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The Constitution stands above all other laws, executive acts, and
regulations. It makes no distinction as to the wealth or status of person: all
persons are equal before the law and are equally entitled to its protection.
The same holds true for civil disputes involving property, legal
agreements, and business arrangements. All states are equal, and none can
receive special treatment. Each state must recognize and respect the laws
of the others. The Constitution protects the rights of all persons limiting
the powers of both the national and the state governments. The
fundamental rights of Americans are written in the Bill of Rights. Among
theses rights are 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 guarded the citizens against unreasonable searches,
arrests, and seizures of property, and established a system of justice
guaranteeing orderly legal procedures.

Task 6. Read the text and fill the spaces with the appropriate words
and word combinations which are given after the text. Be ready to
speak on it.
The British Constitution
Great Britain is not a …, or a union of states like the USA. There are
no written laws, no … . A thousand years ago, before the Norman
Conquest in 1066, the Anglo-Saxon kings consulted the Great Council (an
… of the leading men from each district) before taking important
decisions. Between 1066 and 1215 the king ruled alone in 1215 the nobles
forced King John to accept… (The Great Charter), which took away some
of the king’s …. In later centuries this was seen as the first occasion on
which the king was forced … . In 1264 the first parliament of nobles met
together. Since then the British Constitution has grown up slowly as the
result of countless …. There have been no great changes in the
constitution since the revolution of 1688. Then, Parliament invited
William and Mary to become Britain’s first …. A constitutional monarch
is one who can rule only with support of Parliament. The Bill of Rights
(1689) was the first legal step towards constitutional monarchy. This Bill
prevented the monarch from … or having an army without Parliament’s
approval. Since 1689 the power of Parliament has grown, while the power
of the monarch has become weaker. The reform Acts of 1832, 1867 and
1884 gave the vote to large number of common citizens. Today every man
and woman aged eighteen has the right to vote.
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