An ordeal is a difficult and sometimes harrowing experience. Someone who is taken hostage would go through an ordeal. The experience may be so unpleasant and painful that the person involved may not expect to come out of the ordeal in one piece. However, the noun ordeal may also be used to stress how complicated or time-consuming a particular task was:
"Obtaining a residency permit really was an ordeal".
Have a look at this video, which focuses on the pronunciation of this word:
Friday
GRAMMAR RECAP: PASSIVE STRUCTURES
Passive constructions are commonly used in business English. Look at the following examples and notice how they focus on the object and the action rather than who (the agent) is performing the action. Passive verb-forms can be used with most tenses and are often found in written English such as reports, as well as presentations and progress reports.
The engines are assembled here.
The Comet model-range is currently being updated.
The finished product was being painted when we noticed the problem.
The project will have been completed by the end of next month.
Customers are going to be informed about the problem in writing.
The following passive structures are commonly used in spoken English:
I've been told that my services are no longer required.
We've been advised to invest in something less risky.
She was warned about the risk of drinking too much.
I have been given 3 days to come up with a solution.
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