Complete the sentences using key words from the text.
a bill to hail a jet a lobbyist minimum wage
to proclaim to redeploy to reject a stalemate stem cell research take office
1. __________ is a proposal for a new law.
2. __________ is a situation in which progress is impossible because the people cannot agree.
3. __________ something is to move it to another place or a different job.
4. __________ something means you say no to it.
5. When politicians __________ , they begin their work.
6. __________ or __________ something means you say it publicly.
7. __________ is a type of expensive plane.
8. __________ is someone who tries to influence politicians or people in authority.
9. The __________ is the lowest legal amount of money you earn for working.
10. __________ is medical research using cells taken from an animal or person at an early stage of development.
2 Find the information
Match the beginnings and endings to make sentences about the text.
1. The Democrats ____
2. Nancy Pelosi is ____ 3. Keith Ellison is ____ 4. Harry Reid is ____ 5. The American people ____ 6. The House of Representatives and the Senate ____ 7. George Bush is ____
a. ____ against stem cell research.
b. ____ control both houses of Congress. c. ____ have rejected a war without end in Iraq. d. ____ the Democrat Senate leader. e. ____ the first Muslim in Congress. f. ____ the first woman speaker of the House of Representatives. g. ____ will focus on Iraq when they pass new laws. D • TE DE E SI A L EB LO B W N IA M W P
NEWS LESSONS / Democrats hail new era for US / Elementary
O H N •P CA Democrats hail new era for US Level 1 Elementary The Democrats hail new era for US as inducements as free seats at basketball games they sweep into Congress and trips on private jets.
by Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington In the Senate, where the Democratic majority is
January 5, 2007 very thin, Mr Reid said yesterday that the focus would remain on Iraq. A new era was proclaimed in Washington as the Democratic party recaptured control of both The Democrats have also promised to raise the houses of Congress for the first time in 12 years. federal minimum wage for the first time in ten years, as well as make federal money available “The Democrats are back,” said Nancy Pelosi, for stem cell research. But the White House who made history when she became the first announced that Mr Bush is still opposed to woman speaker of the House of Representatives. stem cell research. Mr Bush warned of further confrontations. “If the Congress chooses to pass “This is an historic moment - for the Congress, bills that are simply political statements, they will and for the women of this country. It is a moment have chosen stalemate,” he wrote in the Wall for which we have waited more than 200 years,” Street Journal this week. Ms Pelosi told Congress.
The official message from Ms Pelosi as well as the new Democratic Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, was about cooperation with their Republican opponents. But Ms Pelosi said that George Bush would face new and energetic opposition. The President had a Republican House and Senate in his first six years in the White House.
“The American people were clear about the need
for a new direction in Iraq. The American people rejected an open-ended obligation to a war without end,” Ms Pelosi said.
“It is the responsibility of the President to
articulate a new plan for Iraq that makes it clear to the Iraqis that they must defend their own streets and their own security, a plan that promotes stability in the region and that allows us to responsibly redeploy American forces,” Ms Pelosi said.
Ms Pelosi plans to use the Democrats’ new majority in domestic politics as well. She wants to begin almost immediately with measures to clarify relationships between lobbyists and politicians. The move would ban such D • TE DE E SI A L EB LO B W N IA M W P
NEWS LESSONS / Democrats hail new era for US / Elementary
O H N •P CA Democrats hail new era for US Level 1 Elementary
5 Vocabulary 2: Word building
Complete the table.
noun adjective
energy 1.________
2. ________ political
history 3.________
4. ________ responsible
availability 5.________
6. ________ secure
6 Vocabulary 3: American politics
Find the following five words connected to American politics in the wordsearch:
The major political parties in the USA. (2 words)
The name for the House of Representatives and the Senate. (1 word)
The title of the leader of the House. (1 word)
Where the President lives and works. (1 word)
W J T A F V H C M R R H A A O Q A W E H S T I B R W K P H C F P J T P C U L F J E L E K E B O R T J Z U V A L H F M O G N E R I K B O P E R K J C O P E L U B D I A S U C B R J S U N C O N G R E S S E D • TE DE E SI A L EB LO B W N IA M W P
