LIFE ON MARS?
“Spaceships have been seen in the sky above New York. Cities all over the USA have been
attacked. We believe that the invaders are from Mars.”
When those words were broadcast on the radio in 1938, thousands of Americans ran from their homes. Roads
were blocked by cars as people tried to escape from Martians. In fact, it was just a play called The War of the
Worlds.
The play was based on a story that was written by H.G. Wells in1898. In the story, Earth is attacked
by spaceships that come from Mars. We now know that there aren't any aliens from Mars. The Red Planet has
been visited by several space probes, and photographs are taken by the Mars Global Surveyor every day. All
the pictures show a cold, dead planet, and no signs of life have been found
there. Has it always been a dead planet, however?
American scientists believe that they have found
signs of life on Mars. These signs weren’t found
on the Red Planet itself; they were found in
Antarctica in a small meteorite called ALH84001.
The Earth is hit by millions of meteorites every
year. This particular meteorite came from Mars.
It is billions of years old and contains fossils that
look like bacteria.
Not every one agrees that the fossils in the meteorite are bacteria. In the
next ten or twenty years, we might find out, however, as there are many plans to send astronauts to Mars. The
Earth won't be invaded by Martians, as H.G. Wells thought. Instead, Mars will be visited by people of Earth.
It will be a difficult, dangerous and expensive journey.
1. Look through the texts. Who or what are these?
•H.G.Wells
•ALH84001
•The Red Planet
•The Mars Global Surveyor
2. Read the texts again. Are these statements true or false?
• New York was attacked by Martians in 1938.
• People thought that the radio play was real.
• Space probes have found signs of live in Mars.
• ALH84001 was found in Antarctica.
• Meteorites don't hit the Earth very often.
• All scientists agree that ALH 84001 contains fossils of bacteria.
• Astronauts will be sent to mars next year.
• We know there is life on other planets.
The Passive voice
We use the passive voice when the action is more important than the performer of the action.
(usamos la voz pasiva cuando la acción es más importante que quien la realiza)

The present simple passive:
is, am, are (the present simple of “be” ) + the past participle:
The Earth is hit by millions of meteorites every year

The past simple passive: (make a rule for the formation of the past simple passive)
...................................................................................................................................
Roads were blocked by cars.

The present perfect passive:
have / has + been (past participle of “be”) + past participle:
↓
Present perfect of “be”
Cities all over the USA have been attacked.

The simple future passive: (make a rule for the formation of the future simple passive)
.............................................................................................................................
Astronauts will be sent to mars next year.
LOOK!
HOW TO TEST FOR PASSIVE VOICE
1. Find the verb or verb phrase. Is there a form of "to be" plus a past participle?
2. Find the subject of the sentence. Does the subject receive, not perform, the action of the verb?
3. Is the “doer or agent” added to the end of the sentence after the preposition "by?" If the agent is
not stated choose a noun that could be the actor and test it at the end of the sentence after "by."
A "YES" TO EACH OF THE QUESTIONS = PASSIVE VOICE
a)Complete the gapped sentences below with the verb in the passive voice.
Active
The Mars Global Surveyor takes photographs everyday.
Passive
___________________ by the Mars Global Surveyor every day.
b) Complete the sentences from the text.
1. Spaceships _____________ in the sky above New York.
2. Roads ____________ by cars.
3. The Earth ____________ by millions of meteorites every year.
4. Mars _____________ by people from Earth.
c) Which tense is each sentence in? Write the numbers of the sentences in (b) in the boxes.
present simple
c) Put the verbs in brackets into the past simple passive voice
How did ALH84001 get to Earth? Mars _______________ (form) about 4.5 billion years ago.
About 16 million years ago, the planet _______________ (hit) by a huge comet. Millions of pieces
of the planet _______________ (throw) into space. About 13.000 years ago one of these meteorites
landed in Antarctica and it _____________(cover) by snow and ice. It _____________ (find) in
1980s and it ______________ (take) to the USA with other meteorites. There, the
meteorites ______________ (cut) open, and they ________________ (study) by scientists. Objects
that look like bacteria ____________________ (see) in ALH84001. The news of discovery
________________ (broadcast) around the world on TV, radio and the Internet.
d) Write passive sentences in Simple Present.
1. the documents / print
2. the window / open
3. the flash drive/ use not
4. the file / save
5. the images / send to reccycle bin
6. the e-mails / send
7. the e-book / download / no
8. the apps / / update not
9. the new folder / create
10. the web page / design / not
e) Write the following sentences in the passive voice.
1. The programmer installed the new software.
2. Lightning burnt the power supply of my desktop computer.
3. Someone stole my mobile yesterday
4. We opened a new folder in Word and saved all the English files there.
5. Yesterday, they installed the new computers in the lab.