Famous People

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is the first woman to be president of an African Pre-Reading Warm Up Questions ☀
nation. She is the president of Liberia.
1. Have you ever heard of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf? If so,
Liberia is on the west coast of Africa. Freed slaves from the US and the what do you know about her?
Caribbean started to settle there in 1822. Called Americo-Liberians,
2. Do you know where Liberia is located? If not, find it on
they created the Republic of Liberia in 1847 and they and their
a map.
descendants ran the country until 1980.
3. Do you know when the Republic of Liberia was created?
Johnson-Sirleaf was born on October 29, 1938, in rural Liberia. Her 4. Can you name several women who have been leaders of
family was not Americo-Liberian. After graduating from high school, their countries?
she went to the US, where she studied accounting, economics, and
5. Do you know what it means to be “charged with
public administration. She returned to Liberia in 1971 to be assistant
treason”?
minister of finance in President William Tolbert’s government.

In 1980, an army sergeant named Samuel Doe led a rebellion against

Tolbert’s government. Tolbert was killed and Johnson-Sirleaf went to
Kenya, where she worked for a large bank. In 1985, she returned to
Liberia to run for the Senate. After criticizing Doe, she was sentenced
to 10 years in prison but spent only a short time in prison before
fleeing to the United States.

In 1997, she returned to Liberia to work as an economist and to run in

the presidential election. Charles Taylor had taken over the country
from Samuel Doe in 1990. Johnson-Sirleaf ran against Taylor in the
election but got very few votes. The government charged her with
treason and she had to flee Liberia once again.

When Taylor was forced to leave Liberia in 2003, Johnson-Sirleaf

returned. In the November 2005 presidential elections, she defeated
former soccer star George Weah and became Liberia’s new president. COMPREHENSION ✍
In her first term, she significantly reduced the country’s debt. Women A.True or False. Read the statements below. If the
were empowered, and school enrollment increased by 40% . statement is true, write T beside the sentence. If it is
false, write F. If it is false, correct the information.
In 2011, at the age of 72, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf won the Nobel Peace
Prize for her peaceful efforts in promoting women’s rights in Africa. 1. Liberia was settled by many freed American slaves.
Four days later she ran for her second term. She came out on top with 2. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was born in a large city.
44% of the votes.
3. Ellen Johnson -Sirleaf was a strong supporter of
President Sirleaf is known as the “Iron Lady”. Many hope that she can President Samuel Doe.
bring peace and prosperity to Liberia, where unemployment is
4. Johnson-Sirleaf had to escape from Liberia several
extremely high. She has a lot of work to do in what she calls her
times.
“broken country”.
5. Johnson-Sirleaf was a descendent of American slaves.

1
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 Famous People
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

B. Practice asking and answering the following questions with your partner. Then write the answers in complete sentences.

1. What is very special about Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf?

2. Who are Americo-Liberians?
3. What did Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf do when she finished high school?
4. What happened to President William Tolbert and his government?
5. What happened when Johnson-Sirleaf criticized President Samuel Doe?
6. Why did Johnson-Sirleaf have to flee Liberia again when Charles Taylor was in power?
7. When was Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf elected president of Liberia?
8. What do many people hope she can do for her country?

VOCABULARY REVIEW ✍
A. Match the words on the left with the correct meaning on the right.
DISCUSS
_____ 1. slave a) run away from
_____ 2. settle b) a fight against the government 1. Why do you think Johnson-Sirleaf is
_____ 3. descendant c) case progress or awareness called the “Iron Lady”? Do you know any
_____ 4. rural d) make one’s home in; start to live
other female leaders who have had the
_____ 5. rebellion e) state of being rich or successful
_____ 6. criticize f) person who is owned by another same nickname?
_____ 7. sentenced g) be told what one’s punishment is
2. Do you think that women can be as
_____ 8. flee h) in or of the country
_____ 9. treason i) say something bad about effective world leaders as men? Explain
_____ 10. defeat j) opposite of ancestor; person who comes from your answer.
_____ 11. promote k) win a victory over
_____ 12. prosperity l) disloyalty to one’s country 3. Are there many female politicians in
your country? If so, do many of these
B. Find a word in the story that means: women hold high government positions?

1. the management of money - ________________________ 4. Name several female world leaders,

2. the study of the production, distribution and use of goods - ____________________ past or present, and discuss whether you
3. keeping and examining business records or books - ________________________ think they were effective leaders of their
countries.
C. Look at the different uses of the verb “run” below.

a) run a business or country – manage, operate

b) run away from – escape, flee
c) run in an election – be a candidate in an election
d) run for office – be a candidate for a particular position
e) run against someone – be someone’s opponent in an election

Fill in the blanks with the correct form of “run” and the correct preposition, if needed.

1. Sirleaf- Johnson __________________________________ George Weah in the 2005 Liberian election.

2. Mr. Baxter’s son will __________________________________ the company when he retires.
3. John is __________________________________ president of his high school.
4. The senator has decided not to __________________________________ the next election.
5. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf had to __________________________________ her country several times

2
Copyright 2009. This eBook is produced and distributed by Red River Press Inc. All rights reserved. The contents within this e-book/document may only be
photocopied by members of ESL-Library.com in accordance with membership terms and conditions. Contact [email protected] for complete details.
 Famous People
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

ANSWER KEY

Please note:
The reading for this topic is also available in full-page format at the end of the lesson (page 4).

PRE-READING QUESTIONS
1-5. Individual answers

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
A. True or False
1. T 2. F 3. F 4. T 5. F

B. Written Answers
1. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is the first woman to be President of an African nation.
2. Americo-Liberians are freed slaves from the United States and the Caribbean that settled in Liberia starting in 1822.
3. When Johnson-Sirleaf finished high school, she went to the United States where she studied accounting, economics,
and public administration.
4. Tolbert was killed and his government overthrown in a 1980 rebellion against his government.
5. When Johnson-Sirleaf criticized President Samuel Doe, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
6. When Charles Taylor was in power, Johnson-Sirleaf was charged with treason and was forced to leave Liberia.
7. Johnson-Sirleaf was elected president of Liberia in November of 2005.
8. Many people hope she can bring piece and prosperity to her country.

VOCABULARY REVIEW
A. Match the words
1. f 2. d 3. j 4. h 5. b 6. i 7. g 8. a
9. l 10. k 11. c 12. e

VOCABULARY REVIEW
B. Find a word...
1. finance 2. economics 3. accounting

C. Fill in the blanks...

1. ran against 2. run 3. running for 4. run in 5. run away
from

3
Copyright 2009. This eBook is produced and distributed by Red River Press Inc. All rights reserved. The contents within this e-book/document may only be
photocopied by members of ESL-Library.com in accordance with membership terms and conditions. Contact [email protected] for complete details.
 Famous People
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is the first woman to be president of an African nation. She is the president of Liberia.

Liberia is on the west coast of Africa. Freed slaves from the US and the Caribbean started to settle there in
1822. Called Americo-Liberians, they created the Republic of Liberia in 1847 and they and their descendants
ran the country until 1980.

Johnson-Sirleaf was born on October 29, 1938, in rural Liberia. Her family was not Americo-Liberian. After
graduating from high school, she went to the US, where she studied accounting, economics, and public
administration. She returned to Liberia in 1971 to be assistant minister of finance in President William Tolbert’s
government.

In 1980, an army sergeant named Samuel Doe led a rebellion against Tolbert’s government. Tolbert was killed
and Johnson-Sirleaf went to Kenya, where she worked for a large bank. In 1985, she returned to Liberia to run
for the Senate. After criticizing Doe, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison but spent only a short time in
prison before fleeing to the United States.

In 1997, she returned to Liberia to work as an economist and to run in the presidential election. Charles Taylor
had taken over the country from Samuel Doe in 1990. Johnson-Sirleaf ran against Taylor in the election but got
very few votes. The government charged her with treason and she had to flee Liberia once again.

When Taylor was forced to leave Liberia in 2003, Johnson-Sirleaf returned. In the November 2005 presidential
elections, she defeated former soccer star George Weah and became Liberia’s new president. In her first term,
she significantly reduced the country’s debt. Women were empowered, and school enrollment increased by
40% .

In 2011, at the age of 72, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf won the Nobel Peace Prize for her peaceful efforts in
promoting women’s rights in Africa. Four days later she ran for her second term. She came out on top with
44% of the votes.

President Sirleaf is known as the “Iron Lady”. Many hope that she can bring peace and prosperity to
Liberia, where unemployment is extremely high. She has a lot of work to do in what she calls her
“broken country”.

4
Copyright 2009. This eBook is produced and distributed by Red River Press Inc. All rights reserved. The contents within this e-book/document may only be
photocopied by members of ESL-Library.com in accordance with membership terms and conditions. Contact [email protected] for complete details.