The White House - Advanced Article .pdf

Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2021.
Home >> Adults >> General English >> NEWS LESSONS
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Level: Advanced
The funds that maintain the White House’s ‘museum quality’
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Warmer
a. Match these US presidents to the years they were president.
First Ladies
1. 1961–1963 a. Barack Obama
2. 1963–1969 b. Jimmy Carter
3. 1977–1981 c. George W Bush
4. 1989–1993 d. John F Kennedy
5. 2001–2009 e. George Bush Sr
6. 2009–2017 f. Lyndon B Johnson
b. Write the names of these former US First Ladies next to their husbands.

Jackie Michelle Laura Claudia (Lady Bird) Barbara
Key words
a. Find words in the article that match the definitions below.
1. walking slowly and noisily without moving your feet off the ground very much
(para 1)
2. not interesting, exciting or original and therefore boring
(para 1)
3. the process of working to protect something valuable so that it is not damaged or destroyed
(para 2)
4. an amount of money given to a school, hospital or other institution
(para 3)
5. the process of buying something or obtaining it in some other way
(para 3)
6. a small, attractive object used for decoration (para 3)
7. people who give money to help an organization (para 4)

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Level: Advanced
8. connection with an organization, especially a political or religious one
(para 4)
9. someone who believes in helping people, especially by giving money to those who need it
(para 6)
10. someone whose job is to look after the objects in a museum
(para 7)
11. a special benefit for a particular group of people (para 8)
12. large, important or meaningful (para 9)
13. cloths that hang somewhere as a decoration (para 11)
14. materials that add decoration to something (para 11)
15. a complete set of plates and cups with the same design
(para 11)
b. Use some of the key words above to complete these sentences.
1. Joanne inherited a tiny but valuable from her grandmother.
2. It’s been a to be involved in such an interesting project.
3. My brother works for an organization devoted to the careful
of historic buildings.
4. My parents never used the 48-piece dinner they got for
their wedding.
5. A portion of the population have already been vaccinated.
6. Membership is open to anyone, regardless of their religious or political
.
7. My grandad’s carer found him along the corridor of his
care home.

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Level: Advanced
Donations, fees and sales: the
funds that maintain the White
House’s ‘museum quality’
David Smith
3 March, 2021
Jackie Kennedy first visited the White House
as a girl. “All I remember is shuffling through,”
she told Life magazine. “There wasn’t even
a booklet you could buy.” When she became
First Lady, she set about transforming it from
bland and boring into a mansion worthy of a
president – but someone would have to pay.
In 1961, Jackie Kennedy founded the White
House Historical Association (WHHA) to
protect, preserve and guarantee public access
to America’s most famous address. Three
years later, President Lyndon B Johnson
created the Committee for the Preservation
of the White House, a group of experts who
work to maintain the “museum quality” of its
public spaces.
The former First Lady Barbara Bush helped
revive the committee and set up the White
House Endowment Trust, which is used for
public rooms and conserving collections.
The White House Acquisition Trust is used to
acquire fine and decorative arts. Both trusts
receive funds from the WHHA, which in turn
relies on private donations, membership
fees and retail sales, including an annual
Christmas ornament.
Stewart McLaurin, president of the WHHA,
said it raised about $7m from donors in 2020.
“We do receive private philanthropy but it is
totally nonpartisan,” he explained. “I would
struggle to tell you the political affiliation of most
of our donors. It’s a nonpartisan organization.
“People give to us to support maintaining
the White House itself, not because of any
particular president or political party. Our
donors are all across the country from all
walks of life; not just politically active people
but people who are interested in historic
preservation and American history.”
The most significant donor is David
Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle
Group and a billionaire philanthropist
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so devoted to presidential history that he gave
$7.5m to help the National Park Service
repair the Washington monument after it was
damaged by an earthquake in 2010.
Alterations to the White House’s first floor and
ground floor, which contains the State Dining
Room, Green Room, Blue Room and others,
are made in consultation with the White House
curator and the Committee for the Preservation
of the White House. First Ladies tend to play an
active role.
McLaurin added: “Every First Lady takes on
two, four, five projects that become a legacy
of that particular presidency and it’s been our
privilege to work with each of these First Ladies
and to collaborate with the White House staff in
making these possible.
“Laura Bush did the Lincoln Bedroom and the
library. Michelle Obama did the State Dining
Room and the Old Family Dining Room, also
on the state floor. The Red Room was the most
significant of the projects we did with the Trump
administration.”
Between 2012 and 2015, the State Dining
Room was given its first major upgrade since
1998, with the White House Endowment Trust
picking up the $590,000 cost. Designers and
materials were selected by Michelle Obama,
the First Lady, and the preservation committee.
The Associated Press reported: “Silk draperies
with vertical stripes of peacock blue and ecru
replace curtains made of ivory silk brocade and
designed with flowers, baskets and ribbons.
The blue in the draperies echoes the ‘Kailua’
blue that trims the modern-inspired china
service the First Lady unveiled in April and
recalls the waters that surround President
Barack Obama’s home state of Hawaii.”
The White House Endowment Trust only
deals with renovations within the White House
walls, while changes to the external grounds
would typically fall under the General Services
Administration or National Park Service.
McLaurin said he was not aware of who picked
up the tab for solar panels installed by Jimmy
Carter or a tennis court adapted by Barack
Obama so it could be used for both tennis and
basketball. in 2020, Melania Trump opened
a new tennis pavilion on the south grounds
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Level: Advanced
of the White House. It was constructed in
partnership with the Trust for the National Mall
and the National Park Service and funded by
private donations. The endowment trusts were
not involved.
The WHHA, meanwhile, remains proud of
its links to Jackie Kennedy. McLaurin said:
“I’m constantly amazed. Here was a woman
that was 31 when her husband was elected
president of the United States and she served
as First Lady for less than three years but
the process and the procedures that she
put in place in the early 60s are still what
govern historic preservation and maintain that
museum standard for the White House today,
60 years later.”
© Guardian News and Media 2021
First published in The Guardian, 03/03/2021
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Level: Advanced
Comprehension check
a. Find the following information in the article and write it down in your notebook.
1. the names of two trusts that receive funds from the WHHA
2. how much the WHHA received from donors in 2020
3. the WHHA’s other sources of income
4. the amount provided by one of these trusts to upgrade the State Dining Room
5. changes to sports facilities in the White House grounds that have been made in recent years
b. Are these statements true (T) or false (F) according to the article? Correct any that are false.
1. Jackie Kennedy entered the White House in the 1960s for the very first time. T / F
2. Most people who donate to the preservation of the White House are politically T / F
active and only donate when ‘their’ party is in government.
3. The wife of each US president in the past 60 years has been expected to take T / F
on a few preservation projects.
4. Any changes that are made in the White House have to be made in consultation T / F
with the curator and Committee for the Preservation of the White House.
5. Alterations made to the outside areas of the White House are also funded by the WHHA. T / F
Using key language
a. Match the beginnings and endings of these phrases and then find and underline them in
the article.
1. worthy a. of life
2. in b. to
3. all walks c. the tab
4. tend d. of
5. pick up e. turn
b. Talk about what the phrases mean. Look up the meanings of any you do not know.
c. Use the phrases in sentences of your own. Which is the most useful phrase for you?
Discussion
• Find the original article online and discuss the photos. Which room do you consider to be the
most elegant and tasteful? Explain why.
• Do you think that a future First Gentleman would be expected to take on such refurbishment
projects in the White House? Explain your answer.
• Which area of your home would you most like to refurbish?

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Level: Advanced
In your own words
What well-known official residences are there in your country? Research one of these residences
and give a short presentation about it.
Who lives there?
How long do they live there for?
Who are the next residents likely to be?
When was it built? Who was the architect?
Who pays for the upkeep and refurbishment of the property?
Are any of the rooms or grounds open to the public?

Level: Advanced – Teacher’s notes
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Article summary: How is the US presidential
residence, the White House, maintained and
renovated, and who pays for this work?
Time: 90 minutes
Skills: Reading, Speaking, Writing
Language focus: Vocabulary
Materials needed: One copy of the
worksheet per student
1. Warmer
Without looking online, students answer the questions
in small groups or pairs. You could turn this into a class
quiz, giving one point for each correct answer.
Key:
1. 1961–1963 d. John F Kennedy Jackie
2. 1963–1969 f. Lyndon B Johnson
Claudia
(Lady Bird)
3. 1977–1981 b. Jimmy Carter Rosalynn
4. 1989–1993 e. George Bush Sr Barbara
5. 2001–2009 c. George W Bush Laura
6. 2009–2017 a. Barack Obama Michelle
Extension: if you’d like to extend this short quiz, ask
students to fill in the names of the missing US presidents
and First Ladies for the years not mentioned, between
1969 and the current time. Give an additional point for
each correct answer they can come up with (again,
without researching the answers first).
2. Key words
a. Students find words in the article that match the
definitions and write them onto the lines provided.
Key:
1. shuffling
2. bland
3. preservation
4. endowment
5. acquisition
6. ornament
7. donors
8. affiliation
9. philanthropist
10. curator
11. privilege
12. significant
13. draperies
14. trims
15. service
b. Before reading the article carefully, students
use some of the key words to fill the gaps in the
sentences to ensure that they understand and
know how the words are used in other contexts.
Key:
1. ornament
2. privilege
3. preservation
4. service
5. significant
6. affiliation
7. shuffling
3. Comprehension check
a. In the first part of this two-part comprehension
task, students find information in the text to answer
the questions.
Key:
1.
the White House Endowment Trust and the
White House Acquisition Trust
2. $7 million
3.
membership fees and retails sales, including
the sale of the annual White House
Christmas ornament
4. $590,000
5.
A tennis court was adapted by Obama so that
it could be used for basketball as well as tennis
and later, Melania Trump added a new tennis
pavilion in the south grounds.
Note: these six former US presidents are all
mentioned in the article.

Home Adults General English NEWS LESSONS
Level: Advanced – Teacher’s notes
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b. In the second part, students decide whether the
statements are true or false according to the
information in the article and correct any that are
false.
Key:
1. False. She first visited it as a girl.
2. False. The organization is not affiliated to any
particular party; neither are the donors.
3. True.
4. True.
5. False. The WHHA only deals with renovations
inside and not to the external grounds.
a. Students first match the words on the left and right
to make phrases from the article. Then, they should
find and underline them in the article and read them
again in context.
Key:
1. d
2. e
3. a
4. b
5. c
b. Students should try to explain to each other what
the phrases mean. If they are unsure of any of the
meanings, make sure they find example sentences
from dictionaries and online before they write their
own sentences.
Key:
worthy of – good enough for a specific purpose
in turn – as a result of something that is part of a
connected series of events
all walks of life – used to talk about people with
different jobs and different positions in society
tend to – usually do a particular thing
pick up the tab – pay for something
c. Students then write personalized sentences, one
for each phrase that they would like to integrate
into their active vocabulary. Ask them to make the
sentences relevant to their own lives if possible, as
this will make it easier for them to remember the new
language and use it correctly in the future.
5. Discussion
Students discuss the questions that are directly related to
the topic of the article.
To see the photos in the original article, type white house
historical association jackie kennedy boris johnson +
Guardian into a search engine.
6. In your own words
Briefly brainstorm what official residences there are in
your students’ country or countries. Working with a partner,
students choose one of these residences and research it,
writing and giving a short presentation about it. Divide the
residences up if necessary, so that they don’t all present
on the same one.
4. Using key language

The White House - Advanced Article .pdf

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The White House - Advanced Article .pdf