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> And while the maintenance manual specifies
> that a control tab installation inspection must be done before the work can
> be signed off, it provides 'no specific instructions related to the
> inspection requirements,' the reports show."
>
That *is* interesting, and I'm especially curious to know
whether that double passive construction ("a control tab
installation inspection must be done before the work can
be signed off") is in the original text.
It would be a handy learning aid for recalcitrants who
argue that the active/passive issue in instructional writing
is just pedantry.
There is a very big difference between telling someone that
something "must be done" and telling them: "YOU must
do this." One is informative and impersonal; the other is
a direct instruction that leaves no room for doubt about who
owns the responsibility.
How big is the difference? Big enough, apparently, to bring
down an aircraft.
When people don't use the right words, then other people
don't get the right message. Simple!
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A landmark hotel, one of America's most beautiful cities, and
three and a half days of immersion in the state of the art:
IPCC 01, Oct. 24-27 in Santa Fe. http://ieeepcs.org/2001/
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