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GENERAL ENGLISH · BREAKING NEWS · ADVANCED (C1-C2)

BIDEN AND
HARRIS TAKE THE
WHITE HOUSE

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1 Warm up

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have won the 2020 US presidential elections, with historically high levels
of voter turnout.

1. Why are the voters in this photo holding these signs?

2. What do you know about Joe Biden and Kamala Harris?

2 Watch for main idea

Work in A/B pairs. Watch this news report, "Joe Biden is the next president of the United States" and
make notes about these points:

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Student A:

a. Three things that Biden plans to do

b. Four groups of people who voted for Biden
c. Five "firsts" for Kamala Harris

....................................................................................................

....................................................................................................

....................................................................................................

Student B:

a. The significance of these numbers: 77, 47, 30

b. What Biden is NOT going to do
c. Two important numbers that describe the effects of the pandemic in the US

....................................................................................................

....................................................................................................

....................................................................................................
• Tell your partner what you wrote in your notes.
• Is there anything you heard that was surprising or interesting?

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3 Watch for detail

Read the sentences from the news report and remember/predict the missing words. The words you
write will have the same or similar meaning as the words in bold. The first letters of the missing words
have been given. Watch the report again to check.

1
After one of the most p (causing something to divide into two
groups with completely different points of view) and drawn out presidential elections in U.S.
history, the race was called for Democrat Joe Biden on Saturday – despite pending lawsuits
2
from Republican i (the person who currently holds an official
position) Donald Trump. Voters ultimately embraced Biden’s promise of a renewed effort to
combat the coronavirus pandemic, fix the economy and bridge America’s political divide after
3
four t (full of change and confusion) years of Trump’s leadership.
At 77, Biden became the oldest person ever to be elected to the nation’s highest office –
4
and won the most votes ever c (made) for a president. Winning the White
5
House would be the p (the most successful position possible to attain)
for any politician, but it’s particularly special for Biden, says Reuters political correspondent
James Oliphant.

"This is his 47th year in politics, he’s run for president three times –
he never really got out of the starting gate the first two times – so it’s a lot of
6
v (proof that someone’s action was a good idea after a
long time when no one believed this) for a guy who was counted out a zillion times, even
during the 2020 campaign." Biden – who spent more than 30 years in the U.S. Senate and
7
served as vice president under Trump’s p (the last person who
occupied a position) Barack Obama – will now look for ways to bring people together as he
8
inherits a nation in t (confusion and disorder). And so, if you’re
looking at the fact that a 77-year-old white guy got elected president and think that the
country is maybe moving backwards after we just had Donald Trump, a Vice President Harris
9
does a lot to d that n (prove that idea wrong). A U.S.
senator from California, Harris has a track record of shattering glass ceilings. She served as
San Francisco’s first female district attorney and was California’s first woman of colour to be
elected attorney general. He has promised to improve access to testing and, unlike Trump,
10
to h (pay close attention to) the advice of leading public health
officials and scientists.

Give some examples:

1. The incumbent leader in your country, and their predecessor.

2. An issue which often polarises opinion.
3. A time when your actions were vindicated.
4. What you would consider the pinnacle of achievement in your English studies.
5. A tumultuous period of history when there was turmoil in your country.

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4 Vocabulary in context

Look at the underlined phrases in the last exercise and answer the questions. Use the context of the
report to help you.

Which three phrases are sports metaphors? Write a definition for these phrases.

1
-
2
-
3
-

Which phrase relates to women’s achievements in politics or business? Write a definition for this
phrase.

4
-

Which phrase is an exaggeration? Write a definition for this phrase.

5
-

Give some personal examples:

1. A close race that you saw being called.
2. A time when you started a project and had difficulty getting out of the starting gate.
3. Someone you admire with a great track record.
4. A politician or famous person in your country who has shattered glass ceilings.
5. Something you’ve told a family member, friend or colleague a zillion times but they never seem
to remember

5 Talking point

Work in pairs or small groups to answer these questions.

1. Do you think Joe Biden has the experience he needs to perform well as president in these polarised
times?
2. Why do you think Joe Biden chose Kamala Harris as his vice-president? Give as many reasons as
you can think of.
3. Why do you think Donald Trump has not heeded the advice of scientists about the coronavirus
pandemic? Have his policies been vindicated?
4. The report mentions that there are legal battles ahead. What sort of legal battles do you think
these are and what will the results be?
5. Will you be watching Joe Biden and Kamal Harris on TV when they take office on 20 January,
2021? Why/not?

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Transcripts

2. Watch for main idea

Crowd: NFA

News reporter: After one of the most polarizing and drawn out presidential elections in U.S. history,
the race was called for Democrat Joe Biden on Saturday - despite pending lawsuits
from Republican incumbent Donald Trump.

News reporter: Voters ultimately embraced Biden’s promise of a renewed effort to combat the
coronavirus pandemic, fix the economy and bridge America’s political divide after
four tumultuous years of Trump’s leadership.

News reporter: At 77, Biden became the oldest person ever to be elected to the nation’s highest
office - and won the most votes ever cast for a president.

News reporter: Winning the White House would be the pinnacle for any politician, but it’s
particularly special for Biden, says Reuters political correspondent James Oliphant.

James Oliphant: "This is his 47th year in politics, he’s run for president three times - he never really
got out of the starting gate the first two times - so it’s a lot of vindication for a guy
who was counted out a zillion times, even during the 2020 campaign."

News reporter: Biden’s victory was driven by strong support from groups including women, African
Americans, white voters with college degrees and city-dwellers, and he was
comfortably ahead of Trump in the nationwide popular vote. Biden - who spent
more than 30 years in the U.S. Senate and served as vice president under Trump’s
predecessor Barack Obama - will now look for ways to bring people together as he
inherits a nation in turmoil.

James Oliphant: "It sounds simple, but the first thing he will do is not be Donald Trump. And in that
- I’m not being fanciful - I mean he’s not going to be tweeting every day, he’s not
going to be trying to attract attention, he’s going to be very low-key, when he makes
pronouncements they’re going to be measured... he’s just going to try to lower the
temperature. That’s going to be his first move - just not being so omnipresent in
people’s lives."

News reporter: He brings with him running mate Kamala Harris, who is the first woman, the first
Black American and the first American of Asian descent to become vice president.

James Oliphant: "A lot of people are going to feel a great deal of pride when she’s sworn into office.
She’s going to reflect what a lot of America looks like. And so, if you’re looking at the
fact that a 77-year-old white guy got elected president and think that the country is
maybe moving backwards after we just had Donald Trump, a Vice President Harris
does a lot to dispel that notion."

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News reporter: A U.S. senator from California, Harris has a track record of shattering glass ceilings.
She served as San Francisco’s first female district attorney and was California’s first
woman of colour to be elected attorney general. Biden has said his first priority
as president will be developing a plan to contain and recover from the pandemic,
which has killed more than 230,000 people in the U.S. and cost millions more their
jobs.

News reporter: He has promised to improve access to testing and, unlike Trump, to heed the advice
of leading public health officials and scientists. Notwithstanding legal battles ahead,
Biden and Harris are due to be sworn into office on January 20, 2021.

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BIDEN AND HARRIS TAKE THE WHITE HOUSE

Key

1. Warm up

5 mins.
Assuming all students are aware of the recent US presidential elections and their results, in this stage students
briefly answer questions to prepare them to listen to a news report on the election and the winners.
1. Sample answer: they are demonstrating in favour 2. Students’ own answers.
of counting all the votes in the US election because
it’s such a close race. Students may also be aware that
many voters used alternatives to in-person voting, like
drop-off or mail-in ballots, because of the coronavirus
pandemic.

2. Watch for main idea

10 mins.
Introduce the news report and set students up in pairs to make notes about the information. Students should
prioritize watching the report over making extensive notes – they are likely to remember the content as the report
is only about 3 mins long; encourage them just to write a few words to jog their memory. If students find this task
challenging, they can watch the report twice. Then, working in pairs, students share information. Check answers
with the whole class and pose the follow-up question. If you’re teaching 1-1, your student can watch the report
twice if they need to, and make notes about A the first time, and B the second time.
Student A:
a. Combat the coronavirus pandemic, fix the economy b. Women, African Americans, white voters with
and bridge America’s political divide college degrees and city-dwellers.
c. She is the first woman, Black American and Asian
American to become vice-president and she was the
first female district attorney in San Francisco and
California’s first woman of colour to be elected state
attorney general.

Student B:
a. Biden’s age (77), Biden’s years in politics (47) and b. He is not going to Tweet every day, or attract
Biden’s years of experience in the US Senate (30) attention; in summary, he’s going to be more low-key.
c. It has killed more than 230,000 people in the US and
cost millions more their jobs.

3. Watch for detail

15 mins.
Explain the task and give students, working in pairs, a few minutes to look through the sentences and recall or
predict the missing words. Then play the report again for them to check/complete the exercise. Check answers -
spelling and pronunciation:
polarising; incumbent; tumultuous; pinnacle; vindication; predecessor; turmoil; dispel that notion; heed

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All of these words will be a suitable addition to advanced students’ vocabulary. Finally, students can work in pairs
to activate some of these items by thinking of examples. Check answers (as well as pronunciation) after a few
minutes.
1. polarising
2. incumbent
3. tumultuous
4. cast
5. pinnacle
6. vindication
7. predecessor
8. turmoil
9. dispel that notion
10. heed

4. Vocabulary in context

15 mins.
Call attention to the underlined phrases in the previous exercise and ask students (working in pairs) to answer the
questions and work out the meanings of the phrases using the context of the report. If you can, it would be a
good idea to change the pairs around for this stage. Check answers and again invite students to think of more
examples, in pairs.
1. the race was called: the results of a close contest were decided and announced;
2. he never really got out of the starting gate: began a race or project poorly with very little hope of success (this
relates to horse-racing);
3. a track record: the history of someone’s performance (this also relates to horse-racing or athletics)
4. shattering glass ceilings: achieving success after breaking through an invisible barrier that prevents people from
progressing in an organisation because of their gender or race
5. a zillion times: a very high number, but with no exact value

5. Talking point

15 mins.
In this stage, students can offer personal responses to some of the issues raised in the lesson. Encourage them to
answer fully by giving reasons and examples, and to explore alternative points of view, while listening respectfully
to others and activating new vocabulary. Monitor and support as necessary and offer correction and feedback in
the last few minutes.

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