Explore life and work in India's biggest city — and master the passive voice, which is perfect for talking about how things are made and done, at B1/B2 level.
Read the text carefully, then answer the comprehension questions using the dropdown menus.
Mumbai is the largest city in India and one of the busiest in the world. More than twenty million people live there, and every day thousands more arrive in search of work. The city is often called the financial capital of India, because so much of the country's money is made there.
Mumbai is a city of huge contrasts. Expensive skyscrapers are built next to enormous slums, where families live in very small homes. Many products that are sold around the world — from clothes to jewellery — are made in small workshops in these areas. Unfortunately, the workers are often paid very little for very long hours.
In recent years, this problem has been taken more seriously. Fair-trade organisations have been set up to help workers. When a product is given a fair-trade label, it means that the people who made it were paid a fair wage and were treated with respect. Some famous brands have been criticised in the news for poor conditions in their factories, and they have been forced to make changes.
Progress is slow, but more and more shoppers now want to know how their clothes are made — and by whom.
1 Mumbai is the city in India.
2 Mumbai is often called the capital of India.
3 Expensive skyscrapers are built next to enormous .
4 Many products are made in small .
5 The workers are often paid very for long hours.
6 organisations help to protect workers.
7 A fair-trade label means workers were paid a fair .
8 Some brands have been for poor conditions.
We use the passive (am/is/are + past participle) when the action matters more than who does it. Choose the correct present-simple passive form.
1 Many products in small workshops.
2 Mumbai the financial capital of India.
3 Expensive skyscrapers next to slums.
4 The workers very little.
5 Clothes and jewellery around the world.
6 A fair wage to fair-trade workers.
7 Poor factories in the news.
8 In fair-trade companies, workers with respect.
Choose the correct passive form. The time word tells you whether to use the present (is/are + pp) or the past (was/were + pp).
1 Last year, a new law to protect workers.
2 Today, many clothes in India.
3 In 2013, one factory by the government.
4 These days, fair-trade labels on many products.
5 Yesterday, the report to the public.
6 Every day, thousands of items in the workshops.
7 Recently, one brand for its poor conditions.
8 These days, workers' rights more seriously.
Think about the clothes and products you buy. Write a text (100–130 words) about why fair working conditions are important, and what can be done. Use the passive voice at least four times.
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