Practice 3: Using the Passive Voice

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Read each of the following excerpts from business, professional, or academic writing and decide which of the four reasons explain why the passive voice is used.

This activity contains 10 questions.

From the criminal justice journal, the Federal Sentencing Reporter, December 2004

"(1) One of the pieces of the puzzle that I don't think Ron articulated as concisely as the court was that (2) valuable legislation would be wiped out."

The writer doesn’t know the agentThe writer may be attributing a feeling, attitude, or belief to an entire group of people and uses the passive voice to avoid naming the members of this group. The readers already know the identity of the agentThe writer wants to obscure the agentThe writer wants to focus attention of the person or thing that is being acted upon

"(1) One of the pieces of the puzzle that I don't think Ron articulated as concisely as the court was that (2) valuable legislation would be wiped out."

The writer doesn’t know the agentThe writer wants to obscure the agentThe writer wants to focus attention of the person or thing that is being acted upon The readers already know the identity of the agentThe writer may be attributing a feeling, attitude, or belief to an entire group of people and uses the passive voice to avoid naming the members of this group.

From the business journal, the Far East Economic Review about the Utama Bank.

(3) Utama was originally paired with a partner five times larger, the Arab-Malaysian Banking group. In late December, however, the merger collapsed amid differences over management control and pricing.

The writer may be attributing a feeling, attitude, or belief to an entire group of people and uses the passive voice to avoid naming the members of this group. The readers already know the identity of the agentThe writer wants to focus attention of the person or thing that is being acted upon The writer wants to obscure the agentThe writer doesn’t know the agent

From an article in the internet journal, Slate, about Rupert Murdoch, who has huge holdings in communications

Murdoch was positioning an armada 22,300 miles above the earth. (4) His satellites were placed in the Clarke Ring, named after Arthur C. Clarke, who wrote the science-fiction classic 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The writer wants to obscure the agentThe readers already know the identity of the agentThe writer may be attributing a feeling, attitude, or belief to an entire group of people and uses the passive voice to avoid naming the members of this group. The writer wants to focus attention of the person or thing that is being acted upon The writer doesn’t know the agent

From A Short History of the Army Ground Forces, a U.S. Army publication.

In December 1941 (5) it was decided that the antiaircraft artillery of any Air District should be under the control of the commanding officer of the Air Interceptor Command of that district, and therefore under the commanding general of the Air Force Combat Command. (6) The principle was established that, in case of attack or threatened attack, the control of all ground and air forces of any theater came under the control of the commander of the theater.

The writer doesn’t know the agentThe writer wants to obscure the agentThe writer may be attributing a feeling, attitude, or belief to an entire group of people and uses the passive voice to avoid naming the members of this group. The writer wants to focus attention of the person or thing that is being acted upon The readers already know the identity of the agent

The writer doesn’t know the agentThe writer may be attributing a feeling, attitude, or belief to an entire group of people and uses the passive voice to avoid naming the members of this group. The writer wants to focus attention of the person or thing that is being acted upon The writer wants to obscure the agentThe readers already know the identity of the agent

From the website site, Florida Environments On-Line

The APIRS database was begun with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development in 1979 in order to assist developing countries with informational needs regarding the control and management of extremely invasive aquatic weeds. Aquatic weeds often cause life-threatening problems in these countries where (7)bodies of water are used extensively for transportation, subsistence fishing and livestock watering, drinking and household water, and crop irrigation.

The writer wants to focus attention of the person or thing that is being acted upon The writer may be attributing a feeling, attitude, or belief to an entire group of people and uses the passive voice to avoid naming the members of this group. The readers already know the identity of the agentThe writer doesn’t know the agentThe writer wants to obscure the agent

From an article in the Encyclopaedia Britannica on U.S.-Nicaraguan international relations

Reagan vigorously affirmed a last-minute decision by Carter to grant military aid to the Salvadoran government. Although (8) Nicaragua and Cuba were identified as the sources of the insurgency, (9) Americans became increasingly confused by evidence of atrocities on all sides and were again torn between their desire to promote human rights and their determination to halt the spread of Communism.

The writer wants to obscure the agentThe writer may be attributing a feeling, attitude, or belief to an entire group of people and uses the passive voice to avoid naming the members of this group. The writer doesn’t know the agentThe readers already know the identity of the agentThe writer wants to focus attention of the person or thing that is being acted upon

From a letter terminating an employee's job

I regret to inform you that (10) your position with this company has been re-categorized as redundant.

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Practice 3: Using the Passive Voice

From the criminal justice journal, the Federal Sentencing Reporter, December 2004 "(1) One of the pieces of the puzzle that I don't think Ron articulated as concisely as the court was that (2) valuable legislation would be wiped out."

"(1) One of the pieces of the puzzle that I don't think Ron articulated as concisely as the court was that (2) valuable legislation would be wiped out."

From a letter terminating an employee's job I regret to inform you that (10) your position with this company has been re-categorized as redundant.

From the criminal justice journal, the Federal Sentencing Reporter, December 2004

"(1) One of the pieces of the puzzle that I don't think Ron articulated as concisely as the court was that (2) valuable legislation would be wiped out."

From a letter terminating an employee's job

I regret to inform you that (10) your position with this company has been re-categorized as redundant.