E - Klasse 10 - Arbeit Nr. 1 - GreenButterSolutions

1. Reading comprehension. Read the text below carefully, then, in your own words, answer the questions on the text in complete sentences.

How the American President is Chosen

Any American who can prove to the nation that he or she has the necessary qualities may become President of the United States.
President Johnson was once a school teacher, then a congressman and later a senator in Washington. Three years ago he became vice president.
When President Kennedy died last November, he became America's new president. But as a boy in Texas he started on the road to the White House
by working his way through college.
Of course only a few people can serve - there have been only thirty-six presidents since George Washington was elected 176 years ago. That was in
1788 which was a leap year . Every leap year since, Americans have voted for a president and a vice president.
This year, 1964, the people of all fifty states again will elect two persons to represent them in these high offices.
Everybody wanted George Washington to be president. But as the years went by, there developed two large groups with different ideas about how to
run the government. For more than a hundred years, these two groups have been called the Democratic party and the Republican party. There are other
small parties but they never have been large enough to elect one of their members to national office.
Every leap year, each party calls some of its members (delegates) together from each state for, a convention. This year the Republican party held its
convention in July in San Francisco, California, and the Democratic party in August in Atlantic City, New Jersey. At each convention, the delegates argue
and discuss until they agree upon the men and women they want to nominate for the offices of president and vice president of the country.
After these candidates have been nominated, the election campaign begins. The chosen candidates make speeches in many cities and states. They appear
on television. They say what they think is wrong with the way things are in America.
They tell us how they will try to make things better if they are elected.
Then on Tuesday, November 3rd, about seventy million Americans will go to voting places all over the country and vote for the persons of their choice.
It may sound strange, but the man who becomes president may not be the one who receives the most votes from the people on November 3rd. Instead,
the final outcome will be determined by each state's votes through what is known as the Electoral College. Each state has as many electors in the College
as it has U.S. senators and representatives. The candidate who gets the most votes in each state will probably receive all of that state's electoral votes.
When all the electoral votes are counted, we will know who will take the oath of offices on January 20, 1965.

(about 470 words)

(of unknown source)

Annotations:

to prove - beweisen
leap year - Schaltjahr
to vote - wählen, Stimme abgeben
electoral college Wahlmännerkollegium
oath of office - Amtseid