Two Women to Seek Taiwan’s Presidency

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Materials Daily News

Intermediate

Exercise 1

Vocabulary

party

Noun

ˈpɑːrti

a political organization that you can vote for in elections and whose members have the same aims and ideas

Which party is the ruling party in your country?

candidate

Noun

ˈkændɪˌdeɪt

a person who is trying to be elected

The political candidate gave a speech.

The candidate attended a town meeting.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office.

All of the candidates who are running for president seem to have the same ideas about the economy.

The successful candidate will need excellent organizational skills and be able to prioritize work.

During the election campaign, candidates exaggerated their political promises.

election

Noun

ɪˈlɛkʃən

the process of choosing a person or a group of people for a position, especially a political position, by voting

Who are you going to vote for in the election?

He is running for office in this year's election.

I know you didn't do this just to win an election and I know you didn't do it for me.

Many voters are hoping for a major change with the next election.

Few citizens vote in the school board elections unless a major budget issue has arisen.

The most recent US presidential election was the closest in modern history.

He wants to participate in the next school president election.

deputy

Noun

ˈdɛpjətiː

appointed, elected, or serving as an assistant or second-in-command

As the deputy head of the agency, John was not allowed to make press statements.

It was the deputy head of the agency's responsibility to make press statements.

The rumor that the deputy chief executive will resign soon has been going around in the office.

The deputy director will attend the meeting on behalf of the director.

legislative

Adjective

ˈlɛdʒɪsˌleɪtɪv

connected with the act of making and passing laws

We must study the legislative process before taking action.

speaker

Noun

ˈspiːkər

the title of the person whose job is to control the discussions in a parliament

This man is the speaker of the House of Commons.

able

Adjective

ˈeɪbəl

intelligent; good at something

He's able to swim very well.

They're both able to play the piano.

Exercise 2

Article

AI Generated Audio––:–– / ––:––

Two Women to Seek Taiwan’s Presidency

Taiwanese voters are all but sure to elect a woman as their next president. The elections will be held in January. On Sunday, the ruling Nationalist Party chose Hung Hsiu-chu as its candidate. She is Taiwan’s deputy legislative speaker. She will face TsaiIng-wen, the head of the Democratic Progressive Party.

Taiwan has never had two female candidates representing the major parties in presidential elections or elected a woman as president.

Hung Hsiu-chu is the first female presidential candidate from Taiwan’s ruling Nationalist Party. The opposition Democratic Progressive Party candidate,Tsai Ing-wen, was a candidate for president in 2012. But she lost to the man who is now president, Ma Ying-jeou.

Women have become heads of state in India, South Korea and other parts of Asia, but never in Taiwan.

Ms. Hung is 67 years old and a former teacher.

Her rival, Ms. Tsai, is 58 years old and a lawyer by training.

Political observers say Taiwanese voters can accept a woman as president because their democracy has developed since it began in the late 1980s. Women over 50 were traditionally seen as able leaders in Chinese culture.

Exercise 3

Questions

When will the elections in Taiwan be held?

Who did Ms. Hung used to work as?

Who did Tsai Ing-wen lose the elections to in 2012?

Exercise 4

Discussion

Has there ever been a female president in your country?

Would you call female presidents ‘rare’?

Are you old enough to vote?

Parts of this lesson are based on:

An article by Voice of America.