UNIT 2 – THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES

DESCRIPTORES: READING
Activity 1: Complete the text with these words:

Jury, judge, guilty, unconstitutional, illegal (2), breaking, judiciary (2),

Supreme, branch, President (4), Congress(4), balances, Education,
department, Secretaries, Vice President, Executive (2), Senate, House,
Senators, 100, state, Representatives, district, government,
Representative, Legislature, Legislative, Judiciary,

The Constitution sets up three main branches of ______________. These are called
the______________, the ______________, and the ______________. Each one has its
own role in how the law is made and used.
The role of the ______________ is to make the law. The legislature is called
the______________, and is made up of the House of ______________ and the Senate.
Each ______________ comes from a district in one of the states. That person's job is to
represent the people in that ______________. The people elect the Representative and
have the right to tell him or her how they feel about issues. There are 435 ______________.
Bigger states have more Representatives and every __________ has at least one. The
Senate is made up of __________ Senators, two from each state.

__________ are elected by the people of the state and should represent the interests of all
of the people. When the __________ wants to pass a law, both the __________ and the
__________ must agree to the exact same law. If they cannot agree, then the law cannot
pass. The role of the __________ is mainly to make sure the law is carried out.
The Executive is headed by the President, and includes the __________ and the
__________ of all the national departments, like the __________ of Homeland Security and
the Department of __________. But before a law becomes a law, the __________ must
agree to it. If he does not agree, he vetoes the law and sends it back to the __________. If
the __________ refuses to sign a law, it will eventually become a law without his signature.
This is one example of the system of checks and __________ in the United States
government. The __________ must pass laws the __________ agrees with, but they
__________ can't refuse to sign a law without taking a stand on it.

The last __________ is the __________. This includes all the federal courts, all the way up
to the __________ Court. States have their own court systems that fall underneath the
national court system. The role of the __________ is to interpret the law.

The law might say, "It is __________ to break into someone's home." If someone is caught
__________ into someone's home, the courts will ask several questions. First, can the
government make this__________? If it cannot, the law is called "__________ " and the
courts will say it is invalid. Next, the court will ask if the person is actually __________ of the
crime. A __________ will usually find someone guilty or not guilty, but sometimes just a
__________ makes this finding. A trial by jury is a constitutional right - it means that other
people from your community will decide if you broke the law.