7. Certain types of snakes have been known to survive fasts more as a year long.

A B C D
8. The grizzly bear, which can grow up to eight feet tall, has been called a more
A B C D
dangerous animal of North America.

9. Climate, soil type, and availability of water are the most critical factors than selecting
A B C
the best type of grass for a lawn.
D
10. Peter Abelard, a logician and theologian, was the controversialest teacher of his age.
A B C D
11. Protein molecules are the most complex than the molecules of carbohydrates.
A B C D
12. The leek, a member of the lily family, has a mildest taste than the onion.
A B C D
13. The widely used natural fiber of all is cotton.
A B C D
14. Fungi are the most important decomposers of forest soil, just like bacteria are the most
A B C
important decomposers of grassland soil.
D
15. Chicago’s Field Museum is one of the largest and better known natural history
A B C
museums in the United States.
D

I. PASSIVE VERB
Sentences in which the error is an incorrect passive are common in written expression
questions on the TOEFL test. You therefore need to be able to recognize the correct form of
the passive and to be able to determine when a passive verb rather than an active verb is
needed in a sentence.
The difference between an active and a passive verb is that the subject in an active
sentence does the action of the verb, and the subject in a passive sentence receives the action
of the verb. To convert a sentence from active to passive, two changes must be made.
1) The subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence, while the
object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
2) The verb in the passive sentence is formed by putting the helping verb be (TOBE) in
the same form as the verb in the active sentence and then adding the past
participle of this verb (VERB III).

Margaret wrote the letter

SUBJECT OBJECT

The letter was written by Margaret

SUBJECT OBJECT

The first example is an active sentence. To convert this active sentence to a passive
sentence, you must first make the subject of the active sentence, Margaret, the object of the
passive sentence with by. The object of the active sentence, letter, becomes the subject of the

Preparation for Academic English Test 85

passive sentence. Next, the passive verb can be formed. Because wrote is in the past tense in
the active sentence, the past tense of be (was) is used in the passive sentence. Then the verb
wrote in the active sentence is changed to the past participle written in the passive sentence.

THE FORM OF THE PASSIVE

BE + past participle (V3) + BY + object
The following are examples of passive errors that might appear on the TOEFL test:

The portrait was painting* by a famous artist.

The project will finished* by Tim.

In the first example, the passive is formed incorrectly because the past participle
painted should be used rather than the present participle painting. In the second example,
the verb be has not been included, and some form of be is necessary for a passive verb. The
verb in the second sentence should be will be finished.

When there is no object (with or without by) after a verb, you must look at the
meaning of the sentence to determine if the verb should be active or passive. Sentences with
an incorrect passive verb and no by + object to tell you that the verb should be passive are
the most difficult passive errors to recognize on the TOEFL test. Study the examples:

We mailed the package at the post office.

The letter was mailed by us today before noon.
The letter was mailed today before noon.'
The letter mailed* today before noon.

The first three examples above are correct. The first example has the active verb
mailed used with the object package; the second example has the passive verb was mailed
used with by us; the third sentence has the passive verb was mailed used without an object.

The fourth example is the type of passive error that appears most often on the TOEFL
test. This type of sentence has the following characteristics: (1) an incorrect passive verb that
looks like a correct active verb, and (2) no by + object to tell you that a passive is needed. To
correct the fourth example, the active verb needs to be changed to the passive was mailed.

To determine that such a sentence is incorrect, you must study the meaning of the
subject and the verb. You must ask yourself if the subject does the action of the verb (so an
active verb is needed) or if the subject receives the action of the verb (so a passive verb is
needed). In the incorrect example, you should study the meaning of the subject and verb, the
letter mailed. You should ask yourself if a letter mails itself (the letter does the action) or if
someone mails a letter (the letter receives the action of being mailed). Since a letter does not
mail itself, the passive is required in this sentence.

Practice: Each of the following sentences has a passive meaning. Indicate if the sentences
are correct (C) or incorrect (I).
1. The suits were hung in the closet when they were returned from the cleaners.
2. Money is lending by the credit union to those who want to buy homes.
3. The record had been chose by dancers near the jukebox.
4. The topic for your research paper should have been approved by your advisor.
5. That song has been playing over and over again by Steve.

Preparation for Academic English Test 86

EXERCISE 12.1: If the underlined form is correct, mark the sentence C. If the underlined
form is incorrect, mark the sentence X, and write a correction for the underlined form in
the blank after the sentence
1. Coal, grain, steel, and other products are often shipping by barge on
_____
inland waterways.
2. The first cotton mill in Massachusetts has built in the town of Beverly in
_____
1787.
_____ 3. Physician Alice Hamilton is known for her research on industrial diseases.
4. When scientists search a site for fossils, they begin by examining places
_____
where the soil has wore away from the rock.
5. The popularity of recreational vehicles has been grown over the last few
_____
decades.
6. Experts have estimated that the termites cause as much property damage
_____
every year as fire has.
_____ 7. In music, a chord is the sound of two or more notes that are playing together.
_____ 8. The white pine is the most commercially important forest tree in North
America until the beginning of the twentieth century
9. In 1846, the Swiss naturalist Louis Agassiz come to the United States to give
_____
a series of lectures.
_____ 10. Parrots and crows are considered the most intelligent birds.

EXERCISE 12.2: Choose the best letter of the word or group of words that best complete
the sentences. For Error recognition questions, choose the letter of the underlined word or
group of words that is not correct.

1. discussed by the board of 3. Much of the carnage of elephants,

directors when it was proposed again giraffes, and big cats
by the supervisors. uncaring hunters.
(A) The problem had already (A) must commit by
(B) The problem is already (B) must be committed
(C) The problem had already been (C) must have committed
(D) The problem has already (D) must have been committed by
2. The x-ray treatments up to the
time that he was dismissed from the
hospital.
(A) gave daily
(B) were given daily
(C) basically have given
(D) daily had been given

Preparation for Academic English Test 87

 4. Particular issues that concern teenagers were covering in the half-hour program
A B C D
5. Electrical impulses may also picked up by the optic nerve.
A B C D
6. Workers training for a specific job have a strong possibility of being replace by a machine
A B C D
7. On June 30,1992, international timekeepers in Paris were added an extra second to
A B C
to the day.
D
8. The report could not be turned in on time because all the needed work lost.
A B C D
9. In English these questions have beformed by changing the word order of a
A B C
statement, whereas in some languages the word order remains the same.
D
10. He was not able to define the process by which the body had protected by the
A B C D
immunologic system.

J. WORD FORM
The most common type of written expression error involves word forms. Most errors
of this type involve using one part of speech in place of another. Both the incorrect word and
the correction are from the same root (for example: inform and information, health and
healthy). Thus, to solve word form problems, it is important to recognize the four parts of
speech (verb, noun, adjective and adverb) by identifying their suffixes (word ending).

Common Noun Endings

-tion information -ery recovery
-sion provision -ship scholarship
-ence independence -tude multitude
-ance acceptance -ism capitalism
-ity creativity -cracy democracy
-hood childhood -logy biology
-dom wisdom -ness happiness
-th health -ment experiment

Endings for nouns that refer to people

-er Explorer -ee employee

-or Sailor -ic comic
-ist Psychologist -ian technician
-ent Student -ant attendant

Common Verb Endings

-ize realize -ify justify

-en shorten -ate incorporate
-er recover

Preparation for Academic English Test 88