English · Bac pro · B1, with an entry level · adapted version

Session 6: Congress: the House and the Senate

Read one step, do it, then move on. Answers are hidden: click to check.
Start · step one

Recap check

Recap check
  1. What is a swing state?
  2. Name two swing states of 2024.
  3. Can a candidate win the popular vote and lose?
Answer key
  1. A state where both parties can win.
  2. For example Pennsylvania and Georgia.
  3. Yes, it happened in 2000 and 2016.
Start · step two

What we need to say

Today you need to imagine how things would change if the rules or the numbers were different.

Words · step one

Words to say it

WordMeaningExample
Congressthe House and the Senate togetherCongress makes the laws.
a representativea member of the HouseA representative is elected for two years.
a senatora member of the SenateEach state has two senators.
a districta part of a state that elects one representativeWyoming has one district.
Words · step two

Use the words

Find the word. The first letter is given. Find the word from the word grid.

  1. The House and the Senate together: C _ _ _ _ _ _ _
  2. A member of the House: r _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
  3. A proposed law: b _ _ _
  4. When the president refuses to sign: v _ _ _
  5. A part of a state that elects one representative: d _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Answer key
  1. Congress
  2. representative
  3. bill
  4. veto
  5. district
Words · step three

More word practice

House or Senate? (ten facts)

Write H (House) or S (Senate).

  1. 435 voting members
  2. 100 members
  3. a two-year term
  4. a six-year term
  5. minimum age: twenty-five
  6. minimum age: thirty
Answer key
  1. H
  2. S
  3. H
  4. S
  5. H
  6. S

Word families

Complete.

  1. to legislate: ______ (the laws), a legislator, ______ (adjective)
  2. to represent: a ______
  3. to impeach: ______ (the noun)
  4. to confirm: a ______
  5. to govern: the ______, a governor
  6. to vote: a ______ (person), a ______ (the act)
Answer key
  1. legislation, legislative
  2. representative
  3. impeachment
  4. confirmation
  5. government
  6. voter, vote
Read and look · step one

Read, one sentence per line

  1. Congress has two chambers.
  2. The House of Representatives has 435 voting members: each represents a district, and big states have more districts.
  3. Representatives are elected for two years, so all 435 seats are elected every two years.
  4. A representative must be at least twenty-five.
  5. The Senate has 100 senators, two per state, whatever the size of the state.
  6. Senators are elected for six years, and every two years one third of the Senate is elected.

Source: house.gov, The House explained

Read and look · step two

Look at the diagram

Grid: the two chambers of Congress

House of RepresentativesSenate
Members435 (with voting rights)100
Per stateby population: from 1 (for example Wyoming) to 52 (California)2 for every state
Term2 years6 years
Electedall seats every two yearsone third every two years
Minimum age2530
Special powersimpeaches a president; starts tax lawsholds the trial; confirms judges and ministers; approves treaties
Leader in 2026the Speaker, Mike Johnsonthe Vice President, JD Vance, presides

The Senate by thirds

Group of senatorsLast electedNext election
Group 120242030
Group 220203 November 2026
Group 320222028

How a bill becomes a law

1the House votes yes
2the Senate votes yes
3the President signs, or uses a veto
4after a veto, two thirds of each chamber can still pass it

Sources: house.gov, USAGov, the Constitution.

Read and look · step three

Look at the drawing

Giant money bags stand behind the senators in the Senate chamber.
Joseph Keppler, The Bosses of the Senate, 1889, colour lithograph, Puck, 23 January 1889. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. Public domain. Record

Picture labelling: The Bosses of the Senate (1889)

Look at Keppler's cartoon. Find:

  1. the People's Entrance
  2. the Entrance for Monopolists
  3. the sign on the wall
  4. the giant money bags
Answer key
  1. at the top left: it is closed
  2. at the top right: it is open
  3. This is a Senate of the monopolists, by the monopolists and for the monopolists!
  4. standing behind the senators, with top hats
Read and look · step four

Tasks

  1. Complete the comparison table: members, term, minimum age, who they represent.
  2. Read the thirds diagram: which senators are elected in 2026? And in 2028?
  3. Say it: imagine. What would happen if the president vetoed a bill? If Wyoming had more people? Answer with If + past, would + verb.
Grammar · step one

Grammar on the board

To imagine a result, we need the second conditional: If she won Texas, she would get forty electoral votes. What would happen if the president vetoed a bill?

Listen to your teacher, then copy the board.

On the board

The second conditional; adverbs of frequency

Rule
If + past, would + verb.
If I were a senator, I would vote yes.
Form
If a candidate won Texas, she would get forty electoral votes. If I were a senator, I would vote yes. Question: What would happen if the president vetoed a bill?
Examples
  • If Wyoming had more people, it would have more representatives.
  • If I were in Congress, I would vote for this bill.
Watch out
  • If I would be a senator → If I were a senator.
  • If she wins Texas, she would get → If she won Texas, she would get (keep the pair).
French and English
French: Si j'étais sénateur, je voterais oui. Same logic: si + imparfait = if + past; conditionnel = would. Never si je serais, never if I would be.

Quick check

  1. If she ______ (win) Texas, she ______ (get) forty votes.
  2. If I ______ (be) a senator, ...
  3. Real or imaginary? If Congress had one chamber, laws would pass faster.
Answer key
  1. won, would get
  2. were
  3. imaginary
Grammar · step two

Practise

Stage 1. Recognise

Real possibility (1) or imaginary situation (2)?

  1. If the president vetoes the bill, Congress will vote again.
  2. If I were a senator, I would vote yes.
  3. If the House passes the bill, the Senate will vote next week.
  4. If Wyoming had more people, it would have more representatives.
  5. If a candidate won Texas, she would get forty electoral votes.
Answer key
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 2

Stage 2. Transform

Imagine the opposite of the fact (second conditional).

  1. Senators are elected for six years. (two years)
  2. Each state has two senators. (by population)
  3. The president can veto a bill. (could not)
  4. Congress has two chambers. (one)
  5. Texas has forty electoral votes. (a candidate wins it)
Answer key
  1. If senators were elected for two years, they would campaign all the time.
  2. If senators were given by population, California would have many more senators.
  3. If the president could not veto a bill, Congress would be more powerful.
  4. If Congress had only one chamber, laws would pass faster.
  5. If a candidate won Texas, she would get forty electoral votes.

Stage 3. Guided production

What would happen if ...? Answer in a full sentence.

  1. ... the House and the Senate disagreed on a bill?
  2. ... the president vetoed a bill?
  3. ... a state had only one representative?
  4. ... the Senate were split 50 to 50 on a vote?
  5. ... the House impeached a president?
Answer key
  1. If they disagreed, the bill would not become a law.
  2. If the president vetoed it, Congress would need two thirds of each chamber to pass it.
  3. It would have three electors (one plus two senators).
  4. The Vice President would break the tie.
  5. The Senate would hold a trial.

A. Choose the right form

Choose the correct verb.

  1. If I (was / were) a representative, I (will / would) visit my district every week.
  2. If California (had / has) fewer people, it (would have / will have) fewer seats.
  3. If the president (vetoed / vetoes) the bill, Congress (would vote / votes) again.
Answer key
  1. were, would
  2. had, would have
  3. vetoed, would vote

B. Complete with the second conditional

Put the verbs in the right form.

  1. If a candidate ______ (win) Texas, she ______ (get) forty electoral votes.
  2. If Wyoming ______ (have) more people, it ______ (get) more representatives.
  3. If I ______ (be) a senator, I ______ (vote) for ______ (your idea).
Answer key
  1. won, would get
  2. had, would get
  3. were, would vote (any idea)
Grammar · step three

Figure of speech

Figures of speech: parody, hyperbole and personification

Learn

A parody copies famous words to make fun of something. Keppler's sign parodies Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (1863): government of the people, by the people, for the people. Hyperbole is exaggeration: the money bags are huge. Personification: the bags have faces and hats, like people.

  1. Which famous words does the sign parody?
  2. Why are the money bags drawn so big?
  3. Why is the People's Entrance closed?
Answer key
  1. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address: government of the people, by the people, for the people.
  2. Hyperbole: to show that big companies were too powerful.
  3. It is a symbol: ordinary people had no access to the Senate.
Do it · step one

Say it

Oral task: mini debate, should every state have two senators?

Steps

  1. Choose a side.
  2. Give two arguments.
  3. Answer the other side.
  4. Vote.
Sentence starters
  • I agree / disagree because ...
  • If every state had the same number of senators as its population, ...
  • That's true, but ...
  • If small states lost their senators, ...
Model answer

I agree with two senators per state because small states need a voice. If senators were given by population, Wyoming would almost disappear. That's true, but California has many more people, so it is not fair for them.

Do it · step two

Gap-fill worksheet

Word bank: 435 100 two six veto senators Speaker override impeach district
  1. The House has voting members.
  2. The Senate has senators.
  3. Representatives are elected for years.
  4. Senators are elected for years.
  5. The president can refuse a bill with a .
  6. Each state has two .
  7. The leader of the House is the .
  8. Congress can a veto with two thirds of each chamber.
  9. Only the House can a president.
  10. A representative represents a .
Answer key
  1. 435
  2. 100
  3. two
  4. six
  5. veto
  6. senators
  7. Speaker
  8. override
  9. impeach
  10. district
Finish · step one

Going further (optional)

Optional
Rule

Mixed conditional: past condition, present result: If the 17th Amendment had not been ratified, senators would still be chosen by state legislatures today. Formal inversion: Were the president to veto the bill, Congress would vote again. Should the Senate be split, the Vice President would vote.

Translate into English

  1. Si j'étais sénateur, je voterais pour cette loi.
  2. Si le président opposait son veto, le Congrès devrait voter à nouveau.
Answer key
  1. If I were a senator, I would vote for this bill.
  2. If the president vetoed it, Congress would have to vote again.
Finish · step two

Homework

Draw the Congress diagram from memory and write four numbers with their meaning.
Answer keyModel answer: 435 representatives; 100 senators; two years for a representative; six years for a senator.