The Veldhuis Job — The Passive (B1 Grammar)

B1 - the passive

The Veldhuis Job

PICTURE

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Ten years on. Three paintings. Ninety million euros. Nobody has ever been charged.

The passive: *be* + past participle, across tenses · *by* + agent · active or passive?

Reading

Speaking

LEAD-IN

Quick art-crime quiz

Guess the answers with a partner — your teacher has the real ones.

1. What percentage of stolen art is ever recovered?

a) about 5–10%

b) about 40%

c) about 75%

2. Where is stolen art usually hidden?

a) private collections

b) it is usually destroyed

c) nobody really knows

PICTURE

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BEFORE YOU READ

Ten years on

You are going to read a news report about the most expensive art theft in a country's history. It has still not been solved.

READ ONCE AND ANSWER

PICTURE

1. What was stolen?

2. How was it done?

3. What has happened since?

(you add this)

READING

THE VELDHUIS JOB: TEN YEARS ON, STILL NO ANSWERS

Ten years ago this week, the Veldhuis Gallery was robbed in the most expensive art theft in the country's history — and the case has still not been solved.

The robbery was carried out in under eight minutes. At 3.20 a.m., a side door was opened with a copied key, and two alarms were switched off from inside the building. Three paintings, including Verhoeven's Woman at a Window, were cut from their frames. Together, the works were valued at 90 million euros.

No fingerprints were found, and although the gallery was being watched by six cameras that night, the recordings had been deleted by the time police arrived. Investigators concluded that the thieves had been helped by someone on the staff. Nobody has ever been charged.

Since then, the missing paintings have been reported in Marseille, in Dubai, and — twice — in Sao Paulo. Every report has been investigated; none has been confirmed. Experts believe the paintings can't be sold openly.

"A famous stolen painting isn't sold at auction," says art crime specialist Dr Lena Rask. "It 's used. It 's exchanged between criminals as a kind of currency — it can be traded for drugs, weapons or debts. These works will probably never be hung on anyone's wall."

The gallery itself has been transformed since the theft. New security systems have been installed, and visitors are now checked at the entrance. The empty frames, however, have been left on the wall, exactly where they were found that morning.

"They will be filled again," the director insists. "The paintings are out there. Someone knows."

COMPREHENSION

Answer briefly.

1. How long did the robbery take?

2. Why couldn't police use the camera recordings?

3. What did investigators conclude about the thieves?

4. According to Dr Rask, why aren't famous stolen paintings sold at auction?

5. What has been left unchanged in the gallery, and why?

GRAMMAR FOCUS

What every passive is made of

a) The Veldhuis Gallery was robbed ten years ago.

b) The gallery was being watched by six cameras.

c) The recordings had been deleted by the time police arrived.

d) New security systems have been installed.

e) These works will probably never be hung on anyone's wall.

f) A famous stolen painting isn't sold at auction.

1. In (a), do we know who robbed the gallery? Why does the writer use the passive?

2. What two elements form every passive? Look at all six: what changes, and what stays the same?

3. In (b), which word introduces the "doer" (the agent)? When do we bother mentioning the agent?

4. Why do news reports and formal writing use so many passives? What is the focus?

GRAMMAR FOCUS (continued)

Match each sentence (a–f) to its tense.

TENSE

SENTENCE

past simple

______

past continuous

______

past perfect

______

present perfect

______

present simple

______

will future

______

THE RULES

Complete the rule

• The passive = the verb ________ (in any tense) + the ________ ________.

• Use it when the doer is unknown, unimportant or obvious — or when we want to focus on what happened rather than who did it.

• Use by only if the agent adds real information: painted by Verhoeven — but not robbed by somebody.

CAREFUL

Same event, two focuses: Somebody stole three paintings (who did it) vs Three paintings were stolen (what happened). News reports almost always choose the second.

PRACTICE

Rewrite in the passive. Use by only if it is necessary.

1. Somebody stole three paintings from the gallery. → Three paintings ____________.

2. They are questioning a former security guard. → A former security guard ____________.

3. Nobody has confirmed the Sao Paulo reports. → The Sao Paulo reports ____________.

4. Verhoeven painted Woman at a Window in 1911. → Woman at a Window ____________.

5. They won't solve this case without an informer. → This case ____________.

6. Someone had copied the key weeks before. → The key ____________.

7. Criminals use stolen art as currency. → Stolen art ____________.

8. They were repairing the main entrance that week. → The main entrance ____________.

TASK

Write the news report

In pairs, write the opening paragraph (5–6 sentences) of a news report about a crime or scandal in your town — real or invented.

• The criminal's identity is unknown, so almost every sentence must be passive.

• Read your report to another pair.

• They ask follow-up questions: Has anyone been arrested? Was anything recovered?

PICTURE

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TEACHER'S REFERENCE · HIDE OR DELETE BEFORE CLASS

Answer key

QUIZ 1 a — commonly cited estimates are around 5–10%. 2 c — much stolen art simply disappears; experts believe some of it circulates in the criminal economy.

COMPREHENSION 1 Under eight minutes. 2 They had been deleted before the police arrived. 3 That the thieves had inside help from a member of staff. 4 They are too famous — they are used and traded between criminals instead. 5 The empty frames — as a statement that the paintings will return.

GRAMMAR FOCUS 1 No — the doer is unknown, so the focus is the event. 2 be (in any tense) + past participle. 3 by; mention the agent only when it adds information. 4 The focus is on actions and things, not doers; it also sounds objective and formal.

TENSES a past simple · b past continuous · c past perfect · d present perfect · e will future · f present simple

RULE be · past participle

PRACTICE 1 Three paintings were stolen from the gallery.

2 A former security guard is being questioned.

3 The Sao Paulo reports haven't been confirmed.

4 Woman at a Window was painted by Verhoeven in 1911. (the agent is needed)

5 This case won't be solved without an informer.

6 The key had been copied weeks before.

7 Stolen art is used as currency (by criminals optional).

8 The main entrance was being repaired that week.