Добавил:
Upload Опубликованный материал нарушает ваши авторские права? Сообщите нам.
Вуз: Предмет: Файл:
Пособие по грамматике.doc
Скачиваний:
70
Добавлен:
09.11.2019
Размер:
711.68 Кб
Скачать

1. Read the following text and do the tasks that follow.

Intuition

It was a sweltering day. Donna and Thain were driving down Maple Street, looking for a yard sale, when they spotted the old man. Waving at them with a halfhearted gesture, he looked as though he hadn't eaten for days.

"Nine-thirty in the morning, and it's already beastly hot. Open your window, will you, Thain?"

"Wow! look at that old man, Donna. Boy, I'd sure get out of this heat if I were

him ... Pull over, will you? Let's give him a ride. He's going to faint if he doesn't get out ofthe sun."

"Thain, he's probably an ax murderer. I bet he'll kill us and steal the car if we pick him up."

"I don't think so. He looks harmless to me-just a poor old guy. He's acting as if he's sick."

"But, Sweetie, we've got to get to that yard sale. There won't be anything worth buying if we don't get there soon."

"My male intuition is telling me we'd better stop."

"If I had a nickel for all the times we've done things because of your male intuition, I'd be a rich woman. Aren't females supposed to have the intuition, anyway? OK, but I just hope we don't end up in the newspaper headlines. I can see it all now: YOUNG MARRIED COUPLE MUTILATED BY SERIAL KILLER."

They pulled up to the curb in front of the old man.

"Need some help, sir?" Thain asked.

The old man smiled. "Yes, thank you. Could you take me to a pharmacy? I'm diabetic, and I've run out of medicine. I'm on a trip around the country, but I keep forgetting to buy enough insulin. If I don't take my medicine regularly, I go into shock. If only I weren't so forgetful ..."

They found a pharmacy and got the insulin.

Back in the car, the old man said, "Now, if you can just take me to the bus station, I'll be on my way."

Donna frowned, but Thain said, "Sure. We can do that."

At the bus station, they helped the old man out of the car. "Can you tell me your names and your address? When I get back home, I'll send you a token of my appreciation."

They gave him their names and address, said good-bye, and proceeded to the yard sale.

As Donna had predicted, all of the good merchandise had been sold. "We'd

probably have that chest of drawers if we'd gotten here earlier," she said, "but

I'm glad we stopped for the old guy. I'll be surprised if we ever hear from him,

though. You don't really believe all that about his taking a trip around the country,

do you, Thain? "

In a few days they had forgotten about the incident. Three months later they

returned from a short vacation, and Donna was going through the pile of mail

that had accumulated in their absence. She opened a long envelope with no

return address.

"What in the world? Thain, come here and look at this!" There was a letter, neatly typed, which said, "Dear Thain and Donna, I finished my trip around the country and had a marvelous time. I'm now back at home and won't be traveling anymore, I don't think. I met some wonderful people in my travels, the two of you among them. Thank you for your kindness to a forgetful old man. If you hadn't come along when you did and taken me to the pharmacy, I might have died. At the very least, I would have become quite ill if you hadn't been there to help. I wish there had been more time for us to get to know one another. If I had been fortunate enough to have any children of my own, I couldn't have had any nicer ones than you two. At any rate, I am enclosing a token of my gratitude.

My warmest regards,

Quentin Wilkerson"

Something fluttered out of a second sheet of folded paper. It was a check for

$50,000.

1.1 Answer the questions.

1. Where were Thain and Donna going?

2. Whom did they spot on the road?

3. Why wasn’t Donner much enthusiastic about giving a ride to the man?

4. What problem did the man have?

5. What letter did the young couple get afterwards?

1.2 Tick off the conditional sentences in the text and comment on the type of them.

2. Write about a time when you ignored your intuition and inner voice and instead made a seemingly logical decision that turned out badly. Describe your original intuitive feelings, explain why you ignored them, and speculate on what would or might have happened if you had acted intuitively. Use conditional sentences where appropriate.

Unit 2. Unreal Past. Subjunctive II in Object Clauses with Wish

Grammar Introduction

1. Read the following letter and say which of the sentences express (1) desires about the present or the future, (2) regrets referring to the past, and (3) dissatisfaction or irritation because somebody keeps on doing something that you don’t like or an unpleasant situation persists.

Dear Beth,

I’m so desperate. I wish I hadn’t moved to this place. It’s not a bad place, but it’s so quiet. If only there were more people here my age, then I wouldn’t feel so lonely. Even better, I wish my friends moved here from town. I thought I would enjoy the quiet life of the village but now I wish there were some roads nearby so I could here the traffic. I wish I could afford to move back to town but I don’t have the money. Maybe it’s the weather. I wish it would stop raining so at least I could go for long walks in the fields. Sometimes, when I’m really sad, I wish the village would disappear or my house would collapse so that I’d have to move. Maybe it will get better. If only I were more patient. I wish I had written a more cheerful letter. It’s made me even sadder. I look forward to hearing from you with some suggestions.

Best wishes,

Steve

Grammar Explanations

1. He wishes he had a dog is an example of a complex sentence with the verb to wish in the main clause followed by a subordinate object clause with a Present Subjunctive II form to talk about things we want to be true at the moment of speech but that are not true (He doesn’t have a dog but he wants one).

He wished he had a dog. (He didn’t have a dog at the moment but he wanted one).

In these sentences time reference in the subordinate clause is determined by the tense form of the verb wish in the main clause. In other words, actions expressed by the Present Subjunctive II form correlate with the action in the main clause and are simultaneous. We comment on such sentences in the following way:

He wishes he had a dog. «Ему хотелось бы иметь собаку».

It’s a complex sentence with a subordinate object clause after wish used to express a desire. We use the Present Subjunctive II form of the verb have to express an action simultaneous with the action expressed by wish.

2. An objective subordinate clause with a Past Subjunctive II form is used after wish to express regrets about events that happened before the moment of speaking, e.g.: They wish they had worked out a better plan. (They didn’t work out a good plan and now they think that it was a mistake not to prepare it properly.)

In such sentences the action expressed by the Past Subjunctive II form is prior to the action expressed by the verb wish. We comment on such sentences in the following way:

They wish they had worked out a better plan. «Им хотелось бы, чтобы они разработали план лучше».

It’s a complex sentence with a subordinate object clause after wish used to express regret. We use the Past Subjunctive II form of the verb work to express an action prior to the action expressed by wish.

3. Would (the Present Subjunctive II form of the modal verb will) is used in the objective subordinate clause after wish to express a desire for someone to act in a different way. It may communicate a complaint, regret, disappointment or desire, e.g.:

I wish you would stop interrupting me. I wish you wouldn’t do that. I wish it wouldn’t rain so much.

In such sentences the action expressed by the Present Subjunctive II form is posterior to the action expressed by the verb wish.

We comment on such sentences in the following way:

I wish you would stop interrupting me. «Хотелось бы, чтобы ты не перебивал меня». It’s a complex sentence with a subordinate object clause after wish used to express a complaint. We use the Present subjunctive II form of the modal verb will to express an action posterior to the action expressed by wish.

4. We use wish followed by an objective subordinate clause with could (the present Subjunctive II form of the modal verb can) to express ability. We use could with the Indefinite Infinitive to speak about simultaneous actions and we use could with the Perfect Infinitive to speak about prior situations, e.g.:

He wishes he could earn more.

He wished he could have found a better job when he was younger.

We comment on such sentences in the following way:

He wishes he could earn more. «Ему хотелось бы зарабатывать больше».

It’s a complex sentence with a subordinate object clause after wish. We use the Present Subjunctive II form of the modal verb can to express ability. The Indefinite Infinitive expresses an action which is simultaneous with the action expressed by wish.

He wished he could have found a better job when he was younger. «Жаль, что он не смог найти работу получше, когда он был моложе».

It’s a complex sentence with a subordinate object clause after wish we use the Present Subjunctive II form of the modal verb can to express ability. The Perfect Infinitive expresses an action which is prior to the action expressed by wish.

5. Instead of wish we can also use the phrase if only followed by a Present/Past Subjunctive II form. This phrase is often used to express longing or regret, e.g.:

If only I knew the answer to your question. If only I could have helped you. If only you wouldn’t be so noisy.

We comment on such sentences in the following way:

If only I knew the answer to your question. «Если бы я только знал ответ на твой вопрос».

It’s a simple sentence with if only phrase. We use the Present Subjunctive II form of the verb know to express longing, desire.

6. We use hope, not wish to express that we want something to happen in the future.

I hope you enjoy your trip. (future)

I hope I can get a better job. (future)

7. We can also express regret using regret and a gerund.

I regret being an ordinary clerk.

Grammar Practice