女王是国家的象征。从法律上讲，她是行政首脑，立法机构的组成部分，司法首脑，全国武装部队总司
令，英国国教“至高无上”的领袖。她任命首相和重要的政府官员。对议会通过的法案给予御准。
　　
　　3.The monarch actually has no real power. The monarch’s power are limited by law and
Parliament. Constitutional monarchy began after the Glorious Revolution in 1688.
　　君主政体实际已无实权。它的权力受限于法律和议会。君主立宪制是从1688年的光荣革命后开始。
　　
　　III．Parliament
　　议会
　　
　　1.The United Kingdom is a unitary, not a federal, state. Parliament consists of the
Sovereign, the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
　　英国是中央集权国家，而不是联邦制国家。议会由君主，上议院和下议院组成。
　　
　　2.The main functions of Parliament are: (1) to pass laws； (2) to provide, by voting
for taxation, the means of carrying on the work of government； (3) to examine government
Policy and administrations, including proposal for expenditure； and (4) to debate the
major issues of the day.
　　议会的主要作用是：（1）通过立法；（2）投票批准税为政府工作提供资金；（3）检查政府政策和行政
管理，包括拨款提议；（4）当天的议题辩论。
　　
　　3.The House of Lords is made up of the Lords Spiritual and the Lords Temporal. The
main function of the House of Lords is to bring the wide experience of its members into
the process of lawmaking. In other words, the non-elected House is to act as a chamber of
revision, complementing but not rivaling the elect House.
　　贵族院（上议院）由神职贵族和世俗贵族组成。它的主要作用是用议员的丰富经验帮助立法。换而言之，
非选举的上议院是修正议院，补充而非反对由选举产生的下议院。
　　
　　4.The House of Common is elected by universal adult suffrage and consists of 651
Members of Parliament (MPs). It is in the House of Commons that the ultimate authority.
　　下议院（平民院）由成人普选产生，由651名议员组成。下议院拥有最终立法权。
　　
　　5.Britain is divided 651 constituencies. Each of the constituencies returns one
member to the House of Commons. A general Election must be held every five years and is
often held at more frequent intervals.
　　英国被划分为651个选区，每个选区选一名下议院议员。大选必须五年举行一次，但经常不到五年就进行
一次选举。
　　
　　6.Britain has a number of parties, but there are only two major parties. These two
parties are the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. Since 1945, either the
Conservative Party or the Labour Party has held power. The party which wins sufficient
seats at a General Election to command a majority of Government. The leader of the
majority party is appointed Prime Minister. The party which wins the second largest
number of seats becomes the Official Opposition, with its own leader and “shadow
cabinet ”. The rule of Opposition is to help the formulation of policy. Criticizes the
Government and debate with the Government.
　　英国有很多政党，但有两个主要的政党—保守党和工党。

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