Passive voice

Task 1. Study the following table.

Compare	Active Voice	Passive Voice
	The Sun attracts the planets. Форма глагола attracts показывает, что подлежащее (the Sun) совершает действие. (Солнце притягивает планеты.)	The planet are attracted by the Sun. Форма глагола are attracted показывает, что подлежащее (the planets) подвергается действию со стороны другого лица. (Планеты притягиваются солнцем.)
Form		be + V3 (Past Participle)
Use		when we don’t know who does smth The Belarusian State University was founded in 1921. when we don’t need to say who does smth The book was translated last year.

The most widely used forms of the verbs in the Passive Voice.

Remember!	Tense	Form	Example
	Present Simple	am (is, are) + V3	The Crimea is noted for its subtropical climate.
	Past Simple	was (were) + V3	America was discovered by Christopher Columbus.
	Future Simple	will be + V3	Some specimens will be shown to the students.
	Present Perfect	has (have) been + V3	France has been noted for its well-balanced economic life.
	Present Continuous	is (are) being + V3	The air is being heated by the sun.

I. Remember!
Translation	Examples
глагол быть + краткая форма причастия страдательного залога глагол, оканчивающийся на -ся неопределенно-личные предложения, в которых глагол- сказуемое в действительном залоге в 3 л. мн. ч. краткая форма страдательного причастия предложения с формальным подлежащим it переводятся неопределенно-личными предложениями или безличными	America was discovered by Christopher Columbus (была открыта) The Sun’s light is being reflected from the moon on the Earth (отражается) English is spoken in England. (говорят) The summits of the Crimean mountains are covered with steppe grasses (покрыты) It is known – известно It is said – говорят It was said – говорили It is reported – сообщается
II. Remember!
When the verb in a passive sentence is a phrasal verb, don’t forget to include the particle. They speak much about this discovery. → This discovery is much spoken about.

Task 2. Translate into Russian paying special attention to the passive form of the verbs.

1. It is known that most of the land area of the world is located in the Northern Hemisphere.

2. The achievements of our expedition to the North Pole were much spoken about.

3. Several methods have been used to determine the length of the postglacial time in Europe.

4. The tide in Devonshire comes very quickly, so that the people who are by chance among the rocks are being surrounded by the sea.

5. More than 40 mud volcanoes have been plotted on the geological map after geological studies.

6. The crust of the earth is constantly being affected by internal forces.

7. The Earth’s surface may be considered a huge chemical laboratory in which a quantitative rock analysis is being made.

8. The exploration of the northern most section of the island was interfered with by heavy ice conditions.

9. All the data of the experiment will be recorded.

10. Finland is a country where distinct regional contrasts are seldom met with.

Task 3. The words and phrases in bold in each sentence are wrong. Write the correct word or phrase.

1. James Cook appointed to lead the expedition to the Pacific.

2. In ancient times little knew about the shape of the Earth.

3. The first world maps made by the Greeks.

4. The earth’s upper mantle and warm currents have also studied.

5. Many power plants are building and more electricity is using.

6. The cosmic rays are studying with various types of space probes.

Task 4. Say it in English. Mind the passive forms of the verbs.

1. Карты составляются

2. Элементы территориальной структуры распределяются

3. Интернетом пользуются

4. Страны посещают

5. Открытия совершались

6. Новые земли освоены

7. Нефть добывают

8. Лесы вырубались

9. Численность животных сокращалась

10. Новые методы изучаются

Task 5. Use the correct passive or active form of the verbs in brackets.

Floods (l) _____ (cause) when a river (2) _____ (burst) its banks. This can happen if there (3) _____ (be) an unusual amount of rain, or if snow (4) _____ (melt) and the river (5) _____ (overflow). When a flood (6) _____ (take place) crops (7) _____ (destroy) and homes (8) _____ (damage).

Task 6. Rewrite the following passage in the passive.

Yesterday afternoon, a volcanic eruption destroyed an entire village. Mount Sirius, which experts thought was dormant, erupted at 3 pm. Tourists had seen smoke rising from the mouth of the volcano two days before. The police moved the villagers away from the area for their own safety. Tons of lava and rock came out of the volcano and wrecked houses, roads and trees. Although the blast physically injured only a few people, doctors are treating many for shock. The authorities are keeping the area surrounding Mount Sir­ius clear in case of further activity.

Task 7. Complete using the correct passive or active form of the verbs in brackets.

A: Did you visit many places when you were on holiday?

B: Well, on the first day we (1) _____ (take) on a tour of the historic monu­ments by our guide.

A: Oh. Did you go everywhere with him?

B: No, we also (2) _____ (go) to some places by ourselves.

A: How did you manage to travel to the other places?

B: We (3) _____ (advise) to hire a car, but we (4) _____ (choose) to travel on public transport because it is much cheaper.

A: How did you know which buses and trains to catch, though?

B: We (5) _____ (ask) at the tourist information centre and we (6) _____ (give) an excellent book which (7) _____ (tell) us everything we needed to know.

A: So, you enjoyed it then?

B: Oh, yes! We had a really great time!

Task 8. Read the following putting the verbs in brackets into the correct form. Be ready to speak on this topic.

Do you think Mars (1) _____ (colonise) by humans one day? The planet Mars (2) _____ (know) as “the red planet”. The soil there is red and its surface (3) _____ (cover) in volcanoes. Until recently, it (4) _____ (believe) that nothing could live on Mars, but during a recent space mission, tests (5) ______ (carry out), and now it (6) _____ (think) that life on Mars might be possible one day. During the space mission, special equipment (7) _____ (use) to examine the planet. No form of life (8) _____ (find) yet, and so far the planet (9) _____ (consider) unsuitable for inhabitation. However, we (10) _____ (tell) by scientists that, by 2020, humans (11) _____ (send) to Mars, and that one day, special cities (12) _____ (build) so that we can live there. It (13) _____ (hope) that by 2150, Mars will be a wonderful place to live. If a colony (14) _____ (build) on Mars, would you like to live there?

Task 9. Rewrite the paragraph, putting the verbs in the box in the correct active or passive form. You may have to use a verb more than once.

to know, to reflect, to absorb, to arrive, to conserve, to occur, to be, to freeze, to transmit.