“Reality” markers

Exercise 14. IN FACT vs. BUT IN FACT. Make sentences as in the example.

Example: it rained all day / the weatherman had promised sunny weather  The weatherman had promised sunny weather, but in fact, it rained all day.

1. Dynamo are the best team in the country / Dynamo are a very good team.

2. research оn anti-viral drugs is making good progress / а cure for many deadly diseases is only a few years away.

3. we thought we might arrive even earlier / we expected to reach our destination by midday.

4. the expedition hoped to climb the mountain by August / it was mid-September before they could begin the ascent.

5. I’ll probably be seeing them over Christmas / I think they’re having a party on Boxing Day.

Exercise 15. Insert INDEED in the sentences below if possible. Alter punctuation as necessary.

1. Webb is a fine athlete. Indeed, he is the best athlete in these games.

2. The newspapers praised him highly, and he did an excellent job. However, other people deserved just as much credit.

3. Linda was blamed for the accident, but it wasn’t her fault at all.

4. Hudson’s book did not sell well at first. The publishers considered dropping it from their list. However, it is now a bestseller.

5. We shall have to work with each other even if we don’t get on well.

6. Those with chapped hands should try treating them with my special herb lotion. The lotion is so safe that it can even be recommended for treating swollen eyes.

Exercise 16. Choose the best way of beginning the sentences below.

1. (a) The disease is serious. In fact,. . .

(b) The disease is serious, but in fact…

... it is fatal in over 60% of cases.

2. (a) Muller has developed a vaccine for it, and indeed …

(b) Muller has developed a vaccine for it. In fact. …

… his work gives some cause for hope. However, it appears that the vaccine is only partially effective.

3. (a) At first Muller claimed to have found a ‘cure’. In fact. …

(b) At first Muller claimed to have found a “cure”, but in fact …

... further research showed such claims were exaggerated.

4. (a) Cases of the disease will increase throughout the 1990s. Indeed …

(b) Cases of the disease will increase throughout the 1990s, but in fact…

... it may become a world health problem in the twenty-first century.

5. (a) The theory of relativity sounds rather simple, in fact …

(b) The theory of relativity sounds rather simple, but in fact…

… it’s beyond my comprehension.

6. (a) We’ve had a pretty bad time while you were away. As a matter of fact …

(b) We’ve had a pretty bad time while you were away. In fact …

… we very nearly split up this time.

7. (a) Officially he is in charge but as a matter of fact …

(b) Officially he is in charge but actually …

… his secretary does all the work.

Exercise 17. Insert ACTUALLY / AS A MATTER OF FACT in the sentences below.

1. I bought these shoes in a shop in the High Street. It’s that shop that opened last week, right on the corner. It has a very nice range.

2. John: I’m going home now. Would you like a lift?

Sue: I’m not leaving just yet. I’ve got some work to finish. Thanks, though.

3. Alan: I admired the Prime Minister’s speech on television. Didn’t you?

Bob: I found it extremely depressing.

4. Migoumi: Let’s go for a swim after the lesson this afternoon.

Kaoro: I can’t swim.

5. Fleming was the first person to notice the effects of penicillin. He discovered the effects by accident. Then later, he discovered what caused these effects.

6. I’m glad Williams is leaving the company. He never seemed particularly good at his job. I heard he only got the job because he’s a friend of the boss.

Exercise 18. Mixed ‘REALITY’ forms. Choose the correct form in the sentences below. Sometimes both forms are possible.

1. - Did you have a good holiday in Scotland?

- In fact, / Actually, we never went to Scotland. We got as far as the Lake District, then we came home.

2. The sales of LPs have declined at the expense of CDs. Indeed, / In fact, production of classical LPs has ceased entirely.

3. Hodgeson was said to be a fine musician, and indeed / and actually he had an excellent voice, though I never heard him play an instrument.

4. - How do you like my new jacket? - Actually, / Indeed, it doesn’t suit you very well.

5. - Do you think we should buy a 386 computer?

- Actually, / As a matter of fact, there’s no advantage in getting a 386. The 486 models have come down in price, and they give more speed and power.

6. Everyone thought Stevens had the potential to become a great athlete, but in fact,/ and indeed he never fulfilled the promise he had shown.

7. Now some people have such confidence in the unborn child's hearing ability that they sing and talk to him and he actually responds! As a matter of fact / Actually, the unborn child has a completely developed auditory structure about half-way through pregnancy.

8. Her contradictions were not so unusual, not if you stopped to think about it. Most people, after all / as a matter of fact, were a mix of good and evil.

9. I'm not advising you to throw away your makeup or forget about your appearance. After all / Indeed, we do live in a world where beauty counts.

10. The Great Bear rotates about the sky and is always visible at night in the Northern Hemisphere. Indeed / As a matter of fact, during a total eclipse, it is visible in the daytime as well.

Exercise 19. Make the use of the discourse markers under consideration in this chapter to signal rewording, exemplifying, clarifying listing and summing up. Translate into Russian.

1. Most of us can take simple precautions to minimize the risk. We avoid walking in parks or deserted city areas after dark.

2. The new test has some similarities to a conventional IQ test, but also some significant differences. It does not have a test of vocabulary.

3. For the past century or so, geologists have worked on the basis that the present is the key to the past. They use processes familiar today to explain how ancient rocks formed.

4. The onus is on the shopkeeper to provide goods which live up to the quality of their description; they must not be bad or off.

5. A film is made at twenty-four frames a second. The camera takes twenty-four photographs each second.

6. A portrait painter or a landscape artist fakes: he rearranges nature to a better angle for his purpose.

7. Then I didn't hear a thing from them until yesterday, the last day of February.

8. Some teachers may be more effective than others because they explain better. They employ qualitatively different kinds of verbal interaction with students.

9. The advertisement was taken as it was intended, straight-talking and fair.

10. Many ponies are kept at grass livery, they live outside all year round.

11. He held the receiver to his ear long enough to establish what he already knew, that the line was cut.

12. There were always two certainties about 1993. That devaluation and interest rate cuts would bring an economic upturn. That it would bring the Government some political relief.

13. He was disappointed in the lack of action after his speech. "I wanted the government to acknowledge what I had said, and they didn't. I expected the local authority to try to do something about it."

14. A tight authoritarian system isn't going to work and, if they try to adopt it, there's nobody to support them.

15. " No, sir, that wouldn't work, and you know it. Your interests and Miss Radcliffe's may not totally coincide. In the course of my investigation I may uncover information detrimental to her reputation.

16. Aim at a short walk, say for 20 minutes on flat ground. Then begin to increase your speed and distance. You should be able to take a brisk walk at least three times a week.

17. "What should I write down?"— "The precise name of the wine,"

18. You've been listening to too much propaganda, young man. So now you are going to hear the truth. Our civilization is older than yours.

19. We thank the Mental Health Foundation, British Heart Foundatition, and the Chest, Heart and Stroke Association for supporting our research. We thank the patients themselves without whose enthusiasm and personal experience this book would not have been written.

20. Ten years now she'd been alone, but she'd spent them usefully. She enjoyed her life and had some good friends in the village. She 'd been very lucky.

21. I want to believe you are wholly innocent of those boys' deaths. I want to believe you never played about with drugs or silly games. I want to believe you are a victim.

22. They were astonished at men marching up with such courage, madness, to certain death.

23. You should think of your customers as partners, family.

24. Maria was standing in the doorway of the apartment, leaning against one side of it.

25. Mums and Dads do help their children. As far as I can see, I help mine I think I used to.