Delta''''s key to the toefl test part 19

Which underlined word or phrase must be changed for the sentence to be correct?. Which underlined word or phrase must be changed for the sentence to be correct?. Which underlined word or

Which underlined word or phrase must be changed for the sentence to be correct? If you chose

taken place, you were correct Because this sentence makes a general statement of theory or

belief, the simple present tense is appropriate Correction: takes place

Look at another example:

European Americans had fighted several wars and made treaties with

Native Americans before the nineteenth century ended

Which underlined word or phrase must be changed for the sentence to be correct? If you chose

fighted, you are correct because it is an incorrect form Fight is an irregular verb, and the correct

past participle is fought

A test item may try to trick you by having an incorrect verb tense Look at this example:

When men first learned to hunt in groups and to use axes of chipped

stone, they start to dominate the other creatures of the earth

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ms}

=

2

om

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m

Which underlined word or phrase must be changed for the sentence to be correct? If you chose

start, you were correct In the introductory clause, the verb learned is simple past tense However,

in the main clause, the verb start is simple present, which does not agree in tense meaning with

learned Correction: started

A test item may try to trick you by having no auxiliary where one is needed Look at this example:

By the time he was sixteen years old, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart written

several sonatas, symphonies, and operas

Which underlined word or phrase must be changed for the sentence to be correct? If you chose

written, you were correct because it lacks the necessary auxiliary for the past perfect tense

Correction: had written

Some of the answer choices will try to trick you by having incorrect word order in the verb

phrase Look at this example:

Warm, moist airstreams moving over the mountains - that eventually

caused the 1976 Colorado flood

C.) quickly formed the thunderheads

C) quickly the thunderheads formed

the thunderheads quickly formed

This sentence needs a verb for the subject airstreams Careful reading of the sentence shows that

the blank space is followed by an adjective clause beginning with that (See 2.10) Therefore, the

missing part is probably a verb phrase that includes a direct object The first answer best com-

pletes the sentence because it has the correct word order: adverb + verb + noun

How do the other answer choices try to confuse you?

DeLTA'e Key 1o THE TOEFL® Test 173

2.5 VERBS AND AUXILIARIES

ed PRACTICE

2

Exercise 2.5.A

Choose the one word or phrase that best completes the sentence

1 Millions of office workers - most of their

time sitting in front of computer screens

CAD spend

CB) spending

to spend

() are spent

2 Mule deer - a wide variety of twigs,

grass, berries, and fruit

CAD eating

has eaten

Ce) used to eating

CP) are used to eating

3 Radio waves, traveling at the speed of light,

have - their discoveries to Earth

CA bringing

CB for bringing

Ce) to be brought

@) brought

4 The first punk rock - of the mid-sixties

middle-American garage bands to the more

genteel British Invasion

the aggressive response

CB did the aggressive response

Ce) was the aggressive response

(®) was responding aggressively

5 Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was a

brilliant piece of propaganda that - for

breaking free of England

eloquently the reasons state

CB) were stated the reasons eloquently

Ce) was stating the reasons eloquent

(©) eloquently stated the reasons

6 The production of a practical hydrofoil first

10

wenn in Italy, where it was developed during the first decade of the twentieth century

(A> taking place

CB) took place

taken place CP) to take place

Ina retail store, consumers - the merchandise and compare brands

CA) could inspected can be inspected Ce) can inspecting

(> can inspect

By the end of the 1800s, the output of

European artists, writers, and scientists -

to the point where it dwarfed the productiveness

of the 1700s

CA) accelerating accelerates

Ce) had accelerated CD) have accelerated

The American “cocktail” - around the

world, and many countries have adopted both the word and the drink

CA) spreads CB) spreading

Cc) has spread

(®) to spread

In 1993 a consumer organization in Washington

—“n and vegetables for their level of pesticide contamination

CA) rates forty fruits rated forty fruits

Ce) forty fruits rated

(®) forty were rating fruits

174 DELTA’s KEY To THE TOEFL® Test

Exercise 2.5.B

Choose the one underlined word or phrase that must be changed for the sentence to be correct

1 Many psychologists belief that it is young adulthood and not middie age that is the most

stressful period of adult life

D

2 In 1867 Karl Marx, who was living in London, published the first volume of Das Kapital,

which become the fundamental written work of world socialism

3 Fall is an excellent time to plant trees, but there were several points to consider in determining pas

D

A

4 One nineteenth-century writer observed that Americans considered nature inexhaustible, and

until recently, this is been true

D

5 Old-growth forests are defined as being at least 250 years old, though some forests to be actually

far older, with a few approaching one thousand years

D

6 Apes and gorillas can, like chimpanzees, communicate with a wide variety of vocal calls, but they

just could not speak

D

7 Fighting break out between France and Vietnam in 1946, when the two nations could not

reconcile their differences

8 The publication of The Feminine Mystique challenged the domesticity that had define women’s

lives since they were forced out of the workplace by soldiers returning from World War II

9, During the Jurassic Period, which extend from 180 million to 135 million years ago, reptiles

reached fantastic size

D

10 Drawing upon natural body movements, Isadora Duncan gave her audiences dances that

stressing emotional responses to symphonic music

Answers to Exercises 2.5.A through 2.5.B are on page 639, DELtA’s KEY To THE TOEFL® Test 175

2.5 VERBS AND AUXILIARIES

176

1 Students identify time markers in Exercises 2.5.A — 2.5.B

2 In reading done outside class, students look for sentences with various verb forms and

tenses Bring examples to share in class Underline all verb phrases Identify auxiliaries, modals, direct and indirect objects, adverbs and prepositional phrases

3 Students create “TOEFL sentences” to test their classmates’ understanding of verbs

Students write their own sentences or change sentences they find in print so that each sentence contains one of the following errors: (a) incorrect verb form or tense, or (b) incorrect auxiliary Write the sentences either on the board or on cards Classmates identify the error and make the correction

DELrA's KEY 10 THE TOEFL® Tesr

2.6 Recognizing Passives

Q Focus

Read the following sentences:

The state of Texas was annexed by the United States in 1845

Venus, the second planet from the sun, is covered with a dense, white,

cloudy atmosphere

The idea that everything is made up of elements was first studied by

`

ras}

c

2

Cc

x

mm What is similar about the sentences?

Each of the sentences is in the passive voice This means that the subject of the sentence is not

the doer of the verb’s action but the receiver of the action

Who or what is the subject of the first sentence? The state of Texas is the subject of the sentence,

but it is not the doer of the action Who or what does the action? The United States performs the

action: The United States annexed the state of Texas in 1845 The state of Texas is the object of

the action and the passive subject of the sentence

Can you identify the passive subjects of the second and third sentences above?

Look at the following sentences What do the verb structures have in common?

A variety of health problems can be helped by stress management,

proper nutrition, and exercise

Steps should have been taken to control garden pests before they

In each sentence above, the verb in the main clause is in the passive voice Each passive verb also

has a modal auxiliary: can be helped, should have been taken

You must be able to recognize passive verbs and sentences All of the above examples are similar to

the types of sentences you will see on the TOEFL

DeLta’s KEY To THE TOEFL® Test 177

26 PASSIVES

178

Y DO YOU KNOW ?

At least one or two items on the TOEFL will test your ability to recognize correct and incorrect

usage of verbs that are in the passive voice

Voice refers to the relationship between the verb and the subject of a sentence In an active voice

sentence, the subject is the doer of the action and is placed before the verb This emphasizes who

or what performs the action

Active Voice:

A variety of chromatographic methods has simplified the separation of complex chemical mixtures (doer of action placed before verb)

In a passive voice sentence, the writer expresses that the action or the object of the action is more

important than who or what performs the action In a passive sentence, the doer of the action is

either placed after the verb or omitted

Passive Voice:

The separation of complex chemical mixtures has been simplified by a variety of chromatographic methods (doer of action placed after verb)

The separation of complex chemical mixtures has been simplified (doer of action omitted)

In passive sentences, the direct or indirect object of the verb is the passive subject of the sentence

For this reason, only transitive verbs (verbs that have an object) can be written in the passive

voice In the above examples, the direct object the separation of complex chemical mixtures

becomes the passive subject when the sentence is rewritten in the passive voice

The passive is formed with the appropriate tense of be + the past participle of the verb Tenses

commonly written in the passive voice include:

Simple Present:

A language is considered “dead” when it is no longer used for oral communication

Present Continuous:

Algebra and physical science are now being taught in the eighth grade

Present Perfect:

Cats have been kept as domestic animals ever since humans started harvesting and storing grains

Simple Past:

The first thermometer was invented by the great Italian astronomer Galileo

Past Continuous:

Theories of logic and binary numbers were being developed by Gottfried Leibniz

in the 1600s

DELTA'2 KEy To THE TOEFL® Test

Past Perfect:

By the seventeenth century, chemistry had been recognized as a science

Simple Future:

The course Human Development will be offered only in fall semester

Infinitive: The innovative group of painters working in New York after the war came

to be known as “abstract expressionists.”

Note: The present perfect continuous, past perfect continuous, future continuous, and future

perfect continuous tenses are not used in the passive voice

Note: Adverbs are usually placed after the first auxiliary:

SY

VA\)

=

|

VA\

m

The woodchuek has traditionally been called a “groundhog” because it seldom

travels far from its underground den

Note: When a passive verb is negative, not is placed after the first auxiliary:

The savagery had not been confined to one side of the conflict

Jupiter’s smaller satellites can not be seen without a telescope

Verbs with a modal auxiliary can be written in the passive voice

For present and future meanings, be is in its base form: modal + be + past participle

Generalizations are scientific statements that can be tested and verified with data

Any changes in the program will be announced before the first speaker begins

For past meaning: modal + have been + past participle

It is now clear that the American Civil War could not have been prevented by another

political compromise

Stonehenge must have been built to serve a scientific or religious purpose

Passive sentences can be rewritten in the active voice When the doer of the action is omitted,

you can usually infer who or what it is

Passive voice: The tides are caused mainly by the moon

Active veice: Mainly the moon causes the tides

Passive voice: Radar maps of several planets have been produced

Active voice: Scientists have produced radar maps of several planets

(doer of action inferred) Passive sentences occur frequently in written English, especially in textbooks and in scientific,

technical, business, and government publications Writers use the passive voice when they want

the action or the receiver of the action to be the focus of the sentence De.ta’s Key 10 THE TOEFL® Test 179

2.6 PASSIVES

180

6 A TOEFL item may test your understanding of which voice to use Look at this example:

Ammonia - as the refrigerant in the first practical refrigerator, made

by Karl von Linde in 1876

C3 used

C_) had been using

C) to use

C) was used

Should the missing verb be in the active or passive voice? Ammonia is not the doer of the action

because ammonia cannot use anything In this sentence, ammonia is a passive subject of the verb use

The first two answer choices are in the active voice and are therefore incorrect The third choice is

an infinitive, which does not function as a verb (You will review infinitives in 2.7.) The fourth

choice best completes the sentence: Ammonia was used as the refrigerant in the first practical

refrigerator

How would you rewrite the above sentence in the active voice?

Look at another example:

The coastal and mountain regions of Peru are frequently shaken by earthquakes, and the major quake of 1970 was killed fifty thousand people

Which underlined word or phrase must be changed for the sentence to be correct? If you chose was

killed, you were correct In this context, the quake performed the action, so the verb must be in the

active voice: the major quake of 1970 killed fifty thousand people

How would you rewrite the above sentence entirely in the passive voice?

A test item may try to trick you by using an incorrect verb form in a passive sentence Look at this

example:

The great apes are being force out of their natural habitat by poverty-stricken farmers who seize the land to_grow crops and raise cattle

Which underlined word or phrase must be changed for the sentence to be correct? If you chose

force, you were correct because it is a passive, which takes the past participle of the verb

Correction: forced

How would you rewrite the above sentence in the active voice?

A test item may try to trick you by having an incorrect or missing auxiliary verb in a passive sen-

tence Look at this example:

In colonial America, conformity in many facets of daily living enforced upon the members of society

Which underlined word or phrase must be changed for the sentence to be correct? If you chose

enforced, you were correct The passive subject, conformity in many facets of daily living, needs a

passive verb Correction: was enforced

How would you rewrite the above sentence in the active voice?

DELTA's Key 10 THE TOEFL® Test

Look at another example:

Snowflakes

=

cò C2

be composed of could be composing a can be composed of can are composed of

single ice crystals or multi-crystal aggregates

The third choice best completes the sentence, which should read: Snowflakes can be composed of

single ice crystals or multi-crystal aggregates

Why are the other three answer choices incorrect?

Yes PRACTICE

Exercise 2.6.A

Choose the one word or phrase that best completes the sentence

1 The U S Constitution by the vote of each

state, but it was not ratified by North Carolina

until the Bill of Rights was added in 1789

CAD was adopting

was adopted

Ce) adopted

(D>) to be adopted

2 Construction augers drill holes in soft

ground for the piers of large buildings

for

used to

Ce) are used by

CB) are used to

3 Conference planners are advised to include

more than one workshop format so that a

wide range of styles -

CAD can accommodate

can accommodated

Ce) can be accommodated

@) could accommodate 8

4, A rack-and_pinion gear was used in a water

clock that was by the Greek inventor

Ctesibius in about 250 B.C

build

building

Ce) built

() been built

DELTA'e KEY TO THE TOEFL® Test

5

Each word in our mental dictionaries

pac} MAN)

:

jon

“A man

A robot may - an action such as paint spraying

by guiding its hand through the movements

CA) be taught taught Ce) is taught

©) to teach

Two epic poems, the /liad and the Odyssey,

by the blind poet Homer

CAD were probably written probably wrote

Ce) probably written

(@) be written probably

its unique sound and meaning

CAD must store must be stored Ce) must is stored

@) must to be stored

Tuition and fees - if a student withdraws after the fifteenth day of the term

not refunded

will be not refunded

will not be refunded

©) will not to be refunded

181

2.6 PASSIVES

Exercise 2.6.B

Choose the one underlined word or phrase that must be changed for the sentence to be correct

1 The great majority of Kenyans engage in subsistence farming, but several crops—including

coffee, tea, and sisal—be exported

D

2 In 1826 Joseph Niepce found a way of fixing an image created in a camera “dark room,”

a device which had used for many years as a drawing aid for artists

D

3 The changes needed for healthy living can be attain by stress control, which replaces unhealthy

ways of dealing with anxiety with simple techniques that help us relax ©

D

4 After the gas—charged lava foam was been expelled from the volcano, liquid lava broke through

the south side of the cone, spreading over five miles to the west ©

D

5 The American eel is being studied in the hope that information about its migration and feeding

habits will be explained why its numbers are decreasing °

6 Because they left no written records, little known about the Tainos, a group of Indians who

inhabited Puerto Rico when the Spanish came in the fifteenth century

7 The road test for the first Ford automobile had to been postponed because the finished car was

wider than the door of the shed in which it was built °

8 The first writing ink was made from pigment find in the octopus’s ink sac, which also helps

D

Answers to Exercises 2.6.A through 2.6.B are on page 640