E.O.I. María Moliner Reading 2011

E.O.I. MARÍA MOLINER READING 2011

Name: ______AVANZADO 2

Helping working women and families is dear to the heart of the President-elect's wife. But so are

sleepover strategies...

A few weeks ago at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, I shared with the nation some of the many reasons why I believed my husband would be an extraordinary president. It was the biggest speech I'd ever given. When I was finished, I headed backstage with my daughters. They turned to me, breathless with excitement.

“Mom,” Malia, our ten-year-old, said. “We have something important to tell you. We need to have a sleepover!”

That snapped me out of speech mode, with the bright lights and applause, and back into the role I love: Mom. The next night, 15 giggling girls - my daughters, the Biden granddaughters, and friends - took over our hotel room.

Now that Barack has been elected president, it will be an honour to be First Lady. I will work daily on the issues closest to my heart: helping working women and families, particularly military families. But, as my girls reminded me in Denver, even as First Lady, my No 1 job is still to be Mom. At 7 and 10, our daughters are young. My first priority will be to ensure they stay grounded and healthy, with normal childhoods - including homework, chores, dance, and soccer.

Barack and I have travelled to every corner of the country, talking to people about their lives and dreams. Their stories have touched our hearts and strengthened our resolve. They've made us more certain than ever that, despite any differences we may have, there is so much that unites us as Americans.

We've talked to mothers whose salaries can't cover the cost of groceries - but if they take a second job, they can't afford childcare. More than 22 million working women don't have paid sick days. Millions of women are doing the same jobs as men but they're earning less.

It's even harder for military spouses. Their husbands and wives are away serving our nation for months at a time. So they have to be Mom and Dad. They're working, checking in on their in-laws, helping with homework, and doling out discipline – and every night, they're praying with all their hearts for their loved ones' safe return. These families aren't asking the Government to fix their problems. They're asking for it to understand what's happening to their families and to find ways to help.

As First Lady, I will continue these conversations with working women and military spouses, and I'll take their stories back to Washington to make sure that the people who run our country know how their policies touch their constituents' lives.

The struggles of America's families aren't new to Barack. He was raised by a single mom who put herself through school and built a career that she loved while still finding time to read to him each morning. So, he knows how heroic America's parents can be. That's why he is committed to restoring the middle class, cutting taxes for 95 per cent of all working Americans, establishing pay equity for women, and expanding family leave. He also knows that when our military goes to war, their families go with them. He's a strong advocate for predictable deployments and better healthcare – including mental health - for returning service people.

These issues are my passions. Now that the election is won, I'll keep working to find solutions that make a real difference in people's lives. With Barack serving as President, we will fill our home with talk of how to serve our nation's families better.

And occasionally, when our daughters insist, we'll host sleepovers, too.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk

(611 palabras)

ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS:

1. Briefly summarise the general idea of the text. (2 p.)

2. What kind of text is Michelle Obama using to write this article? Why? (2 p.)

3. Mothers with two jobs… (1 p.)

a. Earn enough money to pay for a babysitter.

b. Still receive lower wages than men.

c. Have to neglect their children’s éducation.

d. Have to be mom and dad, just like military spouses.

4.What does Mrs Obama predict as the main topic of family conversations in the White House?

a. Their daughters’ well-being. b. The stories of military spouses.

c. Proposals on how to cut on taxes. d. The way they will help US families.

5. What’s a “sleepover”? (2 p.)

6. “Barak Obama is an advocate of better health care”. Which of these sentences includes an

antonym of “advocate”? (1 p.)

a. Barak Obama is a determined detractor of better health care.

b. Many of his voters view Obama as the champion of better health care.

c. As a lawyer Obama has always crusaded for better health care.

d. Obama considers himself a proponent of better health care.

7. Identify and relate the main ideas of the text. As procedure to establish this relation you can use

a scheme, a conceptual map, etc. (2 p.)

8. Obama’s proposal of expanding family leave may be considered a consequence of … (1 p.)

a. The conversations he and his wife had with American military spouses and their struggles.

b. Seeing his own mother work hard at the same time she tried to spend some value time with him.

c. His and his wife’s total devotion to the well‐being of their two young daughters.

d. His knowledge of the difficult times of the labour market in America at the present moment.

9. In this sentence from the text: “They've made us more certain than ever that, despite any

differences we may have, there is so much that unites us as Americans”, what or who are

“they”? (1 p.)

a. The Obama daughters. b. The religious values of American families.

c. Life conditions in different areas of the USA. d. The people they have talked to.

10. In your opinion, what does Mrs Obama imply in the text? How do you value her attitude?

(3 p.)

E.O.I. MARÍA MOLINER READING (KEY) (16 p.)

(Nivel Avanzado – junio 2008-09)

1. Briefly summarise the general idea of the text. (2 p.)

Se valora:

a) Para la esposa de Barak Obama sus hijas son su obligación principal.

b) Además, se dedicara a las políticas de familia .

2 puntos: a) y b).

1 puntos: a) o b).

0 puntos: ninguna de las anteriores o ausencia de respuesta.

2. What kind of text is Michelle Obama using to write this article? Why? (2 p.)

Se valora:

a) Se trata de un texto argumentativo, un discurso político)

b) se justifica porque Michelle Obama está dando su punto de vista o posición

sobre determinadas ideas y busca convencer al lector.

2 puntos: a) y b).

1 punto: a).

0 puntos: ninguna de las anteriores o ausencia de respuesta.

3. Mothers with two jobs… (1 p.)

a. Earn enough money to pay for a babysitter.

b. Still receive lower wages than men.

c. Have to neglect their children’s éducation.

d. Have to be mom and dad, just like military spouses.

4.What does Mrs Obama predict as the main topic of family conversations in the White House?

a. Their daughters’ well-being. b. The stories of military spouses.

c. Proposals on how to cut on taxes. d. The way they will help US families.

5. What’s a “sleepover”? (2 p.)

Se valora:

a) Es una ocasión de pasar la noche fuera de casa o de tener invitados pasando

la noche en casa de uno

b) Una fiesta para niños

2 puntos: a) y b).

1 punto: a) o b).

0 puntos: ninguna de las anteriores o ausencia de respuesta.

6. “Barak Obama is an advocate of better health care”. Which of these sentences includes an

antonym of “advocate”? (1 p.)

a. Barak Obama is a determined detractor of better health care.

b. Many of his voters view Obama as the champion of better health care.

c. As a lawyer Obama has always crusaded for better health care.

d. Obama considers himself a proponent of better health care.

7. Identify and relate the main ideas of the text. As procedure to establish this relation you can use

a scheme, a conceptual map, etc. (2 p.)

Se valora:

a) Identifica las ideas principales:

a.1. Políticas de familia: bajar los impuestos y salud pública

a.2. Políticas de mujer: equidad en los salarios

b) establece una jerarquía de relaciones de forma gráfica.

Ej: Mapa conceptual.

Las políticas de Obama
(Michelle Obama) / è / Conseguir para los hijos el sueño americano
Obama lo vivió en sus carnes

Mujer / Familias (en particular a las militares)

ê ê

Desempeñan los mismos trabajos
Ganan menos, equidad en los salarios / Restaurar la clase media
Bajar los impuestos
Salud pública

Ej. Modelo de esquema.

Field of concern

Problems

working families / hard work
raise children
cost of living / money / bills
working women / Can’t afford child care / take 2nd job / low salary
less salary than men
military families / spouses / only one person takes care of family
worry for loved one’s safe return

Se valora:

2 puntos: a) y b).

1 punto: cuando se dé una de las siguientes respuestas

a.1. ó a.2. y b).

a.1. y a.2. aunque no recoja b).