PASSIVE VOICE – PRE-READING ACTIVITIES
A: Short Discussion. With a partner, discuss these questions:
1. Have you still got anything that you have had since you were very young (a toy, a book, a baseball glove, etc.)? What is it?
2. How old is it?
3. Where do you keep it?
4. Why is it special to you?
B: Vocabulary
The following words in bold are in today’s article. Match the word with the most suitable meaning.
Words
____ 1. The full moon was shaped like a sphere.
____ 2. The horse came from a fine pedigree of race champions.
____ 3. I got a third of the pie; my brother and sister got the other two pieces.
____ 4. The wall paneling is made of expensive wood.
____ 5. I managed to ward off the bee by hitting it with my newspaper.
____ 6. There was mayhem in the soccer stadium after the goal was disallowed by the referee.
____ 7. The object of soccer is to try to put the ball in the other team’s net.
____ 8. The movie has little resemblance to the book.
Meanings
a. Any situation with violence, confusion, or noise.
b. 33.3%
c. The purpose of an action.
d. Rectangular pieces of timber placed over the wall or ceiling.
e. A line of ancestors
f. To be similar to another person or thing.
g. A round object
h. To force or drive away; hold off.
C: Predicting
Today’s article is about the discovery of the world’s oldest soccer ball. Read the sentences below. Put a tick next to the sentence number if you think the topic of the sentence will be talked about in the article:
____ 1. The article will talk about how old the ball is.
____ 2. The article will mention what brand the ball is (e.g. Adidas, Nike, etc.).
____ 3. The article will explain where the ball was found.
____ 4. The article will talk about the Soccer World Cup.
____ 5. The article will mention whose ball it was.
____ 6. The article will discuss how much the ball cost a long time ago.
____ 7. The article will discuss how much the ball is worth now.
____ 8. The article will talk about when the ball was found.
____ 9. The article will explain carefully the rules of soccer.
____ 10. The article will explain what the ball is made from.
READING ACTIVITIES
A: Scanning
Read the questions below and then look for the answers in the article. Try to find the answers as quickly as you can without reading every word.
1. How old is the soccer ball? ______________________________________________________________________
2. What is it made from? __________________________________________________________________________
3. Is it a big or small soccer ball? ___________________________________________________________________
4. Whose ball was it? ____________________________________________________________________________
5. When was it first found? ________________________________________________________________________
World’s Oldest Soccer Ball Goes On Display
EDINBURGH (Reuters) – Thursday April 22. The world’s oldest soccer ball, a 400-year-old sphere with a royal pedigree, goes on display for the first time in centuries Friday, Scottish museum officials said.
Made of a pig’s bladder and wrapped in leather, the small ball probably belonged to Mary Queen of Scots and dates from 1560 or 1570, Michael McGinnes, director of collections at the Smith Art Gallery and Museum in Stirling, said Thursday.
The ball — about a third the size of those used in today’s very different game — was found hidden behind paneling in the Stirling castle bedchamber of Mary, the Catholic pretender to Queen Elizabeth’s throne in England who was eventually beheaded by the Protestant monarch.
“People used to place very special things to them in the walls as a way to ward off demons and evil spirits. This ball must have meant something to her,” McGinnes told Reuters. Although it was first found in the 1970s, the ball was placed in a box with other collectibles and gathered dust until just a few months ago, he said. “We opened up this box and found the ball. We knew it was probably something special,” he said. McGinnes said officials at the Royal Museum of Scotland examined the ball and believe it to be the oldest in existence.
Soccer today bears little resemblance to its historical predecessor, which was more a mixture of soccer, rugby and outright mayhem, McGinnes said.
The ball was dropped into the middle of two opposing sides and the object was to move the ball as far in one direction as possible from the center of town.
Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited.
B: Checking Information
The sentences below contain a summary of the article but some of them have some mistakes. Read them and then compare them with the article.
Write any incorrect words in the sentences and replace them with the correct information. Write “Correct” next to any which have no mistakes.
1. The world’s oldest soccer ball will be put on display for the first time in centuries at an American museum ______________________________________________________________________________________________
2. The ball, made of a pig’s bladder and leather, most likely belonged to Mary Queen of Scots and is over 500 years old ___________________________________________________________________________________________
3. The ball was found under the bed of Mary Queen of Scots in Stirling Castle ______________________________________________________________________________________________
4. The ball was actually discovered in the 1970s, but was put in a box and opened just a few months ago ______________________________________________________________________________________________
5. The modern game of soccer is not much different from soccer played 400 years ago ______________________________________________________________________________________________
6. The aim of soccer 400 years ago was to get the ball into the opponent’s net ______________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Today people still put things in walls because they are frightened of evil spirits ______________________________________________________________________________________________
8. The ball may have had special meaning for Mary Queen of Scots ______________________________________________________________________________________________
C: Thinking Carefully
You have read the article without understanding every word. You can use your understanding of the article to help you work out the meaning of some of the words you do not know.
First. Practice doing this by answering these questions about the word ‘predecessor’ in Paragraph 7.
1. What does ‘pre’ mean? ________________________________________________________________________
2. What kind of word ends in -er or -or (Noun? Adjective? Adverb? Verb?) __________________________________
3. “Its historical predecessor is more a mixture of soccer, rugby, and outright mayhem.” What is ‘it’? ______________________________________________________________________________________________
4. What do you think ‘predecessor’ means? __________________________________________________________
Second. Now answer these questions about the word ‘beheaded’ in Paragraph 3.
1. What is the root word or word stem? ______________________________________________________________
2. What kind of word ends in -ed (Noun? Adjective? Adverb? Verb?) _______________________________________
3. Be- means ‘off’ or ‘away’. What do you think Queen Elizabeth did to Mary Queen of Scots? ______________________________________________________________________________________________
4. What do you think ‘beheaded’ means? ____________________________________________________________
D: Language
If the subject of a verb is actually doing the action, the verb is said to be active. (e.g. The dog bit me.) If the subject of the verb is having the action done to it, then the verb is said to be passive. (E.g. I was bitten by the dog.) Change the following sentences to passive or active sentences.
1. Active: Four hundred years ago, soccer players used a very small soccer ball.
Passive: Four hundred years ago, a very small soccer ball was ______________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Active: To get the game started, the referee dropped the ball into the middle of the two opposing teams.
Passive: To get the game started, the ball ______________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Active: Someone first found the ball in the 1970s.
Passive: ______________________________________________________________________________________
4. Active: Someone _____________________________________________________________________________
Passive: The ball was placed in a box.
5. Active: Someone _____________________________________________________________________________
Passive: The ball was found hidden in the bedchamber wall of Mary Queen of Scots.
6. Active: Queen Elizabeth beheaded Mary Queen of Scots.
Passive: ______________________________________________________________________________________
Source: http://netgrammar.altec.org/Units/Unit_9/a101c9_401000.html
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
B: Vocabulary
Words
_g_ 1. The full moon was shaped like a sphere.
_e_ 2. The horse came from a fine pedigree of race champions.
_b_ 3. I got a third of the pie; my brother and sister got the other two pieces.
_d_ 4. The wall paneling is made of expensive wood.
_h_ 5. I managed to ward off the bee by hitting it with my newspaper.
_a_ 6. There was mayhem in the soccer stadium after the goal was disallowed by the referee.
_c_ 7. The object of soccer is to try to put the ball in the other team’s net.
_f_ 8. The movie has little resemblance to the book.
Meanings
a. Any situation with violence, confusion, or noise.
b. 33.3%
c. The purpose of an action.
d. Rectangular pieces of timber placed over the wall or ceiling.
e. A line of ancestors
f. To be similar to another person or thing.
g. A round object
h. To force or drive away; hold off.
C: Predicting
_yes_ Sentence 1. The article will talk about how old the ball is.
_no__ Sentence 2. The article will mention what brand the ball is (e.g. Adidas, Nike, etc.).
_yes_ Sentence 3. The article will explain where the ball was found.
_no__ Sentence 4. The article will talk about the Soccer World Cup.
_yes_ Sentence 5. The article will mention whose ball it was.
Yes/no Sentence 6. The article will discuss how much the ball cost a long time ago.
Yes/no Sentence 7. The article will discuss how much the ball is worth now.
_yes_ Sentence 8. The article will talk about when the ball was found.
_no__ Sentence 9. The article will explain carefully the rules of soccer.
_yes_ Sentence 10. The article will explain what the ball is made from.
Reading Activities
A: Scanning
1. How old is the soccer ball? 400 years old
2. What is it made from? A pig’s bladder and wrapped in leather
3. Is it a big or small soccer ball? Small
4. Whose ball was it? Mary Queen of Scots
5. When was it first found? In the 1970s
B: Checking Information
1. The world’s oldest soccer ball will be put on display for the first time in centuries at an American museum: The world’s oldest soccer ball will be put on display for the first time in centuries at a Scottish museum.
2. The ball, made of a pig’s bladder and leather, most likely belonged to Mary Queen of Scots and is over 500 years old: The ball, made of a pig’s bladder and leather, most likely belonged to Mary Queen of Scots and is over 400 years old.
3. The ball was found under the bed of Mary Queen of Scots in Stirling Castle: The ball was found in the paneling of the bedchamber of Mary Queen of Scots in Sterling castle.
4. The ball was actually discovered in the 1970s, but was put in a box and opened just a few months ago: Correct
5. The modern game of soccer is not much different from soccer played 400 years ago: The modern game of soccer is very different from soccer played 400 years ago.
6. The aim of soccer 400 years ago was to get the ball into the opponent’s net: The aim of soccer 400 years ago was to move the ball as far in one direction as possible from the center of town.
7. Today people still put things in walls because they are frightened of evil spirits: People used to put things in walls because they were frightened of evil spirits.
8. The ball may have had special meaning for Mary Queen of Scots: Correct.
C: Thinking Carefully
First:
1. What does ‘pre’ mean? Before
2. What kind of word ends in -er or -or (Noun? Adjective? Adverb? Verb?) Noun
3. “Its historical predecessor is more a mixture of soccer, rugby, and outright mayhem.” What is ‘it’? Modern soccer
4. What do you think ‘predecessor’ means? A thing succeeded by something else
Second:
1. What is the root word or word stem? Head
2. What kind of word ends in -ed (Noun? Adjective? Adverb? Verb?) Verb
3. Be- means ‘off’ or ‘away’. What do you think Queen Elizabeth did to Mary Queen of Scots? She had Mary executed by having her head chopped off.
4. What do you think ‘beheaded’ means? To have someone killed by cutting off his/her head
D: Language
1. Active: Four hundred years ago, soccer players used a very small soccer ball.
Passive: Four hundred years ago, a very small soccer ball was used by soccer players.
2. Active: To get the game started, the referee dropped the ball into the middle of the two opposing teams.
Passive: To get the game started, the ball was dropped into the middle of the two opposing teams by the referee.
3. Active: Someone first found the ball in the 1970s.
Passive: The ball was first found in the 1970s (by someone).
4. Active: Someone placed the ball in a box.
Passive: The ball was placed in a box.
5. Active: Someone hid the ball in the wall of the bedchamber of Mary Queen of Scots.
Passive: The ball was found hidden in the bedchamber wall of Mary Queen of Scots.
6. Active: Queen Elizabeth beheaded Mary Queen of Scots.
Passive: Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded by Queen Elizabeth.
