Grammar: modals can/be able to

NOTE:

We use can to express physical and mental ability. We also use can when we express possibility or permission depending on circumstances.

Present	Past	Future
can I am able to He, she, it is able to We, you, they are able to	could I, he, she, it was able to We, you, they were able to	will be able to

E.g. We can see the lake from our bedroom window.

This helicopter can take off vertically, but it can’t fly very high.

Can you speak any foreign languages?

I can’t sleep.	I haven’t been able to sleep recently.
Tom can come tomorrow.	Tom might be able to come tomorrow.
Maria can speak French, Spanish and English.	Applicants for the job must be able to speak two foreign languages.

8.



Tell the group what you can do.

Ski, cook, drive a car, ride a bicycle, bake cakes, repair home appliances, sew uniform, interpret English into Ukrainian, interpret Ukrainian into English, box with somebody, make a fire, build a house, make salads, sell vegetables, grow lemons, ride a horse, skate, swim, dive, read English books, play the guitar, play football, play hockey, lift the weights, tame animals.

9.	Change the sentences according to the example, using can’t.

Example: I don’t believe that he is fifty. – He can’t be fifty.

1. I don’t believe Mr Cameron is as old as that, he looks much younger.

2. I don’t believe you will postpone this meeting.

3. I don’t believe Larry trusts David. He is so cunning.

4. I don’t believe you are cheating the test.

5. I don’t believe Greg swims so well.

6. It’s impossible that she is a ballerina.

7. I don’t believe he is a sergeant.

8. I don’t think he is good at maths.

9. I don’t believe it is a joke.

10. It is impossible she drives a car so well’

11. I don’t believe it is Nancy’s fault.

12. I don’t believe you are so lazy.

10.	Complete the sentences. Use could or was/were able to.

1. The plane was damaged but the pilot ______ land it safely.

2. Paganini ______ play the violin well at the age of three.

3. The ship was badly damaged but the captain ______ bring her safely to land.

4. When a child I ______ play the piano rather well.

5. The firemen ______ rescue all the people and the fire was put out.

6. Granny ______ speak five foreign languages when she was young.

7. Max was the brightest student and he ______ easily win the grant.

8. In my childhood I ______ dive in deep places.

9. Mr Foster ______ climb the hill and was saved by the rescue party.

10. We ______ cover another twenty miles and felt rather tired.

11. My mother ______ sew all her clothes when she was young.

12. After Jimmy had learned all new words he ______ read the text easily.

13. The sky was clear and we ______ see the stars in the sky.

14. It was difficult to find her but I _____ do it.

15. Finding himself in a strange place Robert ______ to find the road himself.

16. She knew spanish perfectly and ______ read the books without a dictionary.

17. When Frank was a little boy he ______ understand maths.

18. After Randolf had learned all the rules he ______ write a dictation without any mistakes.

19. I ______ skate and ski twenty years ago.

20. There were no broccoli at our greengrocer’s but I ______ find it in the next one.

11.	Complete the sentences. Use can/can’t (cannot).

1. Fighters ______ attack enemy aircraft in the air but they ______ fly long distances.

2. A fighter-bomber is a fighter that ______ carry bombs and rockets.

3. The stealth bomber ______ fly 6,000 miles and radars ______ see it.

4. The US SPRUANCE-class destroyer ______ fight submarines, ships and aircraft.

5. Transport aircraft ______ move men and equipment long distances.

12.	Complete the following sentences.

1. Our commander could …

2. The teacher can …

3. The best friend of mine was able to …

4. The sergeant can’t …

13.



Finish the dialogue.

A: Hi, David! How are things going on?

B: I’m quite well, thank you. Jim, will you be able to help me with these papers?

A: Sure, I will. I can come tomorrow in the afternoon and we will start.

B: And can you take some new discs with you?

A: …

B: …

14.	Choose the correct answer.

1. We ___ skate and ski and every winter we go to the mountains.	a. could b. can c. are able
2. ___ you give me another cup of tea, please?	a. could b. can c. will be able to
3. Hugh ___ his mind yesterday. That’s why he didn’t come.	a. was able to change b. could have changed c. could change
4. We ___ leave for Crimea without our parent’s permission.	a. weren’t able to b. couldn’t c. can’t
5. Mr Huston was so skilful that he ___ manage this deal himself.	a. can b. was able to c. could
6. What ___ to change him so much?	a. could have happened b. can happen c. could happen
7. Danny ___ really swim the best in his group.	a. was able to b. could c. can
8. At last they found a taxi and ___ get to the station.	a. could b. can c. were be able to
9. Our son ___ read 80 words a minute. He is a very smart boy.	a. could b. can c. will be able to
10. You ___ this. It’s impossible to do.	a. can’t promise b. couldn’t promise c. couldn’t have promised

LAUGHS PARADE

What’s the Score?

“How many times have I told you to fall in for these formations on time, Private Smith?”

“I don’t know, sergeant. I thought you were keeping the score.”

Not a Soldier

“Where is your rifle, soldier?”

“I haven’t got it.”

“Haven’t got it? What’s the good of you? What do you call a soldier without a fifle?”

“An officer.”

Fire at Will

At the firing range the sergeant explained to his men:”When I say ‘Fire’ I want all of you to fire at will (вести одиночный огонь без команды).” Just then a rookie (новобранец) jumped to his feet and dashed off madly.

“Who was that?”

“That was Will.”

Trench Digging

“Does the Unit Engineer know that the trench has fallen in?”

“Well, sir, we’re digging him out to tell him.”

Answers (ex. 14): 1. b; 2. a; 3. b; 4. b; 5. c; 6. a; 7. b, c; 8. c; 9. b; 10. c.

UNIT: 28

PEACEKEEPING

Lesson 2

MILITARY OBSERVER

1.

In this exercise we’ll concentrate on the words and word combinations to be sure you know what they mean.

1	monitor	observe and check the progress or quality of (something) over a period of time; keep under systematic review
2	patrol	keep watch over (an area) by regularly walking or travelling around it
3	border	a line separating two countries, administrative divisions, or other areas
4	station	put in or assign to a specified place for a particular purpose, especially a military one
5	team	two or more people working together: a team of
6	lieutenant colonel	a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army, Air Force, or Marine Corps ranking above major and below colonel
7	suspicious	having or showing a cautious distrust of someone or something
8	uniform	a special set of clothes which some people, for example soldiers or the police, wear to work in
9	destroy	end the existence of (something) by damaging or attacking it
10	report on	tell people about it, because it is your job or duty to do so
11	foot patrol	keep watch over (an area) by regularly walking
12	vehicle patrol	keep watch over (an area) by regularly travelling around it
13	submit	accept or yield to a superior force or to the authority or will of another person
14	inspection	examination
15	artillery	large-calibre guns used in warfare on land

2.

Read the dialogue and translate it into Ukrainian

F: Good evening, this is First Hand and I am Frank Shewster. This evening I am joined by Major Markus Olsson. Markus is a Swedish Army officer currently serving with the United Nations Observer Mission in Cape Gold, or UNMOC. How are you, Markus?

M: I’m very well, thank you, Frank.

F: Markus, is this your first mission with the UN?

M: No, actually this is my third mision. I first served in a UN mission in the Balkans, in Kosovo in 1999. Then, I served with the UNMOC mission in the Congo in 2001.

F: And how long have you been here in Blueland?

M: I’ve been here since January – a little more than six months. And my tour of duty is twelve months.

F: What can you tell us about UNMOC?

M: Well, UNMOC was established after the ceasefire between Redland and Blueland forces. The mission of UNMOC was and still is to monitor the ceasefire and patrol the DMZ.

F: I’m sorry, what’s the DMZ?

M: DMZ stands for demilitarized zone. This is tha area along the border where both sides have agreed not to station troops. UNMOC is responsible for patrolling on both sides of the border.

F: Thank you. And how many UNMOs are there?

M: At the moment, there are 34 unarmed UN monitors, supported by UN and local civilian staff.

F: I’m sorry. You say that UNMOs are unarmed. So, you don’t have weapons?

M: That’s right.

F: And what do you do if there’s any trouble?

M: Well, in case of trouble, we can call on US troops deployed in the area. In the next village, there’s a company of South Korean special forces.

F: And, have you ever asked the UN troops for help?

M: No, we haven’t had any real problems yet. My district is pretty quiet.

F: Can you tell me about your team?

M: Sure. I’m part of three-man team. The senoir UNMO in my team is a Ukrainian

lieutenant colonel. Then there’s a French major and me.

F: And how are relations with the local population?

M: When we arrived here, the locals were a bit suspicious. Probably because we wear military uniforms. However, we’ve tried to help a little in the village in our free time and the people are now a lot more open with us. In fact, now we have really friendly relations with the villagers. I think I’ve been to eight weddings in the last six months.

F: And what have you done in the village, Markus?

M: Well, a lot of buildings were destroyed in the war and we’ve tried to improve things a little. With a lot of help from the South Korean special forces guys, we’ve rebuilt the local school and we’ve repaired the electricity lines in the village.

F: Is that part of your job?

M: Not officially.

F: Can you tell us something about your duties?

M: Sure. The role of an UNMO is to observe and report on any situation that may be of interest to the UN. In practice, that means most of our time is spent on patrol. Almost every day, we carry out foot patrols and vehicle patrols and when we get back, we have to submit patrol reports. Another important part of our job is inspections. In the ceasefire agreement, both sides agreed not to deploy artillery or tanks in an area fifty kilometres each side of the border. These are called ‘arms limitation agreements’ and we regularly carry out inspections to make sure that each side is respecting these agreements. We also mount OPs or ‘observation posts’, close to the DMZ and we investigate reports of shooting across the DMZ.

F: Sounds like you’re busy.

M: I certainly am. Yesterday I started work at six o’clock in the morning and I didn’t finish till eleven o’clock at night.

F: Well, Marcus. That’s all we’ve got time for. Thank you very much for talking with us and good luck in the next six months.

M: Thank you, Frank.

3.	Complete the words. Use these letters: a, e, i, o, u.

1. DMZ D_m_l_t_r_z_d Zone

2. MUNOC M_ss__n of United Nations _bs_rv_rs in the Congo

3. OP _bs_rv_t__n Post

4. UNMO United Nations M_l_t_ry Obs_rv_r

5. UNMOC Un_t_d N_t__ns of Mission of Obs_rv_rs in Cape Gold

4.	Work in pairs. Answer the questions.

1. Who is Major Marcus Olsson?

2. Where has Marcus served with the UN?

3. How long has Marcus been in Cape Gold?

4. Who can the UNMOs ask for help in case of trouble?

5. How many observers are in Marcus’s team?

6. Has the attitude of the local population changed? How?

5.	Complete the sentences. Put the verbs in the correct tense.

1. Marcus _____ with the UN mission in the Congo in 2001. (serve)

2. He _____ in Cape Gold six months ago. (arrive)

3. He _____ his family since December. (not see)

4. He _____ to eight weddings since he arrived. (be)

5. Marcus is still on patrol. He _____ to the base. (not return)

6.



Act out the dialogue.