5. When do we use the passive voice?
The passive voice is used to emphasize the
object or when the person or thing doing the
action is unknown or not important.
Passive voice is often seen in politics, science
and newspapers, for instance:
“Eight stores were robbed last week.”
6. THE HISTORY OF THE LETTER
Read the text and name the different materials for writing
letters on (activity 3b, page 87).
• wood
• clay
• leather
• cloth
• papyrus
• parchment
• paper
7. THE HISTORY OF THE LETTER
Find the words in the text which match the following
explanations (Activity 3c, page 88)
1. a person who brings a message
2. very old
3. a material you can make vases, dishes etc.
with
4. to send something somewhere
5. a period of 100 years
6. a material you normally make clothes with
messenger
ancient
clay
dispatch
century
cloth
8. THE HISTORY OF THE LETTER
Find examples of verbs in the passive form
(activity 3d, page 87).
Ex: was sent (line 1 & 2)
• messages were written (line 3)
• the tablets were put (line 4)
• before they were dispatched (line 4)
• letters were written (line 6)
• a letter was folded (line 8)
• its address was written (line 8 & 9)
9. Complete each second sentence using the past
simple passive.
1. We sent James a letter about the skiing trip.
A letter ...................... to James about the skiing trip.
2. A taxi took me to the airport.
I ................... to the airport by a taxi.
3. Alex showed me round the city.
I .................... round the city by Alex.
4. Someone famous wore this silver necklace.
This silver necklace ................... by someone famous.
5. A Greek actor wrote this song.
This song ................... by a Greek actor.
was sent
was taken
was shown
was worn
was written
10. Look at the photos of famous buildings. Which building
do you know?
1 2 3
54
The Eiffel Tower Big Ben Taj Mahal
The Empire State Building Sydney Opera House
11. Famous building Where? Who? When?
1 The Eiffel Tower Paris, France Gustave
Eiffel
1889
2 Big Ben London,
England
Charles
Barry
1858
3 Taj Mahal Agra, India Ustad
Ahmad
Lahauri
1653
4 The Empire State
Building
New York,
the USA
William F
Lamb
1931
5 Sydney
Opera House
Sydney,
Australia
Jørn
Utzon
1973
Write sentences about each building, using the past simple
passive. Ex:
The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France was designed by Gustave Eiffel in
1889.
12. Make sentences in the simple past passive
using A, B and C.
A B C
1 The song ‘Imagine’ teach by J.K. Rowling
2 The computer win to swim by my father
3 The Harry Potter write by Brazil in 2002
4 I stop by the police
5 The World Cup invent by John Lennon
6 The car sing by Charles Babbage
Ex: The song ‘Imagine’ was sung by John Lennon.
