Vocabulary
Look at the following terms drawn from the text and match a word with its definition:
1. Sociology a) a particular area of
study(esp. a subject studied
at a college or university);
2. Discipline b) a group of people with
similar physical characte-
rustics;
3. Subject(=subject matter) c) the level of speed with
which something happens
or changes, or the number of
times it happens or changes,
within a particular period;
4. Behavior d) an understanding of the
relationship between larger
social factors and people’s
personal lives;
5. Race e) the physiological and
social condition of being
male or female;
6. Gender f) the systematic and
scientific study of human
social behavior;
7. Class g) a way people act in
different situations;
8. Society h) the thing which is being
studied;
9. Rate i) a group of people within
society who have the same
economical and social
position;
10. Sociological imagination j) a large group of people who
live together in an organized
way, all the people in a
country
Grammar Study
Passive Voice
Compare the following sentences:
Active: Social factors shape individual behavior.
Passive: Individual behavior is shaped by social factors.
In an active sentence the subject performs an action and the normal order is Subject – Verb – Object. To make a sentence passive, the object must become the new subject and it must be followed by a passive form:
A
ctive:
Subject Verb Object
Passive: New Subject Passive Form
F
or
example: Someone has stolen my car.
My car has been stolen.
We use passive forms when:
the action is more important than the person who does it;
we do not know who does it;
We use by if we want to include the person who does the action: e.g. Some components are made by other companies.