SPEAKING: THE US GOVERNMENT

Use this gapped text to speak about the government of the USA. The USA - the United States of America - is a federation of ________________ states. ________________________ is the centre of Federal Government, but each state has its own capital and its own government. State governments have a ________________ amount of power and independence: they make their own _________________, and they are also _______________________ for education, for the state police force, for the prison system, for road-building and many other things. Federal laws are made by ___________________, which is the equivalent of the British ____________________. There are two “houses”: the House of _________________________ and the ___________________. Each state sends _____________________ and ___________________ to __________________. Elections to the House of ______________________________ are held every __________ years, while _____________________ are elected for a _____________________ period. The ___________________ is elected separately, together with the ________________. They serve for a term of _____________ years. The _____________________ chooses the people who will form the cabinet. These do not have to be elected members of _____________________ - they can be brought in from outside ____________________ - but the ___________________ must approve their appointment. Power is shared between the _____________________ and ______________________, and if the _________________________ belongs to the minority party in _________________, it can cause problems. There are _____________ main political parties in the United States: the ____________________ and the ___________________. The _________________ are slightly more to the left than the _______________________, but the differences between their policies are not usually very great. The United States does not have a separate ceremonial Head of State.