POLITICAL SYSTEM OF GREAT BRITAIN
AGRICULTURE AND INDUSTRY OF BELARUS
Belarus ranks as a flourishing agricultural region despite its cool climate and the areas of swampy or sandy soil. Livestock production, especially cattle and hogs, and dairy production are based in areas with good pastures and large amounts of land planted with fodder crops such as hay. The main commodity crops grown for food are rye, oats, potatoes, and sugar beets. Flax and tobacco are also cultivated to some extent.
Belarus lacks major deposits of industrial raw materials. It has, however, huge deposits of peat. The most useful mineral deposit is potash, which goes into the production of potassium fertilizer. The southern part of the republic produces some petroleum, but most of Belarus’ petroleum is imported by pipeline from the east. Two large refineries process this oil.
Chemical plants operate near the potash deposits and the oil refineries. There are major truck and tractor plants, and tractors, motor vehicles, and farm products are exported to other countries. Other economic activities include lumbering and woodworking. Minsk, the capital, produces about one third of the republic’s industrial output. Several railroad lines cross Belarus, and Minsk is linked by air with many cities in the western part of Russia.
MY INSTITUTE
Belarusian Law Institute was established in 1991 as a commercial institution of higher learning. It means that the Institute does not get any financial support from the state. The Institute trains lawyers in economy, finance and international relations as well as in accounting, analysis and auditing. The top rated fields are tax and banking law, and also public and private international law.
The Institute has field department offices in Minsk, Mogilev and Grodno.
Grodno department was established in 1994. It trains specialists in wide sphere of law. There are about 400 full-time students and about the same number of correspondent students. During first two years Grodno department had to lease premises from the technical college, then in 1996 an annex to the college was built and Grodno department received its own building. In 2011Grodno department moved to a newly refurbished building in the center of the town. It has 24 rooms, 2 computer laboratories and a library.
The staff of the department includes highly qualified lectures, some of them are invited from Grodno University and from Minsk department of the Institute. The department possesses audio-visual equipment which makes the educational process more effective. The department is regularly visited by the Ministry of Education inspections and the results of these inspections are so far very good, what shows a high standard of training at the Institute. Grodno department had its first graduation in June, 1998. The graduates work at industrial enterprises and business firms as legal advisers, at judicial offices as bailiffs and at Interior Ministry structures.
LEASURE
Today leisure is often regarded as time left over after caring for the needs of existence, such as eating and sleeping, and for subsistence, such as work or education. This leftover time is to be used as each individual chooses. Studies suggest that the average adult spends about 80 to 85 hours weekly for existence and about 35 to 40 hours for subsistence, leaving about 40 to 50 hours of leisure time.
Some people view leisure simply as recreation. Others view it as an attitude or a frame of mind. Many people consider leisure the main objective of life, and work merely a means to reach this objective. Recent writers have defined leisure as a state of being free, an attitude of mind and condition of soul that aids in experiencing the reality of the world.
KINDS OF HOBBIES
Hobbies are either chosen, or they arise from an individual’s interests, skills, daily work, tastes, ambitions, or past schooling. Stamp or coin collecting are examples of hobbies based on deliberate choice. Making model airplanes can be something to do for a pastime, or it might develop as a result of service in an air force or as an airline pilot. Designing computer programs is apt to be a hobby based on work experience or schooling.
All hobbies involve activity, but some involve more than others do. Collecting – whether of antiques, coins, or first editions of books – is relatively passive compared to doing one’s own paintings or making furniture.
There have traditionally been four types of hobbies – those relating to history, nature, handicrafts, and the arts. Recently, with advance in electronics, many individuals have made computer use a hobby, while other use videocassette cameras to make their own movies. There can be considerable overlap between some types, especially between hobbies relating to the arts and those that have to do with the past. Scrimshaw, for instance, is an art, but it is also a kind of memorabilia relating to 19th century sailing. Many hobbies require both collecting and creating.
SPORT
Sport activities date back to ancient times. Naturally enough, our ancient ancestors couldn’t afford doing sport just for pleasure. The activities, which we may call now ‘sporting’, were used for physical development, which was a matter of vital importance for a person and the community.
The real surge for spectator sports occurred in the 20th century. Such sports as football, basketball, ice hockey appeared. The matches in these sports gather huge audiences. Sport has become a very profitable business. Bets are made on the results of football and ice hockey matches, extra-class professionals earn incredible fees; sportsmen are bought and sold at fantastic price.
Nowadays the attitude of people towards sports and games vary. Some people exercise sports as a part of their profession. Physical fitness is a matter of primary importance for soldiers, firemen, policemen, rescue teams and people of some other professions. Among the rest of the mankind there are two groups of people: those who do sport professionally and those who are amateurs. The amateurs in their turn may be divided into ‘active’ amateurs and ‘passive’ ones. The ‘active’ amateurs do sports for pleasure and for keeping in good shape and fit, while the ‘passive’ ones enjoy watching sports and games at stadiums and on TV munching a hot-dog and washing it down with a pint of beer.
ECOLOGY
The term “ecology” was introduced by the German biologist Ernst Heinrich Haeckel in 1866. Ecology shows that people cannot regard nature as separate and detached. Any changes made in the environment affect all the organisms in it. Ecology is sometimes confused with environmental programmes and environmental science.
Our planet is a closed system. There is no outlet. There is no inlet. Human activity is now threatening the basis of all life on the Earth with the accumulation of pollution and environmental destruction. The North is on a high level of industrial progress. The consumption of resources is too high. The risks are too great. The amount of waste signifies that the methods of production are not efficient enough. In the South poverty forces the population to exploit the resources and meager soil to an extent that cannot be sustained in the long run.
Human activities have caused numerous problems. The destruction of ozone layer and accumulation of carbon dioxide results in global warming. It leads to climate change, to the rise of sea level, to changes in traditional agriculture. Extensive use of land results in soil erosion. Deforestation is another problem. Cutting forests for farmland and timber reduces the production of oxygen and increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
There are problems that can be solved only internationally. But we also can solve some local problems, such as litter pollution, noise pollution, provide pure drinking water and so on.
POLITICAL SYSTEM OF GREAT BRITAIN
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy. The constitution is not codified. It is formed by statute, by common law and by conventions.
The power in the country is separated in three branches: the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary.
The Crown is the supreme power in the three branches. The sovereign is also the head of the established Church of England and is commander in chief of the armed forces. In practice, however, the present queen, Elizabeth I, acts only on the advice of her ministers and cannot reject or ignore their advice.
The head of the government is the prime minister. The prime minister is the leader of the majority party in Parliament and has the power to appoint and dismiss ministers. The prime minister selects a Cabinet of ministers. The Cabinet develops the government’s policies, which are presented as proposed legislation to Parliament, and exercises control over government departments.
The supreme legislative power is the Parliament. It consists of two houses the House of Lords and the House of Commons. After the reform of 2005 the House of Lords consists of 780 members. They are partly elected, partly appointed. The House of Commons consists of 650 members. They are elected for five years in general elections. The term of office of the Lords is 5 years. The main function of the Parliament is to make laws.
The judicial system of Great Britain consists of five tiers: the Supreme Court, the Appellate Court, the High Court, the Crown and County courts and magistrate courts.