Modal verbs
142. Open the brackets using the appropriate form of the Infinitive (Non-perfect Active or Passive).
1. It is in vain to say that human beings ought to (be) satisfied with tranquility: they must (have) action; and they will make it if they cannot (find) it (Charlotte Bronte). 2. The world can only (grasp) by action, not by contemplation… The hand is the cutting edge of the mind (Jacob Bronowski). 3. Advertising may (describe) as the science of arresting human intelligence long enough to get money from it (Stephen Leacock). 4. You’re not drunk if you can (lie) on the floor without holding on (Dean Martin). 5. Ah, but a man’s reach should (exceed) his grasp. Or what’s a heaven for? (Robert Browning) 6. The most serious charge which can (bring) against New England is not Puritanism but February (Joseph Wood Krutch). 7. In America any boy may (become) President and I suppose it’s just one of the risks he takes! (Adlai Stevenson) 8. The physician can (bury) his mistakes, but the architect can only (advise) his client to plant vines – so they should (go) as far as possible from home to build their first buildings (Frank Lloyd Wright). 9. You cannot (argue) with someone who denies the first principles (Aristotelis). 10. The artist must (be) in his work as God is in creation, invisible and all-powerful; one must (sense) him everywhere but never (see) him (Gustave Flaubert). 11. Some books are to (taste), others to (swallow), and some few to (chew) and (digest) (Francis Bacon). 12. Dictionaries are like watches, the worst is better than none, and the best cannot (expect) to go quite true (Samuel Johnson). 13. We all know that books burn – yet we have the greater knowledge that books cannot (kill) by fire. People die, but books never die. No man and no force can (abolish) memory. No man and no force can (put) thought in a concentration camp forever (Franklin D. Roosevelt). 14. Probable impossibilities are to (prefer) to improbable possibilities (Aristotle). 15. You can (tell) a lot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jellybeans (Ronald Reagan). 16. It should (note) that children at play are not playing about; their games should (see) as their most serious-minded activity (Montaigne). 17. A lawyer with his briefcase can (steal) more than a hundred men with guns (Mario Puzo). 18. The tree of liberty must (refresh) from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure (Thomas Jefferson). 19. If men are to (wait) for liberty till they become wise and good in slavery, they may indeed (wait) for ever (Lord Macaulay). 20. If I am pressed to say why I loved him, I feel it can only (explain) by replying: ‘Because it was he; because it was me’ (Montaigne).
143. Complete the text with the correct modal verbs for the meanings in brackets.
Some people _______ (obligation 1) always do things. They decide that they _______ (necessity 2) to learn Chinese, although they already speak six other languages. They are of average weight, but they _______ (advisability 3) lose weight. They have good jobs, but they decide that next year they _______ (certainty 4) change their jobs. They _______ (inability 5) be content doing the same thing all the time. They feel that they _______ (prohibition 6) stop still. They _______ (necessity 7) to change things. Even when they are not working and just living at home, they _______ (obligation 8) do something different. They decide they _______ (advisability 9) have another baby. They _______ (possibility 10) own a large house; but they _______ (necessity 11) to have one in another street, another town, another country. They look out of the window and decide they _______ (certainty 12) reorganize the garden. They ________ (impossible 13) live like this any longer. They ________ (inadvisability 14) stay in the same job, house, country. They _______ (obligation 15) change as the years change.
1
44.
Fill in each of the gaps with a suitable modal verb. Add not
if necessary.
This game is called I Spy Something. It _____ (1) be played by two to five players, and it _____ (2) last five seconds to five minutes. The person who is IT is the questioner and the others _____ (3) guess what object with this color the questioner has in mind. For example, he says, “I _____ (4) see something red that you _____ (5) see.” So the players _____ (6) mention red objects in the room. (For example: “Is it the red chair?”) The questioner _____ (7) answer “Yes” or “No”. He _____ (8) say the words: “cold”, “colder”, “very cold”, or “warm”, etc. These words give a hint in which direction the red object is. The players _____ (9) find the object.
Write a set of rules for a game of your choice.
145. Fill in the gaps with appropriate modal verbs using the infinitives from the brackets. Some modals must be used in the negative form.
Student: “But I don’t think I deserve an absolute zero.”
Prof.: “Neither do I, but it is the lowest mark that ________ (to give 1).”
2. It’s the first day of school and the teacher tells her kindergarten class, “If anyone _______ (go 2) to the bathroom, you _______ (hold up 3) two fingers.” After a moment of quiet thought, Little Johnny asked: “How will that help?”
3. A school teacher injured his back and _______ (wear 4) a plaster cast around the upper part of his body. It fit under his shirt and nobody _______ (see 5) it. On the first day of the term, still with the cast under his shirt, he _______ (work 6) with the toughest class in school. Walking confidently into the rowdy classroom, he opened the window as wide as he _______ (7) and busied himself with desk work. When a strong wind made his tie flap, he took the desk stapler and stapled the tie to his chest. Discipline was not a problem from that day forth!
4. A certain firm had the following words printed on its salary receipt forms: “Your salary is your personal business and _______ (to disclose 8) to anyone.”
The new employee said: “Of course it _______ (to mention 9) to anybody. We are all as much ashamed of it as you are.”
5. Shop manager: “Poor old Perkins has completely lost his hearing. I’m afraid he _______ (to allow 10) to work.”
Shop assistant: “Nonsense! He _______ (to transfer 11) to the Complaint Department.”
6. Judge: Is there any reason you _______ (not serve 12) as a juror in this case?
Juror: I _______ (be away 13) from my job that long.
Judge: _______ they (not do 14) without you at work?
Juror: They sure _______ (15), but I don’t want them to know it.
7. Poet: “Do you think more fire ________ (to put 16) into my poems?”
His friend: “No, I really think more of your poems _______ (to put 17) into the fire.”
8. While on holiday in Las Vegas a couple went to see a magic show. After one of the tricks the woman _______ (stand 18) it any longer and shouted out, “_______ you (tell 19) me how you did that?”
The magician replied, “I _______ (tell 20) you, madam. But if I do, I _______ (kill 21) you.”
The woman thought for a few seconds and then shouted back, “Okay, _______ you (tell 22) my husband how you did that?”
146. Paraphrase the advice given in the article using modal verbs and had better + Infinitive.