C(At rtovw biAiid ccnve-H' indi/s+riaii^e Describing changes: present perfect passive You can see from the interview on page 109 that when you write about changes between a time in the past and now, the main tense is the present perfect passive: A new tram line has been built... . . . a bike-rental scheme has been introduced... However, take place, become, change and make way fo r can't be passive: A number o f important changes have taken place in the last decade. The city has become much more modem. The cinema was knocked down to make way fo r a new shopping centre. 2 Complete these sentences with a suitable present perfect form of the verb in brackets. 1 The city used to be very green, but i t ...................much more industrial. (becom e) 2 A new sports cen tre...................in the city centre. (construct) 3 The old stadium ...................and replaced by a new one. (dem olish) 4 Many significant changes...................in the city in the last ten years, (take place) 5 The old town h all.................. and replaced by new flats, (knock down) 6
There used to be a park in the north of the city, but it.................. by a supermarket. (replace) 7 The old houses.................. to make way for new apartments, (pull down) 8
There didn’t use to be many skyscrapers, but several...................in the last few years, (build) 9 In the last 15 years, the city ...................considerably, from a quiet market town into a much busier small city, (change) 10 The disused factory in the south of the city...................a shopping mall, (turn into)