Please, find sentences with the Passive Voice. Translate them. Change the Passive Voice into the Active Voice if possible.
Please, read and comprehend the text below. Note the vocabulary units (given in bold type) and phrases you find the most appropriate to discuss the topic. Translate and learn them.
TEXT 1
The danger of a ‘tell me what I want to hear’ culture in social services.
August 26, 2014 By Blair McPherson,
Ex-social worker and social services director
Social care leaders can't afford to simply ignore those who disagree with them, writes Blair McPherson
I have known directors who think their senior managers shield them from the negative stuff.
These same senior managers don‘t admit to problems for fear of being considered incapable and think their best interests are to serve and reassure the boss that all is well and any problems are being sorted.
I have known directors who dismiss the idea of open sessions with staff saying it just gives a forum for the grumblers, the cynics and those with a particular axe to grind. I have worked in places where no one dare tell the chief executive that something is a bad idea; where to express concernis viewed asdissent, even disloyalty. No one actually says ‗tell me lies‘ but in suchplaces the truth becomes too hard to hear, so managers recognize that they are expected to say the right thing or say nothing.
And so you end up with a culture of ‗tell me what I long to hear‘. Tell me the budget cuts are being delivered with minimum pain. Tell me we can do more with less. Tell me stories of innovation and change for the better. Tell me the reorganization is a success. Tell mealternatives have been found for those whose services have been closed. Tell me that the voluntary sector has stepped into fill the gap, that thelocal faith communityis keen to domore, that families are taking responsibility.
Tell me we have reduced bureaucracy, cut down on paperwork, and are making better use of staff time. Tell me theuseofunqualifiedbuttrained staffhas proved a great success. Tell methat most of the redundancies were voluntary. Tell me we were able to offer redeployment to most of those impacted by the restructuring. Tell me the problems have been exaggerated.
Tell me everything is under control. Tell me the stories in the press are isolated examples.
Tell me the unions are exaggerating, that staff morale always takes a dip when changes are happening. Tell me that new technology will save us money and time. Tell me the new software problems can easily be ironed out. Tell me the outsourcing of services is going to deliver the predicted savings. Tell me the performance figures will be better next time. Tell me it’s just a few bad apples. Tell me our communication strategy will explain everything. Tell me we canhave confidence in what our managers tell us. Tell me what I want to hear. Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies.
The trouble is that if you encourage managers only to give you the good news then at some point you are going to get a very unpleasant surprise and it will be too late to take corrective actions. It might be a whistleblower, an unannounced inspection, some very persistent questioning by
the scrutiny committee or an MP who on behalf of a service user / constituent won‘t let the matter be dropped. Eventually it will all come out and probably very publicly.
Of course there will be those who say they knew nothing, that the true position was kept from themor that they were given assurances thatthe problems were minor and being addressed.
Whether they are believed or notwill depend on their leadership style, whether theyasked the right questions of thosethey relied on, and whether they listened–even to those who disagreedwith them!
Source: http://www.communitycare.co.uk/2014/08/26/danger-tell-want-hear-culture-social-services/
Please, find sentences with Continuous, Perfect and Perfect Continuous tenses in the text. Translate them and explain why such tense is used there.
Please, find sentences with the Passive Voice. Translate them. Change the Passive Voice into the Active Voice if possible.
Glossary
sweet little lies –здесь:то,что очень хочется услышать вместо правдыto ignore –игнорировать,не обращать внимание
to disagree –не соглашаться,расходиться во мнении
senior managers –старшие управляющие/руководители среднего звена
to shield smb from smth / smb –здесь:уберегать кого-либо от чего-либо/кого-либоthe negative stuff –здесь:неприятная информация
to admit to smth –допускать что-либо,допускать разрешение чего-либо
for fear of being considered incapable (to do smth) –здесь:из-за страха за то,что ихсочтут неспособными (сделать что-либо)
to serve and reassure the boss –служить и поддерживать(во всѐм)своего начальникаto sort out smth –разобраться в чѐм-либо;разрешить что-либо
to dismiss the idea of open sessions with staff –исключить мысль о проведении открытыхсобраний с участием (всего) персонала
a chief executive –исполнительный директор;должностное лицоto express concern –выражать озабоченность
a dissent –диссидент;несогласный
to say the right thing or say nothing –здесь:сказать то,что хотят услышать или неговорить ничего
to end up with smth –здесь: (в результате)скатиться/опуститься до чего-либоto long to do smth –испытывать большое желание сделать что-либо
the budget cuts –сокращение бюджетных статей
voluntary sector has stepped in to fill the gap –здесь:волонтѐры присоединились креализации программы и закрыли собой брешь
local faith community –здесь:прихожане местной церкви/члены местного церковногоприхода
to reduce bureaucracy –сократить бюрократию
to make better use of staff time – лучше использовать рабочее время персонала unqualified but trained staff –неквалифицированный,но хорошо подготовленный(спрактической точки зрения) персонал
redundancies –здесь:сокращенияredeployment –здесь:перетрудоустройство
those impacted by the restructuring –здесь:те,кто понѐс существенные издержки врезультате сокращения
to exaggerate –здесь:преувеличивать
to be under control –быть под контролемisolated examples –здесь:отдельные примерыto take a dip –испытывать спад
to save money and time –экономить деньги и времяto iron out –здесь:сгладить(что-либо)
performance figures –здесь:показатели производительности/эффективности трудаit’s just a few bad apples (in the basket) –здесь:это всего лишь несколько плохихпримеров (в нашей работе)
to take corrective action –предпринять действия по устранению какой-либо ошибкиa whistleblower –здесь:паникѐр
on behalf of a service user –здесь:от имени потребителя услуги/клиентаto come out very publicly –здесь:выйти наружу с большой оглаской
the true position was kept from them –настоящее положение дел было скрыто от нихproblems were minor and being addressed –здесь:проблемы были незначительногохарактера и ими уже занимались
Whether they are believed or not … –Верят им или нет…
to ask the right questions of those … –задать правильный/своевременный вопрос тем, …