Portion VII (chapters 24-27)

Pre-reading activities

Browse the Internet or look up the dictionaries and make sure you know the following things about elections in Britain.

 First- past- the post is a term first past the post (abbreviated FPTP or FPP) was coined as an analogy to horse racing, where the winner of the race is the first to pass a particular point (the "post" or finish line) on the track (in this case a plurality of votes), after which all other runners automatically and completely lose (that is, the payoff is "winner-takes-all").

 Westminster refers to a district in central London, England, which is home to the Houses of Parliament and other iconic institutions. It is often associated with the British government and the political affairs of the United Kingdom. Now, let’s delve into the various ways we can skillfully incorporate “Westminster” into our sentences, adding a touch of sophistication and knowledge to our language.

 General election is is an electoral process to choose most or all members of an elected body, typically a legislature. They are distinct from by-elections, which exist to fill a seat that has become vacant between general elections.

 By-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections. It’s also frequently referred to as a special election. Typically, a by-election occurs when the incumbent has resigned or died, but it may also occur in the case of a recall or as a result of election results being invalidated by voting irregularities.

 Exit poll is a sample survey of people who have just voted at a polling station. Statistical sampling methods are used to determine which voters to interview. The main point of the "interview" is to ask the voter to complete a duplicate ballot paper.

 Turn out is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This is typically either the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people.

 Hung Parliament is a term that is used to describe a situation in which neither major party wins a majority of seats in the House of Representatives.

As a result, a party would have to rely on the support of independent MPs or MPs from other parties, who are often collectively referred to as the “crossbench”, in order to form a majority.

 Opposition is something that goes against or disagrees with something or someone else. Just about any political view has opposition.

Chances are you know the word opposite: this means something similar. The opposition to something goes in the opposite direction. There is always opposition to raising taxes in this county. The Republicans are the opposition of the Democrats (and vice versa).

 Coalition is a group of actors that coordinate their behaviour in a limited and temporary fashion to achieve a common goal. As a form of goal-oriented political cooperation, a coalition can be contrasted with an alliance and a network.

Reading and Comprehension

1. Look at these sentences or parts of sentences. Match the words in bold with the definitions below. Give their possible equivalents in your native language.

1) This was considered a great responsibility, and was usually undertaken by local councilors (1) or senior party officials.

2) Miss Parish would be in charge of the six Labour scrutineers (2), as she had been for the past four elections (3), and he knew she had invited Harry and Emma to join her select team.

3) ‘The sitting member has asked for a re-count (4), and I have granted his request.

4) Will every teller (5) please re-check their piles most carefully, and make sure no mistakes have been made.’

5) Scissors appeared, seals were cut, ballot boxes (6) were thrown open and turned upside down to allow thousands of little slips of paper, each one bearing three names, to spill out on to the tables in front of the counters.

a) a second or further count, esp of votes in a closely contested election; b) a box into which ballot papers are put after people have voted; c) a member of a local council; d) a person appointed to count votes in a legislative body, assembly, etc; e) a process in which people vote to choose a person or group of people to hold an official position; f) a person who checks that an election or a race is carried out according to the rules.

2. Explain the meaning of the underlined parts of sentences by paraphrasing and commenting on them.

a) They’ll have up-to-date canvass returns for the district they’re in charge of.

b) ‘I’m manning a committee room,’ said Emma.

c) ‘He’s thinking of voting Conservative. See if you can convert him by four o’clock this afternoon.’

d) ‘Your family have come up trumps,’ said Miss Parish, ‘remembering they’re Tories.’

e) ‘Emma can turn her hand to anything.’

f) ‘Why don’t you get Miss Parish on to them?’ said the friend.

g) Bugger off before I give you a clip round the ear,’ said Mr Miller, and slammed the door in his face.

h) Thomas Jefferson had said when he followed Benjamin Franklin into the post of American ambassador to France.

i) ‘Don’t get sentimental on me,’ said Griff. ‘We’ve still got a job to do.’

j) Miss Parish frowned when she saw Fisher giving his supporters a thumbs-up sign.

k) ‘Then on your head be it,’ said Wainwright, after looking once again at the counter concerned.

l) ‘The numbers have been consistent on three separate occasions,’ he added, quoting Macaulay’s exact words.

m) ‘That is a disgraceful slur on my character.

n) The truth is, we lost two generations of men in world wars, and two generations of women who weren’t given the chance to take their places.’

o) I’m afraid she doesn’t suffer fools gladly, and that’s part of the job description.

p) ‘Modern languages, with maths as my back-up.’

q) ‘It would appear that she’s signed them in the nick of time,’ said Emma.

r) ‘Make sure you pass all eight O levels,’ Jessica said.

s) They don’t judge people on which cot they were born in.