Decide if active or passive voice is being used. “The mail was brought in my a receptionist”

There's a slight correction to be made in the question.

"The mail was brought in by a receptionist" should be the right sentence.

The sentence is in the passive voice.

Its active form would be:

"The receptionist brought in the mail."

Hope it helps. :)

paine is arguying that they had tried everything before coming to the conclusion that they needed to fight for their freedom.

argument: "every quiet method for peace hath been ineffectual."

claim 1: "our prayers have been rejected with disdain; and only tended to convince us, that nothing flatters vanity, or confirms obstinacy in kings more than repeated petitioning and nothing hath contributed more than that very measure to make the kings of europe absolute."

claim 2: "wherefore, since nothing but blows will do, for god’s sake, let us come to a final separation, and not leave the next generation to be cutting throats, under the violated unmeaning names of parent and child."

the word that best matches the meaning of the expression "went to the big ocean" is died.

the goldfish died, which is why the father looks at the children mournfully. the "big ocean" is the father's way of saying fish heaven. he could have just said that the goldfish died, but this way, the children imagine the fish in a bigger, better place instead of just picturing a dead fish.

explanation: