ACTIVE / PASSIVE VOICE MIX

1. Some information on the trip to Yosemite National Park. Put in the verbs in the passive
voice.
Yosemite ____________________ (visit) by millions of people every year. We'll cross the park
on Highway 120 but this road ____________________ (close) by snow in winter. We won't use
our bus in Yosemite Valley because tourists ____________________ (take) to all the sights
there by free park buses. In California earthquakes ____________________ (feel) by millions
every year and buildings, roads and bridges ____________ sometimes ______________
(destroy) In bad earthquakes people ____________________ (kill), too.

2. Complete the text. Use the correct present passive form of the verbs in brackets.
Ensaimadas ______________________ (make) in Mallorca!
Have you ever eaten the delicious cakes called ensaimadas? They (1) __________________
(produce) in Mallorca, but most of them (2) ______________________ (not eat) on the island –
they (3) ______________________ (buy) by tourists. They (4) ______________________
(send) to countries like Germany and Holland. Mallorcan bread (5) ______________________
(make) at the same factory, but it (6) ______________________ (not export). It (7)
______________________ (eat) by the local people. The ensaimadas, however, (8)
______________________ (enjoy) around the world!

3. Complete the text. Use the correct past passive form of the verbs in brackets.
A trade fair took place recently in the island of Santa Clara. A brochure __________________
(publish) by the Government to advertise the Trade Fair, and a very short history of the island
______________________ (include). The island of S. Clara ______________________
(discover) by the Spaniards in the sixteenth century. It ______________________ (colonise) by
the English about a hundred years later. Gold _____________________ (soon find) there, and
cotton and sugar ____________________ (plant). S. Clara was one of Britain's richest
colonies, although it was not very large.
The island ______________________ (give) its independence by the British in 1963. Elections
___________________ (hold) and a government ____________________ (form). A short time
before independence, large reserves of oil had been discovered both on the island and under
the sea, near it. From the beginning, the new country's prosperity had been certain. The
oilfields may be some of the largest in the world. Until 1967 the gold and oil of S. Clara
___________________ (exploit) by large international companies.
4. Complete the gaps with the suitable passive or active verb.
Last week, a new school 1__________________ (open) by the Mayor of Croftside. He
2__________________ (give) a tour of the new building by the new headmistress, Mrs
Anderson. Mrs Anderson 3__________________ (show) him the large sports hall which can
4__________________ (use) for indoor sports in the future. Then the mayor
5__________________ (interview) by a reporter from the local newspaper. A photographer
6__________________ (take) some photographs of him with Mrs Anderson and later a car
7__________________ (arrive) and the Mayor 8__________________ (take) to his next
appointment.

5. Complete the gaps with the suitable passive verb.

Stunts
Nowadays, action films are getting more and more spectacular and many special effects
1_______ __________________ (add) to make the action more realistic.
It’s impossible to control the weather during filming. As a result, weather effects 2________
_____________________ (often create) for the film. For example, the winter scenes in Young
Sherlock Holmes 3__________________ (not film) in winter, but in the middle of summer. The
snow 4__________________ (make) from polystyrene!
Car chases, high-speed crashes, or falls from high buildings 5__________________ (not play)
by the stars themselves – they 6__________________ (do) by stuntmen. In Volcano, stuntmen
7________________________ (set on fire). However, the actors
8________________________ (protect) by several layers of special clothing, so nobody
9________________________ (injure).
In the future, many stunts 10________________________ (not need). Most effects
11___________ _________________ (generate) by computer, so action films should be safer
and easier to make.

6. Hadrian’s Wall: Fill the gaps with the correct tenses (active or passive voice).
In the year 122 AD, the Roman Emperor Hadrian ___________________ (visit) his provinces in
Britain. 2. On his visit, the Roman soldiers ________________ (tell) him that Pictish tribes from
Britain’s north _____________________ (attack) them. So Hadrian ____________________
(give) the order to build a protective wall across one of the narrowest parts of the country.
After 6 years of hard work, the Wall ____________________ (finish) in 128. It
______________ (be) 117 kms long and about 4m high. The Wall _______________ (guard)
by 15,000 Roman soldiers. Every 8 kilometres there ______________________ (be) a large
fort in which up to 1,000 soldiers ______________________ (find) shelter.
The soldiers ______________________ (watch) over the frontier to the north and
______________________ (check) the people who ______________________ (want) to enter
or leave Roman Britain. In order to pass through the Wall, people ______________________
(must go) to one of the small forts that ______________________ (serve) as gateways.
Those forts ______________________ (call) milecastles because the distance from one fort to
another ______________________ (be) one Roman mile (about 1,500 metres). Between the
milecastles there ______________________ (be) two turrets from which the soldiers
______________________ (guard) the Wall.
If the Wall ______________________ (attack) by enemies, the soldiers at the turrets
______________________ (run) to the nearest milecastle for help or
______________________ (light) a fire that ______________________ (can / see) by the
soldiers in the milecastle.
In 383 Hadrian’s Wall ______________________ (abandon). Today Hadrian’s Wall
______________________ (be) the most popular tourist attraction in northern England.
In 1987, it ______________________ (become) a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

7. Complete the text below using the correct form of the verb, active or passive, in
brackets ().
'Scotch Whisky' - the water of life! The origins of malt whisky distilling in Scotland date back to
at least the monks of the 15th century and probably long before. The ancient uisge beatha,
which is Gaelic for the Latin aqua vitae or 'water of life', was corrupted in the 18th century to
usky, and then to whisky.
Malting
Best quality barley ____________________________________ (to soak) in water and then
spread out on malting floors to germinate. It _________________________ (to turn) regularly
to prevent the buildup of heat. Traditionally, this ___________________________ (to do) by
tossing the barley into the air with wooden shovels in a malt barn adjacent to the kiln. During
this process enzymes ____________________________________ (to create), which convert
the starch into sugar when mashing takes place. After four to five days germination the barley,
now called green malt, ____________________________________ (to go) to the kiln for
drying. Heat ____________________________________ (to stop) the growth and the smoke,
coming from peat added to the fire, gives flavour.
Mashing
The dried malt _______________________________ (to grind) into coarse flour,
which ________________________________ (to mix) with hot water at 67-68 degrees as it
pours into the mash tun. The quality of the pure Scottish water is important. The mash
______________________________ (to stir), helping to convert the starches to sugar. After
mashing, the sweet sugary liquid ____________________________________ (to know) as
wort.

Fermentation
The liquid __________________________________ (to cool ) and pumped into large
containers, where the yeast _____________________________ (to add ) and fermentation
_______________________________ (to begin ). The living yeast ___________________
___________________________ (to feed ) on the sugars, producing alcohol. Large volumes
of carbon dioxide gas are also produced. After about two days the fermentation
_______________________________ ( to die ) down and contains 7-8% alcohol by volume.

Pot Stills
In some mysterious way, the shape of the pot still_________________________ (to affect) the
character of the individual malt whisky, and each distillery keeps its stills exactly the same over
the years. In distillation the still ____________________________________ (to heat) to 86
degrees c and the alcohol and other compounds vaporize and pass over the neck of the still.
Finally the vapour _____________________________ (to condense) into a liquid.

Distillation
The wash ____________________________________ (to distill ) twice to separate the
alcohol from the water, yeast and the residue, which ______________________________ (to
save) for use in animal feeds.

Casking
All the distillates pass through the spirit safe. The newly distilled colourless
spirit ____________________________________ (to fill ) in oak casks, which
may ____________________________________ (to use) previously in the maturation
process for Scotch whisky, bourbon or sherry.
Maturation
While maturing, the whisky ____________________________________ (to become)
smoother, gains flavour and draws its golden colour from the cask. By law all Scotch whisky
must ____________________________________ (to mature) for at least three years, but
most single malts lie in the wood for eight, twelve or even fifteen years. About 2% of the
whisky ____________________________________ (to evaporate) from the cask each year,
this is known as the angel's share. Unlike wine, whisky does not mature further once bottled.

8. Complete the Resorts Directory page on Katoomba with the correct Present and Past
Simple Passive forms.
Katoomba 1) __________________ (design) the very best in modern comfort along with a taste
of authentic wild Africa. Large traditional family lodges 2)__________ (set) among trees above
the grassy banks of the lovely Miria River, where rhinoceroses 3) ________ (see) from time to
time, and where you 4)_______ (advise) to watch out for lions at night.

Katoomba 5)___________ (open) only three years ago, but it is already one of Northern
Africa’s most famous resorts. The site 6)_________ (choose) not just for its natural beauty, but
also for its ideal location for a great variety of tours and experiences – from big-game safaris in
the Kruger National Park to white water rafting on the Miria River.

From the beginning, conference facilities 7)_________________ (provide) in order to attract

corporate users as well as family holiday makers. The conference centre 8)_______________
(hide) away among the gardens and trees, a short walk from the central Reception area.

9. Complete the text below using the correct form of the verb, active or passive, in
brackets ().
Santorini is a Greek island in a group which ...................................... (know) as the Cyclades
Islands. Out of a total of 56 islands, only 24 of them ............................................ (inhabit). On
Milos, one of these islands, the famous sculpture, ‘Venus de Milo’ .....................................
(discover).

Santorini is very popular with tourists. It ................................ (form) from a volcano and petrified
lava. In Fira, the main tourist centre, many shops ..................................... (open) where local
jewellery, pottery and leather goods .................................. (sell). Travelling north to the little
town of Oia, the reds and purples of the volcanic lava ......................................... (can/see). The
ancient city of Thira ....................................... (locate) in the southeast of the island. It
....................................... (found) by the Dorians in the ninth century BCE. The city is in ruins
because of a volcanic eruption. Bus tours ......................................... (organise) by local
companies to all these sites.

10. Complete the text below using the correct form of the verb, active or passive, in
brackets ().
The art of the world is in danger. Many great works of art .................................. (steal) from
galleries, museums and archaeological sites all over the world. In 1990, 200 million dollars’
worth of rare paintings ................................ (remove) from a Boston museum. These paintings
simply ................................. (vanish) and .............................................. (not/see) since.

In Italy, for example, art treasures such as icons and tapestries.................................. (take) by
people who visit churches looking for items that ............................... (steal) easily because there
are no security guards. A collection of German gold and silver religious objects
........................(find) in Texas recently. An American GI ...........................(loot) them during
WWII. Museums and dealers ..................................... (accuse) by the police of helping thieves
because they ................................... (continue) to buy statures and paintings without documents
to show where they came from. A magazine called Trace ............................................
(establish) four years ago to track down missing art treasures. Experts ............................
(estimate) that the theft of art treasures stands at six million dollars a year. It’s big business!