Intro
1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.
2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.
Earlier this week, in cities all across America and the world, people poured into the streets to dance and celebrate the election of Barack Obama as the next President of the United States.
Although he was favored to win, you never know what will happen on election day. Sometimes the person who is behind in the polls wins. But Tuesday went better than expected for Obama. He won in a landslide victory.
Mason and Marni are big Obama supporters, and they’re still excited that he won.
Dialog
1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.
2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.
![]() |
![]() |
Mason: I can’t get the smile off my face.
Marni: I know! It’s like a new day. I feel like the sun is up even though it’s pouring rain out. It just doesn’t matter.
Mason: So I’m kind of hoping that the cloud of happiness sticks around for the next four or eight years.
Marni: Right, yeah. Well, I think that there was so much…This election really did feel vital to a lot of people, whatever party affiliation you signed up with. There was a huge effort to register new voters and get out the vote, more so than, I think, in previous elections because it really did feel like a do or die situation.
Mason: Well, and I was totally struck by the cultural influence, even on both sides, but particularly Obama just spurred this wealth of creative movement about people doing…
Marni: Yeah.
Mason: I’ve seen more different kinds of posters and stickers and t-shirts, just people making things to express their enthusiasm, their passion for him and for this particular election.
Marni: He’s one of the younger presidents we’ve had in a long time, so I think there’s sort of that renewed spirit of youth in the White House and also just with younger voters. He gets pop culture more so than McCain.
Grammar Point
Go Super to learn "Comparatives and Superlatives" from this lesson
Quizzes
Lesson MP3
The iTEP® test
-
Sponsored by
Discussion
Marni and Mason hope the excitement so many people feel over Obama’s victory lasts throughout his presidency. And it just might because it was a particularly inspired campaign. People found ways to express their enthusiasm through arts and crafts.
But without a doubt, Obama appealed to younger voters like Mason and Marni because his campaign made use of technologies like social networks and email to stay in touch with America’s tech-savvy youth. It also didn’t hurt that he had the support of many celebrities.
Did you expect Obama to win? Were people excited about it where you live? What do you think Obama’s victory will mean for the world?
Hey! Check out the lessons we recorded for other possible outcomes of the election on our blog!
Comments
Viet Nam |
Iran, Islamic Republic Of |
Argentina |
Mexico |
Tunisia |
Peru |
China |
China |
China |
Haiti |
Ecuador |
China |
China |
China |
China |
China |
Ecuador |
Brazil |
Turkey |
Saudi Arabia |