UNIT 7: LANGUAGE PRACTICE

The passive
1 Underline the passive structures in the texts below. 1 The ancient buildings which remain in the village are run-down and need to be maintained. Although a group of architects have met to discuss the project, there is no sign yet of an agreement being reached. The Hammer is a unique and impressive building which will be an imposing addition to the area of the city around the river. This contemporary building, which has been commissioned by the private finance company Moster Stronio, will be constructed from traditional materials and is due to be completed in ten years time. The architect who had been redesigning the city centre as part of a five-year project was only 23 when he started the plans. Although this is now water under the bridge, the problems which resulted from this decision are being lived with every day by the inhabitants of the city. The overcrowded streets in the city centre are totally blocked by cars and angry drivers during rush hours. The only solution would be to demolish and reconstruct a large area. Although the city environment was slowly improving throughout the previous decade, the north-west part of the city centre was still very run-down. This area was being revitalised by the plans of the city council until the money from the central government ran out. In fact, many of the buildings were in the process of being restored and still remain unfinished to this day. Although sometimes demolishing a city centre and redesigning it from scratch can be very beneficial, it is essential to be careful not to burn ones bridges. Many ugly, modern European city centres hide architectural gems. These are usually historical buildings that have been hidden by later constructions. Graffiti is sprayed on the buildings in the area almost as soon as it has been cleaned off. This can be seen as a real challenge for modern architects. The outside of the building was constructed using entirely recycled materials. These were brought from Scandinavia where such building materials are extremely common.

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2 For the passives you have underlined, choose the passive form from the box. present simple past simple present continuous past continuous will future present perfect -ing forms infinitive

3 Select the best reason for the use of the passive from the box below. 1 2 3 4 5 The passive is used so that the sentence can start with information which is already known. The passive is used to put a short subject at the beginning of the sentence. The passive is used because the agent of the verb is unimportant or obvious from the context. The passive is used as we dont know who/what the agent is. The passive is used to put the most important information at the start of the clause.

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