Units

137-
42–45 The passive
145
103 Complete the sentences using words from each box.

build design develop discover discover

invent invent name paint write

the Ancient Egyptians Sir Tim Berners-Lee the Chinese

Crick and Watson Marie Curie Gustave Eiffel Eric the Red
Guglielmo Marconi William Shakespeare Vincent van Gogh

1 Greenland was named by Eric the Red .

2 Hamlet was written by William Shakespeare .
3 The Pyramids were built by the Ancient Egyptians .
4 The wireless was discovered by Guglielmo Marconi .
5 The Starry Night was painted by Vincent van Gogh .
6 The World Wide Web was invented by Sir Tim Berners-Lee .
7 The Statue of Liberty was designed by Gustave Eiffel .
8 The structure of DNA was developed by Crick and Watson .
9 Paper money was invented by the Chinese .
10 Radium was discovered by Marie Curie .

1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9 10

English Grammar in Use Supplementary Exercises 63

Units
42–45 The passive

104 Put the verbs into the correct present perfect form, active or passive (has done or
has been done).
1 2

the woman / open the fruit / eat

The woman has opened it. The fruit has been eaten.
3 4

the puncture / mend the concert / cancel

The puncture has been mended The concert has been cancelled
5 6

Jane Jones / elect the rabbit / disappear

Jane Jones has elected The rabbit has disappeared
7 8

the sculpture / steal the students / pass

The sculpture has been stolen The students have passed

64 English Grammar in Use Supplementary Exercises

Units
137- The passive
42–45
145
105 Rewrite this article using passive forms of the underlined verbs.

DARING RAID AT LOCAL HOTEL

Thieves (1) held the manager of the Ridgeway Hotel hostage
last night during a daring raid in which they (2) took nearly
£50,000 from the hotel safe. They also (3) broke into several of
the bedrooms and (4) removed articles of value.
The thieves made their escape through the kitchen, where they
(5) damaged several pieces of equipment. They (6) tied up the
chef when he tried to stop them and (7) left him locked in a
cupboard. Police (8) arrested the thieves early this morning.

1 The manager of the Ridgeway Hotel was held hostage last night.
2 Last night the hotel safe was stolen by the thieves
3 The bedrooms also were broken
The articles of value were removed
4
5 Several pieces of equipment from the kitchen were damaged by the thieves
The chef was tieded up
6
The chef was left locked in a cupboard
7
8 They were arrested by the police this morning

106 Put the verbs into the correct passive form.

1 I’ve collected all the documents that are needed (need) for the house sale. Can you take
them to the lawyer’s office to be signed (sign)?
2 Look, this is a secret. Come into the garden where we (not / overhear).
3 If you hadn’t been so late for work, you hadn´t been sacked (not / sack).
4 This office is very inefficient. The phone never has been answered (never / answer)
promptly, no proper records have been kept (keep), and, worst of all, no reports
have been written (written) since I started work here.
5 I was so worried about my garden while I was in hospital, but I have very good neighbours.
When I got home, I could see that the vegetables were watered (water) every day
and the grass was cut (cut) regularly.
6 Can you come to the police station? The man who is suspected (suspect) of
stealing your wallet is being arrested (arrest) and is questioned (question)
at the moment. The police hope he will be identified (identify), either by you or another
witness.
7 We had hoped to see several famous paintings, but the gallery had been reorganised
(reorganised) at the time of our visit last month and most of the really valuable works
had been moved
(move) for safe keeping.

English Grammar in Use Supplementary Exercises 65

Units
42–45 The passive

107 There are mistakes in eight of these sentences. Correct the sentences where necessary.
Write ‘OK’ if the sentence is already correct.
1 My neighbour is proud of her grandson who born last week. who was born
2 I’m very fond of this old necklace because it was belonged ok
to my grandmother.
3 My family live in Dubai, but I was educated in Switzerland. have been educated
will be repared
4 I’m afraid I can’t lend you my car. It’s repairing this week.
5 The bridge was collapsed during the floods, but fortunately was being collapsed

no one was using it at the time.

6 If you don’t watch the barbecue carefully, someone will get will be get
burn.
7 The word ‘stupid’ was in my report, but it wasn’t referred ok
to you.
8 I’m sorry I’m late. I got held up in the traffic again. i´m being got held up
9 When did you realise that your bag had been disappeared? have been disappeared

10 Children under the age of sixteen do not allow in the jacuzzi. aren´t allowed

108 Choose the correct alternative.

From: Max
To: Sara
Subject: Trip to Namibia

Hi Sara,
How are you? I’m having a great time in Namibia.
Our group is small and (1) we were looked after / we’re being looked after very well by
our guide. (2) We’ve been shown / We were shown some amazing things already and
(3) we’ve seen / we’ve been seen some fantastic landscapes.
Last weekend we went to a National Park. (4) We were driven / We were driving to a watering
hole where an amazing range of animals (5) could be seeing / could be seen. We were told that
the numbers (6) were risen / have risen since the National Park (7) founded / was founded.
(8) I’d been warned / I’d been warning that the accommodation there was quite basic, but it
was fine. (9) We were given / We were giving a big tent each, and there are outdoor showers
and so on, which (10) are kept / have kept very clean.
Our guide tells us lots of funny stories. He (11) was sent / sent to South Africa by his family
to work in a bank, but he (12) hated / was hated it. So he (13) has behaved / behaved very
badly in order to (14) lose / lost his job. He kept us laughing for hours.
Tomorrow (15) we’ll be joined / we’ll be joining another group and going to see some rock
paintings. (16) They were discovered / They discovered quite recently, so we’re one of the
first groups (17) to be shown / to have shown them.
I’ll email again when I can (18) get connected / have connected to the internet.
Love, Max

66 English Grammar in Use Supplementary Exercises

Units
137- The passive
42–45
145
109 Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence.
Do not use by unless it is important to the meaning.
1 The instructor has marked all the assignments.
All the assignments have been marked .
2 My hairdresser kept me waiting for half an hour.
I was being waited by hairdresser for half an hour .
3 The students must pay their own fees for this course.
The fees for this course are paid .
4 Do you suppose your brother could have sent that text?
Do you suppose that text have been sent by your brother? ?
5 Solar panels supply all the power for this house.
All the power for this house is supplied by solar panels .
6 During the summer, the cafe was employing more waiters every week.
During the summer, more waiters was being employed by the cafe .
7 Nobody informed the police that there had been a mistake.
The police hadn´t been informed .
8 Where will your company post you next year?
Where will you be posted by your company next year? ?
9 The news about the war worried Josephine.
Josephine was worried by the news .
10 I’ve still got the money because no one has claimed it.
I’ve still got the money because it hasn´t been claimed .
11 Has anyone ever asked you for your opinion?
Have you ever been asked for your opinion? ?
12 People shouldn’t allow children to watch that kind of TV programme.
Children aren´t allowed to watch that kinf of programme .
13 All visitors must wear identity badges.
Identity badges are worn by the visitors .
14 Someone must have changed the time of the meeting.
The time of the meeting has been changed .
15 When will someone deliver the food for the party?
When will be delivered the food for the party? ?

English Grammar in Use Supplementary Exercises 67

Units
42–45 The passive

110 Put the verbs into the most suitable passive tense.
Alana has just met her boyfriend Grant in a coffee shop.
alana: Hi! Sorry I’m late.
grant: What kept you? Why didn’t you call?
alana: I left my phone at home and I came on the bus. Then (1) the bus was stuck
(the bus / stick) in a traffic jam for forty minutes.
grant: Why didn’t you just walk across the park as usual?
alana: Because the park (2) have been closed (close) since last weekend.
grant: Why’s that?
alana: A celebrity tennis tournament (3) is held (hold) there.
grant: Do you know who (4) is it organised (it / organise) by?
alana: No, but I think the Williams sisters are competing in the tournament. Someone told me
(5) they were seen (they / see) at the Royal Hotel at the weekend.
grant: Really?
alana: Yeah. My friend said (6) they have been flown (they / fly) here in a private
plane by the organisers.
grant: Well, if it’s true, we’re not going to the disco at the Royal this Friday.
alana: Why not?
grant: If they’re there, the hotel (7) will be surrounded (surround) by fans and
security guards.
alana: But we might meet them if we go.
grant: Don’t be silly. They won’t go to our local disco.
alana: No?
grant: No, and (8) we won´t be invited (we / not invite) to their suite. In fact,
the disco (9) probably will be canceled (probably / cancel) if the hotel is full
of celebrities.
alana: I suppose so. But we can go to the entrance to the park now and see what’s happening.
I heard that some local people (10) were recurited (recruit)
yesterday, but I was too busy to go. Perhaps (11) we will be employed
(we / employ) to sell programmes or
something.
grant: OK, if you want to. But don’t expect
(12) are allowed
(allow) anywhere near the big stars.

68 English Grammar in Use Supplementary Exercises