Something about the British Constitution(关于英国宪法的一些知识)—Constitution: a set of laws on how a country is governed. The British Constitution is unwritten, is referred to as an uncodified constitution.(宪法是关于一个国家怎么统治的一系列法律。英国宪法由于没有被记录成文,被认为是不成文宪法)—The sources: variety(宪法的来源具有多样性)① Statutes such as the Magna Carta of 1215,the Act of Settlement of 1701,the Petition of Right of 1628, the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679, the Bill of Rights of 1689, the Parliament Act of 1911 and 1949.(一些制定法如《1215年大宪章》、《1701年王位继承法》、《1628年权利请愿》、《1679年人身保护令》、《1689年权利法案》、1911、1949年《议会法》)② Laws and Customs of Parliament; political conventions.(议会法律和习惯;政治决议)③ Case law; constitutional matters decided in a court of law.(判例法;法院判决的宪法性文件)—The principles:(宪法原则)① the Rule of Law(法治原则)three basic tenets of Dicey’s code:(戴雪准则的三个原则)A: The rights of individuals are determined by legal rules and not the arbitrary behavior of authorities.(公民个人的权利由法律规则确定,而非由当权机构的肆意行为决定)B: There can be no punishment unless a court decides there has been a breach of law.(没有经过法院依据法律的判决,任何人不能受到惩罚)C: Everyone, regardless of your position in society, is subject to the law.(所有人,不管社会地位的高低,都必须遵守法律)② Supremacy of Parliament(议会至上原则)As to the development the society, the power of the Government becomes more and more strong. Although the theory of the Supremacy of Parliament has limitation, it’s still the basic principle of the Constitution.(由于社会的发展,政府的权力变得更加强壮,议会至上的原则有一定的限制,但是尽管如此,议会至上原则仍然是英国宪法的基本原则)—The famous constitutional experts:(两位著名的宪法学家)① Walter Bagehot 1826—1877: famous as his book The English Constitution 1867(白芝霍特,著有《英国宪法》,英国经济学家、社会学家、法学家)② A.V.Dicey: The Law of Constitution (戴雪,著名的法学家,代表作如《英宪精义》)Section C In many countries, authority is seldom questioned, either because it is highly respected, or because it is (36) _______. Sometimes, too, because (37) _______ has been important in certain societies for a long time, people have been trained never to question those in authority. In other countries, (38) _______America, children are trained to question and search for answers. When a child asks a question, he will be often told to go to the library and find the answer for himself. By the time students reach the age of 14 or 15, they may be (39) _______ exciting new ideas in all fields of science and the arts. To encourage such creativity, there are many national (40) _______ offered to students every year for their scientific discoveries and artistic (41) _______. This interest in questioning and searching may be (42) _______ by some people as bad for young people’s (43) _______, that young people lack respect for authority. (44) ___________________. However, this is because many Americans have different attitudes toward authority that may exist in other areas of the world. In a work or business situation, ideas are freely and openly discussed and argued. (45)_________________________. The two are quite separate. The purpose of the searching, questioning, and arguing is to find the facts in a particular situation, and therefore a solution, (46) ______________________________.