Which excerpt from the passage contains a paradox and a pun? “my part would not be out of place.” “larger railway stations in london.” “i merely desire information.” “whose origin was a terminus.”

Because a pun is a play on words, it can be seen that “Terminus,” the last word of the last line presented, is a pun because of how it could mean the ending of a railway if not capitalized.  But, because it is capitalized, it is referring to the Roman god of boundaries.  A paradox (or contradiction of sorts) exists within the last line because of the relationship the author gives to “origin” and “Terminus,” which provides the contradictory message that one’s beginning was actually an ending, or “whose origin was a Terminus.”  Thus, it is the last line of the excerpt that contains both a pun and a paradox.

active voice: my father cut the tree.

passive voice: the tree was cut by my father.

active voice: people buy newspapers every day.

passive voice: newspapers are bought (by people) every day.

active voice: people have been using movies as political propaganda since world war ii.

passive voice: movies have been used as political propaganda since world war ii.

active voice: donna gave me my birthday present.

passive voice: i was given my birthday present (by donna). / my birthday present was given to me (by donna).

active voice: mom will leave the keys on the counter.

passive voice: the keys will be left (by mom) on the counter.

the words in parentheses are the agent of the passive voice and can be omitted when obvious, generic, or simply unnecessary.