雅思写作里的被动语态

在外大学里，很多教授对被动形式相当看重，有些教授甚至明确要求写 research papers 或者 thesis 的时候尽量少用 I ， we 这类主观的人称，而是改用一些类似：

It can be argued that...

One argument put forward is that...

It is advised that...

It is believed that...

It is commonly accepted that...

It is reported that...

这类的表达来凸显学术论文的客观性。

但另一方面，在西方也有一派学者（主要是研究文学或者专攻语言学的）对被动语态相当 BS 。比如美大学里人所共知的写作圣经 The Elements of Style 这本书中就曾明确指出：

The active voice is usually more direct and vigorous than passive."I shall always remember my first visit to Boston."is much better than "My first visit to Boston will always be remembered by me."

当然，在下文中，就是多年前写这本书的老前辈也承认了被动语态在必要的时候还是可以用的。不过总的来说，他的倾向非常明显：能用主动就尽量不用被动。

对于雅思考生来说，当然没有必要让自己卷子这种派系斗争中，但是雅思写作到底是否应该多用被动呢？

There is truth in numbers. 还是用统计数字来说话吧：在《剑 8 》当中被动句并不鲜见。

比如：

《剑 8 》 163 页： Educating children to understand the need to obey rules and respect others always begins in the home and is widely always begins in the home and is widely thought to be the responsibility of parents.

同页： They will certainly be the first to help children learn what is important in life, how they are expected to behave and what role they will play in their world.

《剑 8 》 167 页： Traffic congestion will not be solved by changing the type of private vehicle people can use.

以及《剑 8 》 173 页： Similarly, boys in single-sex schools are more likely to take cookery classes and to study languages, which are often thought of as traditional subjects for girls.

所以，结论就有了：雅思考官对于被动语态并不反感，能自然使用的时候就尽量用吧，一篇雅思作文里出现 2-3 次被动形式是完全正常的，只要不是过多就好了。