Grammar Practice. The Passive

Task 1. Read these sentences and decide which are in the active and which are in the passive. Translate them into Russian.

1.We've been approached by Sky Air.

2.Sky Air has approached us.

3.I'm told by the marketing people that we'll probably be working on load factors of about 80 per cent.

4.The marketing people tell me that we will probably be working on load factors of about 80 per cent.

5.The brochures should be sent to the travel agents in October."

6.They should send the brochures to the travel agents in October.

7.All expenses must be authorized in advance.

8 You must get authorisation for all expenses in advance.

9. The managing director was given the information.

R. The information was given to the managing director.

S. He gave the managing director the information.

T. It was stipulated that the agreement would allow for increases in the cost of aviation fuel.

U. Sky Air stipulated that the agreement would allow for increases in the cost of aviation fuel.

V. It is said that an influx of tourists will destroy the plant life.

W. Environmentalists say that an influx of tourists will destroy the plant life.

X. She was paid $2000.

Y. The tour operators paid her $2000.

Task 2. Match the following statements about the passive to the above sentences.

W. Sometimes it is appropriate to say who carried out the action.

X. Modal verbs can be used.

Y. Verbs with two objects can be made passive in two ways.

Z. Passive constructions beginning with "it" are used to make a statement more formal or impersonal.

GRAMMAR NOTES

We use the passive when:

a) it is obvious who the doer of the action is:

Your luggage will be sent straight to Athens

we don't know who the doer is:

My plane was delayed.

we are more interested in the action than who did it:

The managing director was given the information.

we wish to disclaim responsibility for the action:

Our room rates have been increased.

we are describing processes and agreements:

It was stipulated that fifty rooms would be reserved for clients of Exotic Destinations.

The passive is Formed using the different tenses of "to be," followed by a past participle.

Task 3. Rewrite the following statements using the passive:

Example: Four reps will meet the flight. The flight will be met by four reps.

They will escort you to your hotels.

They spend three days a week meeting arrivals.

The hoteliers have created overbooking problems.

The fall in the value of the rouble shouldn't affect the number on holidays sold.

They did not offer us a welcome drink.

The police arrest all lager louts.

Task 4. Complete this letter by filling in the gaps with the appropriate verb forms.

Imagine that you work in the personnel department of Global Tours Inc. in Tahiti, and Sally is a new rep who is about to join your team.

GLOBAL TOURS INC. TAHITI OFFICE

Dear Sally,

I would like to welcome you to our team here in Tahiti and to outline what (a)_______________(happen) during your first week with us.

On arrival at the airport you (b) ________________(meet) by John Grand, our area manager and (c)_________________(drive) to the Pacific Hotel where you (d) __________________(live) during the season.

There (e)_________________(follow) a five-day training programme where you (f)______________ (introduce) to your colleagues and (g)__________________ (brief). Then you (h)____________ (show) how to check in plane-loads of holidaymakers, make short presentations and deal with complaints.

Also you (i)_______________(take) around the island to visit the places you(j)_____________(take) our guests. There (k)___________(be) a short test to complete the programme, after which you (1)_____________(give) a certificate.

Here we (m)_____________all_____________(look forward) to meeting you on 1^st May and working with you over the summer season.

Yours sincerely...

Read out the letter and answer these questions:

Why is it necessary to do a special training programme?

What do you think of the programme?

Does the job seem attractive to you? Why (not)?

Task 5. Simple Past active or passive.

Read the following passage about the Panama Canal.

Put the verbs into the simple past active or passive.

The Panama Canal is one of the most significant engineering achievements of the twentieth century, but it was a project that took over 500 years to finally complete.

The first proposal to build a canal (a) ______________(put) forward in 1523. Charles V of Spain (b)________________ (order) a survey of the area but no action (c) ________________(take). More than three centuries (d)_______________(pass) before a new attempt (e)______________(make).

A French company, under the leadership of Ferdinand de Lesseps, who (f) ______________(build) the Suez Canal, (g)________________(work) on the project for twenty years. They (h)_______________(begin) in 1880, but (i)_____________(defeat) by disease and financial problems.

In 1906, President Roosevelt (j)_____________(order) the US Army Corps of Engineers to begin construction, and the project (k)_______________(control) by Colonel Goethals. During the project, about 143 million cubic metres of earth (1)______________(remove), and the entire area, which (m)_______________(infest) with malaria-carrying mosquitoes, had to be sanitized. It (n)_____________(estimate) that the project would take ten years, but in fact the work (o)_____________ (complete) in the summer of 1914 at a cost of about $ 336 million.

The canal, which links the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean, is just over sixty-four kilometres long. The minimum depth is 12.5 m, and the minimum width is 91.5 m.

Read out the story again and retell it.

STEP 7