Exercise on Passive Voice - Simple Past

1. She sang a song. - A song was sung by her.

2. Somebody hit me. - I was hit by somebody.
3. We stopped the bus. - The bus was stopped by us.
4. A thief stole my car. - My car was stolen by a thief.
5. They didn't let him go. - He was not let go by them.
6. She didn't win the prize. - The prize was not won by her.
7. They didn't make their beds. - Their beds were not made by them.
8. I did not tell them. - They were not told by me.
9. Did you tell them? - Were they told by you?
10. Did he send the letter? - Was the letter sent by him?
Exercise on Passive Voice - Present Perfect
1. Kerrie has paid the bill. - The bill has been paid by Kerrie.
2. I have eaten a hamburger. - A hamburger has been eaten by me.
3. We have cycled five miles. - Five miles have been cycled by us.
4. I have opened the present. - The present has been opened by me.
5. They have not read the book. - The book has not been read by them.
6. You have not sent the parcel. - The parcel has not been sent by you.
7. We have not agreed to this issue. - This issue has not been agreed to by us.
8. They have not caught the thieves. - The thieves have not been caught by them.
9. Has she phoned him? - Has he been phoned by her?
10. Have they noticed us? - Have we been noticed by them?
Exercise on Passive Voice - Present Progressive
1. Sheila is drinking a cup of tea. - A cup of tea is being drunk by Sheila.
2. My father is washing the car. - The car is being washed by my father.
3. Farmer Joe is milking the cows. - The cows are being milked by farmer Joe.
4. She is taking a picture of him. - A picture of him is being taken by her.
5. I am writing a poem. - A poem is being written by me.
6. We are not playing football. - Football is not being played by us.
7. He is not wearing a tie. - A tie is not being worn by him.
8. Is she preparing the party? - Is the party being prepared by her?
9. Are they talking about the meeting? - Is the meeting being talked about by them?
10. Is she watering the flowers? - Are the flowers being watered by her?
Exercise on Passive Voice - Simple Present
1. He opens the door. - The door is opened by him.
2. We set the table. - The table is set by us.
3. She pays a lot of money. - A lot of money is paid by her.
4. I draw a picture. - A picture is drawn by me.
5. They wear blue shoes. - Blue shoes are worn by them.
6. They don't help you. - You are not helped by them.
7. He doesn't open the book. - The book is not opened by him.
8. You do not write the letter. - The letter is not written by you.
9. Does your mum pick you up? - Are you picked up by your mum?
10. Does the police officer catch the thief? - Is the thief caught by the police officer?

New gym opens to train robots

A group of business people has opened a kind of gym for robots. The group is headed by
Elon Musk, who is the boss of the electric car company Tesla Motors and the space tourism
company, SpaceX. Mr Musk also founded the online payments website PayPal. His latest
project is called OpenAI Gym. It is a platform for researchers and code writers to test their
latest work. It is an open platform, which means people are free to test their ideas for
artificial intelligence (A.I.) on it. In particular, researchers can test and share their
algorithms for A.I. Algorithms are special sets of rules in a computer program that can
solve problems and quickly deal with large amounts of information.
Mr Musk wrote about the OpenAI Gym project and why his team decided to put it online
for free. He said: "Our goal is to advance digital intelligence in the way that is most likely
to benefit humanity as a whole, [without the] need to generate financial return." The
OpenAI Gym follows the idea of giving rewards for successful learning similar to giving
a dog a treat when it learns something new. This is called reinforcement learning. If an
algorithm does well in the gym, it gets a reward. If the algorithm fails, it gets no reward and
it has to try something different. The aim of the gym is to develop an algorithm that can
multi-task - do many things at the same time - rather than be good at doing just one thing.

i-Phones Are Now Musical Instruments

A U.S. university has found a new use for the Apple iPhone as a musical instrument.
Academics from the University of Michigan have joined forces to create what they call a
21st century orchestra. There are no traditional instruments, only 20 of Apples best-selling
mobile telephones. The project is a group effort from the universitys music, computer
science and engineering departments. They call themselves the Michigan Mobile Phone
Ensemble and describe their work as "new, crazy, electronic ensemble music". They will
hold their first concert on Wednesday, December the 9th. Each musician will play the
notes and tunes that they programmed into their handset. The result will be an original
piece of... music.
The brains behind the iPhone orchestra is assistant professor Georg Essl. He is a musician
and an engineer. On his course, he encouraged students to experiment with the iPhones
advanced technologies. They wrote special applications that used wireless radios, motion
sensors and the touch screen to produce different noises. The result is the hi-tech sound of
the experimental new orchestra. Professor Essl was excited about this innovative form of
music. He said: We can do interesting, weird and unusual things. This kind of technology
is in its infancy, but it's a hot and growing area to use iPhones for artistic expression." He
called the iPhone a very nice platform for exploring new forms of musical performance".
He didnt say when the orchestra would record its first CD.

New Machine Sucks CO2 from the Air

Engineers at a U.S. laboratory may have discovered one answer to the problem of global
warming. They have made a machine that can suck carbon dioxide from the air and convert
it into liquid fuel. Researchers at the Sandia National Labs believe their creation can
provide a sustainable form of renewable energy. Their device sounds like something from
science fiction. In fact, the name of it is probably the most difficult thing to understand. It is
the Counter-Rotating-Ring Receiver Reactor Recuperator, or CR5 for short. Lead developer
Rich Diver is excited about his project. He said sucking CO2 from the environment could
be an alternative to carbon sequestration. This is a method of burying CO2 deep
underground.
Sandia calls the process carried out by CR5 Sunshine to Petrol. The researchers say their
invention is still 15 to 20 years away from being in full operation. It is currently just a
prototype a small model of the real thing. A Sandia spokeswoman said it holds a real
promise of being able to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. She added it would allow us to
keep using fuels we know and love. It is possible that by 2030, cars and airplanes will run
on the converted fuel. It will produce fuels such as methanol and gasoline. It will be
interesting to see if this machine can actually lower our carbon footprint. Yes, it reduces
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but its liquid fuel product causes pollution when it burns.