The report was read by Betty.
Betty read the report.

A decision was made to stop the project.
We decided to stop the project.

The passive voice should be avoided.
Avoid the passive voice.

Now, ask yourself: which of the two sentences in each set sounds better to you — and why? 

In general, the active voice (represented by the second sentence in each pair) is preferable to the passive voice (represented by the first sentence in each pair) because the active voice tends to be simpler, clearer and more direct. The active voice also makes for more forceful and interesting writing. Thus, we say: Avoid the passive. Favor the active.