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This audio was extracted from a DVD bought at the White House, along with official guides and books at the Visitor Center. The DVD contains more than 2 hours of content and allows great insight into the White House’s ethos and history.

The content was produced during Barak Obama’s term by The White House Historical Association (WHHA), a private, non-profit organization founded in 1961 by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy with a mission to protect, preserve, and provide public access to the rich history of America’s Executive Mansion.

The WHHA continually works with the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, the Curator of the White House, the White House Chief Usher, and the First Family in the care, conservation, and interpretation of the White House Complex and to acquire fine and decorative arts in keeping with the historical integrity of the White House.

 

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Focus Words

Dismantle: to take a machine or structure to pieces.

Disassemble: to take something to pieces.

Embedded: an object fixed firmly and deeply in a surrounding mass

Entrance: An opening, such as a door, passage, or gate

Furnishings: furniture, curtains, carpets, fittings, and other decorative accessories for a house or room.

Gaze: took steadily and intently, especially in admiration or surprise.

Greet: to give someone a polite word of recognition or sign of welcome when meeting.

Guest: a person who is invited to visit someone’s home or attend a particular social occasion.

Host: a person who receives or entertains other people as guests.

Inauguration: the formal admission of someone to office.

Marble: a hard crystalline metamorphic form of limestone or rock, typically white with colored mottlings or streaks.

Momentous: something of great importance or significance, especially in having a bearing on future events.

Peril: serious and immediate danger.

Pride: a feeling of pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements.

Proudly: adverb derived from pride.

Portico: a structure consisting of a roof supported by columns at regular intervals, typically attached as a porch to a building.

Shelter: any place that may give temporary protection from bad weather or danger.

Showcase: to exhibit or display something.

Slight: something that is not substantial, but rather trivial and superficial.

Solarium: a  room fitted with extensive areas of glass to admit sunlight.

Storage: a place, action, or method of storing something for future use.

Swing set: A frame for children to play on, typically including one or more swings and a slide

Treasure: a very valuable object.

Unfold: to gradually develop or be revealed.

 

 

Listen to the audio and answer the questions: