English MCQs – Page 30 (Q291-300)

The correct answer is 'We are taught grammar by her' because the active sentence 'She teaches us grammar' contains two objects, 'us' and 'grammar', and when converting to passive voice, the indirect object 'us' becomes the subject 'we', while 'grammar' remains as a retained object after the verb. The tense stays Simple Present, giving 'are taught'. The distractor options incorrectly shift the tense, use an ungrammatical bare verb form, or omit necessary agreement, illustrating the added complexity of passive conversion with double-object verbs like 'teach', 'give', and 'tell'.

The correct answer is 'They will be invited by me' because the active sentence 'I will invite them' is in the Simple Future tense, and its passive form follows the fixed structure will + be + past participle, giving 'will be invited'. The object 'them' becomes the subject 'they', and 'I' becomes the agent 'by me'. The distractor options incorrectly shift the tense to Simple Past or Simple Present, or omit the required 'be' after 'will', producing an ungrammatical passive construction inconsistent with the original future tense.

The correct answer is 'Dinner is being prepared by the chef' because the active sentence 'The chef is preparing dinner' is in the Present Continuous tense, requiring the passive structure am/is/are + being + past participle, giving 'is being prepared'. The distractor options either omit the essential 'being', which signals the ongoing nature of the action, or incorrectly shift the tense to Present Perfect, Simple Present, or Simple Past. Present Continuous passive constructions consistently require this 'being' component, distinguishing them clearly from simpler passive tenses.

The correct answer is 'The window was broken by the boy' because it follows the defining passive voice structure: the receiver of the action, 'the window', functions as the grammatical subject, paired with a form of 'be' plus the past participle 'broken', with the original doer, 'the boy', introduced afterward by 'by'. The distractor options are all active voice sentences, where the doer, 'the boy', functions as the subject performing the action directly. Recognizing this subject-doer-versus-subject-receiver distinction is the fundamental skill needed to identify passive voice sentences.

The correct answer is 'The teacher explained the lesson' because in active voice, the subject, 'the teacher', directly performs the action expressed by the verb, 'explained', acting upon the object, 'the lesson', without any passive auxiliary structure. The distractor options all place the receiver of the action, 'the lesson', in the subject position paired with a 'be' plus past participle construction, marking them as passive voice. This direct subject-performs-action pattern, without 'by' phrases or 'be' auxiliaries preceding a past participle, is the defining test for active voice.

The correct answer is 'on' because 'on foot' is a fixed idiomatic expression describing traveling by walking, and unlike other modes of transport, which use 'by', walking specifically requires 'on' in this set phrase, as in 'goes on foot' or 'travels on foot'. This is an important exception to the general 'by plus vehicle' pattern seen in expressions like 'by bus' or 'by car', since 'foot' is not a vehicle but a means of movement using the body. Memorizing 'on foot' as a fixed exception is essential for transportation-related preposition questions.

The correct answer is 'by' because 'by' is the standard preposition used with modes of transportation when referring to the means of travel in a general sense, as in 'by bus', 'by car', 'by train', or 'by air'. This pattern applies broadly to nearly all vehicles, with the notable exception of 'on foot', which uses 'on' instead since walking does not involve a vehicle. Recognizing 'by plus vehicle' as the default transportation preposition, alongside its one common exception, is essential for correctly answering travel-related preposition questions.

The correct answer is 'with' because 'with' is the standard preposition used to indicate the instrument or tool used to perform an action, as in 'cut the bread with a knife' or 'wrote with a pen'. This differs from 'by', which typically introduces the agent or doer of an action in passive voice constructions, a distinction frequently tested together since both prepositions can appear in similar-looking sentences but serve entirely different grammatical roles, instrument versus agent.

The correct answer is 'on' because 'on' is the standard preposition used with specific days of the week, including their plural forms when referring to a recurring habitual pattern, as in 'closed on Sundays' or 'open on Mondays'. This fits within the broader at-on-in time-preposition system, where 'on' consistently governs days and dates regardless of whether they are singular, one specific Sunday, or plural, referring to Sundays in general as a recurring pattern. This consistent use of 'on' for both specific and habitual day references is a useful exam shortcut.

The correct answer is 'My bicycle has been stolen' because when the active sentence's subject is an unspecified or unknown person, such as 'someone', the passive voice conventionally omits the agent phrase entirely, since naming an unidentified doer adds no useful information. The tense must still match the original Present Perfect, giving 'has been stolen' rather than a shifted tense. This omission of a vague or unknown agent, a common real-world use of passive voice, particularly for crimes and unexplained events, is a frequently tested nuance in competitive English exams.