Lesson 7 (Oct. 27) Technical Statements in The Passive Form

What is the Passive Form? Examples – He connects the oscilloscope to the circuit. – The oscilloscope is connected to the circuit. – The students analyze the results ….. – The results are analyzed ….. – We show in Figure 3 the circuit’s response. – The circuit’s response is shown in Figure 3. Passive

Why Use the Passive Form? – The technician connects the oscilloscope to the circuit. – The oscilloscope is connected to the circuit. Instead of saying: “Who does what”, we say: “What is done”. The “who” is often unimportant: – The professor tests the circuit at 100 MHz. – The students test the circuit at 100 MHz. – Jonas tests the circuit at 100 MHz. The circuit is tested at 100 MHz. Who does the test is not important in technical writing. It is understood that the authors or their associates, or somebody connected with the report do the test.

Why Use the Passive Form? – You should mount the sensor at the highest position. – EE students should mount the sensor at the highest position. – Peter and Mary should mount the sensor at the highest position. The sensor should be mounted at the highest position. By starting the sentence with “the sensor”, we place the focus on the subject of the experiment/procedure. “Fronting:” The passive form puts the most important information in front: the What. In technical writing, at least 1/3 of verbs are in the passive form. Not important

Basic Structure of the Passive Form be + past participle of a verb testtested verbpast participle be + Present passive: The circuit is testedat 100 MHz. Aeroplanes aret ested before they enter commercial service. be in Present Simple Tense

Passive Form ≠ Perfect Tenses be + past participle of a verb The circuit is testedat 100 MHz. He has testedthe circuit at 100 MHz. The aeroplanes aret ested before they enter service. The technicians havetested the aeroplanes before they enter service. have + past participle of a verb Passive: Present perfect: Compare these sentences: Passive Present perfect had + past participle of a verbPast perfect :

Passive Form : How to Remember in Chinese be + past participle of a verb The circuit is testedat 100 MHz. The sensor should be mountedat the highest location. Passive form: 被動詞 be ≈ “ 被 ” “ 被 tested” “ 被 mounted”

Different Forms of the Passive Singular Present SimpleThe circuit is tested at 100 MHz. Simple PastThe circuit was tested yesterday at 100 MHz. Present PerfectThe circuit has been tested at 100 MHz. Plural Present SimpleThe aeroplanes are tested for structural integrity. Simple PastThe aeroplanes were tested last year for structural integrity. Present PerfectThe aeroplanes have been tested for structural integrity. The difference is in the tense of the verb be. The passive form can itself be in the present, past or perfect tense.

Other Forms of the Passive Modals can beThe circuitcan betested with an oscilloscope. may beThe circuitmay betested using sine waves or square waves. will beThe circuitwill betested in the next experiment. should beThe circuitshould betested at 100 MHz or higher. Difference forms of the verb be. There are many others.

The Past Participle: regular verbs heatheated boilboiled testtested proceedproceeded closeclosed measuremeasured solvesolved explodeexploded delaydelayed employemployed plotplotted slipslipped stirstirred answeranswered covercovered preferpreferred admitadmitted Pronunciation: ed is pronounced only if it is preceeded by t or d. Otherwise, a silent ‘ d’ is pronounced. applyapplied carrycarried ctionary/interpolate

Workshop 1: Irregular verbs break choose drive freeze get give shake take write broken chosen driven frozen gotten/got given shaken taken written bend build burn feel keep lose mean bent built burnt felt kept lost meant draw fly grow know show drawn flown grown known shown tear wear bring think torn worn brought thought feed hold lead meet fed held led met do say find see make understand done said found seen made understood

Workshop 2 Underline the statements in passive form: Data transmission over packet networks has been widely studied in recent years. Owing to demands in media applications, high bit rates need to be achieved. It is well known that increasing the transmission rate can be a method for providing a high bit rate. However, the through-put may be decreased as a result. This is because an increase in transmission rate leads to a reduced bit energy and, as a result, more packets will be lost. In a previous paper, we have proposed an adaptive-rate system that adapts the transmission rate to the channel condition, so that the through-put of a wireless network can be improved. Several other adaptive-rate systems have also been proposed in the literature in which the automatic repeat request (ARQ) scheme have not been considered. On the other hand, because our design has considered the ARQ scheme, the through-put can be maximized if the transmission rate is optimized.

Workshop 3 Rewrite in the passive form (the verbs have already been underlined): As people usually find oil deep in the ground, they cannot determine its presence by a study of the surface. Consequently, geologists must carry out a geological survey of the underground rock structure. If we think that the rocks in a certain area contain oil, we assemble a ‘drilling rig’. The most obvious part of a drilling rig is a tall tower called ‘a derrick’. Workers use the derrick to lift sections of pipe, which they lower into the hole made by the drill. As Peter drills the hole, Mary pushes a steel pipe down to prevent the sides from falling in, and to stop water entering the hole. If Professor Lum strikes oil he fixes a cover to the top of the pipe, and allows the oil to flow through a series of valves.

Workshop 3 As people usually find oil deep in the ground, As oil is usually found deep in the ground, they cannot determine its presence by a study of the surface. its presence cannot be determined by a study of the surface. Consequently, geologists must carry out a geological survey of the underground rock structure. Consequently, a geological survey of the underground rock structure must be carried out. If we think that the rocks in a certain area contain oil, If it is thought that the rocks in a certain area contain oil, we assemble a ‘drilling rig’. a ‘drilling rig’ is assembled. The most obvious part of a drilling rig is a tall tower called ‘a derrick’.

Workshop 3 Workers use the derrick to lift sections of pipe, The derrick is used to lift sections of pipe, which they lower into the hole made by the drill. which is lowered into the hole made by the drill. As Peter drills the hole, As the hole is drilled Mary pushes a steel pipe down to prevent the sides from falling in, a steel pipe is pushed down to prevent the sides from falling in, and to stop water entering the hole. If Professor Lum strikes oil he fixes a cover to the top of the pipe, If oil is struck a cover is fixed to the top of the pipe, and allows the oil to flow through a series of valves. and the oil is allowed to flow through a series of valves.