is the national tree of Wales.

6. What do you know about Scotland?

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest. In addition to the mainland, Scotland consists of over 790 islands including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides.

Scotland's only land border is with England, and runs for 96 kilometers (60 mi) between the basin of the River Tweed on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The territorial extent of Scotland is generally that established by the 1237 Treaty of York between Scotland and England and the 1266 Treaty of Perth between Scotland and Norway. Important exceptions include the Isle of Man, which having been lost to England in the 14th century is now a crown dependency outside of the United Kingdom; the island groups Orkney and Shetland, which were acquired from Norway in 1472; and Berwick-upon-Tweed, lost to England in 1482.

Scotland has three officially recognized languages: English, Scots and Scottish Gaelic. Almost all Scots speak Scottish Standard English, and in 1996 the General Register Office for Scotland estimated that 30% of the population are fluent in Scots. Gaelic is mostly spoken in the Western Isles, where a large number of people still speak it; however, nationally its use is confined to just 1% of the population.

7.Talk about the national symbols of Scotland

The Flag of Scotland, the Saltire or St. Andrew's Cross, dates (at least in legend) from the 9th century, and is thus the oldest national flag still in use.

Stone of Scone, Block of red sandstone used for the coronation of Scottish kings. Usually seen as a symbol of unity and Scottish independence.

The Royal Standard of Scotland, a banner showing the Royal Arms of Scotland, is also frequently to be seen, particularly at sporting events involving a Scottish team. Often called the Lion Rampant (after its chief heraldic device), it is technically the property of the monarch and its use by anybody else is illegal.

The unicorn is also used as a heraldic symbol of Scotland. The Royal Coat of Arms of Scotland, used prior to 1603 by the Kings of Scotland, incorporated a lion rampant shield supported by two unicorns.

The Honours of Scotland, the Scottish Crown Jewels, are displayed in the Crown Room of Edinburgh Castle, from where they are removed only for State Occasions.

William Wallace, a national hero and a leader in the Scottish Wars of Independence.

The thistle, the floral emblem of Scotland, features in many Scottish symbols and logos, and on UK currency. Heather is also considered to be a symbol of Scotland.

8.What do you know about Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is a country that is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west. At the time of the 2001 UK Census, its population was 1,685,000.Northern Ireland consists of six of the traditional nine counties of the historic Irish province of Ulster. It was created as a distinct subdivision of the United Kingdom on 3 May 1921 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, though its constitutional roots lie in the 1800 Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland. Northern Ireland was for many years the site of a violent and bitter ethno-political conflict—The Troubles—between those claiming to represent nationalists, who are predominantly Roman Catholic, and those claiming to represent unionists, who are predominantly Protestant. The island of Ireland was partitioned in 1921 under the terms of the Government of Ireland Act 1920. Six of the nine Ulster counties in the north-east formed

Northern Ireland and the remaining three counties (including County Donegal, despite it having a large Protestant minority .

The Ireland Act of 1949 gave the first legal guarantee to the Parliament and Government that Northern Ireland would not cease to be part of the United Kingdom without consent of the majority of its citizens.

The dialect of English spoken in Northern Ireland shows influence from Scotland, with the use of such Scots words as wee for 'little' and aye for 'yes'.

9.Talk about the national symbols of Northern Ireland.

St. Patrick and the Shamrock The national flower of Northern Ireland is the shamrock, a three-leaved plant similar to clover.

10.What did Henry VIII do for his country?

Henry VIII, who came to the throne in 1509, was a man who left his stamp on history. His six marriages in search of a male heir led to two daughters (Mary and Elizabeth) and a son Edward (who died young). Henry's need for a divorce led to a row with the pope who refused to grant Henry one. Henry countered by dissolving the Roman Catholic Church in Britain, and setting up the Church of England

A Church of England with Henry at the head could then allow Henry to divorce his wife. He divorced the two European wives, Anne of Cleeves and Catherine of Aragon. Henry was a tyrant and a despot. Completely ruthless he let nothing and nobody get in his way. Cardinal Woolsey was banished, Thomas Cromwell and Thomas More were executed.

One other bonus for Henry from his split with Rome was that he gained control of the monasteries - the monastic buildings and land were sold off after the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538. Many of the buildings fell into decay, and they lost their farmlands for ever.

11.What did Elisabeth I do for her country?

Elizabeth's reign brought in one of the most glorious eras of British history. Exploration, colonization, victory in war, and growing world importance are some of her accomplishments. The Arts flourished, this was the age of Shakespeare and Bacon. But as with her sister, plots

against the queen were mounted - Mary Queen of Scots, was finally executed in 1587- the Earl of Essex, a former favourite, was executed for leading a revolt in 1601. And the wars against Spain and in Ireland were expensive - she was £400,000 in debt when she died

The Spanish wars had crippled the English exchequer, inflation soared, and in 1601 Elizabeth had to go to Parliament to get more money. Sensing hostility, as Parliament was angry about the privileges she had granted her favourites, she gave way graciously, and gave a "Golden Speech" which became in later years a model for the relationship between monarch and the nation - with obligations on both sides.

A few months later came news of the defeat of the long running battle against the rebels in Ireland. But by now Elizabeth's health had declined, and she was dying. The choice of successor was not straightforward, as she was the last of Henry VIII's children and none of them had any children themselves. Elizabeth delayed making her choice of successor until she was on her death bed. Her successor would be James Stuart, King of Scotland, and son of Mary Queen of Scots, whom Elizabeth had executed as a traitor.

12.What did Queen Victoria do for her country

The Victorian era of the United Kingdom is a term commonly used to refer to the period of Queen Victoria's rule between 1837 and 1901 which signified the height of the British Industrial Revolution and the apex of the British Empire.

Britain emerged from the Napoleonic Wars a very different country than it had been in 1793. As industrialization progressed, society changed, becoming more urban and less rural.

The exhaustion of Europe after the Napoleonic Wars kept any major conflicts from occurring for over three decades.The British also intervened in 1827 on the side of the Greeks, who had been waging a war of independence against the Ottoman Empire since 1824.

William IV succeeded his brother in 1830 and ruled for seven years. When he died in 1837, his niece Victoria became queen. Her long reign would see Britain reach the zenith of its economic and political power. Exciting new technologies such as steam ships, railroads, photography, and telegraphs appeared, making the world much faster-paced. Britain again remained mostly inactive in Continental politics, and it was not affected by the wave of revolutions in 1848. The Great London Exhibition of 1851 clearly demonstrated the country's preeminence in the world

13.Who was the only British king who was put to trial and executed and why?

Charles I immediately came in to conflict with Parliament. He tried to rule without summoning parliament for 11 years, but eventually ran out of money, and summoned Parliament in 1640

Parliament refused him money, and the country split between supporters of the king and supporters of parliament The first major Engagement of the Civil War was at Edgehill in the Cotswolds on 1642. Indecision among the Royalists and the moulding of the New Model army by the parliamentarians led to Parliament gaining the upper hand, and by 1645 Cromwell won the decisive Battle of Naseby. Charles was captured and put on trial for treason in 1649. He refused to recognise the court, but was regardless found guilty. 59 republicans signed the death warrant.

14 What do you know about the Norman Conquest and its consequences in Britain?

The uniqueness of the Norman conquest in British history is that not only did the ruler change, but also the whole of the ruling class changes, and there was even a new language. The English nobility lost their lands, and the new landowners built castles like Warwick and Windsor that survive to this day. By the time William died in 1087 around 100 major castles had been built.

Henry II is known for his ordering the murder of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, in Canterbury Cathedral - stabbed at the high alter in 1170.

15 How does the British Parliament function?

The Parliament is the most important authority in Britain It first met in the 13th century. The term was officially used in 1236-to describe the assembly of barons and representatives from the towns and counties of England- summoned by the King if extraordinary taxation was required

By the 15th century, Parliament had acquired the right to make laws. Parliament is the legislature and the supreme authority.

Parliament is responsible for approving new laws (legislation). The government introduces most plans for new laws, or changes to existing laws - but they can originate from an MP, Lord or even a member of the public or private group.

Parliament or its committees may investigate how the government implements the Act and would consider any future Bills that amended or replaced itParliament alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territorie

The parliament is bicameral, with an upper house, the House of Lords, and a lower house, the House of Commons. The Queen is the third component of the legislature.

Parliament is an essential part of UK politics. Its main roles are:

Examining and challenging the work of the government (scrutiny)Debating and passing all laws (legislation)Enabling the government to raise taxes

16.How does a bill become an act?

A Bill is a proposal for a new law, or a proposal to change an existing law that is presented for debate before Parliament. Bills are introduced in either the House of Commons or House of Lords for examination, discussion and amendment. When both Houses have agreed on the content of a Bill it is then presented to the reigning monarch for approval (known as Royal Assent). Once Royal Assent is given a Bill becomes an Act of Parliament and is law.

Different types of Bills can be introduced by:

The governmentIndividual MPs or LordsPrivate individuals or organisationsThere are three different types of Bill: Public, Private and Hybrid Bills. There is also another kind of Public Bill called Private Members' Bills. 

A Bill is a proposal for a new law, or a proposal to change an existing law, presented for debate before Parliament.

A Bill can start in the Commons or the Lords and must be approved in the same form by both Houses before becoming an Act (law).

17. What are the responsibilities of the British monarch?

Monarchy is the oldest form of government in the United Kingdom.

In a monarchy, a king or queen is Head of State. The British monarchy is known as a constitutional monarchy. This means that, while The Sovereign is Head of State, the ability to make and pass legislation resides with an elected Parliament.

Although the British Sovereign no longer has a political or executive role, he or she continues to play an important part in the life of the nation.

As Head of State, The Monarch undertakes constitutional and representational duties which have developed over one thousand years of history. In addition to these State duties, The Monarch has a less formal role as 'Head of Nation'. The Sovereign acts as a focus for national identity, unity

and pride; gives a sense of stability and continuity; officially recognises success and excellence; and supports the ideal of voluntary service.

18 Speak about the political parties in UK and the election system.

There are few political parties, main ones being the Conservative Party, the Labour Party and the Liberal DemocratsAmong other minor parties we mention :Green Party, Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru (the Welsh National Party), the Protestant Northern Irish parties, Sinn Fein (the Catholic Northern Irish Party)

The Conservative Party mainly represents the middle and upper classes [a sizeable percentage of skilled and unskilled workers have always voted Conservatives ] particularly strong in southern England while the Labour Party traditionally gathered its support from the Trade Unions, the working class and some middle class backing (intellectuals and academics) with its electoral strongholds: south Wales, Scotland and the Midlands and industrial cities of Northern England

Here are five types of elections in the United Kingdom: United Kingdom general elections, elections to devolved parliaments and assemblies, elections to the European Parliament, local elections and mayoral elections. Elections are held on Election Day, which is conventionally a Thursday. General elections have fixed dates, and must be called within five years of the opening of parliament following the last election. Other elections are held on fixed dates, though in the case of the devolved assemblies and parliaments early elections can occur in certain situations. Currently, six electoral systems are used: the single member plurality system (First Past the Post), the multi member plurality system, party list PR, the single transferable vote, the Additional Member System and the Supplementary Vote.

Elections are administered locally: in each lower-tier local authority, the actual polling procedure is run by the Returning Officer and the compiling and maintenance of the electoral roll by the Electoral Registration Officer (except in Northern Ireland, where the Electoral Office for Northern Irelandassumes both responsibilities). The Electoral Commission only sets standards for and issues guidelines to Returning Officers and Electoral Registration Officers, but is responsible for nationwide electoral administration (such as the registration of political parties and directing the administration of national referendums)

19 Speak about USA- states, regions, dependencies.

The United States of America is a federal republic made up of fifty states and the District of Columbia. Its 9,529,063 square kilometers- nearly forty times the size of the United Kingdom- make it the fourth largest country in the world.

In the east it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and in the west by the Pacific Ocean; approximately 4,500 km of immensely varied land separate the east coast from the west coast.

In the north the USA borders Canada and in the south it borders Mexico.

Forty-eight states are conterminous – each state borders with at least one other state-; the remaining two states of Alaska (which has become part of the Union in 1959) and the eight islands of Hawaii (the fiftieth state to be created in the same year), are situated near the Arctic Circle and 3,200 km away in the Pacific Ocean respectively. The United States also includes the island territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, both located in the Atlantic Ocean.

The north-eastern region is made up of the six states of New England (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut), the Mid-Atlantic states (Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania, as well as the District of Columbia).

The North Central Region

It lies midway between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains. It comprises the states of the Great lakes (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota and Wisconsin) and those of the Midwest (Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota). This region is an area of great diversity in terms of climate, soil and resources.

The Pacific Coast States

Apart from Washington, Oregon and the ‘golden states’ of California, this region also includes Alaska and Hawaii. Lying on the extreme north western point of North America, the ‘last frontier’ state of Alaska is rich in mountains.

The South

This region is at its turn divided into two sub-regions: the Southern States and the South-western States. The first is made up of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida (purchased from Spain in 1819), Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana (purchased from France for $15 million in 1803), Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana are often referred collectively as the Deep South.

20.Speak of the American Revolution and the minutemen.

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North Americajoined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America. They first rejected the authority of the Parliament of Great Britain to govern them from overseas without representation, and then expelled all royal officials. By 1774, each colony had established a Provincial Congress, or an equivalent governmental institution, to govern itself, but still within the empire. The British responded by sending combat troops to re-impose direct rule. Through representatives sent in 1775 to the Second Continental Congress, the states joined together at first to defend their respective self-governance and manage the armed conflict against the British known as the American Revolutionary War (also: American War of Independence, 1775–83). Ultimately, the states collectively determined that the British monarchy, by acts of tyranny, could no

longer legitimately claim their allegiance. They then severed ties with the British Empire in July 1776, when the Congress issued the United States Declaration of Independence, rejecting the monarchy on behalf of the new sovereign nation separate and external to the British Empire. The war ended with effective American victory in October 1781, followed by formal British abandonment of any claims to the United States with the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

The American Revolution was the result of a series of social, political, and intellectual transformations in early American society and government, collectively referred to as the American Enlightenment. Americans rejected the oligarchies and aristocracies common in Europe at the time, championing instead the development of republicanism based on the Enlightenment understanding of liberalism. Among the significant results of the revolution was the creation of a democratically-elected representative government responsible to the will of the people. However, sharp political debates erupted over the appropriate level of democracy desirable in the new government, with a number of Founders fearing mob rule.

The first shots of the American Revolution fired at Lexington, Massachusetts where they met a group of Minutemen, who got that name because they were said to be ready to fight in a minute. These intended only a silent protest, and their leader told them not to shoot unless fired on first. The British ordered the Minutemen to disperse, and they complied; as they were withdrawing, someone fired a shot so the British troops attacked the Minutemen with guns and bayonets.

21.Speak of the American Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Constitution drawn up in 1787 and ratified a year later by the representatives of the original thirteen colonies. It is considered to be a landmark in the development of constitutional and governmental law. Being the oldest written national constitution currently in force, it defines the basic organs of government and their legal duties, responsibilities and jurisdiction. Deriving in large part from the English Magna Charta, the American Bill of Rights, adopted in 1791 consisted of a series of ten Amendments to the US Constitution. These amendments sought to guarantee the rights of the individual (freedom of speech, religion, the press), against possible federal tyranny. A further sixteen amendments have been added to the Constitution since 1791. Despite numerous revisions, the basic principles underlying the present system of government can be traced back to the original document drawn up more than hundred years earlier.

The US Constitution has proved to be a remarkably stable document. If one accepts that the first 10 amendments were in effect part of the original constitutional settlement, there have only been 17 amendments in over 200 years. One of the major reasons for this is that - quite deliberately on the part of its drafters - the Constitution is a very difficult instrument to change. First, a proposed amendment has to secure a two-thirds vote of members present in both houses of Congress. Then three-quarters of the state legislatures have to ratify the proposed change (this stage may or may not be governed by a specific time limit).

At the heart of the US Constitution is the principle known as 'separation of powers', a term coined by the French political, enlightenment thinker Montesquieu. This means that power is spread between three institutions of the state - the executive, the legislature and the judiciary - and no one institution has too much power and no individual can be a member of more than one institution.

This principle is also known as 'checks and balances', since each of the three branches of the state has some authority to act on its own, some authority to regulate the other two branches, and has some of its own authority, in turn, regulated by the other branches.

The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. These limitations serve to protect the natural rights ofliberty and property. They guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and reserve some powers to the states and the public. While originally the amendments applied only to the federal government, most of their provisions have since been held to apply to the states by way of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The amendments were introduced by James Madison to the 1st United States Congress as a series of legislative articles. They were adopted by the House of Representatives on August 21, 1789,[1][2] formally proposed by joint resolution of Congress on September 25, 1789, and came into effect as Constitutional Amendments on December 15, 1791, through the process of ratification by three-fourths of the States. While twelve amendments were passed by Congress, only ten were originally passed by the states. Of the remaining two, one was adopted as the Twenty-seventh Amendment and the other technically remains pending before the states.

Originally, the Bill of Rights legally protected only white men,[3] excluding African Americans[4] and women.[5][6]. However, these limitations were not explicit in the Bill of Right's text. It took additional Constitutional Amendments and numerous Supreme Court cases to extend the same rights to all U.S. citizens.

The Bill of Rights plays a key role in American law and government, and remains a vital symbol of the freedoms and culture of the nation. One of the first fourteen copies of the Bill of Rights is on public display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C..

22 What do you know about the political parties in USA?

American politics has been dominated by two parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, since the American Civil War, although other parties have also existed.

Since the 1790s the country has been run by two major parties. The United States does not have a parliamentary system, in which governing coalitions are formed after elections, so coalitions are formed before elections under the umbrella of the party organizations. In the absence of a parliamentary system, third parties cannot thrive. Since the Civil War, the two major parties have been called the Republican and Democratic parties. Many minor or third political parties appear from time to time. They tend to serve a means to advocate policies that eventually are adopted by the two major political parties. At various times the Socialist Party, the Farmer-Labor Party and

the Populist Party for a few years had considerable local strength, then faded away. At present the Libertarian Party is the most successful third party.

American political parties are more loosely organized than those in other countries. The two major parties, in particular, have no formal organization at the national level that controls membership, activities, or policy positions, though some state affiliates do. Thus, for an American to say that he or she is a member of the Democratic or Republican Party, is quite different from a Briton's stating that he or she is a member of the Labour party. In the United States, one can often become a "member" of a party, merely by stating that fact. In some U.S. states, a voter can register as a member of one or another party and/or vote in the primary election for one or another party, but such participation does not restrict one's choices in any way; nor does it give a person any particular rights or obligations with respect to the party, other than possibly allowing that person to vote in that party's primary elections (elections that determine who the candidate of the party will be). A person may choose to attend meetings of one local party committee one day and another party committee the next day. The sole factor that brings one "closer to the action" is the quantity and quality of participation in party activities and the ability to persuade others in attendance to give one responsibility.

Party identification becomes somewhat formalized when a person runs for partisan office. In most states, this means declaring oneself a candidate for the nomination of a particular party and intent to enter that party's primary election for an office. A party committee may choose to endorse one or another of those who is seeking the nomination, but in the end the choice is up to those who choose to vote in the primary, and it is often difficult to tell who is going to do the voting. The result is that American political parties have weak central organizations.

23.The election of the president of USA – his responsibilities and duties.

The President is both the head of state and the head of government, as well as the military commander-in-chief and chief diplomat. He presides over the executive branch of the federal government, a vast organization numbering about 4 million people, including 1 million active-duty military personnel. Within the executive branch, the President has broad constitutional powers to manage national affairs and the workings of the federal government and he may issue executive orders to affect internal policies.

The President may sign or veto legislation passed by Congress and has the power to recommend measures to Congress. The Congress may override a presidential veto but only by a two-thirds majority in each house.

The President has the power to make treaties (with the 'advice and consent' of the Senate) and the power to nominate and receive ambassadors. The President may not dissolve Congress or call special elections, but does have the power to pardon criminals convicted of offences against the federal government, enact executive orders, and (with the consent of the Senate) appoint Supreme Court justices and federal judges.

The President is elected for a fixed term of four years and may serve a maximum of two terms. Elections are always held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November to coincide with Congressional elections.

The President is not elected directly by the voters but by an Electoral College representing each state on the basis of a combination of the number of members in the Senate (two for each state regardless of size) and the number of members in the House of Representatives (roughly proportional to population).

The President may be impeached by a majority in the House and removed from office by a two-thirds majority in the Senate for "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors".

24.What do you know about the Congress of USA; what does filibustering refer to?

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate, its upper house, and the House of Representatives, its lower house. Congress meets in the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Both representatives and senators are chosen through direct election. There are 535 voting Members of Congress; the House of Representatives has a membership of 435 and the Senate has a membership 100. Members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms representing the people of a district. Congressional districts are apportioned to states by population using the United States Census results, each state in the union having at least one representative in the Congress. Regardless of population, each of the 50 states has two senators; the 100 senators each serve a six-year term. The terms are staggered so every two years approximately one-third of the Senate is up for election. 

A filibuster is a type of parliamentary procedure where an individual extends debate, allowing a lone member to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal. It is commonly referred to astalking out a bill,[1] and characterized as a form of obstruction in a legislature or other decision-making body.

Activity in the Senate tends to be less partisan and more individualistic than in the House of Representatives. Senate rules permit what is called a filibuster when a senator, or a series of senators, can speak for as long as they wish and on any topic they choose, unless a supermajority of three-fifths of the Senate (60 Senators, if all 100 seats are filled) brings debate to a close by invoking what is called cloture (taken from the French term for closure). The Senate and House are often referred to by the media as Capitol Hill or simply the Hill.

25.What is the history behind the American national anthem?

The American National Anthem memorializes one of the key moments in American history which took place in Baltimore during the War of 1812. When Francis Scott Key saw the

American flag flying above Fort McHenry amidst the cannon fire during the Battle of Baltimore, he was inspired to write the historic poem "Defence of Fort McHenry" that would be put to music to become "The Star-Spangled Banner". It would become the officialAmerican National Anthem on March 3, 1931.

The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry",[1] a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships in Chesapeake Bay during the Battle of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812.