the passive: simple present simple past

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Level 3 Unit 10aThe passive: simple present, simple pastLife

Apples—the world’s favorite fruit• Morethan50milliontonsofapplesaregrown every

year.• ThefirstapplesweregrownincentralAsia.• ThefirstappletreewasbroughttoEuropebyAlexander

theGreat.• AppleswereintroducedtotheAmericasbyEuropeans

inthe1600s.• Today,mostapplesareproducedinChina.• Applesaren’tusuallyfoundintropicalcountries.

Presentation

Weoftenusethepassivewhenit’sobviousornotimportantwhodoesanaction.Most apples are grown in China. (Itdoesn’tmatterwhogrowsthem.)Thepassivefocusesattentiononanactionortheobjectoftheaction.Theobjectoftheactionbecomesthesubjectoftheverb.

action object

People grow apples in China.

subject verb

Apples are grown in China.

Toformthepassive,usetheverbbe1pastparticiple.

Affirmative and negative – simple present and simple past

This apple juiceis / wasisn’t / wasn’t

made

in China.

These applesare / werearen’t / weren’t

grown

Questions – simple present and simple past

Is / was this apple juice made in China?

Where are / were these apples grown?

by

Whenyouwanttosaywhoorwhatwasresponsiblefortheaction(thesubjectoragentoftheaction)youuseby:Apples were introduced to the Americas by Europeans in the 1600s.Youmaynotwanttosaywhoorwhatdidtheaction.Youcanalsosay:Apples were introduced to the Americas in the 1600s.Youdon’tnormallyuse bywhentheagentis…• obviousandthereforeunnecessary:

The first apples were grown in central Asia by Asianfarmers.

• unknown:An apple was left on my desk.(Idon’tknowwholeftitthere.)

86541_U10_rev02_001-004.indd 1 01/08/18 5:54 pm

2 © National Geographic Learning

Level 3 Unit 10aExercises

Exercises

1 Complete the sentences with the simple present passive or the simple past passive form of the verb in parentheses.

Banana factsThefirstbananas1 (grow)inPapuaNewGuinea.Nowbananas2 (produce)inover100tropicalcountriesallovertheworld.Greenbananas3bananas45

(use)forcooking,andyellow( eat)uncooked.Bananaskin(use)formakingpaper.

Thebananatree6 (introduce)totheeastcoastofAfricabyMuslimArabs.Thefirstbananas7 (bring)totheAmericasbyPortuguesesailorsinthe16thcenturyAD.Hundredsofaccidents8 (cause)everyyearbypeopleslippingonbananaskins.

2 Complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning as the first sentence. Use a passive verb.

1 Peopleinthewestbuytoomuchfood.Toomuchfood inthewest.

2 Wedonoteatallthefoodwebuy.Notallthefoodwebuy .

3 Lastyearwethrewawaymorethansixmilliontonsoffood.Morethansixmilliontonnoffood lastyear.

4 The“LoveFoodHateWaste”organizationstartedacampaigntostopwaste.Acampaigntostopwaste by .

5 Thecampaignerspersuadedthousandsofpeopletowastelessfood..

3 12 Cross out the phrases with by where they are not necessary. Then listen and check.

1 PastawasfirstbroughttoItalybyMarcoPolo.2 Pastaisnoweatenbypeopleallovertheworld.3 TomatoeswerefirstgrowninSouthAmericabytomatogrowers.4 ThefirstcookbookwithtomatorecipeswaswritteninNaplesby

awriter.5 ParmesancheeseismadeinItalybythecheesemakersofParma.6 Thecheeseismadebycheesemakerswithcow’smilk.

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Thousands of people