13.1 Active and Passive Voice—Overview

THINK ABOUT IT Discuss the questions with a partner or in a small group.

1. Is there an institution similar to the Supreme Court in your country or other countries you know about? 2. What kinds of cases do you think go to the Supreme Court?

EXAMPLES subject Reagan

subject verb chose

verb

be past participle object O’Connor. Some sentences are in the active voice. The subject performs the action of the verb.

by + agent

EXPLANATION

Some sentences are in the passive voice. The subject receives the action of the verb. To form the passive voice, we use be + the past participle of the verb.

Some passive sentences have an agent, or performer of the action. The agent is in the by phrase.O'Connor was chosen by Reagan. O'Connor was chosen in 1981. About 10,000 cases are filed with the Supreme Court every year.

Many passive sentences don’t mention an agent.

EXERCISE 1 Listen to the article about a famous case. Then write T for true or F for false. 13.2

1. In Kansas in 1879, schools separated black and white children into different classrooms within schools.

2. Oliver Brown was a teacher on the Topeka school board.

3. In the case of Brown v. The Board of Education, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of segregation.

EXERCISE 2 Listen to the article again. Fill in the blanks with the words you hear. 13.2

One of the most famous cases heard in the Supreme Court is known

1.

The Board of Education. According to an 1879 Kansas law, elementary schools as Brown v.

children

2.

4. 3. to segregate children—separate them according to race. Black and white

to different schools. School boards said that all children

“separate but equal” education.

In the early 1950s, when black parents tried to enroll their children in a neighborhood school in Topeka,

Kansas, they

6. 5. . Oliver Brown was one of the parents. Brown’s daughter

to walk six blocks to a school bus stop to ride a bus to her segregated school.

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