Reading Comprehension for Presidential Elections

Reading Comprehension for Presidential Elections This reading comprehension focuses on Presidential elections. Its followed by key vocabulary relating to the US elections system. Presidential Elections Americans elect a new president on the first Tuesday in November. Its an important event that happens once every four years. Currently, the president is always elected from one of the two main parties in the United States: the Republicans and the Democrats. There are other presidential candidates. However, it is unlikely that any of these third party candidates will win. It certainly hasnt happened in the last one hundred years. In order to become the presidential nominee of a party, the candidate must win the primary election. Primary elections are held throughout each state in the United States in the first half of an election year. Then, the delegates attend their party convention in order to nominate their chosen candidate. Usually, as in this election, its clear who will be the nominee. However, in the past parties have been divided and choosing a nominee has been a difficult process. Once the nominees have been selected, they campaign throughout the country. A number of debates are usually held in order to better understand the candidates points of view. These points of view often reflect their partys platform. A party platform is best described as the general beliefs and policies a party holds. Candidates travel the country by plane, bus, train or by car giving speeches. These speeches are often called stump speeches. In the 19th century, candidates would stand on tree stumps to deliver their speeches. These stump speeches repeat the candidates basic views and aspirations for the country. They are repeated many hundreds of times by each candidate. Many people believe that campaigns in the United States have become too negative. Each night you can see many attack ads on the television. These short ads contain sound bites which often distort the truth  or something the other candidate has said or done. Another recent problem has been voter turnout. There is often less than 60% turnout for national elections. Some people dont register to vote, and some registered voters dont show up at the voting booths. This angers many citizens who feel that voting is the most important responsibility of any citizen. Others point out that not voting is expressing an opinion that the system is broken. The United States maintains an extremely old, and some say inefficient, voting system. This system is called the Electoral College. Each state is assigned electoral votes based on the number of senators and representatives that state has in Congress. Each state has two Senators. The number of representatives is determined by the states population but is never less than one. The electoral votes are decided by the popular vote in each state. One candidate wins all of the electoral votes in a state. In other words, Oregon has 8 electoral votes. If 1 million people vote for the Republican candidate and one million and ten people vote for the Democratic candidate all 8 electoral votes go to the Democratic candidate. Many people feel that this system should be abandoned. Key Vocabulary to electpolitical partyRepublicanDemocratthird partycandidatepresidential nomineeprimary electiondelegateto attendparty conventionto nominatedebateparty platformstump speechattack adssound biteto distort the truthvoter turnoutregistered votervoting boothElectoral CollegeCongresssenatorrepresentativeelectoral votepopular vote

Tearing, Ripping, and Rending

Tearing, Ripping, and Rending Tearing, Ripping, and Rending Tearing, Ripping, and Rending By Maeve Maddox English is rich in words to describe the act of cutting and pulling things apart, words like tear, rip, hack, slash, stab, and rend. Writers of violent fictionor journalists reporting the daily newscan choose just the right word to describe an injury: A taxi driver hacked an American to death after an argument over a $1.60 fare, Thai officials said late Sunday. [On a New York subway platform], a 24-year-old man was slashed with a Corona bottle in the neck, arms, and hands, and is recovering at Bellevue. Likewise, writers of romance are able to convey degrees of emotional pain by using the words figuratively. It’s the rejection that stabs you in the heart and crushes your soul. Here are six verbs to describe tearing, ripping, and rending: hack: This verb suggests heavy blows, possibly made in the heat of anger. tear: In modern usage, this is the verb we use with paper or another flimsy substance. If complete destruction is meant, we say â€Å"tear to pieces,† or â€Å"tear in pieces.† rip: This word can also be used of tearing paper, but carries a more forceful connotation. rend: A bit old-fashioned, rend has a Biblical ring to it. Mourners rend their garments; the Lord threatens to rend Solomon’s kingdom from him. The past tense is rent: â€Å"When the town of Sunnydale slid into the hellmouth on ‘Buffy,’ my fellow fans and I rent our hair and blubbered.† (OED example) NOTE: Rend is the verb in the expression â€Å"heart-rending†: â€Å"causing intense sorrow or emotional anguish.† Google Ngram Viewer indicates that the frequently heard eggcorn â€Å"heart-wrenching† first appeared in the 1950s. slash: This word suggests a sweeping blow with a sword, although in our day, a broken beer bottle will do. stab: This word implies the thrust of a short weapon, like a dagger. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How to Format a UK Business LetterPeople versus Persons5 Examples of Misplaced Modifiers