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Question
As illustrated in India Today, September 1996, Ponniah Ramar, 34, an amiable individual from a Tamil Nadu village, claims to be able to convert a bucket of water into half a bucket of volatile fuel by adding a secret herb or so he says! Here is the illustration of the process of preparing the fuel. Write a report for the Junior Science Digest. You may use a combination of active and passive voice in your report, depending on what you wish to focus attention on.
MYSTERY FUEL
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Solution
Leaves of a plant of unknown identity are collected. These are put in a container of water and boiled. The mixture is allowed to cool. Lime juice and salt are added to it. Then, some chemicals of unknown identity are added to it. After a while, a golden yellow liquid becomes visible as a top layer. It is filtered and used as fuel.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
When do we use the passive voice?
Example: Look at the following sentences:
a) My grandfather established this steel factory in 1940.
b) This steel factory was established in 1940 by my grandfather.
We use the passive voice when we are more interested in the action than the
person who does it or when we do not know the active subject .
Read the following sentences and, using the given clues, find out the reason for
the use of the passive construction as in the Example above.
1. He was killed in the World War II.
Clue: Who must have killed him? Is it obvious?
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2. The Bank was looted last night.
Clue: Have the police caught the culprits?
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3. Sachin Tendulkar is looked upon as a sport icon.
Clue: Bywhom?
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4. This sort of road-side restaurants can be seen everywhere in this city.
Clue: How will you write it in active voice?
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5. When he arrived at the airport, he was arrested.
Clue: Rewrite the sentence in active voice. Is it a little awkward?
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6. Employer: On account of tight financial condition, bonus will not be paid this
year.
Clue: If it is some good news, what voice will the employer use?
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7. I got my hair cut.
Clue: Look at the construction using 1got1
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We must remember that all active constructions cannot/ should not be transformed Example: a) He is drinking water. Though sentence (b) is grammatically correct, we do not write or speak such a Hence it is necessary to keep in mind that the passive voice has certain legitimate |
Match the excerpts below with the text types given in the box.
Excerpts
1. The tea leaves are picked and left to dry in the sun.
2. 20 ml of the salt is taken in a test tube and heated over the flame of a Bunsen
burner.
3. Many villagers were adversely affected by the flash flood. It is estimated that
nearly half of the standing crop has been submerged in water.
|
Text Types a) Newspaper (and formal) report _______________ b) Description of processes __________________ c) Academic writings including reporting of scientific experiments ______________ |
What are the text types in which we can expect to find frequent use of the
passive?
Now practise writing a few headlines based on the following cues.
a. e.g. Police - received anonymous tip/ complaint - managed to catch culprits -
produced in court
| CULPRITS CAUGHT AND PRODUCED IN COURT |
Expansion : The culprits were caught and prosecuted by the police.
b. Young Sikkimese - succeeds - scales steepest face - Mt. Kanchenjunga
Expansion : __________________________________________
a : Government- passed legislation - ban smoking in state ofTamil Nadu - people
not received it well.
Expansion : ________________________________________
b ; The ruling party - excessive election spending - no proper accounts kept - no
convincing answer to opposition questioning.
Expansion :
c ; SIEMENS, Germany has appointed new Managing Director - J. Shubert after
convening General Bnody meeting - last week
Expansion_________________________________________
d : Rice shortage - increase production, says Government
Expansion _________________________________________
e : Archaeological Survey of India - has excavated Buddhist Stu pa - in village in
Haryana
Expansion ___________________________________________
f : Cricket team - prepares - tour to England - July 2011- selectors announce
team
Expansion ___________________________________________
In two places in the incomplete sentence there has been some reduction,
in order to avoid repetition.
1. What are the two words missing between if and found?
| 'If ( l found guilty', she will be given a life sentence. |
And what are the three words missing between 'if and 'innocent'
| 'If ( _____ ) innocent', she will use the police for wrongful arrest. |
Read the following paragraph, which contains some repetition. Edit and
rewrite the sentences so that you have one improved sentence.
a. The policeman, having been injured by the angry crowd, was lifted up by two
Arun College students. He was carried to a nearby ambulance. Then he was
taken to the city hospital.
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Now give the sentence you have written a headline. Some of it has been done for you.
| Policeman _________ students |
b. Suppose you wish to focus attention on the kindness or bravery of the students
who helped the policeman, rather than on the policeman himself. Rewrite
passage a. above so that the focus is on the students, and give your passage a
headline.
What is the difference between the verb forms you used in 'a' above and
those you used in 'b'?
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Now read these instructions.
HOW TO DEMAGNETISE A SCREWDRIVER USING A COIL
1. Place the magnetised screwdriver blade inside the coil.
2. Pass an alternating current through it.
3. Slowly withdraw the screwdriver from the coil to a distance of about one metre
while the current is flowing.
4. It becomes demagnetised.
5. Switch off the current.
6. Place the screwdriver in iron filings.
7. It does not attract the filings.
Write your own description of this experiment, using the Present Passive where
appropriate.
A magnetised screwdriver is placed inside the coil .....__________________________
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Look at the picture below. At present this room is in a terrible state. Suggest what should be done to make it fit for a student to live and work in. Use different modals in the Passive voice, as in the example.
| The Walls | should/ ought to/ must | be painted. |
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Match the items from A and B to make meaningful sentences. There is sometimes more than one sensible combination.
| A | B |
| 1. Who will be 2. She likes 3. They ought 4. They are going 5.She 6. ltwill 7. You will 8. He hates 9. What has 10. Has Sita |
a. be informed b. been done to stop it? c. been told? d. was given the money. e. to get hurt. f. have been done by them. g. asked to come to the party? h. being asked to parties. i. being looked at. j. to be punished for what they did. |
Complete the following sentences appropriately by using the passive form of the given verbs.
1. There's somebody behind us. I think we _____________(follow)
2. A mystery is something that_____________(cannot/ explain}
3. We didn't play volleyball yesterday.The match _________(cancel)
4. The minaret ____________ (restore). The work is almost
finished.
5. Every time I travel by plane, my plane_____________--
(delay)
6. I left some papers on the desk last night and I can't find them now.
They_______________-(might/ throw) away.
7. Two people ______________report) to _____________(injure) in an explosion at a factory in Bengaluru early this morning.
Look at the following newspaper article. It has two versions. Version 'A' is written in the active and version 'B' is written in the passive voice. For each piece of information, decide whether Version 'A' or Version 'B' is more appropriate. Then rewrite the passage using a combination of the two versions.
Version A
Thieves stole the famous NorY Koh emerald from the City Museum last night.
Police believe the thieves must have forced the locks on the windows and
disabled the alarms before the museum attendants had closed the museum for
the night. Police have arrested a man whom someone saw acting suspiciously
outside the museum.
Version B
The Famous Nor Y Koh emerald was stolen from the museum last night. It is
believed that the window-locks had been forced and the alarms disabled before
the museum was closed for the night. A man who was seen acting suspiciously
outside the museum has been arrested.
____________________________
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Shahin, a newspaper reporter, visited the World Book Fair at Pragati Maidan. Suddenly he saw a stall in flames. He jotted down a few notes in his notepad. Using the cues and your own ideas, write a newspaper report in the space provided. Use Active or Passive, depending on what you wish to focus on.
|
-Pragati Maidan -controlled by noon |
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