单项选择题

The government of Britain has for many centuries been shared by the supreme authorities: the Monarch (i.e. the King or Queen), the Lords (i.e. the hereditary nobility) and the Commons (i.e. the ordinary people). The story of its development has been the story of a gradual shifting of supremacy from the first of these authorities to the third in other words a gradual progress towards democracy. Thus the Monarchy today is left without any power at all.
This statement may seem surprising in view of the great affection which the British have for Queen Elizabeth, the great ceremonies connected with her, the great state functions over which she presides, the oath of loyalty made to her by Parliament, and the many great decisions made in her name and requiring her authority. It is the Queen who approves the appointment of Ministers and the formation of a Cabinet; it is the Queen who summons Parliament and who introduces the new session with a speech from the Throne in which she summarizes the government’s programme; it is the Queen who gives her assent to Bill before they become law, who concludes treaties and declares war, who makes appointments to all offices of State and Church, who dismisses Parliament when the government has been defeated or has reached the end of its term, and who chooses a new Prime Minister. Indeed, she is informed and consulted on every aspect of national life. And yet it remains true that she has no power. For in practice, she acts only on the advice of her Ministers, and must be completely impartial.
This is of course not very easy to understand, and you may want to know what would happen if the Queen refused to give her assent to something she disagreed with. But the case would never arise. The Queen never refuses her assent, because she knows this would be unconstitutional. In any case she had no means of enforcing her will.
What is then the use of having a queen Some British people would answer: no use at all. Some think the Monarchy is a useless relic of bygone age, and a tremendous waste of public money too. But these arguments are comparatively weak. Most British people regard the monarchy as a long-established tradition, which, with all its colour and pageantry and with all the feelings of personal respect which it inspires, they would be most unwilling to lose. More than this, the monarch is the only unchangeable symbol of British itself. Politicians come and go according to the elections won or lost, and at any given moment every politician always has many determined opponents among those who do not belong to his own party. But the Monarch is always there, above party quarrels, representing the nation as a whole, and lending dignity and significance to all things done in her name.
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