Adapted from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/michelle-obama/9337179/MichelleObama-descended-from-white-Irish-immigrants.

html#

Michelle Obama 'descended from white Irish immigrants'

Michelle Obama's ancestry has been traced back decisively for the first time to white Irish immigrants in the Deep South of the United States.

The First Lady's great-great-great-grandmother, a slave called Melvinia, (1) _______ made pregnant in 1859 at the age of about 15 by Charles Shields, one of her owners' sons, according (2) ________ a comprehensive new book. Shields, who was about 20 at the time, was a descendant of Andrew Shields, a protestant Irish immigrant (3) ________ fought against the British in the American revolutionary war in the late 18th century. Mrs Obama was not aware of the family tree uncovered by the book's author, Rachel Swarns, who also alerted a series of white cousins around the US to their genealogical link to the White House. Swarns, a New York Times journalist, said several black descendants were concerned Melvinia(4) ________ been forced into a relationship with Shields. White descendants said they hoped that was not true.

"I'm appalled at slavery," Sherry George, a 61-year-old cousin of Mrs Obama, told the author. "I know that times were different then. But the idea that one of our ancestors raped a slave ... I would like to know the answer, but I would not like to know that my great-grandfather was a rapist." Mrs Obama's bloodline was traced back to Melvinia in 2009 by Megan Smolenyak, a genealogist (5) ________ has also traced Barack Obama's maternal ancestors back to Moneygall in Ireland. One of Mrs Obama's white distant cousins, Joan Tribble, told the author that she was shocked to discover that her ancestors (6) ________ owned slaves. "You really don't like to face this kind of thing," said Mrs Tribble, who is 69 and lives (7) ________ the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. "I can't really change anything". Mrs Obama has not commented on the findings. Swarns' book, 'American Tapestry: The Story of the Black, White and Multiracial Ancestors of Michelle Obama', is released in (8) ________ US tomorrow.

KEY 1- WAS 2- TO 3- WHO 4- HAD 5- WHO 6- HAD 7- IN 8- THE