Grammar Focus. Past Simple Tense

Grammar Focus. Past Simple Tense

How Kamala Harris Went From Prosecutor to Vice Presidential Candidate

I Vocabulary Focus. Study the words and their definitions.

running mate - a political partner for a politician who is trying to become President

to run for- to take part in an election

prosecutor - a legal official who accuses someone of committing a crime in a law court

tough – strong, not easily broken

Deputy district attorney (DA) - the chief prosecutor for a local government area

vulnerable – able to be easily hurt

Attorney General - the head of the US Department of Justice

mortgage fraud – crime connected to money used to buy a house

prop 8 – proposition ( a suggested law)  to ban gay marriage in California

to grill - to ask someone a lot of questions for a long time

tuition - a sum of money people pay to study at a college or university

to surge – to grow suddenly

donation- money people give to help a person

busing - the practice of assigning and transporting students to schools within or outside their local school districts in an effort to reduce the racial segregation in schools

to endorse – to support

II Open the brackets. Use the verbs in text in the Past Simple tense.

After a lot of speculation it's finally official: Kamala Harris is Joe Biden's running mate. So how 1) (to go) the senator   from prosecutor to vice presidential candidate?

Let's rewind to 1964. Harris 2) (to be) born in Oakland, California to immigrant parents. Her father 3) (to be) from Jamaica and taught at Stanford, her mother 4) (to move) from India later becoming a scientist and activist.

-        My mother 5) (to be) the toughest the smartest and the most loving person I’ve ever known.

Fast forward to the 80s, Harris 6) (to study) Political Science & Economics at Harvard University. She later 7) (to get) her Law degree at UC Hastings. Her career 8)( to kick) off in 1990 as a Deputy district attorney in Alameda County.

-        Of course I 9) (to decide) to become a prosecutor because I felt, you know, I 10) (to feel) a very, and I still feel, a very strong sense of responsibility to protect those who are vulnerable.

 By 2004 Harris had won her first election DA of San Francisco. There she 11) (to craft) a prisoner re-entry initiative while also launching a controversial program the prosecuted parents who let their kids regularly skip school. Harris also 12) (to raise) her city's conviction rate eventually leading to blowback that she was too tough on crime particularly in communities of colour.

  Harris 13) (to run) for California Attorney General in 2010 beating her opponent by less than a percentage point. She 14) (to be) the first woman and first black American to get the job.

-        And I now stand before you as the top cop of the biggest state in the country.

 She 15) (to fight) against mortgage fraud and Prop 8 which banned same-sex marriage but critics say she should have pushed for more criminal justice reform or supported policies like legalizing marijuana especially given this interview on the Breakfast Club years later.

          In 2014 Harris 15) (to marry) lawyer Doug Emhoff and 16) (to become) stepmom or mamala to his two kids. This 17) was around the time she 18) (to announce) her Senate campaign. She 19)(to win) the race the same night Trump became president-elect and yet again she 20) (to make) history. Not only is she the first Indian American senator, but she's also one of the two black women ever elected to the Senate.

-        I  21) (can) not be more proud to represent my beautiful state.

 Harris 22) (to write) bills with senators across the aisle focusing on things like bail reform and immigration. She also 23) (to become) known for her ability to grill witnesses.

Then in January of 2019 this announcement: “I’m running to be president of the people, by the people, and for all people”. Harris 24) (to promote) Medicare for all and tuition-free college during the campaign. Her poll number 25) (to surge) during the first democratic debate when she 26) (to call) out Biden for opposing busing during the 1970s.

-        There 27) (to be) a little girl in California who  28) (to be) part of the second class to integrate her public schools and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl 29) (to be) me.

Donations 30) (to pour) in after that night but the enthusiasm 31) (not to last) forever. She 32) ( to drop) from the race in December after running out of money and despite those seriously contentious debates Harris 33) ( to end) up endorsing Biden earlier this year.

-         One of the things that we need right now is we need a leader who really does care about the people and who can therefore unify the people. And I believe Joe can do that.

 

III Check your answers. Watch the video and check your answers.

IV Watch the video and answer the questions. 

1.    When and where was Kamala Harris born?

2.    Where were her parents from? Where did they work?

3.    What kind of person was Kamala Harris’s mother?

4.    What did Kamala Harris study?

5.    What degree did she get?

6.    What was her job at the start of her career?

7.    Why did Kamala Harris decide to become a prosecutor?

8.    What did Kamala Harris do as DA of San Francisco?

9.    When did Kamala Harris run for California Attorney General? Did she win?

10.Why was her victory (if she won) so special?

11.What family life did Kamala Harris have?

12.What made Kamala Harris special as a Senator?

13.What work did she do in the Senate?

14.When did Kamala Harris decide to run for President? Was her campaign successful?

15.On what topic did Kamala Harris oppose Biden? What personal experience did she use as an example?

16.When did Kamala Harris decide to support Biden as a candidate?

V Over to You.  Discuss your ideas with classmates:

1.    What fact in Kamala Harris’s biography surprised you the most?

2.    Choose at least two facts about Kamala Harris that make her a good running mate for Joe Biden's campaign and a possible Vice-President (if Biden wins)?

3.    What problems can this choice of a running mate have for Joe Biden (for example, Kamala Harris didn’t always like Biden’s ideas; she wanted to become President and not Vice-President, etc.)?