Present Simple Passive

Present Simple Passive

Based on 'Achieve IELTS Grammar and Vocabulary'.

_{Photo by Hisham Yahya on Unsplash.}

The world's favourite drink

Coffee is the second largest export in the world after oil and around two billion cups are consumed every day, making it the world’s favourite drink. Where is coffee grown? Two thirds of the world’s coffee supply is produced in Central and South America and one third is grown in Brazil. Large amounts of coffee are also grown in Indonesia, Colombia and Vietnam. Worldwide, six million metric tonnes of coffee are produced in countries within 1,600 kilometres of the equator —it isn’t produced in colder countries. It takes 4,000 coffee beans to make half a kilo of coffee and 60 to 70 beans are used to make an espresso.

Multiple Choice

_______ is the largest export in the world.

• gold

• coffee

• oil

Multiple Choice

_________ of coffee is from Brazil.

• one fifth

• one quarter

• one third

Multiple Choice

_____________ coffee beans are used to make an espresso.

• 1,600

• 60–70

• 4,000

Present simple passive

We use the passive when:

– we are interested in what is produced and not in the producer

– we do not know who is doing the action

– we do not need to know who is doing the action.

Look for...

passive sentences in passages about processes and producing things. You will also need to use passives if Writing task 1 asks you to describe a process like producing coffee.

Activity 2

Read the passage in Activity 1 again and copy out the passive verbs.

Activity 3. Look at the pictures and complete the passage.

Making coffee

Coffee beans are really the seeds of a fruit. Coffee trees produce coffee cherries, which turn bright red when they are ripe and ready to pick. There are three parts to making coffee: harvesting, sorting and roasting. There is usually one coffee harvest per year. Coffee cherries (1) ..................... by hand. Then the beans (2) ....................... and (3) .... ................. from their dry shells. The green coffee beans (4) ........ ...............by size and weight. The beans (5) ..................... and then they are transported around the world in large containers. About seven million tonnes of green coffee are transported worldwide each year.

Activity 4

Write the questions.

Fill in the Blanks

When / coffee beans / pick

Fill in the Blanks

How / coffee cherries / harvest

Fill in the Blanks

How / the beans / sort

Fill in the Blanks

How / the beans / transport

Activity 5

Read the passage again and answer the questions in Activity 4.

Activity 6

Complete the passage using the verbs in the box. Not all the verbs are in the passive.

Activity 6

Fill in the Blanks

After the beans (1)

and sorted, the green coffee beans...

Fill in the Blanks

the green coffee beans (2)

in ovens. Roasting is where coffee's flavour comes from.

Fill in the Blanks

flavour comes from. The green coffee beans ( 3 )

to temperatures of about 288°C.

Fill in the Blanks

about 288°C. The beans first (4)

a yellow colour and smell a little like popcorn. The beans are heated for another eight minutes until the beans 'pop' and double in size. Then the temperature

Fill in the Blanks

Then the temperature (5)

to 204°C and the beans go brown. They are roasted for a further three to five minutes until the second 'pop'

Fill in the Blanks

for a further three to five minutes until the second 'pop' (6)

This means that the beans are ready. The length of the roasting time depends on the type of coffee

Fill in the Blanks

depends on the type of coffee which (7)

– shorter for American coffee, longer for espresso.