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PASSIVE VOICE
FORM: Remember that when we use passive voice, tense falls on the verb BE, which is followed by an -ed participle. The school Present Simple is decorated every summer. Present Continuous is being decorated at the moment. Present Perfect has been decorated recently. Past Simple was decorated last month. Past Continuous was being decorated until the bad weather started. Past Perfect had been decorated only once before. Will will be decorated soon. Going to is going to be decorated next month. Modal verb may be decorated in the next few months. FUNCTIONS: The passive is used to talk about processes. The cars are taken from the factory and then they are transported all over Europe. The passive is used when we dont want to say or we cant say who performed the action. This book was written in the 17th century but the author is unknown. The passive is used when its obvious who performed the action. The fire has finally been put out. The passive is also used to put the main focus at the beginning of the sentence. If we want to say who carried out the action, we introduce the persons name with the preposition by. These emails have been sent by someone in this office and I want to know who! 1- Write passive sentences: 1- Chinese (speak) ______________ in Singapore. 2- The Taj Mahal (build) ______________ around 1640. 3- The new hospital (open) ________________ next year. 4- She (interview) _________________ now. 5- I realized I (follow) ____________________. 6- (you invite) ___________________ to Andys party? 7- He found that all his money (steal) ______________________. 8- These computers (make) ______________________ in Korea. 9- Passengers (ask) _________________ not to speak to the driver. 10- Sorry about the noise the road (mend) _______________________. 11- The village church (burn down) ____________________ last year.

12- A Roman pavement (just find) ____________________ under Oxford Street.

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2- Provide the right form of the verbs in brackets: Here is an extract from a cookery book describing how chocolate used to (process).

Chocolate comes from cocoa beans, the seeds of the cacao tree, which (originally cultivate) by the Mayas and Aztecs over 3,000 years ago. After (harvest).., the cocoa pods (leave) ..... to ferment and split open. Next, the beans (remove) . and (leave) .. to dry in the sun. The dried, shelled beans (roast) in clay pots and then (grind) .. to a paste over a small fire. The paste (mix) with spices, then (shape) . into small cakes or loaves before (dry) in the sun. The dried cakes (break up) , (melt) with hot water and maize, then (beat) .. until frothy. The chocolate was then ready to drink.

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3- Match up the beginning of each sentence in column A with its ending in column B and add a suitable passive verb form in the space provided. The first one is shown as an example.
A 1-In the past, small amounts of cocaine used to be used + G 2-Salt (spread) ...................................... on roads 3-Central heating (invent)................................... 4-In the future, many of todays hereditary diseases (wipe out).......................................... 5-Not long ago, teeth (pull out)........................... 6-In my grandfathers time, a driving licence (obtain)............................ 7-Undeveloped film (expose)............................. 8- 150 years ago, Gaelic (speak)........................ 9-Graded readers are books in which the language (simplify) ............................ 10-Hand gestures (use) ............................... 11-The worlds tropical rainforests (destroy). B A to mean different things in different countries. B to direct sunlight. C much more widely in Scotland than it is today. D by the Romans. E so quickly that they may all have gone by 2050! F when there is snow and ice. H as sacred animals. I at a post office without having to take a test! J without any anaesthetic! K so that learners can read them more easily L through genetic engineering.

3 12-In India, cows (regard) .............................. G in the production of Coca-Cola.

4- Complete the gaps in the following passage by putting the verbs in brackets into an appropriate passive form. You will also have to put any other words in brackets in the correct place. Look at the example given. Well, last month most of the lambs (1) (sell) were sold at the market, although weve still got ten, which (2) (probably send) ____________________ next week. When all the lambs have gone, the sheep (3) (take) ____________________ to another part of the farm. After that, we usually start on the fruit, although the blackcurrants (4) (already pick) ____________________ because it was an early season this year. The plums cant (5) (pick) ____________________ for another three weeks by law as they (6) (spray) ____________________ only seven weeks ago. Of course, they still have (7) (gather) ____________________ by hand, unlike the blackcurrants, which (8) (harvest) ____________________ by machine nowadays. The plums and blackcurrants (9) (both make) ____________________ into jam and preserve. Then we have what is called the bag fruit, which is apples and pears. Since the fruit does not have to be in good condition (10) (make) ____________________ into cider and perry, it (11) (treat) ___________________ pretty badly. For example, there are no skilled pickers involved, the trees (12) (just shake) ___________________ until the fruit drops to the ground, where it (13) (collect) ___________________ and (14) (put) ____________________ into bags. As you can imagine, handling the bags is a very dirty job as the juice leaks out everywhere. But I hope the whole process (15) (automate) ____________________ before much longer. ----------------------------------------------------------------------5- Complete the article with the correct passive form of the verb in brackets. A study into the future of the worlds monkeys (carry out) ____________________ recently by animal experts, the results of which (release) ____________________ at an international conference last month. During the survey it (find) ____________________ that 303 of the 634 primates studied may soon become extinct in the wild. 69 species (classify) _____________________ as critically endangered since the results became known. The main reason for the rapid decline in numbers (identify) ____________________ in the report as deforestation. However, in some areas more damage (do) ____________________ by local people who hunt the animals for food. Monkeys (eat) ____________________ in several regions of Africa and Asia. Conservationists want world leaders to take urgent measures to protect these animals in the hope that they (save) ____________________ from extinction in the near future.

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Passives: Complex structures

Note these passive structures. They are mostly rather formal. A active object complement passive subject complement Active: The Queen considered him a genius. Passive: He was considered a genius. B structure with introductory it: It is thought / believed etc. that At the time, it was believed that illnesses were caused by evil spirits. C subject + passive verb + infinitive is / are / was / were etc. thought / believed / said / asked / seen / made etc. to She is thought to have left home. They are said to be millionaires. Pirates were reported to have invaded the city in the 16th century and stolen all the gold and silver from the churches. 1- Rewrite the following statements in the same way, using the passive. 1- He claims that Iceland has a very pleasant climate. 2- Many people regard the cathedral in Florence as one of the most imposing in the world. 3- Many believe that Sweden has one of the richest economies in Europe. 4- We appointed Mr. Evans secretary. 5- The villagers called her a witch. 6- Police think the man holding the hostages is heavily armed. 7- People believed that fresh air was bad for sick people. 8- Some people say that he is in an agitated state. 9- Everybody considered her strange. 10- We expect that the rate of inflation will rise. 11- Somebody saw Harris leave the plane in Ontario. 12- People think that she died in a plane crash.

13-People believed the earth was the centre of the universe. 14- They made me give them details of my bank accounts. 15- They reported that pirates had invaded the city in the 16th century and stolen all the gold and silver from the churches. -------------------------------------------------------------------2- Rewrite the sentences in the passive using the words in brackets. Mind word order.
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National security is of paramount importance. (believe firmly)

It . 2- Human actions are responsible for global warming. (accept widely) It . 3- Monsoons are a tropical phenomenon. (regard usually) Monsoons .. 4- Wind power is the best solution to the global energy crisis. (say often) It . 5- Oil is running out. (consider generally) Oil . 6- Public transport is very unreliable. (see usually) Public transport 7- Air travel causes a great deal of pollution. (acknowledge widely) Commercial flights .. 8- Flooding has worsened in recent years. (report frequently) It . -------------------------------------------------------------------3- Rephrase using HAVE SOMETHING DONE in the correct tense. 1-Our lawn has recently been mown. Weve recently _____________________________________________ 2- Id like someone to do up my bedroom. Id like ____________________________________________________ 3-That charming lady used to do the housework for them.

They used _________________________________________________ 4-Tom will paint our facade. Well _____________________________________________________ 5-Mum isnt at home now. Shes at the hairdressers. Her hair is being cut. Mum ______________________________________________________ 6-John takes all my neighbours dogs for a walk every afternoon. My neighbours _______________________________________________ 7-A wonderful childminder looked after Jennys children when they were very young. Jenny_______________________________________________________________ 8-Our roof had just been re-tiled when a ferocious hailstorm destroyed everything. Wed ______________________________________________________________ 9- Our holiday photos were being developed and printed when the computer system crashed. We were ______________________________________________________________________ 10- The house should be refurbished before we move in. We should ________________________________________