Child Benefit

            

Child Benefit is one of the welfare system and a tax-free payment that is paid to families who have children under 16 and live in the UK. The payment rate is different for each child .Moreover it is usually paid monthly or weekly.The following table illustrates these rates:

 

 Who the allowance is for                                  Current  monthly amount 

 

 

Eldest or only child                               £81.20

   

  Additional                                              £53.60
children-per child

 

Guardian’s Allowance                           £57.20

Furthermore, if both of a child's parents die,the person who cares the child can get this payment which is called "Guardian Alloance".

 

In Iran,there is not child benefit system.In my oppinon this kind of welfare system is very helpful for many families especially who don't have enought mony to support their children.

Tabloid or Broadsheet ?

    The words that are written in the broadsheet newspapers are formal while in the tabloid newspapers we can see some informal words. For instance, in “THE SUN” there is a headline as follows:

Nikitta murder: Man arrested

MURDER cops arrest a 26-year-old man over the killing of pregnant teenager Nikitta Grender

  

   In fact, cop is just a slang term for a police officer. While the similar headline in the same day in “the guardian” is:

Man arrested over Nikitta Grender murder

Gwent police arrest 26-year-old man on suspicion of murdering pregnant teenager

    Also, the size of “THE SUN”is smaller than “the guardian”.There are a lot of pictures in various sizes which are more than the text. In other words, the amount of texts that are written in “the guardian”are more than pictures and it covers more political and international news. Besides in this newspaper the size of the font in some headlines is much bigger than the other headlines fonts.

   Meanwhile, both “THE SUN”and “the guardian” report the same subject in some fields in different styles of headline and description.

   So, there are dissimilar in style and content as well as in size. I prefer to read broadsheet newspapers because they are more reliable than tabloid papers and in this way I can learn a lot of new vocabulary.

The Royal Family

The history of Royal Family in Britain goes back a long time before. Britain monarchs,before eighteen century had the right to make laws. Today Royal Family play noteworthy role in some areas such as supporting charity sector, the work of Armed services,...etc. Also, they participate in local events like opening new buildings and in this way they consider and make strong the national unity.

Consequently, they have good reputation between people and they can be  good symbol because people can follow them and support people who need the others help.

The Senedd

The Senedd building :

   The Senedd which is located in Cardiff Bay was opened in 2006 .It is a sustainable building that is build of traditional Welsh material such as Welsh oak and other sustainable material .Furthermore, it has a big room which is called Siamber and committee rooms.Siamber is a large and circular room on the grounds that every person could be able to see the meeting . Moreover , the desks in this well-designed  room are made of Welsh oak. People can visit this important building and they can take photos. In fact ,it is a public building.In the upper level people can sit  in a nice and peaceful place and drink a cup of coffee.In my attitude, the design of this building is very interesting. 

The role of Welsh Assemply:

  Welsh Assemply makes law for Wales that differ from the other part of the UK .In fact,the power of the Assembly is making law in area like agriculture,education,housing,healthcare,transport,sport ...,etc. 

Parliament and Goverment

Q1-How does someone become a member of parliament?

A-For every part of the UK, there is one reprehensive in parliament. General election is held in various districts separately and members of parliament (MPs) are elected by people after general election. In fact, every person more than 18 years old has opportunity to participate in general election and someone who wins the majority of the votes, would be elected as a MP.

Q2-   What is the cabinet?

A-The cabinet is an executive committee that include 20 senior ministers .This group discuss about policies and the way of executing them. Also, they convene once a week and they have a proper chance to interact and make decision about the topics that they discuss.

Q3- Why has this year been significant in British politics?

A-The general election of 2010 in the UK was held on 6 May 2010 .Three parties participated  in this election, the Conservative Party  led by David  Cameron, the labour party led by Gordon Brown and liberal democrat led by Nick Clegg. None of these three parties achieve the 320 seats needed for an overall majority.

Remember, remember the fifth of November!

Bonfire night is celebrated in the UK on 5 November on the grounds that in this significant date the attempting of Guy Fawkes and co-conspirators has been failed and they fortunately couldn't succeed in blow up the houses of Parliament.Nowadays, on this night people gather and stand around the big fire and watch the interesting fireworks.Also,they eat bonfire night food like backed potato,sausages,...etc in this memorable night.Meanwhile they might remark

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot,
We see no reason,
Why gunpowder treason,
Should ever be forgot!

I went to bute park in Cardiff with my fiance to participate bonfire night last Sunday.It was very fascinating and we really enjoyed it.

Holloween Anniversary

Halloween celebration in the UK usually includes parties,where guests gather together and dress up fancy dress with special make up.Also ,some people gather together to watch horror films,either at home or at cinema. Children go trick-or-treating.They dress up and go to others people houses ,knocking on the door for treat of sweet,candy,...etc.There are various symbol for this day.The colors orange and black are very common.Other symbols include spirits,ghosts,pumpkin,character from horror films,...etc. Moreover,Halloween is not a bank holiday in the UK.Besides Halloween is a great chance for some stores and business to promote their product and income.According to the research one quarter of all the candy sold annually in the US is purchased for Halloween .In my personal view ,this ceremony is a god chance for people to gathering together and enjoying the party.