The New Face of Congress

A young Latina woman from the Bronx, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shatters our traditional vision of Congressional Representatives. This article explores her life, both private and public, from the Bronx to Washington, D.C. after the recent midterm elections: how can “one of us” sit in Congress at barely 29 and champion the average working class person’s rights?

This article comes in 2 versions: B1 and B1+/B2 which enables you to have the whole class work on the same subject, with the same worksheet (making it easier for you to correct the activities with the whole group).

In cycle Terminale, this fits perfectly into a sequence on Lieux et formes du pouvoir. or could be added to Shine Bright Terminale File 13 Latino stories.

Vocabulary and structures

• politics and power: run for office, stand as candidate, be elected, midterm elections…
• low-income / poverty: to make both ends meet, to struggle financially
• linkwords : cause and consequence (in order to…) + contrast (whereas, yet…)
• past / present perfect
• jobs / workplace: waitress, work hard, toil, have two jobs
• making hypotheses: may / might / must; be bound to / be likely to

Pronunciation

• understanding an authentic campaign video
• word stress changes: verb, adjective, noun