A Workbook to Communicative Grammar of English (33 page)

2.
What is your greatest fear?

It is drowning that I fear most.

3.
With which historical figure do you most identify?

Queen Victoria, a small lady, is the most obvious one.

4.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?

An inability to laugh at yourself is something I hate.

5.
What vehicles do you own?

A car is the only one I have.

6.
What is your greatest extravagance?

Shopping is something I love to spend money on.

7.
What is your greatest regret?

Life is too short and that I regret.

8.
How would you like to die?

Suddenly and painlessly is what I hope it will be.

9.
How do you relax?

Crossword puzzles are a great form of relaxation.

10.
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?

To take each day as it comes is the most important thing I’ve learned.

17.2. Organising information – Given and new information

Sections 402–407

Given information
is something which the speaker assumes the hearer knows already

New information
is something which the speaker does not assume the speaker knows about already.

Sometimes
given information
is not spoken but is suggested by the situation.

For the main information, we use a falling tone for emphasis.

For subsidiary or less important information, we use a rising tone.

In writing, the most important new information is saved until the end of the sentence.

Task one **

Indicate where the nuclear stresses should be in the following items.

1.
“Did they enjoy Singapore?” “No, it was raining all the time.”

2.
“That’s a lovely vase Anne gave you.” “Joan gave it to me, not Anne.”

3.
The driver wasn’t going very fast when he crashed through the barrier.

4.
I know you find the noise from the trains disturbing, but here the planes are worse.

5.
I took my holiday in Hungary.

6.
There’s someone at the door.

7.
Can I speak to Alison, please?

8.
Tell her it’s Mike.

9.
I went to Berlin in February because the U-Bahn was a hundred years old.

10.
It’s true. He won the lottery.

Task two **

(In 2001, Foot and Mouth Disease was widespread throughout Britain. Other countries in Europe were concerned about the disease spreading to their animals. Below is part of a document issued to travellers between Finland and Great Britain.)

Reorganise the sentences in the paragraphs in the following text where necessary to give proper emphasis to the main information in each case.

How to prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease to Finland

1.
on 20 February

in England

the outbreak of foot and mouth disease was detected

2.
since then

in an explosive manner

it has spread in the UK

3.
the disease was found in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern

Ireland by 2 March

4.
the virus causes foot and mouth disease only in hoofed animals

in horses and people

but may cause a transient infection

5.
hoofed animal species include

cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, deer, reindeer and elks

6.
no risk for humans

the disease causes

7.
you may use diluted citric acid available from pharmacies

as a disinfectant

8.
as pets may transport the virus

wash them thoroughly with shampoo after arrival

if you bring animals to Finland from the risk areas

9.
it is the duty of travellers to be cautious

as the situation in the UK is critical

10.
for at least 48 hours

where animals are kept

do not visit premises

17.3. Organising information – Order and emphasis

Sections 411–414

Instead of the subject, you can make another element the topic, by moving it to the front of the sentence. This shift gives the element a kind of psychological prominence, and has three different effects:

Task one **

Indicate which type of topic is fronted in the following sentences – Underline the fronted element E–emphatic topic; C–contrastive topic; S–semi-given topic.

1.
Some awful films they have recommended.

2.
Poor they may be, but they are generous to a fault.

3.
Most of this work an assistant should do.

4.
Some days he works very late, but others he’s home by lunch-time.

5.
Hard work you say it is!

6.
Not many people want to live in an old property; but new houses in a traditional style, buyers are willing to pay a lot for.

7.
Stupid he isn’t, but he’s often careless.

8.
Romantic novels you can buy cheaply; serious works you must pay a lot for.

9.
You’re diving straight into the pool. This I must see.

10.
I’m good at remembering people’s names. Street names I always forget, though.

Task two **

Rewrite the following sentences so that the part underlined is the topic of the sentence. State what kind of topic it is.

1.
They just don’t look after
that cat
properly.

2.
The company has already put into practice
these new working conditions
.

3.
They show
some foreign films
, but they don’t show
the really important ones
.

4.
He may be
very clever
, but he isn’t
practical
.

5.
She behaved
in a very strange way
at the meeting.

6.
They painted the house an awful colour,
didn’t they?
.

7.
His speech at the funeral offended
a lot of people
.

8.
I don’t understand
the reason for this celebration
.

9.
They gave the money to her; but they gave the painting
to him
.

10.
The management looked into
the problems you’re speaking about
last week.

Task three ***

Rewrite the following letter freely, making the following elements of the story into topics: i.e. subject or fronted topics:

story structure

shifts between characters

name of main character

movement of characters in the story

descriptions

the philosophy

opportunity for others

Dear Edward,

Many thanks for giving me a chance to read your story. I think it is of importance to all people like us and most will find it reflects their own experience. I was very impressed by the structure of the story. I liked the way the story shifted back and forth between the two protagonists and, because of this, shifted between the seasons to show the development of the main character. I was a bit frightened by the introductory monologue. I think this was because I am shy of exposing myself and you had written this in the first person. I was relieved when I discovered you had called the character Tim. I liked the way the characters moved in and out of the story reflecting the parallels of experience.

I also liked the way you described the town, the sea and the vineyard. I could imagine myself there, especially by the sea and in the vineyard. I found the philosophy underpinning the story interesting. There is never a beginning. Where we think there is a beginning, it is really a development of ideas and events that have gone before. You conveyed this brilliantly.

Well done, Edward. Many thanks again for letting me read this. I hope others will have this opportunity. Your story has a lot to say.

Yours,

Ivan

17.4. Organising information – Inversion

Sections 415–417; 584–585; 590–594; 681–684

There are two types of inversion:

Subject-verb inversion is normally limited as follows:

Subject-operator inversion occurs when a negative element is fronted for emphasis.

Task one **

Give end-focus or end-weight to the parts of the sentences underlined below.

1.
John’
s there by the fence.

2.
The house for sale
is over there.

3.
Look,
the person you want
is there.

4.
Rick
is on the left;
Nick
is on the right.

5.
Janet and Paul
came down the road laughing and shouting.

6.
The kite
flew up into the sky.

7.
John Nehemiah
lies here – looking up at his friends.

8.
The car of his dreams
stood outside the house.

9.
A city
stood on the hill, proud surveyor of the valley below.

10.
An enormous tree
crashed down as the storm raged.

Task two **

Rewrite the sentences below to give greater emphasis to the negative element.

1.
The government would only agree to bail out the company if the managing director quit.

2.
England has never played better than with its new manager.

3.
Your proposal doesn’t touch on the real problem in any way.

4.
The Prime Minister didn’t make even the smallest concession to the opposition.

5.
Their son not only failed his exam; he also refused the chance to repeat it.

6.
They were not left a penny in their mother’s will. All the money went to charity.

7.
She had hardly had time to take in the new rules for welfare payments when she was put in charge of the office.

8.
The head of department could do little to stop the erosion of confidence in any future developments.

9.
He gave little away about his own future plans.

10.
I’ve rarely seen such a poor display of sportsmanship.

Task three ***

Rewrite the passage using an appropriate form of inversion wherever possible, and where necessary a change of vocabulary, to achieve greater emphasis. The first one has been done for you. There are ten others.

Eccles is not far from Manchester
. It is not only famous for its special cake; it also has the world’s only swinging aqueduct, carrying water from the Manchester Ship Canal. Now the people of Eccles are afraid that no-one will come to experience these jewels. Why?

A town called Eccles is nowhere on the new ordnance survey map.

“We’re very sorry about this. We rarely make such mistakes,” confessed a spokesman for the ordnance survey team.

“They understand little about how we feel,” said a town councillor. “I had hardly sat down at my desk this morning before the phone started ringing with complaints. I shall only be satisfied when we are back on the map.”

Unfortunately, that can’t happen in any way until the next edition of the map.

Another mistake is the map shows Ladywell and Salford Royal Hospitals. These hospitals no longer exist.

Residents of Eccles have seldom felt so confused and angry. “There’s no way strangers to the region can find us now,” sighed one resident.

Not far from Manchester is Eccles.

17.5. Organising information – Fronting with ‘
so/neither
’

Section 418

So
is placed first:

In the case of a negative comparison, we use
neither
.

Task one *

Read through the information about the people below, then write sentences that show additional information using
so
as a substitute form with subject operator inversion.