with so much work to be done/ to do

[joham]

I ran across the following question:
Failing to finish his lifelong goal of creating a state of his own, he left his legendary life with so much work still _____.

A. to do B. to be done (The given answer is A.)

I would think 'to be done' is the better choice. Am I right?

PS: Does 'a state' here refer to a condition, a country, or anything else?

Thank you very much.

 

[Delmobile]

Since "he" seems to be dead at sentence's end, I agree with you. "Still to do" implies, for me, that he might yet manage to do it.

Without more context I would have to guess that "state" refers to a political entity of some kind. Not "a state of mind," surely, unless he was a professional hypnotherapist