A Workbook to Communicative Grammar of English (29 page)
Read A Workbook to Communicative Grammar of English Online
Authors: Dr. Edward Woods,Rudy Coppieters
The uses of relative pronouns are shown in this table:
Task one *
Match the clauses in column A with those in column B.
A | B | ||
1. | I didn’t get the job | a. | that gave me no spare time. |
2. | That’s the room | b. | which I will not put up with. |
3. | There was a time | c. | I applied for. |
4. | I couldn’t do a job | d. | in which there were often huge rats. |
5. | I don’t know the woman | e. | when people helped each other. |
6. | Australia is a country | f. | you mustn’t go into. |
7. | That’s something | g. | at the top of which was an old stone monument. |
8. | They got to the moon in the year | h. | who you were talking to. |
9. | They climbed the hill | i. | which is very arid in the centre. |
10. | During the war they hid in cellars | j. | in which I was born. |
Task two **
Link the clauses below with a relative pronoun, omitting the part of the second sentence corresponding to the relative pronoun.
1.
It is something. I’m expected to do it.
2.
She was a clever woman. The company exploited her.
3.
He was an actor. No-one had ever heard of him.
4.
I like being married to a chef. His sister owns the restaurant.
5.
I enjoyed the production of ‘
No Man’s Land
’. Ian Holm starred in it.
6.
I’ve finished the book. You got as a prize.
7.
How do you like living in the town? You work there.
8.
It was a lovely day. We went to Brighton then.
9.
He’s got a new computer. He can’t use it.
10.
He told me about it in the letter. The letter came this morning.
Task three **
Complete the following text by using a relative pronoun. On some occasions the pronoun will be governed by a preposition.
The wide range of skills and trades ……(1)………. was needed to maintain a big Victorian country estate is shown by the large number of workers ……(2)…… were on the staff of any large manor house. At Wallington, Northumberland ……(3)………. was the home of Sir Charles Edward Trevelyan (1809–86), ……(4)………. was the second baronet, there were over 30 male staff most ……(5)………. would have lived on the estate. There would also have been a large female staff most ……(6)………. work would have been within the house. Photographs from the late 19
th
century ……(7)………. male and female staff are always shown separately reflect a bygone way of life ……(8)………. we find little has survived in the great houses of today. On the Wallington estate, there is still a saw-mill ……(9)………. three foresters are based, but such posts as footman and rabbit-catcher have long disappeared. These have been replaced by employees ……(10)………. are known as education and events staff.
(adapted from the
National Trust Magazine
, no. 95, Spring 2002)
Task four **
Rewrite the phrases below with a reduced relative.
1.
The bike which was tethered to a tree ………..
2.
The house which was in need of repair ……….
3.
The man who was driving too fast ……..
4.
Any company which hides its accounts ……..
5.
The article which discussed the use of nuclear power ………
Task five *
Rewrite the following sentences with a sentence relative.
1.
He’s working very hard now and this is a good thing.
2.
Jane’s finished her thesis and that’s amazing.
3.
Jack’s working in Tokyo for two years. Then he’s hoping to go to Hong Kong.
4.
The old lady died on her husband’s birthday. That’s sad!
5.
The train was an hour late. This was not unusual.
Sections 470–472; 397; 589; 593; 646
Two or more noun phrases which occur next to each other and refer to the same person or thing are said to be in apposition.
Just like
relative clauses
, appositions can be restrictive and non-restrictive.
Task one **
Rewrite the sentences so that the relative clause is replaced by a noun phrase in apposition to the person or thing referred to.
1.
David Brown,
who owns the garage across the road
, has a good reputation.
2.
Mrs Davies
who is a teacher at the local school
is loved by all the children.
3.
Anne and Peter Austin,
who are the executors of my aunt’s will
, have retired and gone to live in New Zealand.
4.
I once knew James Kane
who was the star in last year’s Oscar-winning movie
.
5.
John Williams,
who writes poetry
, has won several prizes.
6.
That building over there was designed by James Stirling
who was a celebrated architect in the 1970s and 80s
.
7.
The production is by Richard Jones
who directs both opera and theatre
.
8.
I always book my holidays at Compston’s
which is the travel agency opposite the bank
.
9.
Impact 92
which is a language consultancy
does a lot of work in Scandinavia.
10.
Nokia
which is now a mobile phone company
started as a company selling rubber goods such as tyres.
Task two **
Look at the uses of apposition in the items below and decide whether they are restrictive (R) or non-restrictive (N-R) and make the appropriate changes to the punctuation.
1.
A: David James has bought the house next door to mine.
B: Which David James? David James our old school friend or David James the dentist?
2.
(on the phone) Hello! Is that Robert Hunt the builder?
3.
I was at university with the actor James Marlow.
4.
Barbara Castle the British socialist politician died on 2 May 2002.
5.
One of my oldest friends is Keith Godard the New York-based graphic designer.
6.
Your doctor John Beasley is retiring next year. Did you know?
Task three ***
Complete the text below with an appropriate expression to show explicit apposition.
chiefly
;
especially
;
for example
;
for instance
;
in particular
;
mainly
;
namely; notably
;
particularly
;
such as
In the late 1940s, after the Second World War, there was a flowering of the film industry in many countries, ………(1)………… India, Italy and Japan. There were many good, young film directors, ………(2)………… in Italy, ………(3)………… De Sica, Rosselini and Visconti. Working as assistants for them were several young people who would later become directors of world-importance, ………(4)………… Antonioni and Fellini. These directors established a clear identity for the Italian film, ………(5)………… the neo-realist cinema. In the same way, Asian film directors, ………(6)………… Kurosawa in Japan and Ray in India, established an identity for the Japanese and Indian cinema.
Modality
15.1. Agreement and disagreement
It is often a good idea to be polite when agreeing or disagreeing with another person’s opinion.
•
When agreeing with an unfavourable opinion, we can qualify the agreement with an expression of regret.
•
When we deny or contradict what has been said, we can disagree tactfully by softening the denial or contradiction in some way.
•
Sometimes we may only partially agree with what has been said. Then we can qualify our agreement with a statement that suggests another view.
•
We can also strengthen our agreement by adding comments which give further support to what has been said.
Task one **
Make a qualified agreement or tactful disagreement with the following unfavourable opinions.
1.
I didn’t like that movie at all. It was a very silly story.
2.
The management made a big mistake employing that woman.
3.
The food in that restaurant is always undercooked.
4.
He comes up with some stupid ideas. And the latest is the worst.
5.
Fancy painting a door that colour!
6.
You really can’t believe everything he says.
7.
United played a poor game on Tuesday. They shouldn’t have won.
8.
He’s not the man for the job. That’s the problem.
9.
The book had some good ideas, but in the end it amounted to nothing.
10.
The exam results were very poor this year.
Task two **
Make enthusiastic or emphatic responses to the utterances below.
1.
United should have won last Tuesday.
2.
The exam results won’t please everybody.
3.
I loved that film. I could see it again.
4.
What a beautiful picture that is!
5.
You can always rely on him to give a good presentation.
6.
The trouble is there aren’t any real leaders in politics any more.
7.
It was a very good course.
8.
I’ve given up the car. On long journeys, the roads get so crowded.
9.
I’m not sure John’s going to be very happy working under Alan.
10.
Didn’t you enjoy that play!
Task three **
The underlined responses to the utterances below may be thought somewhat “impolite”. Soften them in some way to make the disagreement more tactful.
1.
A: I really didn’t like that film.
B: It was very good
.
2.
A: The government must do what the people want.
B: Nonsense. The people want so many different things
.
3.
A: Well done, the Danes. No to the Euro!
B: That’s not a very sensible attitude
.
4.
A: She’s the most stupid person I’ve ever met.
B: That’s very unfair
.
5.
A: They shouldn’t have let him become a member.
B: He works very hard for the club
.
6.
A: He’s not a very good teacher, is he?
B: I like him
.
7.
A: I don’t like any of these paintings.
B: Why not? Some are good
.
8.
A: I didn’t understand anything he was talking about in that lecture.
B: It was very clear to me
.
9.
A: There’s never been a better time to invest in securities.
B: Whatever gave you that idea? I wouldn’t do it
.
10.
A: He must be the richest man in the country.
B: There are a lot of people richer than him
.
15.2. Fact, hypothesis and neutrality
Sections 274–282; 416; 493; 589; 609; 706–708
There are many statements where truth or falsehood is assumed rather than directly stated.
Fact
is usually expressed by a finite verb or by an -
ing
clause.
Hypothesis
is usually expressed in the past tense in dependent clauses. Here the past tense has nothing to do with past time, but refers to the present or future time. Often this is done with a conditional clause, but there are other expressions that can be used.
Neutrality
is often expressed by infinitive clauses or a
wh
-clause in reported speech.
This can also be expressed with the use of
should
or the
subjunctive
.
Should
is also used to express
factual
and
hypothetical
meaning.
