Dialogue1

Task3. Professor James Smith is an invited lecturer at Moscow State University, Law Department. His Russian student Ivan is interested in the U. S. Constitution. Read the dialogue and say what civil rights the Bill of Rights specifies.

Student: Oh, today is September, 17^th. If I’m not mistaken the Americans are celebrating Constitution Day, aren’t they.

Professor: Right you are. September 17th is Constitution Day, commemorating the day in 1787 when, at the end of a long hot summer of discussion, debate and deliberation, the Framers signed America’s most important document.

Student: I’ve heard that the United States Constitution is the oldest written national constitution still in operation.

Professor: It’s not quite so. In fact, the United States Constitution is the second oldest written constitution still in use by any nation in the world after the 1600 Statutes of San Marino. But the American Constitution is proved to be the most influential as it was first to proclaim the rule of law and recognition of individual rights. The American experience has motivated foreign constitutionalists to reconsider possibilities.

Student: What role does the Constitution play in political culture of the USA?

Professor: Briefly speaking, the Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the country. It is the framework for the organization of the US government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.

Student: I wonder what the structure of the US supreme law is. As far as I know, it’s rather short.

Professor: Right you are. You won’t spend much time on reading it. The constitution consists of Preamble and seven articles. It has been amended twenty-seven times; the first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights.

Student: Could you be more specific on the Bill of Rights?

Professor: Sure. The Bill of Rights, proposed at the first session of Congress in 1789, limit the power of the U.S. federal government. These limitations serve to protect the natural rights of liberty and property including freedoms of religion, speech, a free press, free assembly, and free association, as well as the right to keep and bear arms. You know, the Constitution together with the Bill of Rights is the base of American identity that is made up of individual rights, majority rule, and a constitutional order of limited government power.

1. Read the dialogue again and say what statements are true or false.