Grammar: Passive Structures

Passive Structures

FUNCTIONS OF THE PASSIVE VOICE

The passive voice is used to show interest in the person or object that experiences an action rather than the person or object that performs the action. In other words, the most important thing or person becomes the subject of the sentence.

EXAMPLES

• The passive voice is used frequently. (= we are interested in the passive voice, not in who uses it.)
• The house was built in 1654. (= we are interested in the house, not in who built it.)
• The road is being repaired. (= we are interested in the road, not in the people who are doing the repairs.)

Sometimes we use the passive voice because we don't know or do not want to express who performed the action.

EXAMPLES

• I noticed that a window had been left open.
• Every year thousands of people are killed on our roads.
• All the cookies have been eaten.
• My car has been stolen!

The passive voice is often used in formal texts. Switching to the active voice will make your writing clearer and easier to read.

Vocabulary: Technology and Progress

Technology and Progress

From the moment we are born we have no other choice but to to deal with technology, therefore, some basis vocabulary is something really useful for our survival in real life, hence, here we go:

Progress Words

When you write and speak about computers and technology, very often you will be asked to say how technology has changed or progressed.

notes

Progress is an uncountable word, while advance is countable. So you say that "digital technology is an advance" but you cannot say that "digital technology is a progress".

Impact Words

Another common topic is to talk about what effect computer technology has had on our lives.

Quizz: Airbus crisis over

Quizz: Airbus Crisis Over

Pronunciation: Irregular Verbs

IRREGULAR VERBS

How to pronounce some of these irregular verbs

Infinitive	Simple Past	Past Participle
A
arise	arose	arisen
awake	awakened / awoke	awakened / awoken
B
backslide	backslid	backslidden / backslid
be	was, were	been
bear	bore	born / borne
beat	beat	beaten / beat
become	became	become
begin	began	begun
bend	bent	bent
bet	bet / betted	bet / betted
bid (farewell)	bid / bade	Bidden
bid (offer amount)	bid	Bid
bind	bound	Bound
bite	bit	Bitten
bleed	bled	Bled
blow	blew	Blown
break	broke	Broken
breed	bred	Bred
bring	brought	Brought
broadcast	broadcast / broadcasted	broadcast / broadcasted
browbeat	browbeat	browbeaten / browbeat
build	built	Built
burn	burned / burnt	burned / burnt
burst	burst	burst
bust	busted / bust	busted / bust
buy	bought	bought
C
cast	cast	cast
catch	caught	caught
choose	chose	chosen
cling	clung	clung
clothe	clothed / clad	clothed / clad
come	came	come
cost	cost	cost
creep	crept	crept
crossbreed	crossbred	crossbred
cut	cut	cut
D

Reading Comprehension: Airbus crisis over

Airbus crisis over

Instructions: Read through the text below, answer the questions that follow, then click on 'Grade Me!' to view your score.

Airbus says it has turned the corner after a crisis connected to production problems and turmoil in the boardroom at its A380 super-jumbo project that has gone on for the past year. Speaking at the Paris air show, Louis Gallois, CEO of the European planemaker, said, "Airbus is back."

Airbus, which announced a raft of orders on the first day of the show, is competing with Boeing, its American rival, for the title of the largest planemaker in the world.

Boeing is expected to reveal the numbers of orders for its 787 Dreamliner soon. Airbus orders unveiled on Monday included Qatar Airways confirming a $16bn order for 80 A350 Airbus planes and ordering three A380 super-jumbos for about $750m.

Boeing and Airbus are also competing for orders from aircraft leasing firms. Orders from these companies - who rank highly among the biggest global buyers of aircraft - are often regarded as an indication of how successful a model will be in the long term.

Airbus also secured orders from US Airways that are worth $10bn for 22 of its A350 jets, 60 A320s and ten of its A330-200 wide-body planes.