Name____________________________________                             Date_______________________
           White House Party Crashers Cause a Hangover
     Reading Comprehension Worksheet           

                  Directions:  Read the passage below carefully. When you have finished reading it completely, answer the questions that follow.

By JONATHAN WEISMAN in Washington, and SUZANNE VRANICA and SHIRA OVIDE in New York
 
Michaele and Tareq Salahi arrived at a state dinner Tuesday hosted by President Obama for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the White House.

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama asked for a full review of how a Virginia couple vying for a spot in the cast of a reality-TV show was able to crash Tuesday's state dinner for the prime minister of India, a White House official said Friday.

Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan issued a rare apology, saying the service took full responsibility for the episode and was "deeply concerned and embarrassed."

White House aides added a new wrinkle Friday, saying the couple was photographed with Mr. Obama on the receiving line. They also had their pictures taken with Vice President Joe Biden.

The Secret Service has not ruled out pursuing criminal charges against the couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, though it has not determined whether party-crashing is technically illegal, spokesman Jim Mackin said. He could not think of a previous instance similar to the Salahis' breach.

White House Photo   --  President Obama shakes the hand of Ms. Salahi.
 
The couple was admitted to the White House grounds and the state reception without an invitation, but they weren't seated for the dinner.

The Salahis' lawyer, Paul Gardner, and a spokesperson for the couple couldn't be reached for a comment Friday.

According to the Associated Press, Mr. Gardner posted a comment on the couple's Facebook page saying: "My clients were cleared by the White House, to be there," an assertion that a White House official said was false. Mr. Gardner's Facebook comment added that more information would be forthcoming.

The Salahis are under consideration for the cast of cable-network Bravo's reality-TV show "The Real Housewives of D.C.," but cast members haven't yet been selected, a spokesman for NBC Universal, Johanna Fuentes, confirmed following media reports on Friday.

Bravo is part of NBC Universal, which is 80% owned by General Electric Co. and 20% owned by Vivendi SA.

Mr. Mackin said that at one checkpoint, procedures weren't followed and invitations received insufficient scrutiny. But he said the Secret Service doesn't believe the Salahis posed a security risk, given the layers of security they did pass through, including magnetometers and the presence of armed officers inside the White House, on the grounds and in the tent where the formal dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took place.

They didn't have an invite, but they waltzed in with ease. Fox's Tom Fitzgerald reports a Virginia couple somehow managed to crash the first state dinner of the Obama Administration. Video courtesy of Fox News.

"Just because people go through there, we don't relax," Mr. Mackin said.

Some media analysts blame incidents like the Salahis' apparent gate-crashing on a broader cultural shift: Americans' willingness to exploit themselves for fame and the hunger for ratings-grabbing events by cable-news shows, talk-show hosts, Web sites and magazines
.
The enormous popularity of reality television also has given people the idea that being a celebrity is possible for everyone, they say.

Last month, Richard Heene of Colorado caused a national stir when he said his six-year-old son, Falcon, had been carried away in the family's homemade helium balloon. The so-called "Balloon Boy" incident turned out to be a ruse to attract publicity, and Mr. Heene agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge related to involving the police in the hoax.

In California, Nadya Suleman parlayed her multiple births earlier this year into pop-culture renown as "Octomom." Jon and Kate Gosselin now are ambushed by paparazzi after a TV reality show about their eight children made the couple stars.

Reality television has also become a vehicle for repairing damaged political reputations. Former House Republican leader Tom DeLay competed on the latest season of "Dancing With the Stars," while former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich joined the cast of Donald Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice."

"The media business is the new Ellis Island: Give me your talentless, give me your hoaxes and I will put anything on my air," said Robert Thompson, professor of television at Syracuse University.

Half Yard Productions filmed the Salahis throughout the day Tuesday for Bravo -- including an hours-long hair-and-makeup session at a Washington salon.

The Salahis told producers they had been invited to the state dinner, and "the producers had no reason to believe otherwise," said Ms. Fuentes, the NBC Universal spokeswoman. The film crew captured the Salahis' preparation for the event and arrival but weren't on the White House grounds.

One person familiar with the situation bristled at the notion that White House staff members could have somehow stopped the breach had they been there checking invitations. With hundreds of expected guests, no one person could have been expected to recognize all the arrivals, and at the end of the day, the Secret Service handles White House security.

Anita McBride, who was First Lady Laura Bush's chief of staff during the second term of former President George W. Bush, said that if the Salahis were cleared through security, their Social Security numbers would have been run through federal identification checks for egregious violations, such as criminal records, that would have barred them from access.

The Salahis said they were cleared through security, which means they gave the Secret Service Social Security numbers and birth places. That is routine for anyone seeking entrance to the White House grounds. It also means that their Social Security numbers would have been run through federal identification checks for egregious violations, such as criminal records, that would have barred them from access, Ms. McBride said

CNN said Friday that the Salahis had postponed a scheduled Monday night appearance on "Larry King Live."

Questions:

1)   What is the tone of this selection?

2)   What is the setting of this passage?

3)   What seems to be the author's intent for writing this selection?

4)   What is the Main Idea of this passage?

5>   Define: vying, breach, assertion, scrutiny, magnetometer, exploit, hoax, ambushed, paparazzi, breach, egregious
 
6>   What would motivate someone to crash a White House party? 

7>   Do you think Americans are becoming more willing to "exploit themselves for fame and the hunger for ratings-grabbing events..."? Why/why not?
 
8>   How is this case similar to the "Balloon Boy" incident? How is it different? 

9>   What is exploitation? Is it possible for people to exploit themselves? 

10>  "The media business is the new Ellis Island: Give me your talentless, give me your hoaxes and I will put anything on my air." Explain this reference.
 
11>  Who is responsible for this kind of celebrity-seeking behavior? The individuals who engage in the behavior, or the media?
 
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