English Daily: 1 Queen 12 Presidents

Engramme: Your Daily English Programme #49 (New Series): One Queen, Twelve Presidents (Reading & Listening B1-C1)

Think Before You Listen

Between 1776 and 1789, the United States of America emerged as an independent country, creating and ratifying its new constitution, and establishing its national government.

George Washington, elected the 1st President in 1789, set up a cabinet form of government, with departments of State, Treasury, and War, along with an Attorney General. Based in New York, the new government acted quickly to rebuild the nation's financial structure¹.

On September 26, 1789, Thomas Jefferson was appointed the first Secretary of State, John Jay the first Chief Justice, and Edmund Randolph the first Attorney General of the United States².

To this date, there have been 45 U.S. Presidents, with Donald Trump as the current president. And there are currently 15 executive departments within the government.

But what has the political system been like in the United Kingdom as a constitutional monarchy? (Carry out a little online research and share the results with us in the comments below)

Watch and Listen

Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain is the longest-reigning monarch in British history. She celebrated 65 years on the throne in February 2017³. She has met with 12 U.S. Presidents ever since becoming a Queen in 1952.

Watch the Video: Which U.S. President did Queen Elizabeth II meet first? Has she met with President Trump yet?

Let's Practice

Watch Again: find out whether the following statements are True or False:

(mouse over the underlined words to see their meaning)

1	Elizabeth was a queen when she met her first president, Harry S. Truman.	True	False
2	She was crowned in 1953 and, 6 years later, hosted President Eisenhower in her residence in Scotland.	True	False
3	In 1961, she hosted President Kennedy at a banquet in Buckingham Palace.	True	False
4	She met with President Lyndon Johnson at Buckingham Palace in 1969.	True	False
5	It was President Ronald Reagan who received an honorary knighthood from the Queen.	True	False
6	George W. Bush invited the Queen to a state dinner at the White House where she criticized the relationship between the two countries.	True	False

(see the first comment to compare answers)

Over to You

What is the political system like in your country? When and how did the current political system in your country emerge? (type your answers in the comments' section below and receive feedback)

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1 Text courtesy of www.wikipedia.org^↩
2 Text from www.onthisday.com^↩
3 Text taken from www.biography.com^↩