PASSIVE VOICE TENSES

NEWS
Match the verb with the blanks. Then decide if they are active or passive, and put them
in the right tense/form.

OCTOGENARIAN PROTEST
Pensioner Maude Jennings _________________ her eightieth birthday outside Avonhurst Town yesterday. She
was one of a large group who _______________ against the plans for a tunnel under the River Severn. Maude’s
tiny cottage may ___________________ when new roads to the tunnel ___________________. Maude was
born in the cottage, which ____________________ in the 18th century, and the entrance to the tunnel
_______________________ at the ends of her garden. Maude ________________ our reporter, ‘I
__________________________ by the planners, and I __________________ never ____________ my lovely
home. I ________________________ there for eighty years!

Verbs: demolish – build (3) – live - consult – celebrate – protest – leave – tell

A VERY HAPPY TIGER

Butcher Graham Dewhurst couldn’t _________________ his eyes yesterday morning when his first
costumer of the day _____________________ a 350-kilo Bengal tiger. Graham
__________________‘I ___________________ the door at 8:30, and it just
______________________ into the shop. I nearly __________________ a heart attack! Anyway, it
__________________________ behind the counter, and ______________________ eating. It
_______________ there for half an hour. I ___________________ it more meat every few minutes.
The police ______________ outside, but they ___________________ afraid to _________________
in. Finally, Mr. Herriot, the local vet, __________________ and _____________________ it a
tranquilizer injection. Apparently it ____________________ from a truck while it
____________________ to a safari park.

Verbs: be (4) – have – say – jump – take – start – believe – give (2) – escape – come (3) – open

REPORTER ARRESTED
NEW SUPERSTORE OPENS
TV reporter Gavin Prendergast ________________
by Avon Police during a demonstartion outside the A mammoth new superstore
Town Hall. Mr. Prendergast and protest leader Sybil ____________________ by local TV personality
Fawthrop _____________ at the police station Nicholas Pritchard today. The Safegate superstore
overnight. __________________ just outside Hidley, close
to Junction 6 on the M36.
Verbs: hold – arrest
Verbs: open – be

ROW AT ETV SOUTH-WEST NEWS

Angela Shannon is to leave ETV! The surprise announcement ______________ at 8 o’
clock this morning. The ETV news ________________ by Angela for nearly two years.
She _________________ a job by the BBC. Angela ___________ ‘ I _____________ a
professional. My job _______________ very important to me, but there ___________
too many technical problems at ETV. `I __________________ enough!

Verbs: read – have – be (3) – come – say – offer

POMPEII
Pompeii………………………(be) an ancient town in Italy which
……………………………(destroy) when a volcano ……………………………
(erupt) in 79 AD. The lava and the ash from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius
…………………………(bury) the town along with everything and everyone in it.
While archaeologists …………………… (study) the ruins, they
………………………….. (uncover) many objects among the ruins.
Nowadays, the town is a popular tourist attraction and it …………………… (visit) by thousands of people each
year. They……………………( walk) along the streets which…………………………(be) once a part of the
busy market town and ……………………… (be) now an important part of history. This year, it
………………………………(visit) by fifty thousand people. This month, the site ………………………..(close)
because it………………………..(repair).
PASSIVE VOICE TENSES
NEWS