Question

A large mural decorates one wall of the community center. Some artist painted the mural last year. The mural shows groups of children singing, playing soccer, and reading books.
Which revision to the second sentence of the passage changes active voice to passive voice?

"Eduardo Vega painted the mural last year."
"The mural was painted last year."
"I think that some artist painted the mural last year."

Answer 1

Answer:

B). "The mural was painted last year."

Explanation:

A sentence written in passive voice pays emphasis on the object instead of the subject as the former replaces the latter in such sentences. In passive voice, the subject is being acted upon by the object and verb in the sentence(contrary to passive that involves the subject performing the action).

As per the question, option B displays the revision of the second sentence that converts it from active to passive voice as the object 'The mural' replaces the subject and the subject becomes the recipient of the action. The object is being emphasized in the revised sentence that replaces the emphasis of the original sentence(that was on subject 'some artist'). Thus, option B is the correct answer.

Answer 2

The correct answer is B. "The mural was painted last year."

Explanation:

In the passive voice, the emphasis is on the object affected by the action and the action itself, while the subject or agent of the action is less important. Due to this, a sentence in the passive voice includes first the object,  then the main action and finally the subject, although in some cases this is omitted.

This means in the case of the sentence "Some artist painted the mural last year" the revision in passive voice should begin by "The mural" (object of the sentence), then it should include the verb "was painted" and finally "some artists" although this can be omitted. According to this, the correct revision is "The mural was painted last year".