The key to exercise solutions in chapter 3.2 - Fired! for the textbook Speakout Advanced Plus - Students' Book with authors Frances Eales and Steve Oakes from Pearson Education
Question
Check what you know. Complete the sentences from the texts on page 35 and 130 with the appropriate passive form using the words in brackets.
-
Check what you know. Look at the passive forms in the sentences and answer the questions.
Listen to passive phrases from Exercise 3A. Mark the main stresses and any sounds which are lost, weakened or changed when said fast.
Answer
a)
might be seen
to be fired
shouldn't have been fired
got hacked
to be done
was declared
've been having (work) done (first part could be, 'am having' 'have had' or 'had' but in the text this form is used)
to be said
Not being given
being spotted
c)
a)
modal passive
passive infinitive
modal present perfect passive
past simple passive (with get instead of form of be)
The focus is on they; the agent (someone who shouldn't) is not specific or unknown.
The focus is on they; the agent (the employer) is obvious; it is also needed later in the sentence as a subject.
The focus is on we; the agent is obvious.
The focus is on My account; the agent is unknown.
The agent Is unimportant (by anyone?); this is part of a fixed expression there's nothing to be done.
The focus is on a mistrial; the agent is unimportant / obvious.
At this point the focus is on 'I', the person and his story, and not the therapist. Note that the causative usually focuses on the person (see Language Bank 3.2).
The passive is part of a fixed expression there's a lot to be said.
The focus Is on the situation of being forced to leave. The agent is obvious.
d)
informal → 4 got is used instead of was
impersonal → 5 and 8: there's a lot / a great deal / much / nothing, etc. to be said is an impersonal sounding structure.
d)
they might be /bɪ/ seen by
did they deserve to /tə/ be fired
we shouldn't have /ʃədntəv/ been /bɪn/ fired
my account got hacked
there's nothing to /tə/ be /bɪ/ done
a mis-trial was /wəz/ declared
I've been /bɪn/ having work done on my /dʌnəmaɪ/ back
there's a lot to be /ðeərzəlɒtəbi:/ said for honesty