The passive Complete the following passage with the appropriate passive forms of the verbs in
brackets.
A new campaign (1) was launched (launch) earlier this year by the UK government
which aims to reduce the amount of domestic waste. Households (2)
(encourage) to recycle certain waste products and to sort
and prepare others for collection at specific sites. From there they (3)
(take) to special waste treatment plants where special
machinery will process them for reuse as recycled material.
In Britain today, when the contents of the average household dustbin (4)
(analyse), we find that, in terms of weight, 35% of the total
(5) (compose) of paper and cardboard, 22% of kitchen
waste, 12% of plastics with glass, dust and ashes each representing a further 10%.
There are in fact only a few items of domestic waste that cannot (6)
(recycle). One common example is disposable nappies which,
as their name suggests,
(7) (design) to be thrown away after use. However, a lot of
progress could (8) (make) to reduce the amount of kitchen
waste most of which can (9) (transform) into a useful garden
fertiliser. Indeed, if more people chose to do this then the weight of the average
dustbin (10) (reduce) quite significantly.
In terms of glass products, the situation is more encouraging as nearly 20% of all the
glass that (11) (use) every year in the country (12)
(take) back for recycling.
Nonetheless, it is clear that the mountains of domestic waste will only decrease if
efforts (13) (make) both by individual households and local
government authorities. Special equipment such as collection trucks must (14)
(purchase) and people must (15)
(make) aware of how they can contribute to improving the situation. This (16)
(achieve) with increasing success in a number of regions in
Europe during the last few years, a trend that (17) (expect) to
continue in the future.
Households are encouraged to recycle certain waste products and to sort and prepare others for collection at specific sites.
From there they are taken to special waste treatment plants where special machinery will process them for reuse as recycled material.
In Britain today, when the contents of the average household dustbin are analyzed, we find that, in terms of weight, 35% of the total is composed of paper and cardboard, 22% is kitchen waste, 12% is plastics, and glass, dust, and ashes each represent a further 10%.
There are in fact only a few items of domestic waste that cannot be recycled. One common example is disposable nappies which, as their name suggests, are designed to be thrown away after use.
However, a lot of progress could be made to reduce the amount of kitchen waste, most of which can be transformed into a useful garden fertiliser.
Indeed, if more people chose to do this, then the weight of the average dustbin would be significantly reduced.
In terms of glass products, the situation is more encouraging as nearly 20% of all the glass that is used every year in the country is taken back for recycling.
Nonetheless, it is clear that the mountains of domestic waste will only decrease if efforts are made both by individual households and local government authorities.
Special equipment such as collection trucks must be purchased and people must be made aware of how they can contribute to improving the situation.
This is achieved with increasing success in a number of regions in Europe during the last few years, a trend that is expected to continue in the future.
Explanation and step-by-step solution:
1. The verb "launch" is past simple, and the sentence is in the passive voice, so we use "was launched."
2. The verb "encourage" should be in the passive form, so we use "are encouraged."
3. The verb "take" should be in the passive form, so we use "are taken."
4. The verb "analyze" should be in the passive form, so we use "is analyzed."
5. The verb "compose" should be in the passive form, so we use "is composed."
6. The verb "recycle" should be in the negative form, so we use "cannot be recycled."
7. The verb "design" should be in the passive form, so we use "are designed."
8. The verb "make" should be in the passive form, so we use "could be made."
9. The verb "transform" should be in the passive form, so we use "can be transformed."
10. The verb "reduce" should be in the passive form, so we use "would be reduced."
11. The verb "use" should be in the passive form, so we use "is used."
12. The verb "take" should be in the passive form, so we use "is taken."
13. The verb "make" should be in the passive form, so we use "efforts must be made."
14. The verb "purchase" should be in the passive form, so we use "must be purchased."
15. The verb "make" should be in the passive form, so we use "must be made."
16. The verb "achieve" should be in the passive form, so we use "is achieved."
17. The verb "expect" should be in the passive form, so we use "is expected."