Skill 5: LISTEN FOR ABOUT WHO, AND WHAT IN PASSIVES

TOEFL COMPLETE COURSE

(LISTENING)

Skill 5: LISTEN FOR ABOUT WHO, AND WHAT IN PASSIVES

It is often difficult to understand who or what is doing the action in a passive sentences. This problem is often tested in the short dialogues.

Example

On the recording, you hear:

man	Did Sally go to the bank this morning?
woman	Yes, she did. She got a new checking account.
narrator	What does he woman imply?

In your test book or on the computer screen, you read:

A.    Sally wrote several checks.

B.     Sally wanted to check up on the bank.

C.     A new checking account was opened.

D.    Sally checked on the balance in her account.

In this dialogue, the woman uses the active statement She got a new checking account, which means that Sally opened a checking account. The correct answer uses the passive structure that a new checking account was opened to express the same idea. Therefore, the best answer to the question above is answer(C).

 

TOEFL EXERCISE 5: In this exercise, listen carefully to each short dialogue and question on the recording, and then choose the best answer to the question. You should be particularly careful of passives.

 

1	A.       If the restaurant is on the corner B.       If the man would like to go to the restaurant C.       If the vegetables are fresh D.       If vegetarian food can be obtained	6	A.       The road the horses took was long and hard. B.       It was hard to find the hidden horses. C.       The riders worked the horses too much. D.       It was hard for people to ride the horses for long.
2	A.       He admitted that he wanted to go to law school in the fall. B.       The law school accepted him as a student. C.       The law professor admitted that he would be a student in the fall semester. D.       He would be admitted to law school after the fall semester.	7	A.      He didn’t want the coffee that the woman ordered. B.      He wasn’t sure if the woman wanted coffee. C.      He assumed the woman had ordered coffee. D.      He was unaware that coffee had already been ordered.
3	A.       Mark’s plants were cared for in his absence. B.       Mark’s plan was to be out of town. C.       Mark was careful about his plans for the out-of-town trip. D.       She was careful while Mark was gone.	8	A.      The car was in the left parking lot at the airport. B.      The friends parked their car at the airport. C.      The airport couldn’t hold a lot of cars. D.      There were a lot of cars to the left of the parking lot.
4	A.       The lights in the trees were destroyed in the storm. B.       The storm damaged the trees. C.       The falling trees destroyed a store. D.       In the light the destruction of the storm could be seen.	9	A.      The students pointed at Mac. B.      Mac was present when the other students made the appointment. C.      The class representative suggested Mac to the other students. D.      Mac was chosen by his classmates to represent them.
5	A.       She was broke from skiing. B.       She went skiing in spite of her accident. C.       Her leg was hurt on a skiing trip. D.       Her skis were broken in the mountains.	10	A.      After the earthquake, the insurance company came out to inspect the damage. B.      The insurance company insisted that the building be repaired to meet earthquake safety standards. C.      The inhabitants paid their premiums after the earthquake. D.      The insurance company made for the earthquake damage.

 

ANSWER KEY

1.      D

2.      B

3.      A

4.      B

5.      C

6.      C

7.      C

8.      B

9.      D

10.  D

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