Соотнесите:
1. Period of instability 5. Straggle for the crown
2. A job for life 6. Difficult choice
3. Breaking the tradition 7. Early years of the Queen
4. Regular Duties 8. Two Brothers
Один лишний
A. For more than a thousand years Britain has always had kings or queens except for the ten years between 1649 and 1659. Elizabeth II calls the Windsor family a 'firm'. She thinks of it as a business rather than a family. And the main business of the royal family is... well, probably being royal. And they are paid for it. The Queen is one of the richest women in the world and yet she gets about 8 million pounds a year to be queen. But many people agree that she does her job well and she deserves her salary.
B. There are hundreds of traditional ceremonies which the Queen has to keep — the Queen's Speech at the State Opening of Parliament, 'Maundy money' (the tradition which is almost seven hundred years old) on the Thursday before Easter Sunday, Royal garden parties at Buckingham Palace. Besides, every day the Queen reads official papers from the government and once a week has a meeting with the Prime Minister.
C. When Elizabeth was bom nobody knew she would be a queen. Her grandfather, King George V, had six children. His eldest son, Edward, was the next in line to be king and Elizabeth's father, Albert, was only second child. Edward lived a good time. He enjoyed women, drank a lot, spent money, liked fashionable clothes. Albert, or Bertie, as his friends called him, was shy, he stammered, and all his life it was difficult for him to make speeches.
D. As Albert did not expect to become king, he chose the Navy. He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon and they had two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret. The family lived in a house on Piccadilly with twenty five bedrooms, a library and a room for dances and parties. The girls had a private teacher, they also studied music, dancing, and art. As a child Elizabeth was nicknames Lilibet — because that was the way she pronounced her name.
E. In 1936 King George died. When his coffin with the crown on the top of it was carried through the streets on a horse-drawn carriage, the crown fell. Many people thought it was a bad sign. Indeed, 1936 became the 'year of three kings'. In January, after his father's death, Edward became king. In December he refused from the throne and his younger brother, Bertie took his place.
F. Many people think that this is one of the most romantic love stories of our century. Handsome and popular king Edward-was in love with an American woman Wallis Simpson and he wanted to marry her. But Wallis divorced — twice! The royal family did not like her, the government was against this marriage, so was the Church. And Edward preferred Wallis to the crown. They got married and lived in Paris for most^ their lives.
G. Elizabeth was only twenty-five when she became Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Like other kings and queens since 1066, she came to Westminster Abbey for the coronation in the royal carriage with its fine horses. But, unlike other kings before her, she wanted the ceremony to be on television. The church and the government didn't welcome the idea. But Elizabeth won. The whole country watched how the heavy gold crown was placed on the young Queen's head.