Support material

Learning activity 1

This material will help you reinforce the topics you have been studying during this
learning activity.

Presentation

A. Passive voice

Remember that passive voice is commonly used in formal written English. It is

often used in newspapers, academic reports and writing which try to be less
personal and more formal. Passive voice is used in specific cases which you
should try to remember. Here you will find the different cases with examples.

a. When the focus is on the action. It is not important to know who or what is
performing the action.

Examples:

 The book was written.

 The movie was filmed in England.
 A mistake was made during the shooting of that film.

In the examples above, the focus is on the fact that an action was performed. We
do not know, however, who did it.

b. When you want to give more importance to the direct object of an active voice
sentence. In this case, the direct object of the active voice sentence becomes
the subject of the passive voice sentence.

Active: Juana writes romantic novels  Passive: Romantic novels are written.

Examples:

 Books are rapidly sold during Christmas.

 Tickets for the release were sold out.
 Bicycles are preferred for going to work.

As you can see in these examples, what matter are the direct objects. It is not
important to know who; what is the important word in the sentence.

c. When you want to keep an impersonal register when writing or speaking. (In
academic writing especially, naming the agent is not common)

Examples:

 Some data was collected for the project.

 The documents were printed.
 The findings point toward a contradiction of the hypothesis that was first
developed.

You may notice, in order to make the text sound more objective, the personal
pronoun or subject that is the agent is omitted.

How to form the passive voice?

Do not forget to check the past participle of the irregular verbs. Here you will find
some examples of sentences formed in passive voice using both regular and
irregular verbs. The first chart is formed in present and the other in past.

Subject Present Past participle

Cakes are sold
Popcorn is eaten
Books are written
Data is collected

Subject Past Past participle

My laptop was broken
The tickets were bought
The data was collected
The cake was baked

Here you will find some irregular and regular verbs with their past participle form for
you to remember them.
 Verb Past participle
Awake Awoken
Begin Begun
Break Broken
Bring Brought
Choose Chosen
Do Done
Eat Eaten
Feel Felt
Go Gone
Have Had
Keep Kept
Know Known
Make Made
See Seen
Speak Spoken

Verb Past participle

Look Looked
Walk Walked
Shout Shouted
Paint Painted
Jump Jumped
Agree Agreed
Die Died
Call Called
Help Helped
Change Changed
Close Closed
Clean Cleaned
Enjoy Enjoyed
Consider Considered

B. Talking about movies and books

Talking about movies or books is a great way to practice informal English. It is

also a good way to learn to speak about your interests and pastimes. Let’s
review some of the vocabulary you have learned and look at some new
vocabulary involved as well as some possible question and answer-style
scenarios.
Film genre: A film style, for example adventure film, drama, fantasy, romance,
documentary, thriller, action film.

Fiction: The type of a story (in a book or in a film) that is not based on real people
and events; it often includes magic, imaginary characters and events.

Non-fiction: The type of a story (in a book or in a film) that is based on real events
rather than imaginary characters and facts.

Movie director: A person who tells actors how to play their roles.

Soundtrack: The music of a particular film.

Plot: The story of a film, book, play etc.

Scary: Frightening.

Animated or cartoon movie: A movie that includes drawn characters and objects
that are shown in a way that makes them move.

Character: A person presented in a film, book, play, etc.

Hero or heroine: The main character of a story.

Villain: A character in a story that harms the other people.

Set: The place or time where a movie’s or book’s story happen.

 Fuente: SENA

What’s your favorite genre?

 Romantic comedy (also called rom-com).

 Comedy.
 Science fiction (also called sci-fi).
 Horror.
 Foreign language.
 Chick flick (movies of interest to women).
 Animated movies.
 Documentaries.
 Action.
 Independent (also called indie).

Why do you like this genre?

If it is because they are exciting movies you can say:

 They keep me at the edge of my seat.
 They are fast-paced and I am never bored.

If it is because you like to see the technology used to make them you can
say:

 I think the special effects used to make these movies are very impressive.

If you like the issues they raise you can say:

 I can relate to the subject-matter of these movies.

 I think the issues they raise are realistic.

 I like them because they are frequently controversial.

Who is your favorite actor?

Vocabulary to describe your favorite actors and actresses includes the following:

Positive Negative
Handsome (man) / Pretty (woman) Unattractive
Cute Silly
Attractive Too extrovert
Good-looking Overrated
Versatile Dull
Funny A one trick pony (opposite to versatile)
Humorous Plain

Practice

A. Read the following sentences and fill in the blanks using the passive form.

1. The lord of the rings ________________ (write) by J.R.R Tolkien.

 2. Many years ago Latin _________________ (speak) by people all over
Europe.

3. Cheese _____________ (make) from milk.

4. Spanish _____________ (speak) is one of the most popular languages.

5. Yesterday my office ___________________ (paint), that´s why I’m working

at home.

6. “Three” and “tree” ____________________(pronounce) so similar.

7. Last night, two women __________________ (hurt) in a fight in a nightclub.

8. Potatoes _________________ (bring) to Europe from South America in

1500s.

B. Read the following text and choose the key word that best matches the
definition.

I went to see that new horror film that director Neil Jordan made. It was banned in
some countries because it's so shocking. I've been waiting ages to see it so I'm
glad it wasn't banned here. I did read that they had to cut some of the most
gruesome scenes, though. I wasn't disappointed, it was terrific! The movie is set
on a university campus and the plot centres on a small group of students who go
there.

The movie stars Tom Cruise as the hero of the film; although, he doesn't have
much dialogue. In fact, there's not really that much talking in the whole film. I
guess, whoever wrote the script wasn’t that interested in writing conversations!
The film relies more on amazing special effects that look so real, and a scary
atmosphere is created by the music that they use. The music was so good that I'm
going to buy the soundtrack.

My Spanish friend went to see it in Barcelona, but she didn't think it was that good.
She said they ruined it when they dubbed it into Spanish from English. She said
she would rather have seen it in English with Spanish subtitles. I highly
recommend it.

a. The place or time where a movie's story happens ________________.

b. Words shown at the bottom of a screen showing what is being said:
________________.

c. The talking in a movie ________________ .

d. The music that is used in a movie ________________.

e. What happens in a movie ________________.

f. To act in a movie ________________.

g. The written words of a movie that the movie is made from ________________.

h. The person who makes a movie ________________.

i. Something that the government has stopped people seeing

________________.

j. To change the words of a movie into another language ________________.

k. A piece of action in a film that was created by special equipment

________________.

l. To remove a part of a movie or a book________________.

m. A part of a film in which the action stays for a length of time before moving to
another ________________.

C. Read the sentences in active voice and chose the correct form for the passive.

1. She opens the door.

a. The door is opened by her.

b. The door was opened by her.

2. Sofia collects stamps.

a. Stamps is collected by Sofia.

b. Stamps are collected by Sofia.
 3. Somebody hit her.

a. She was hit by somebody.

b. She is hit by somebody.

4. Jose opened the window.

a. The window was open by Jose.

b. The window was opened by Jose.

5. Camila bought a new phone.

a. A new phone was bought by Camila.

b. A new phone is bought by Camila.

6. We sang a song.

a. A song was sung by us.

b. A song was sing by us.

7. Juan paid the bill.

a. The bill was pay by Juan.

b. The bill was paid by Juan.

8. Her boyfriend installed it.

a. It was installed by her boyfriend.

b. It was install by her boyfriend.

Production
A. Choose one of your favorite movies and describe it using the vocabulary you
have learned through this learning activity. You can surf the web in order to get
any information you need.
B. Read the interview done to Paula, one of the best students from the university.
Then, answer the questions that follow.

Maria: Do you like to read books?

Paula: Yes … I love reading … I like nothing more than to be engrossed in a

good book … I regularly take out books from the library and usually read them
from cover to cover in no time … and I can’t go to sleep at night without some
good bedtime reading.

Maria: How often do you go to the cinema?

Paula: Unfortunately I don’t have a cinema near my house so I have to go into

the nearest town to catch the latest movie … I usually avoid seeing popular
box-office hits which I’m not always keen on seeing … I prefer low-budget films
… sci-fi especially … and there’s a great cinema I go to that has frequent
showings of films like these.

Maria: So…you prefer reading books or watching films?

Paula: I’m a really big reader … I find books quite interesting although
sometimes I find some heavy-going… when I am tired I prefer to see a film and
relax … perhaps it’s the soundtrack. I love music. Then, no! I do not prefer any
of them. I enjoy both depending on my mood, the day and what I want to do at
the moment.

Maria: Which is your favorite movie and which is your favorite book?
Paula: As I told you, I love books and movies too but I do not have a favorite
one. I think it depends on the time of your life you are living. At this moment I
would say that my favorite movie is “Magic in the moonlight” and my favorite
book is “Le miserables”.
1. What does Paula prefer doing?

a. She prefers to read.

b. She prefers to watch a movie.
c. She likes both reading books and watching movies.

2. Paula likes to ….

a. Take out books from the library.

b. Buy books at the university store.
c. Rent movies from a video store.

3. What is Paula´s problem for going to the movies?

a. She lives near the movies and goes too often.

b. She doesn’t have a cinema near to her house.
c. She lives close to the movies but does not have any time to go.

4. Which is Paula’s last activity of the day?

a. She takes a bath and fall asleep watching a movie.

b. She reads before taking a bath.
c. She goes to the bed and reads a little before sleeping.

5. Paula enjoys reading ….

a. All kind of books.

b. Books that are not heavy-going.
c. Books that are related to the movies she has watched.

6. What does Paula prefer doing when she is tired?

a. She loves to read a good book before sleeping.

b. She loves to take a bath and relax.
 c. She loves to watch a good film.

Document control

Name Position Dependence Date

Theme experts Dirección de
Johanna Vera
Asesoras English formación
Diettes December
Author Dot Works - profesional.
& 2014
Programa de Dirección
Nicole Bruskewitz
bilingüismo General

Paola Andrea Copy editor - Centro

December
Bobadilla Línea de Agroindustrial.
2015
Gutiérrez producción Regional Quindío
Adaptation
Copy editor - Centro
Rachman Bustillo December
Línea de Agroindustrial.
Martínez 2015
producción Regional Quindío