Assessment: Active and Passive Voice

Subject: English | Year: 5

Name: _________________________ Class/Set: ____________ Date: ____________

Section A: Knowledge Check (Multiple Choice)

Mark the correct answer.

Q1: Which of these sentences is written in the active voice? a) ☐ The trophy was won by the school football team. b) ☐ The windows were broken during the thunderstorm. c) ☐ The gardener planted several colourful roses. d) ☐ The cake was eaten by the hungry children.

Q2: How would you change the sentence 'The cat chased the mouse' into the passive voice? a) ☐ The mouse is chasing the cat. b) ☐ The mouse was chased by the cat. c) ☐ The cat was chasing the mouse. d) ☐ The mouse chased the cat.

⇨ The following sentence describes a scene from a historical account of a Victorian schoolroom.

"The heavy wooden door was slammed shut by the strict schoolmaster."

Q3: In the sentence provided above, who or what is the 'agent' (the person or thing performing the action)? a) ☐ The wooden door b) ☐ The slamming action c) ☐ The Victorian schoolroom d) ☐ The strict schoolmaster

Q4: Which sentence uses the passive voice to hide who is responsible for the action? a) ☐ I accidentally spilled the orange juice on the rug. b) ☐ The orange juice was spilled on the rug. c) ☐ My brother spilled the orange juice. d) ☐ The rug was ruined by the spilled orange juice.

Q5: Which sentence is the passive form of 'The explorers discovered a hidden cave'? a) ☐ A hidden cave was discovered by the explorers. b) ☐ The explorers were discovering a hidden cave. c) ☐ A hidden cave is being discovered by the explorers. d) ☐ Discovery of the cave was made by the explorers.

Section B: Application (Written Answers)

Answer in the spaces provided.

⇨ The passage below is a set of notes written by a student during a science investigation.

"We poured 50ml of water into the glass beaker. Then, we placed the sunflower seeds into the damp soil. Finally, we recorded the temperature of the room."

Q6: Identify one sentence from the science notes above and rewrite it in the passive voice. Then, explain why using the passive voice might be more appropriate for a formal science report. [3 marks]

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Q7: Rewrite the following short paragraph entirely in the passive voice to make it sound more formal and objective. [4 marks]

"The council built a new park in the centre of town. They planted many oak trees and installed a modern playground. Local residents welcomed the improvements."

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Total Marks: _______ / 12

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⚠ TEACHER’S GUIDANCE

💡 Pedagogical Pulse

• Delivery Tip: For Year 5, introduce the "By Zombies" test. If you can add "by zombies" to the end of a sentence and it still makes sense grammatically, it is likely in the passive voice (e.g., "The door was opened... by zombies").
• Common Misconception: Students often confuse the past tense with the passive voice. Remind them that "The boy ran" is past tense but still active, because the boy is the one doing the running.
• Differentiation: Encourage Greater Depth (GDS) students to consider the omission of the agent (e.g., "The window was broken") and why a writer might choose to be evasive or focus entirely on the recipient of the action.

Section A Answers

Q1: c

Explanation: In option (c), the subject (the gardener) is performing the action (planting). Options (a), (b), and (d) all describe the subject having something done to them.

Q2: b

Explanation: To make the sentence passive, the object (the mouse) moves to the start, and the verb changes to 'was chased'.

Q3: d

Explanation: The 'agent' is the person performing the verb. Even though the door is at the start of the sentence, it is the schoolmaster who is doing the slamming.

Q4: b

Explanation: This is a 'passive without an agent'. By removing "by [someone]", the person responsible for the spill is not mentioned.

Q5: a

Explanation: This correctly uses the past participle 'discovered' with the auxiliary verb 'was' and retains the original meaning and tense.

Section B Guidance

Q6 Guidance

• 1 Mark: Correct passive rewrite (e.g., "50ml of water was poured into the glass beaker").
• 2 Marks: Clear explanation of why the passive voice is used in science (e.g., it sounds more formal, it focuses on the process/experiment rather than the person doing it, making it more objective).

Model Answer: "50ml of water was poured into the glass beaker. The passive voice is often better for science reports because it makes the writing sound more formal and unbiased. It focuses the reader's attention on what happened in the experiment rather than on the person who was doing the work."

Q7 Guidance

• 1 Mark: "A new park was built in the centre of town (by the council)."
• 1 Mark: "Many oak trees were planted..."
• 1 Mark: "...and a modern playground was installed."
• 1 Mark: "The improvements were welcomed by local residents."

Model Answer: "A new park was built in the centre of town. Many oak trees were planted and a modern playground was installed. The improvements were welcomed by local residents."