Final answer:
The difference between active and passive listening, much like active and passive voice, lies in the level of engagement and clarity. Active listening involves interaction and engagement, similar to active reading and active voice, where the subject is the actor. Passive listening lacks direct engagement and is comparable to passive voice, where the subject receives the action, resulting in a less clear and direct message.
Step-by-step explanation:
The difference between active and passive listening relates to the engagement level of the listener. When we use the term active listening, it implies an approach where the listener is fully engaged in the conversation; they provide feedback, ask questions, and demonstrate their understanding of the message being conveyed. This approach is akin toactive reading or writing in anactive voice, where the reader or writer is fully engaged with the material or sentence structure. In contrast, passive listening is when the listener is not as engaged and may receive the information without providing much feedback or showing that they are processing it deeply. This can be compared to writing in apassive voice, where the subject is acted upon rather than being the actor, which can make the message less direct and less engaging.
Active voice is where the subject performs the action of the verb, making the message clearer and often more convincing. Conversely, passive voice is frequently used in scientific and technical writing, though increasingly it is being replaced in certain sections of reports by active voice for more clarity and succinctness.a