I'm just wondering something about passive voice and attempting to fit a function to it - specifically from the list in exercise 50. If you say something like:

Bob shot JR in 1987.

Then you could say " A completed action at a specified time in the past". Might still have significance too :-)

But if you say

"JR was shot in 1987".

That's passive voice but it still has the same function. Is it enough to blindly fit that function out of the list or do I need to elaborate on my own. As in:

Something that happened in the past by someone we either don't know or don't care about. Ie: An unknown "actor/subject".

After 58 quizes, one tends to be locked into the fixed response mode!

By the way, I know that typing "A completed action at a specified time in the past" isn't enough. I'm not looking for a cheat here, or an answer, just wondering are the tutors looking for some magic answer (like the computer does for the rest of the course) or can you simply show the tutor that you understand what's going on :-)

A few things here. First, this is likely the wrong forum to be asking this question. But secondly, and more importantly, the process of asking the question gave me the answer without anyone having to reply. The answer is to remember that there is a person marking the final grammar exam, not a machine. All you have to do is explain the function as if you were asking a student to do it. For example: "Make a sentence in the future using the verb to jump". And a canned response from a list won't always work.

In computer programming, there is a method used to figure out a tricky problem. And that's to pose the question to a toy teddy bear. The process of posing the question often creates the answer. Maybe this can be used to figure out teaching issues too. If you can't talk to a stuffed bear, the classroom might be a bit on the hard side :-)

they are not looking for any magic answer, they are asking you to think about why you use the passive rather than active.  You have described it as a completed action in the past, but this is true for the past simple in any voice.  Now ask yourself the age old question - who shot JR? and you may understand what they want you to say. ;-)

As you say: "JR was shot in 1987"

What is important in this sentence?  That JR was shot, the year it happened or who shot him?  What question exactly might it be the answer to?  When I'm asking my students about the function of a sentence I always ask them to think about what is the important information given or asked for.  Your analogy with asking students is sound - when you imagine yourself asking them this question you can understand what the tutor wants to know.  This module helps you understand these fundamentals about teaching as you go through the process of learning exactly what you will teach.

The tutor simply needs to know that you understand the function of the passive voice in this context (they're not psychic), how you make them aware of this is up to you.