November 7th, 2012

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[Skriv undertitlen p dokumentet] | Oana Cutoi Toft

AMERICAN THEME DAY

Presidential Elections
Table of content
................................................................................................................................................... 0 2012 Presidential Candidates ................................................................................................... 2 Assignment Sheet ..................................................................................................................... 3
WORKSHEET A .......................................................................................................................... 4

The U.S. presidential election ................................................................................................. 4

WORKSHEET B .......................................................................................................................... 5

The U.S. presidential election ................................................................................................. 5

WORKSHEET

C ......................................................................................................................... 6

Barack Obama ......................................................................................................................... 6

WORKSHEET D .......................................................................................................................... 7

Presidential Elections
2012 Presidential Candidates

Barack Obama
Party: Democrat Birth Date: August 4, 1961 Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii

Mitt Romney

Party: Republican Birth Date: March 12, 1947 Birthplace: Detroit, Michigan

Presidential Elections Assignment Sheet

You will be working alone with several assignments concerning the US presidential election which finalizes today. The main objectives are to get acquainted with and understand the process of electing the President of the United States

The first English class: Step 1.

The Election System

Watch an online video

http://www.schooltube.com/video/170020fd1ab14939b7fb/ and then take the ELECTORAL COLLEGE QUIZ 7th NOV (PPS-file) in the US Presidential Election Day on Fronter Step 2. Read Worksheet A below (The U.S. Presidential Election). Then work with Worksheet B.

The second English class: Meet Step 1.

the candidates

Watch the online video about Mitt Romney

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_cGyPwt5UI Step 2. Step 3. Do exercises 1 & 2 in Worksheet D & E Watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX_1B0w7Hzc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX_1B0w7Hzc Extra reading: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/27/us-election-key-

issues/print

Presidential Elections
WORKSHEET A

The U.S. presidential election

Barack Obama, the candidate of the Democratic Party, has become the 44th president of the United States. He won the presidential election that took place on 4th November, receiving approximately 53% of the total votes, against 46% for John McCain of the Republican Party and 1% for the other candidates. In most English-language newspapers you will find Obamas victory described as historic. The main reason for this, of course, is that he is the first black person to reach the highest political office in the United States. This is seen as an important symbol of progress in a country where slavery existed until the 1860s, and where in the 1960s the civil rights movement faced bitter opposition in the south of the country as it struggled to end various forms of official discrimination against black people. Even his political opponents recognise that Obama has unusual charisma, and is one of the best public speakers in recent American political history. This helped raise the level of interest in the election, shown by the total voter turnout of 64% (more than 130 million people), the highest since 1908. The political map of the United States shows the country divided between blocs of blue states, favouring the Democratic presidential candidate, and red Republican ones. The west coast and the northeast of the country are now completely blue, while the wide red band running through the middle and south has become slightly narrower with Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida all turning blue on 4th November. During the election campaign Obama presented himself to the American public as the candidate for change, and this is also how he is seen in many other parts of the world. Foreign governments that have disliked some of the foreign policies of the Republican president George W. Bush, hope that under Obama the United States will take a different approach to various international issues. Obama will face many problems, including what he referred to in his victory speech as two wars (the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan), a planet in peril (the global environmental crisis) and the worst financial crisis in a century. However, the tone of that speech was naturally one of celebration, and the theme was progress. In it Obama talked about a 106-year-old black woman in the southern state of Alabama, Ann Nixon Cooper, saying she was born just a generation past slavery when someone like her couldnt vote for two reasons: because she was a woman and because of the colour of her skin. This year, though, she cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.

Presidential Elections
WORKSHEET B

The U.S. presidential election

Exercise 1 Complete the crossword below. If all the words are correct, the name of the vicepresidential candidate for the Republican Party (who received a lot of media coverage, and would have been the first female vice-president in American history if the Republicans had won) will be revealed from top to bottom. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1. Barack Obama talked about a woman called Ann Nixon Cooper in his victory ___________ . 2. Colorado and Florida are examples of states that voted ___________ in the previous presidential election but turned blue this year. 3. Obama knows there is a ___________ in the U.S. financial system. 4. Ann Nixon Cooper was born less than 50 years after the end of ___________ . 5. Voter turnout was ___________ than in almost every previous election. 6. Some foreign governments hope that Obamas ___________ will be different from those of George W. Bush. 7. John McCain was the Republican ___________ . 8. Many people see Obamas victory as a ___________ of change in the United States. 9. The civil rights movement in the 1960s opposed ___________ against black Americans. 10. No states in the ___________ of the country voted for John McCain.

Presidential Elections
WORKSHEET

Barack Obama
After a historic and bruising 22-monthlong campaign, Sen. Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States on Nov. 4, 2008. He (1) ____________ over Sen. John McCain in what was probably the most pivotal U.S. election since World War II. He was the first ever black candidate to (2) ____________ one of the United States two main political parties in a presidential election and at the (3) ____________ of forty-seven he was then much younger than most previous candidate. He is an excellent public (4) ____________ . He took the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2009 and became the first black U.S. president. The son of a Kenyan father and American mother, Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961 and lived in Indonesia for four years when he was a child. Partly because of these (5) ____________ influences, many people see him as more of a global citizen than most other American politicians. Obama (8) ____________ politics at Columbia University in New York City, then law at Harvard Law School near Boston. At the age of twenty-three he moved to Chicago, where he became very active in politics. In 2004 he entered the United States Senate (one of the two (9) ____________ of the Congress) as a representative of the state of Illinois. In Novembers (6) ____________ Obama will be representing again the Democratic Party, which is also the party of Bill and Hillary Clinton. He will be trying to beat Mitt Romney, the sixty-five-year-old candidate of the Republican Party, which is the party of the (7) ____________ American president George W. Bush. Although it is certain that Obama will (10) ____________ this presidential election, he has already made a lot of Americans very enthusiastic about his current four-year presidency. Obama is married to Michelle Robinson Obama, who he first (11) ____________ in Chicago in 1989. They have two daughters, Malia Ann and Natasha, born in 1998 and 2001. His hobbies include basketball, and he lists smoking is one of his (12) ____________ habits he is trying to give up, and says his wife will be very angry with him if he doesnt succeed.

Presidential Elections
WORKSHEET D

Barack Obama
Exercise 1 Fill in the gaps in the text on Worksheet A with the correct words from the table. There are four extra words you do not need to use. prevailed current age win speak bad foreign studied election made speaker politician met represent strange parts

Exercise 2 Decide whether the following excerpts from the text on Worksheet A are correct or incorrect. Explain the errors. C= Correct/ IC= Incorrect 1 Barack Obama is already one of the most famous politicians in the world. 2 he is much younger most previous candidates 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Obama born in Hawaii in 1961 He will be trying to win John McCain Obama studied politic at Columbia University at New York City At the age of twenty-three he moved Chicago He has been able to raise a huge amount of money In 2004 he entered the United States Senate he is first ever black candidate to represent one of the United States two mane political parties he has already made a lot of Americans very enthusiastic about his campaign

Sources: www.insideout.net. http://campaign2012.c-span.org/ http://www.teachervision.fen.com/elections/teaching-methods/56372.html

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