News-based lesson: 3rd March 2012

Buying the presidency

Teaching notes and key
Level: proficiency (C2).
Topics: US politics.
Aims:
 to practise scanning and reading for detail
 to discuss the relationship between politics and business
 to review various uses of the definite, indefinite and zero article (‘a’, ‘an’, ‘the’ or ø)
 to work on political vocabulary from the text.
Timing: approximately one and a half hours.

Procedure and answers

Task A Speaking
Learners should calculate their expenditure individually then compare. To avoid embarrassment, use
percentages rather than real values. Learners may add their own categories.
The follow-up discussion leads into the topic of the reading.

Task B Reading
Before learners read, ask them to pool their knowledge about the American presidential candidates in the
table.
You may also want to discuss some of the political and cultural references from the text before reading,
such as:
 plutocracy = government by rich people
 the Watergate scandal = an American political scandal in the 1970s in which recordings of
incriminating conversations were stolen from the Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate,
and which resulted in Richard Nixon’s resignation
 a Mormon = a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, founded in 19th
century America and which holds that God has a physical body and that humans can become gods
 GOP = the Grand Old Party (the Republicans)
 Silicon Valley = an area of San Francisco Bay in California where many high-tech businesses are
based.

Answers (including the section(s) in which the answer can be found):

Ron
Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Rick Santorum Barack Obama
Paul

a Democrat
(para. 7)
   
a Republican
(para. 1) (para. 1) (para. 1) (para. 1)
has had scandals in his 
personal life (para. 4)
recently won three state 
elections (para. 5)
is sponsored by the inventor 
of PayPal (box)

is the richest personally
(para. 5)
relies on the internet for 
funding (para. 7)
is sponsored by a casino 
tycoon (para. 5 + box)
came second in the contest in 
Michigan (para. 5)
has a nickname connected 
with religion (box)

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News-based lesson: 3rd March 2012
Buying the presidency
Task C Speaking
This is a simple discussion activity which can be done first in groups and then as a whole class.

Task D Language work: articles

Before giving out this task you may want to refresh learners’ knowledge of articles with a quick quiz or
worksheet.

Answers (ø = no article):

The word ø democracy comes from the/ø Greek. It means the/ø rule of the people, but the ancient
Greeks had a very imperfect form of ø democracy. For a start, only a small number of the/ø citizens
could actually vote. ø Women and ø slaves (the latter making up a very large chunk of the population of
the ancient world) were not given ø suffrage. In a society where the/ø masters had the/ø power of ø life
and ø death over ø slaves, the idea of giving them a/the vote would have seemed as strange as if today we
allowed ø pets to take part in ø elections. As for ø women, the great comedy writer ø Aristophanes
wrote a play about ø women in ø power, making ø fun of the concept of ø women being involved in ø
decision-making. In ø reality, the states which made up ø ancient Greece were highly militaristic and the
army always played a key role in ø affairs of ø state.

Task E Vocabulary
This activity picks out some of the political vocabulary from the article. Where available, learners could use
the internet to look up the information.

1. democrats
2. Watergate
3. Super-Pac
4. George Bush
5. coalition
6. Republicans
7. debate
8. First Lady
9. White House
10. Washington
11. campaign
12. totalitarian
13. election
14. hawkish
15. convention
16. donor

Politician = Margaret Thatcher.

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News-based lesson: 3rd March 2012
Buying the presidency
Worksheet
Task A Speaking

How much do you / your family spend on these things? Calculate your own budget and then
compare with one or two other students.

Type of expense Percentage of total monthly expenditure

You Student B Student C

food

transport

accommodation

clothes

utilities (electricity, gas, water, etc.)

health care

education

going out

travel

sport and hobbies

savings/investments

charitable causes

political causes

Did many people in the class have a percentage for ‘political

causes’? Is it worth giving money to political parties or is it money
wasted?

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News-based lesson: 3rd March 2012
Buying the presidency
Task B Reading

Look at the table below. What do you know about the people across the top? Do you know
which information applies to which people?

Mitt Newt Rick Ron Barack

Romney Gingrich Santorum Paul Obama

a Democrat

a Republican

has had scandals in his

personal life

recently won three state

elections

is sponsored by the inventor

of PayPal

is the richest personally

relies on the internet for

funding

is sponsored by a casino
tycoon

came second in the contest

in Michigan

has a nickname connected

with religion

Now read the article and tick the boxes. The information may apply to more than one person.

Task C Speaking

Discuss the following questions:

1. Is there anything wrong with this system?

2. Why do you think none of these candidates are women?
3. Is a country controlled by politicians or by big businesses?
4. If you were president of your country, what would you change?

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News-based lesson: 3rd March 2012
Buying the presidency
Task D Language work: articles

Fill in the text about ancient Greek democracy below using the correct article (‘a’, ‘an’, ‘the’ or
nothing). There may be more than one possible answer.

_____ word _____ democracy comes from _____ Greek. It means _____ rule of

_____ people, but _____ ancient Greeks had _____ very imperfect form of _____

democracy. For _____ start, only _____ small number of _____ citizens could

actually vote. _____ women and _____ slaves (_____ latter making up _____

very large chunk of _____ population of _____ ancient world) were not given

_____suffrage. In _____ society where _____ masters had _____ power of

_____ life and _____ death over _____ slaves, _____ idea of giving them _____

vote would have seemed as strange as if today we allowed _____ pets to take part

in _____ elections. As for _____ women, _____ great comedy writer _____

Aristophanes wrote _____ play about _____ women in _____ power, making

_____ fun of _____ concept of _____ women being involved in _____ decision-

making. In _____ reality, _____ states which made up _____ ancient Greece were

highly militaristic, and _____ army always played _____ key role in _____ affairs of

_____ state.

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News-based lesson: 3rd March 2012
Buying the presidency
Task E Vocabulary

Complete this word puzzle with expressions from the article to find the name of a famous British
politician. Use the clues below to help you.

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ - ___ ___ ___

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Clues:
1. The traditional centre-left party in the USA. 9. The President of the USA lives in the … .
2. A famous American political scandal involving 10. The surname of the first president of the USA.
Richard Nixon. 11. A political project organised in support of one candidate.
3. A group which funds political candidates. 12. Describes a form of government which only allows one
4. The president before Barack Obama. party or a dictator, and no opposition.
5. A group of parties which form to make a 13. The process of voting for a president or government.
government when no one party has enough 14. Describes a politician who believes in using military force.
support. 15. The meeting, usually annual, of a particular political party
6. The opposite of the party in number 1. or special interest group.
7. A formal political discussion between two 16. Someone who gives money to a political or charitable
candidates, often televised. organisation.
8. Michelle Obama’s role and title.

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