It is important to remember about tenses

The following chart shows the transformation of verb forms. It is all about a bill.

	Active Voice	Passive Voice
Present Simple	debate	is debated
Present Continuous	are debating	is being debated
Present Perfect	have debated	has been debated
Past Simple	debated	was debated
Past Continuous	were debating	was debated
Past Perfect	had debated	had been debated
Future	will debate	will be debated
Modal verbs +verb	can debate	can be debated

Problems with the passive voice

• It is vague, because no actor is identified.

• It is wordier than the active voice, especially if the writer names the actor in a prepositional phrase at the end of the sentence.

• Examples:

– The argument was made. (But who made it?)

– The argument was made by Becker. (This is wordy and less direct than the active voice version of the same idea: Becker made the argument.)

When should I use the passive voice?

• You may want to use the passive voice when the actor is unknown or unimportant:

The clerk was just shot! (You don’t know who shot the clerk).

• You may want to deflect attention from an actor:

Then the guard was stabbed. (Your client is accused of stabbing the guard, but you want to deflect attention away from your client.)

What guidelines should I follow in deciding whether to use the passive voice?

1. Determine whether a sentence is in the passive voice.

2. If it is, mentally change it into the active voice.

3. Ask yourself if the active version is better: Is it more direct? Less wordy? Clearer? Stronger? If so, you should probably change it to the active voice.

4. Then ask if you have a reason for using the passive voice. For example, do you want to deflect attention away from an actor? If so, you may want to keep the sentence in the passive voice.

5. Most of your sentences should be in the active voice.

Exercise 1.

Make up full sentences about the bill debating using the passive tense forms from the chart above.

e.g.

Bills are debated at nearly every stage of the Parliament hearings.

Now a new bill is being debated in the House of Commons.

Exercise 2.

Discuss if there is a good reason to use Passive Voice in the following sentences. Try to turn verb forms into active ones making other changes as well.

1. Each bill is first assigned to a committee for review.

2. While MPs are elected to the House of Commons, members of the House of Lords - also called peers - are appointed by the prime minister

3. The bill must be tabled before it goes further.

4. The House of Lords is made up of people who have been given titles because of their outstanding work in one field or another.

5. The last Monarch to reject a law that was wanted by both Houses of Parliament was Queen Anne.

6. Almost twelve thousand bills were introduced in Congress in one recent session.

7. If the bill is neither signed nor vetoed by the president within 10 days, the bill becomes law anyway.

8. The debate on the Bill is usually short, and limited to what is actually in the Bill, rather than what might have been included.

Exercise 3.

Change active voice into passive voice where possible/

1. Not only the House of Representatives can initiate a bill

2. The Clerk of the House is the first person to receive the bill.

3. The Clerk assigns a certain number to the bill and refers it either to the Senate or the House of Representatives.

4. An appropriate Committee arranges the reporting of the bill.

5. The Committee members report out the bill and fix the date of the final hearing by the full house.

6. After the floor reading and debates the house votes on the amended bill.

7. The bill again goes through the Committee’s hearing, mark up and debates.

8. But first both houses must agree upon all amendments and details of the bill.

9. The President considers the bill and signs it, and the bill becomes Law.

10. If the President vetoes the bill, it goes back to the Senate or the House of Representatives.

UNIT III Part 3

Connecting and sequencing ideas

In order to make a logical context we usually connect ideas or show the sequence of ideas. This is done with the help of special words or phrases that are called connectors or textual markers or sequence markers or discourse markers. They make the text less formal and tie up the statements to make more or even new sense.

In the book UNIT III Part 3 you can find the table or chart of such connectors.

Exercise 1

Below you see an example text. Read it and find the translation of highlighted markers in the chart.

How to use logical connectors, textual links and sequence markers

Today I’m going to speak about logical connectors, textual links and sequence markers, and in one brief text to illustrate the usage of these small but important words and phrases. Obviously, the text will be a bit overloaded with them, nevertheless, it must be done because an example is better than a long explanation.

So,let’s start.

In brief, connectors connect, links link and sequence markers mark the sequence of ideas. Naturally, it is so when you have any ideas at all. Actually, a person who is preparing a presentation or is going to write a report or an article can’t do without connectors, links and markers since they serve as function keys.

For example, you want to speak out on an important issue. On the whole, you know what to say, but, as a matter of fact, you are not quite sure how to approach it, that is how to structure your statement. Technically speaking, you are to divide your text into three main parts, namely the introduction, the essential and the conclusion or summary. While you are thinking it over, decide how to illustrate your concept.

Firstly, you’ll express a common opinion on the issue, although there may be different opinions that contradict each other. However, it will be wise to show your awareness of the problematic subject matter under discussion, let alone the fact that you can break in here with the novelty of your vision.

Next, you move on to the core idea – your opinion statement. You are to deliver it clearly and distinctly, that means you should go into many subsidiary details calling off from the core subject. Consequently, such details mislead the audience, or readers. Alternatively, if you still want to support your ideas prepare some visuals.

Finally, you are supposed to make a good summary. As a rule, it’s a brief and clear statement. Thus, I’ve come up to the end of the esaay that, I hope, has illustrated how to make connectors, links and markers work for you. Besides, the essay also explains how to structure the report or presentation.

To sum up, the essay is quite helpful.

Exercise 2

Choose the proper word in every sentence

1. Karen is a judge; ___, her cousin Kate is a court clerk.

a. therefore

b. however

c. otherwise

2. You'd better hurry up. ___, you'll arrive late.

a. Consequently

b. Furthermore

c. Otherwise

3. I enjoy reading this new magazine. ___, it has good articles.

a. Moreover

b. Nevertheless

c. However

4. Jack wasn't tired. ___, he took a nap.

a. Otherwise

b. Hence

c. Nevertheless

5. The students didn't study. ___, they failed the exam/

a. Therefore

b. Nonetheless

c. Otherwise

6. The neighborhood isn't very interesting. I like the house, ___.

a. moreover

b. thus

c. though

7. We live in the same building; ___, we hardly see each other.

a. however

b. therefore

c. furthermore

8. He didn't earn enough money. ___, his wife decided to get a job.

a. Moreover

b. Therefore

c. Although

9. That house isn't big enough for us, and ___, it's too expensive.

a. furthermore

b. hence

c. although

10. We have plenty of money and workers; ___, we hope to finish the house remodeling soon.

a. nevertheless

b. unless

c. thus

Exercise 3

Complete the essay with the linking words below. You can use one word a few times.

therefore; however; although; in general; also; furthermore; secondly; even though; but; in the first place; not only

Studying a language in a country where it is widely spoken has many advantages. It is

______________________ a good idea to study English in a country such as Britain.

______________________ , I believe it is not the only way to learn the language.

______________________ , most students in non- English-speaking countries learn English at

secondary school and sometimes at university nowadays, ______________________ their spoken

English is not usually of very high standard, their knowledge of grammar is often quite

advanced. This is certainly useful when students come to an English-speaking country to

perfect the language.

______________________ , studying the basics of English at secondary school is less stressful

than learning the language while overseas. This is because students living at home do not

have to worry about problems such as finding accommodation, paying for their study

and living costs, and trying to survive in a foreign country where day to day living causes

much stress.

______________________ , there are obvious advantages of learning English in Britain. Every

day there are opportunities to practise listening to and speaking with British people.

______________________ , students can experience the culture first-hand, which is a great help

when trying to understand the language. This is especially true if they choose to live with

a British family, as exchange students for example, ______________________ , if students attend a

language school full-time, the teachers will be native speakers. In this case,

______________________ will students speaking and listening skills improve, ______________________

attention can be given to developing reading and writing skills as well.

______________________ , ______________________ it is preferable to study English in an Englishspeaking

country, a reasonable level of English can be achieved in one's own country, if

a student is gifted and dedicated to study.

Exercise 4

The following is a part of the text from this Unit Part 2. Provide connectors or markers for each case of gap usually at the beginning of the sentence.

NEBRASKA

THE COURT SYSTEM

________ the Nebraska court system is made up of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, district courts, and county courts. _____ there are also special courts for children, and for workers who get hurt at their job.

__________ the Supreme Court has a Chief Justice and six associate justices. ________the Six associate justices each come from a different area of the state called a district, and the Chief can come from anywhere in the state. _______the Governor appoints the justices from a list given to him by a special committee whose job is to recommend people be judges.

The Supreme Court's main jobs are to look at cases from other courts to be sure that they didn't make any mistakes, and to see that the state's court system runs smoothly. ___________ it also looks at all cases involving the death penalty or life in prison, or when the case has a question about the Constitution of the State of Nebraska.

_____________ the Supreme Court is also in charge of all the lawyers in the State of Nebraska.

__________________ the court of appeals has six judges, one from each of the same six districts as the Supreme Court. ____________ one of these six judges is appointed by the Supreme Court for a one year term as chief judge.

The court of appeals' job is to hear all appeals not involving penalties of death, or life in prison. So, whenever someone is unhappy with the decision given by a lower court (usually a county or district court), they can have the court of appeals hear the case again, to see if anyone made any mistakes that could make them change the decision.

There are twelve judicial districts and 55 district court judges to serve all 93 of Nebraska's counties. ______district courts hear all serious criminal cases, civil cases involving more than $45,000, and divorce cases.

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