7、In the United Kingdom the institution responsible for making laws, discussing major issues ___1____ 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 ___2____．Although the agreement of all three is required for laws ___3____, 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 __4__ meetings between Henry III and his noblemen in the Great Council．At that time, the king used his and his noblemen’s money to ___5___ government and war．Several kings found that they did not have enough money, and so they called together ___6___ from the counties and towns of England to ask them to ___7___ 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．___8___, 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 ___9___ process．．

Control of the money supply by the House of Lords and the House of Commons make it difficult for the sovereign to ___10____ 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 ___11___ of political parties during the 18th century gave them the ___12___ to obtain that support．The involvement of the sovereign in policy-making and administration was gradually ___13___, leaving government in the hands of a cabinet, presided over （= be in the charge of） by a prime minister．___14___ the 19th century, the Government has been the party with the most members in the House of Commons, and the ___15___ of that party has been the Prime Minister．

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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