Image “Obama on mah couch” by Brian Ambrozy on Flickr.com
Almost everyone knows who the current president of the United States is, Barack Obama, but how much do you really know about him? This post offers a chance to learn more about the current American president as well as to test your new knowledge with a reading comprehension exercise. There are questions at the end of the post for you to answer, so pay attention as you read! Barack Hussein Obama II was born on August 4, 1961. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. (He is the first president to have been born in Hawaii). His mother was born in the state of Kansas in the United States of America and his father, Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., was born in Kenya. Obama’s parents met in 1960 in Hawaii and married in 1961. They separated when Obama’s mother moved with their newborn son to the state of Washington in 1961. Obama’s parents divorced in March 1964. Barack Obama’s father died in an automobile accident in 1982. Obama’s mother later remarried an Indonesian man and moved to Indonesia with her son in 1967. Barack Obama lived in Indonesia until 1971. After that time he returned to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents. His mother and younger sister lived in Hawaii too from 1972-1975. Obama attended school in Hawaii from the 5th to the 12th grade. After graduating from high school Obama moved to California in 1979 to attend Occidental College. In 1981, he transferred schools to attend Columbia University in New York City. He graduated from Columbia in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, with a specialty in International Relations. After graduating from college Obama worked in Chicago from 1985-1988 as community organizer where he helped set up a job-training program, college preparatory tutoring program, and tenants’ rights organization. Then in 1988, Obama began law school at Harvard University in Massachusetts. He graduated with his law degree in 1991 and returned to Chicago. Obama met his wife Michelle in Chicago, and they married in 1992 (they have two daughters now). Obama’s mother died of cancer in 1995 in Hawaii. In Chicago, Obama was a professor at the University of Chicago Law School until 2004. While teaching law he was also elected as an Illinois State Senator in 1996. He was re-elected to this position in 1998 and again in 2002. Obama resigned from the Illinois Senate in 2004 after successfully running for and winning a seat as U.S. Senator. Barack Obama served as a U.S. Senator from the state of Illinois from 2005-2008, but in 2007, he announced his candidacy for president of the United States and began his campaign. On November 4, 2008 Barack Obama was elected to be the 44th President of the United States of America. He was the first African-American to be elected president. Obama is now in his second term as president. He ran for re-election in 2012 and will be the president of the United States of America until 2017.
Note: Information for this post was taken from – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama
Comprehension questions:
1. Who is Barack Obama named after?
2. Based on your reading, how many siblings does Barack Obama have?
3. How many colleges/universities has Obama attended (including graduate school)?
4. What type of work did Barack Obama do immediately after graduating from law school?
5. When was Obama first elected to public office?
6. How many terms will Barack Obama be president of the United States?
Answers:
1. His father, Barack Hussein Obama.
2. One sister.
3. Three: Occidental College, Columbia University, and Harvard University. He was a professor at a fourth college, but not a student.
4. He was a law professor.
5. He was elected as an Illinois State Senator in 1996.
6. Two terms; he is currently serving in his second term. American presidents can only serve two terms total.
