When a Doctor Drank the Evidence
Grammar: Passive Voice
A Level 5 English lesson exploring science.
What's in this lesson
A Level 5 (advanced) ESL lesson on science, practising passive voice. The worksheet has a reading, target vocabulary, a grammar reference with practice and discussion questions.
From the reading: The Doctor Who Drank the Evidence
"Everyone said I was wrong," Barry Marshall recalled in 2005, the year he and Robin Warren collected their Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. "The professors, the gastroenterologists, the pharmaceutical companies — they had all agreed that stress caused ulcers. It had been established, more or less, since the 1950s." That consensus, it turned out, had been built on nothing stronger than assumption. By the time Marshall finished speaking in Stockholm, a paradigm shift had been formally recognised that would reshape how gastric ulcer disease was understood and treated across the world.
Vocabulary
- clinical trial
- gastric ulcer
- preliminary findings
- self-experimentation
Grammar: Passive Voice
- Passive reporting
- It has been established that the bacterium causes ulcers. — current accepted fact, agent unknown or irrelevant
- Complex passive
- The compound has since been found to inhibit the stomach lining. — finding + effect in one construction
Discussion questions
- Have you noticed how experts sometimes agree on something that later turns out to be completely wrong?
- Why do you think institutions resist new ideas even when evidence exists?
- Would you ever take a personal risk to prove a professional point?
When a Doctor Drank the Evidence
Grammar: Passive Voice
What's in this lesson:
Full lesson plan with reading, grammar, vocabulary, and discussion.
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