1. Read the text and entitle its parts. Arrange them in the list below.

1)

2)

3)

4)

2. Put up questions to these sentences : a)a general question

b) 2-3 special questions

1) The election of the president consists, in fact, of a network of elections, nominations, and campaigns.

2) There are three stages in the presedential elections.

3) Potential presidential candidates seek the nomination of one of the major parties, who select their candidates at national party conventions.

4) The delegates to these conventions increasingly are committed to supporting a particular presidential candidate.

5) The party primaries may be of critical importance in determining the final party nomination.

6) Potential candidates can be eliminated or improve their chances of becoming the party candidate at this stage.

7) The national party conventions choose presidential nominees by a complex system of voting by delegates.

8) State governors are elected for varying terms, not necessarily at the same time as national office-holders

9) Ballot papers are often long and complicated, and voting machines are used in most stages.

10) An alternative ballot form lists candidates by office, making straight party-ticket voting very difficult.

3. Give definitions for the following:

nomination

campaign

primary elections

party caucus

national office-holders

ballot paper

voting machines

the party-column ballot

4. Check yourself and fill in the gaps without looking into the text. See how much you have coped with.

1) Virtually the presidential elections consist of________________1, nominations, and _____________2 beginning _______________3 before__________4.

2) There are___________5 stages. First, there is ______________6 party primary elections within the parties required_____________7.

3) Potential presidential candidates _____________8 of one or other of the major parties, who ____________9 their candidates at______________10. Laws concerning participation in ____________11(which are also held for elections to Congress) differ from state to state, most being _______________12 (for registered party voters only), but some remain open to any registered voter.

4) State and local elections ______________13at the same time as national ones, but in many instances they are. State governors are elected for_______________14, not necessarily at the same time as_____________

_____________________15.

5)_____________16 the many offices elected at the national, state, and local level, _______________17 are often long and___________18, and ___________________19 are used in most stages. An alternative ballot form_______________________________________________20, making straight party-ticket voting very difficult.

Writing III.

Describe the last electoral campaign in the USA. What candidates were the frontrunners? Who won the elections?