Grammar revision

Exercise 65 Change sentences from direct into indirect speech.

1. Some specialists asked, ‘Will high-speed traffic be in a wide use in the world?’ 2. The engineers were asked, ‘Is the railway to be transferred to electric traction?’ 3. Many railway experts were interested, ‘Will it be cheaper to use monorails instead of underground transport?’ 4. Some specialists asked, ‘Will the trains in the tubes attain enormous speeds?’ 5. The workers asked, ‘Has the power source already been installed in the vehicle?’ 6. The designer asked, ‘Will the loaded train be able to attain 350kph?’

Exercise 66 The sentences below were all addressed to you yesterday. How would you report them? Use said, told, or asked.

Model: Debbie: I bought a cake. – Debbie said she’d bought a cake.

Waiter: Would you mind moving to another table?

Oliver: I’d love to do a parachute jump.

Shop assistant: What’s your postcode?

Linda: Would you mind looking after my luggage?

Policeman: Does anyone else live in the house?

Sarah: I can drive a minibus.

Landlord: Don’t park your car in the yard, ok?

Tom: Have you finished with the computer?

Librarian: Could you turn the music off, please?

Louise: Where are you going?

Jack: I’ve been dropped from the basketball team.

Exercise 67 Fill in the gaps. Pay attention to sequence of tenses.

1. Louis Brennan believed that monorails (are/were/will be/would be) promising for military purposes. 2. Inspecting the locomotive the driver found that the electric motors (overheat/overheated/had overheated) and (need/needed/will need) repairs. 3. The designer planned that he (complete/will complete/would complete) his research in a few weeks. 4. The scientists were not sure whether the new device (can increase/could increase) the efficiency of the engine. 5. The engineer did not mention in his report if it (would be/will be) possible to get large savings from the electrification of the line.

Exercise 68 Supply some and any if it is necessary.

1. Are there any more potatoes? – Yes, there are ... potatoes in the dish. 2. Have we got any sugar? – I expect we have. Yes, there’s ... sugar in this bowl. 3. May I have ... more tea? – Yes, of course. 4. You won’t find ... biscuits in that tin. 5. You need to earn ... money. 6. ... eggs are not nice to eat raw. 7. Would you like ... boiled cabbage? 8. I didn’t get ... shoes at the sales. They were too expensive. 9. There are never ... taxis when you want one. 10. There isn’t ... point at all in getting upset about it. 11. I hate ... bad news. 12. We can’t do without ... bread. 13. Get ... meat and salad for the weekend. 14. Some people don’t eat ... meat. 15. There isn’t ... news of him.

Exercise 69 Put in words like everyone, something, etc.

James: Is ... here? Are we all ready?

Louise: There are only fourteen people here, not fifteen, so ... is missing.

Nicola: It’s Gary. Has ... seen Gary?

Rick: I’ve already asked. ... has seen him ... . I’m afraid he’s ... to be found.

Nicola: Well, he must be ... .

Adam: It’s OK. He’s just rung me on his mobile. He’ll be here in ten minutes. He just had ... to do first.

James: OK, let’s get ... loaded into the trailer, and then we’ll be ready. And make sure all your stuff goes in. We don’t want to leave ... behind.