Иностранный язык

Дисциплина «Иностранный язык (английский язык)»

Экзаменационный билет № 9

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Задание № 2

Составьте аннотацию текста “ The Roots of American Government”.

TEXT

THE ROOTS OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT

Every year thousands of foreign and American tourists come to Virginia to visit the remains of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America, founded in 1607. It was the place where the enduring principles of self-government inherited from the English colonists emerged. This legacy of self-government enables Americans today to voice their opinions without fear of reprisal, to choose their leaders, and to take an active role in shaping their nation and communities in which they live.

Modern Americans, like the colonists, believe that there are natural rights – life, liberty, and property – that governments are to protect.

The first ten Constitutional Amendments, known together as the Bill of Rights, state the fundamental rights of an American. Among these rights is the freedom of religion, speech, and the press, the right of peaceful assembly, and the right to petition the government to correct wrongs. Other rights guard the citizens against unreasonable searches, arrests, and seizures of property, and establish a system of justice guaranteeing orderly legal procedures. These include the right to trial by jury that is, being judged by one’s fellow citizens. For instance the fourteenth amendment proclaims that not any person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.

The great pride Americans have in their Constitution, their almost religious respect for it comes from the knowledge that these ideals, freedoms, and rights were not given to them by a small ruling class. They are seen as the natural “unalienable” rights of every American, which had been fought for and won. They cannot be taken away by any government, court, official, or law.

                                        (Bryan Harmening, Prezi, September 2, 2012)