Former US Secretary Apologizes for Using Private Email Account

November 4, 2015

Unlocking Word Meanings
 今日の単語・フレーズ

Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article. 

1. former / ˈfɔr mər / (adj.) – being someone or something in the past
Example: The former president spoke at the conference.

2. regret / rɪˈgrɛt / (v.) – to feel sorry about something
Example: I regret not voting in last year’s election.

3. classified / ˈklæs əˌfaɪd / (adj.) – referring to something (e.g. information) that is available only to a few authorities
Example: Some classified emails from the senator were leaked.

4. turn over / tɜrn ˈoʊ vər / (v. phrase) – to let someone control or have something
Example: She turned over her position to the new secretary.

5. presidential / ˌprɛz ɪˈdɛn ʃəl / (adj.) – referring to a president
Example: There are three presidential candidates for next year’s election.


Article
 ニュース記事

Read the text below.
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton [HIL-uh-ree KLIN-tn] publicly apologized for something she did when she was still the Secretary—using a private email account instead of an official one.

During an interview, Clinton said that using her personal email for work-related matters was a decision she now regrets. However, she specifically apologized for causing confusion about this issue.

While the government highly encourages the use of official email accounts, Clinton said that her use of a private account was allowed by the State Department. Critics, however, think that Clinton used her private account in order to send and get classified emails from other people.

To investigate if this accusation is true, the Federal Bureau [BYOO r-oh] of Investigation (FBI) asked Clinton to surrender her private email account. Although she refused at first, Clinton agreed to turn over her account to the FBI in August. In the same month, lawyers were able to identify more than 300 emails that might have classified information, thus needing further review.

Because of this issue, Clinton’s campaign to become the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party has been negatively affected. For instance, a poll by the Washington Post and ABC News revealed that Clinton’s rating has dropped. While she is still in the lead, this means that public support for Clinton has decreased because of the incident.

The poll found that 55% of Americans thought that Clinton did not deal with the issue well. Also, 51% said that she violated the rules by using a private email account, while 54% said she attempted to hide the truth behind the issue.

Viewpoint Discussion
 ディスカッションテーマ

Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.  

Discussion A

·         How do you think Hillary Clinton can gain back the trust of her supporters?
·         If you were Clinton, would you also surrender your email account to authorities? Why or why not?

Discussion B

·         What, for you, are the qualities of a good politician?
·         Given the chance, would you want to be a politician? Why or why not?

November 4, 2015