（上海师大附中2010届高三第一学期期中考试）

In the United Kingdom the institution responsible for making laws, discussing major issues ___50____ the country and raising taxes is called Parliament．The three parts of Parliament, the sovereign （= the king or queen）, the House of Lords and the House of commons, meet together only on special ___51____．Although the agreement of all three is required for laws ___52____, that of the king or queen is now given without question．

Parliament comes from “parley”, a discussion．The word was first used in the 13th century to __53__ meetings between Henry III and his noblemen in the Great Council． At that time, the king used his and his noblemen’s money to ___54___ government and war．Several kings found that they did not have enough money, and so they called together ___55___ from the counties and towns of England to ask them to ___56___ increased taxes．Over time, the Great Council became the House of Lords, and the people from the counties and towns became the House of Commons．___57___, the king needed only the support of his councilors to pass a law, but by the end of the 15th century members of the House of Commons were taking part in the ___58___ process．．

Control of the money supply by the House of Lords and the House of Commons make it difficult for the sovereign to ___59____ Parliament’s wishes．Ministers were appointed by the sovereign but they needed support in the House of Commons to be able to pass laws and raise taxes．The ___60___ of political parties during the 18th century gave them the ___61___ to obtain that support．The involvement of the sovereign in policy-making and administration was gradually ___62___, leaving government in the hands of a cabinet, presided over （= be in the charge of） by a prime minister．___63___ the 19th century, the Government has been the party with the most members in the House of Commons, and the ___64___ of that party has been the Prime Minister．

50．A．affecting             B．effecting             C．destroying           D．realizing

51．A．situations            B．consequences      C．occasions           D．cases

52．A．passed                B．being passed       C．to pass               D．to be passed

53．A．detect                 B．describe              C．compose             D．interpret

54．A．share with           B．offer to               C．pay for               D．take up

55．A．representatives     B．symbols              C．protesters            D．reminders

56．A．confess               B．approve               C．achieve               D．consider

57．A．Inevitably           B．Eventually           C．Presently            D．Originally

58．A．peace-loving       B．law-making          C．law-defending      D．war-deciding

59．A．ignore                 B．confirm               C．account for         D．transform into

60．A．decline               B．failure                 C．decrease              D．rise

61．A．directions           B．hope                   C．means                D．power

62．A．conducted          B．reduced              C．declined              D．rejected

63．A．Before                 B．After                  C．Since                 D．Until

64．A．leader                  B．candidate            C．applicant             D．advisor