Newly-crowned Miss America suffers racist abuse (19th September, 2013)

BEFORE READING 

1. SYNONYM MATCH:Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	torrent	a.	spoiling
2	descent	b.	appalling
3.	pageant	c.	origin
4.	picked	d.	broke out
5.	following	e.	flood
6.	shocking	f.	welcomed
7.	barely	g.	chose
8.	erupted	h.	practising
9.	marring	i.	hardly
10.	embraced	j.	contest

America's newly-crowned beauty queen Nina Davuluri has been the subject of a torrent of racist abuse. She is the first woman of Indian descent to be crowned Miss America, but was greeted with a deluge of insults after she won the pageant on Sunday night. Many people left messages on Twitter questioning why a "non-American" had become Miss America. Many tweeters misidentified her as an Arab, while others said she looked like a terrorist. One tweeter said: "Well they just picked a Muslim for Miss America. That must've made Obama happy. Maybe he had a vote." Ms Davuluri was born in New York and grew up in Oklahoma and Michigan. She was raised following the Hindu faith.


The media in India has been full of stories on the "shocking tweets". The Times of India wrote: "The tiara had barely been placed on her head and the customary tears of joy had just emerged when racist taunts erupted on social media, marring the moment of triumph for the first ever Miss America of Indian origin." Ms Davuluri brushed aside the negative comments and said she was not bothered what a minority of people thought. She said: "I have to rise above that. I always viewed myself as first and foremost American." She added: "I'm so happy this organization has embraced diversity." She added: "I'm thankful there are children watching at home who can finally relate to a new Miss America."

COMPREHENSION 

1. TRUE / FALSE:Read the headline. Guess if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	Beauty queens racially abused the new Miss America at a pageant.	T / F
b.	The new Miss America was born in Mumbay, India.	T / F
c.	On Twitter, people asked why a foreigner was now Miss America.	T / F
d.	Ms Davuluri grew up practicing the Islamic religion.	T / F
e.	The Indian press published many stories about the abuse.	T / F
f.	A newspaper said the abuse began before the winner's tears had dried.	T / F
g.	Ms Davuluri took the negative comments to heart.	T / F
h.	Ms Davuluri is happy kids get to see a different kind of Miss America.	T / F