Practice

Read the following sentences and remove the "agent" if possible.

1. His poetry has been widely distributed by his publisher.
2. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature by the Nobel Prize Committee.
3. The sanctions imposed on his country by Norway made it impossible for him to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
4. She reacted angrily when accused of cheating by the judge.
5. The wheat, once separated from the chaff by hand, is now threshed by the machine.

Now, change the following sentences from the active voice to passive voice, (unless the verb is intransitive, a verb that does not take a direct object).  Omit the "by" phrase wherever possible.

1. Jacqueline memorized the text in its entirety.
2. Marta planted the tulips in the fall, and during the winter, she anticipated the splash of color they would add to her garden in the spring.
3. She dove into the deep end of the pool.
4. The sun sets slowly in the northern summer.
5. The microbiologist studied the slides under her microscope.