News Exercise #218

1. According to the guest (on the left), what are kids told in school?
2. According to the same speaker, how do the American people evaluate presidents?
3. What does Trump’s reaction to the book show, according to the speaker?
4. What points from Trump’s past Tweets are thought to be signs that the book right to question Trump’s fitness to be president?
5. Why has the sentence on screen been chosen, from all that Trump had said on the topic?

Answers
1. According to the guest (on the left), what are kids told in school?
They are told that “people who repeat things about themselves are not awfully to be believed”. He got a little confused in the middle of that sentence – I think he had intended to say “…are not awfully smart” but changed his mind.
2. According to the same speaker, how do the American people evaluate presidents?
He said, “We evaluate presidents by their conduct, by their actions, by their legislative achievements, by the way in which they conduct foreign policy and keep us safe.”
3. What does Trump’s reaction to the book show, according to the speaker?
It shows that this book had gotten under the President’s skin (meaning it has frustrated, annoyed, angered him.
4. What points from Trump’s past Tweets are thought to be signs that the book right to question Trump’s fitness to be president?
“The ranting, the think-skinness, the obsession with Comey, the unwillingness to deal with the truth of the hacking issue, let alone the question of collusion.”
5. Why has the sentence on screen been chosen, from all that Trump had said on the topic?
“MY TWO GREATEST ASSETS HAVE BEEN MENTAL STABILITY AND BEING, LIKE, REALLY SMART.”
The use of “like” is generally accepted as a sign of someone who is not well educated or who doesn’t understand formal English. It’s acceptable in conversation but never formally, and it is ironic that he had used it to prove that he was smart.