Britain is changing more rapidly than ever before in her long history. In some respects the new British society (36) ____________ general world trends. In other respects it has kept its own (37) _________ flavor. British society is evolving, that is to say, developing and suiting itself to rapidly changing conditions. Evolution rather than revolution or violent change is a special (38) _________of the British way of life.
This is shown in one way by how the British people vote at (39) ___________. The Conservative and Labor Parties have controlled the (40) __________ scene for the last fifty years, but today neither party can any longer be sure from which class or income group its (41) _________ will come. Not long ago you would have expected the working classes always to vote for the Labor Party. The word “labor” means “hard work” – (42) ___________hard work with the hands. The Labor Party is the party which is supposed to (43) __________ the “working man”. You would also have expected the upper and middle classes to vote for the Conservative Party. The word conservative means “keeping things as they are”. The Conservative Party (44) _______________________________________________________________________________. In some respects traditional British “class distinctions” are becoming less clear, and you can be less sure how people will vote. Many members of the middle class support social reform. Many ordinary working people (45)_______________________________________________________ __________________________________. But the old divisions between the classes remain. Many Conservatives fear that the sovereignty of Parliament is being threatened by the Trade Unions. Many workers are afraid that the Conservative bosses are trying to keep their wages down. But class feelings have not reached a personal level yet. (46) ____________________ _________________________________________________________________.