Paper 3 paraphrasing skills 2 Active voice & passive voice

The passive voice is normally formed by using the correct form of be + the past participle
(p.p.) of the verb. The following table shows how passive voice is used with different tenses:

Tense Structure Active Passive

present am/are/is + p.p. She changes the sheets The sheets are changed
every week. every week.
simple

past was/were + p.p. She changed the sheets The sheets were changed
simple this morning. this morning.

future will/shall be She will change the The sheets will be changed
sheets tomorrow. tomorrow.
simple + p.p.

present am/are/is + She is changing the The sheets are being

sheets now. changed now.
continuous being + p.p.

present am/are/is + p.p. She changes the sheets The sheets are changed
every week. every week.
simple

past was/were + p.p. She changed the sheets The sheets were changed
simple this morning. this morning.

future will/shall be She will change the The sheets will be changed
sheets tomorrow. tomorrow.
simple + p.p.

present am/are/is + She is changing the The sheets are being

sheets now. changed now.
continuous being + p.p.

Structure Active  Passive

modals (can/could, You can post the letter on  The letter can be posted on the
may/might, must, the way home. way home.
should, etc.)

be (am/are Sharon is going to invite all  All her friends are going to be
/is/was/were, etc.) her friends. invited.
going to
used to People used to grow rice in  Rice used to be grown in the New
the New Territories. Territories.

people say … People say that green tea is  It is said that green tea is good for
good for our health. our health. / Green tea is said to be
good for our health.

They say that she was an  It is said that she was an actress. /
actress. She is said to have been an actress.

they believe … They believe that the news is  It is believed that the news is
untrue. untrue. / The news is believed to
be untrue.

Examples

He got hurt when he fell off his bicycle.  He was hurt when he fell off his bicycle
(got – informal)

Mr Chan had his car stolen last week.  Mr Chan’s car was stolen last week.)

My wallet was stolen. <-> Someone stole my wallet

(we do not know who or what was responsible for something)

The temple was built more than 300 years ago. It was used to worship the sea
goddess.
The villagers built the temple to worship the sea goddess|
(we are not interested in who or what was responsible, but we are interested in the
action)

Exercise

1. We can cook fish in several ways.

Fish _____________________________________________.

2. The singer will release her new album next week.

The singer’s new album _____________________________________________.

3. I doubt if we should tell her the truth.

I doubt if _____________________________________________.

4. The suspect may be hiding in Macau.

The suspect is believed _____________________________________________.

5. People say that many people have been involved in the case.

Many people are said _____________________________________________.

6. They have not found a cure for the disease.

A cure for the disease ___________________________________________.

7. Nobody has called to reserve this table.

This table _____________________________________________.

8. They won’t carry out any building renovations this year.

No building renovations _____________________________________________.

Ben Did you know that coffee was first discovered in the 10th century? People in Europe only
started to drink coffee about four hundred years ago, when merchants started importing
coffee beans to Italy.
Alice Is that so?
Ben People were afraid to drink it at first, though they found the smell enticing.
Alice Why?
Ben They were afraid it would be bad for them.
Alice How did they find out it was harmless?
Ben A king ordered a man who had been sentenced to death to drink a cup of coffee in exchange
for a pardon.
Alice What happened?
Ben The prisoner lived to be 80 years old!
Ben Did you know that coffee was first discovered in the 10th century? People in Europe only
started to drink coffee about four hundred years ago, when merchants started importing
coffee beans to Italy.
Alice Is that so?
Ben People were afraid to drink it at first, though they found the smell enticing.
Alice Why?
Ben They were afraid it would be bad for them.
Alice How did they find out it was harmless?
Ben A king ordered a man who had been sentenced to death to drink a coffee in exchange for a
pardon.
Alice What happened?
Ben The prisoner lived to be 80 years old!

Coffee was not (1) to Europe until about four hundred years ago. People were
attracted (2) the smell, but they dared not drink it because they were worried (3)
their health. Then, a king (4) an idea. He ordered a cup of coffee to be made for a
man who had been sentenced to death. He said to him, ‘Drink this and you’ll
be (5) .
If you don’t, you will be (6) immediately.’ The man (7) . ‘I’m going to (8) anyway,’ he
thought.
He drank the coffee. Nothing (9) to him. The king waited. Days (10) . Then months.
The prisoner remained in a good state of (11) . At last the king was satisfied. He (12)
his promise and ordered the man to be (13) from prison.
Huge livestock losses have been sustained in the south after a heavy snowfall on Tuesday evening,
covering the area with knee-deep snow. A combination of snow, strong winds and low temperatures
have caused chaos, and major roads are now blocked with thick snow. Many houses have collapsed and
there have been injuries as a result. The bad weather is expected to continue, according to the China
News Service.

We’re (1) in our hostel. There (2) a heavy snow storm last night, and traffic (3) to
a standstill. We’d wanted to (4) to a village 5 km away for supplies, but the road was
(5) . I think it’ll be some time before it is (6) to traffic.
The heavy snow has (7) a great toll on the locals. According to the hostel manager,
some houses have (8) under the weight of the heavy snow on their roofs. People
were seriously (9) when their houses (10) on them.
I’m not sure if anyone was (11) but quite a number of livestock have (12)
The locals have (13) great losses and I feel very sorry (14) them.
Task:
Using various paraphrasing skills, complete the report. Write around 150 words.

Requirement: