The Algorithm Decides
Grammar: Passive Voice
A Business English English lesson exploring business.
What's in this lesson
A Business English ESL lesson on business, practising passive voice. The worksheet has a reading, target vocabulary, a grammar reference with practice and discussion questions.
From the reading: The Algorithm Decides
In 2018, Amazon scrapped a recruiting tool it had been developing for four years after engineers discovered it was consistently downgrading applications from women. The system had been trained on a decade of historical hiring data — data that reflected the tech industry's existing gender imbalance. By the time the bias was identified, hundreds of CVs had already been screened and shortlisted by an algorithm that nobody had been adequately overseeing. The episode was embarrassing, but it was not unusual.
Vocabulary
- automate
- bias
- deploy
- efficiency gains
Grammar: Passive Voice
- Present simple passive
- Thousands of CVs are screened each week. — subject receives the action; agent often omitted
- Past simple passive
- The tool was scrapped after the bias was discovered. — completed past event, agent optional
Discussion questions
- When did a piece of technology first change how you did your job?
- Have you ever applied for a job where the process felt automated or impersonal?
- What is one task at work you would trust a machine to do — and one you would not?
The Algorithm Decides
Grammar: Passive Voice
What's in this lesson:
Full lesson plan with reading, grammar, vocabulary, and discussion.
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