First of all let me introduce myself. My name is Taras. I'm seventeen years old. I'm at 11-th grade. There are two more kids in the family besides me my elder brother Oleg and my younger sister Marija

The US Congress
The Congress of the United States is composed of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate represents the states. Each state is guaranted at least one representative in the House. The remainder are apportioned among the states according to their population. The Senate of US is composed of one hundred members — two being elected from each state. Senators are chosen for six years, one-third retiring or seeking is re-elected every two years. Two senators from the same state never finish their terms at the same time, one of them is called "Senior Senator" and the other — "Junior Senator". The presiding officer of the Senate is the Vice-President of the United States. The Vice-President is not a member of the chamber over which he presides and he sometimes is not a member of the party in power. The work of the US Congress is done mostly in different committees. The most important of the Senate committees are Appropriations Foreign Relations, Finance, Armed Services. In the House of Representatives the most important are Rules, Appropriations, Ways and Means, Judiciary, Agriculture. The chairmen of the standing committees are considered the real rulers of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Questions: 1. How many houses are there in the US Congress? 2. What represents the Senate? 3. How many members of Senate are there? 4. Who is the Vice-President? 5. How is the work of the US Congress done? 6. Name the important committees of the Congress.


Elections in the USA
The US Constitution includes some general provisions on the franchise. It sets forth certain requirements for candidates running for a post of a president, vice-president, senator or member of the House of Representatives. Requirements usually concern age, residence and citizenship. The candidates who meet all these requirements are considered eligible for office. A residence qualification requires a permanent residence of an individual in order to get the right to vote. The duration of the residence qualification is, in general, a few months though it may substantially vary from state to state. Besides, some states have the so-called literacy qualification (the voter should be able to read and speak English, he (she) must know how to interpret the US Constitution, etc.). And at last it should be mentioned that in some states a poll tax is levied upon everyone who votes and this certainly discourages poor citizens and Negroes from voting. In this context, it is not surprising that not all the Americans participate in elections, including congressional or presidential elections. The voters are registered by clerks of counties or towns and by local election commissions. When registering, the voter must produce an identification card. This is done to prevent fraud. The administration of elections is vested in an election commission which ordinarily is composed of two commissioners, one representing each of the major parties, and a third ex officio member, usually a sheriff, a county judge, or a clerk. Prior to holding primary or general election, the commission appoints election officers for each precinct and also arranges for polling places. After the ballots have been cast, they are counted and the results obtained are tabulated and returned to the election commission which officially counts the precinct tally sheets.
Questions: 1. What does the US Constitution set forth? 2. What do requirements usually concern? 3. Who is considered eligible for office? 4. What does a residence qualification require? 5. What is meant by literacy qualification? 6. What is levied upon everyone who votes? 7. Who are the voters registered by? 8. What is done to prevent fraud? 9. Who is the administration of elections vested in? 10. What does the election commission do?