• 2) Which paragraph of the text:

a) describes the relations between Grade 7s and senior officials?

b) describes the responsibilities of middle management?

c) explains the contemporary use of titles in civil service?

d) notes that many senior officials in the department do not necessarily mean more power?

e) mentions Fast Stream program for civil servants?

f) evaluates pros and cons of the club-like nature of senior officialdom?

g) says that department’s support staff is very important?

h) mentions the long-term aim of the British civil service?

• 3) Find professionally-relevant terms in the text. Find Russian equivalents to them.

5.22 The mandarins of whitehall

• 1) Read the text and answer the questions:

a) Are civil servants famous?

b) Do civil servants often speak in public?

c) Do civil servants in the UK change jobs after the change of government?

d) Are British civil servants powerful?

e) There are many civil servants in Britain, aren’t there?

f) What do British civil servants do?

g) What is Whitehall?

h) Who are called the “Mandarins of Whitehall”?

i) Why is it good to be a civil servant in the UK?

j) Why do people dislike British civil servants?

k) All civil servants are the most intelligent and best-trained people, aren’t they?

• 2) Translate the second paragraph of the text and give your opinion on the sentence “Civil servants in the uk stay in the same department for years.”

(1) Politicians are famous. Civil servants are not. Politicians talk loudly about everything they have done or are going to do. Civil servants almost never speak in public. Politicians come and go as their parties rise or fall. Civil servants stay in the same department for years. People think that politicians are the men and women with the most power. But civil servants can be just as powerful.

(2) The job of the civil service is to carry out the wishes of the government. But in Britain the government changes every three or four years. One government might ask for a big new road to be built. The next government might try to stop it. The civil servants see all the problems and difficulties of introducing new ideas. They often try to compromise. They sometimes try to make the government change its mind, or to delay decisions which they do not like. This can be a good thing. It can stop the country from rushing into hurried changes. It can make sure that governments act sensibly. But it can be a bad thing. It can slow down important reforms.

(3) There are many civil servants in Britain. They collect taxes, pay people’s pensions, look after the prisons, and give help to industries and farms. They look after the country’s defence, and organize hospitals, museums, and roads. The cost of this large civil service is very great indeed, and governments are always trying to cut it down.

(4) On the whole, civil servants are not very popular with the British people. Some people are jealous of their safe jobs and good pensions. Some also feel that civil servants are too slow to change, and too blind to the needs of ordinary people. The top people in the civil service are sometimes called the “Mandarins of Whitehall” (Whitehall is the street in London where many big government departments are located). But the popular idea of the civil service is not always fair. Some departments have plenty of good ideas and can move fast to carry them out. And the top civil servants are some of the most intelligent and best-trained people in the country. Civil servants can still be proud of the good service they give in many areas of life. After all, without them the country would just come to a stop.