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.)?
