Advanced Listening Practice

1. What concern does Eleanor raise about the "residual powers" of the royal prerogative?
    Ministers are secretly using them to get around parliament
    They are still real powers of government that come from birth, not from voters
    The monarch can dissolve parliament alone whenever they want
    They have been quietly expanded in recent years without the public knowing

2. When Eleanor calls relying on convention an "argument for luck," she means that:
    the monarchy has survived mainly by avoiding major wars
    Britain has been lucky to have neutral, well-behaved monarchs
    royals simply won a kind of genetic lottery at birth
    defending the system because no monarch has yet abused power is irresponsible

3. According to Jonathan, why is an elected president less stable than a monarch?
    The courts would constantly challenge a president's authority
    A president spends most of their time raising money for re-election
    A president carries the political baggage and loyalties of a campaign
    Presidents lack the lifelong training royals receive

4. In her first rebuttal, Eleanor accuses Jonathan of mixing up two things:
    the royal family's wealth and the nation's wider prosperity
    the flexibility of an unwritten constitution and the need for a hereditary monarch
    the monarch's ceremonial duties and parliament's real lawmaking
    the popularity of past monarchs and views of the current one

5. How does Jonathan read the public polling on the monarchy?
    As proof the public rejects republicanism outright
    As a sign of deep personal affection for individual royals
    As a practical preference for what works over what is theoretically neat
    As evidence the public knows little about the monarch's real powers

6. How does Jonathan answer Eleanor's claim that the monarchy "consecrates" inequality?
    An elected parliament holds the real power, so the symbolic crown doesn't cancel out the vote
    Royal charity work makes up for their inherited advantages
    The class system would be exactly the same without the monarchy
    People see the monarchy as entertainment, not a real hierarchy

7. What does Eleanor mean when she says the monarchy "aestheticises deference"?
    It makes bowing to unearned rank feel normal and even something to celebrate
    It forces politicians into time-wasting old ceremonies
    It pushes ordinary people to chase lifestyles they can't reach
    It puts the royals' image ahead of their actual duties

8. In his closing, Jonathan says constitutional reform should only happen when:
    a referendum shows clear majority support for a new system
    the current system has failed so badly it threatens national security
    legal scholars fully agree on an alternative
    the case for change is overwhelming and the replacement is clearly better