A Workbook to Communicative Grammar of English (34 page)

1.
David read physics at university.

2.
Marc hasn’t been to university.

3.
Sara is a keen tennis player.

4.
Helen is fond of climbing.

5.
Sara got married before 1993.

6.
Rowan wants to be a writer.

7.
Miles doesn’t have any sons.

8.
David got married in October.

9.
Marc will go to America next year.

10.
David wants to have his own business.

Task two **

Rewrite the following text so that, where possible,

1.
So
as a substitute form without inversion is fronted to express emphatic affirmation

2.
So
introducing a clause of degree or amount is fronted for emphasis.

The event was so catastrophic that most people couldn’t take in the enormity of the disaster. In reality, the area covered was so small that the majority of the world could only look on in disbelief. However, the
building was so enormous that, as it crumbled, it brought others down in its wake.

“We have seen the end of an era,” claimed one commentator.

“We have indeed,” replied the politician.

“I had friends in there.”

“In fact, we all did.”

“The world will never be the same again.”

The messages that flashed round the world were so extraordinary that only pictures could help people understand what had happened. Commentators described the scene as if it were from a Hollywood movie so often that the comparison became devoid of meaning.

“I saw that film ‘
Independence Day
’”.

“We all did.”

“It had scenes like this”

“It did indeed.”

And the people were so shocked and frightened that they went home and left an eerie silence on the streets.

17.6. Organising information – Cleft sentences

Sections 419–423; 496; 592

Cleft sentences

“
It
”-type:

“
Wh
”-type:

Task one **

Rewrite the following sentences so that the focus (the underlined word) is a cleft with the introductory
It
.

1.
I spent last week
in Sweden
not Switzerland.

2.
No,
Shakespeare
wrote ‘
Much Ado about Nothing
’ not Marlowe.

3.
At the meeting of the fiscal committee, she supported
the lower interest rate
.

4.
The prince was filmed
by our camera crew
.

5.
Nobody will ever forget
the 1960s
.

6.
My sister got married
in 1969
not 1970.

7.
I
didn’t tell them and I don’t know who did.

8.
We now face
a global recession
.

9.
They bought the house
as an investment
, not to live in it.

10.
Michael Apted directed
the movie
I liked.

Task two **

Rewrite the sentences below so that the part underlined is the focus using a “
wh
” cleft.

1.
We now face
a global recession
.

2.
I was working
with the army
, not the navy.

3.
It isn’t known
when he will get here
.

4.
Emily Dickinson wrote
poetry
not plays.

5.
Cybereconomics
attracts the over fifties.

6.
E-crime
is on the increase.

7.
The head of department needs
the annual turnover figures
tomorrow morning.

8.
A last minute error
delayed him.

9.
The streets of London are paved
with concrete
, not gold.

10.
Mick Jagger has become
a film producer
.

17.7. Organising information – Postponement

Sections 424–429

Postponement with introductory “
it
”

This is used to postpone a subject clause for purposes of end-weight or end-focus:

Occasionally it can be used to displace a clause in object position. This must occur when the object clause is a ‘
that
’ clause or an infinitive clause.

It is also possible to postpone sentence elements to give more emphasis and to avoid awkwardness.

Task one **

Complete the sentences by starting each one with the introductory ‘
It
’ and adding one of the words or phrases here.

amazing, a problem, disappointing, expected, hard, lovely, not clear, stupid, very gratifying, very important

Example: ………………………
to see so much waste paper in the countryside. (annoy)

     
It annoys me to see so much waste paper in the countryside
.

1.
……………………… to be here.

2.
……………………… they will soon attack.

3.
……………………… why the government was being so cautious.

4.
……………………… that he failed his exams so badly.

5.
……………………… how long elephants live.

6.
……………………… to be proved right in this case.

7.
……………………… to walk all the way to the university.

8.
……………………… if you always refuse.

9.
……………………… to predict what will finally happen.

10.
……………………… for him to win the prize.

Task two **

Rewrite these sentences postponing certain elements to give them more emphasis or to avoid awkwardness.

1.
A place for him to stay has been found.

2.
The train coming from Berlin was late.

3.
What a problem finding this address has been!

4.
How serious about resigning are you?

5.
The commander himself gave the order to shoot.

6.
The manager himself paid for the breakages.

7.
Footballers have more status than they used to as celebrities.

8.
All the bills except the one for the new computer system have been paid.

9.
He’s earned more money in a year than his father earned in his whole life writing that one novel.

10.
What a story about her adventures in Thailand she had to tell.

Task three **

Rewrite the report to make it sound more impersonal and authoritative, using introductory ‘
It
’ with passive verb forms to replace the underlined expressions.

People think
that the British National Health Service is badly run, when
generally many know
that it is underfunded. You hear tales of vastly overcrowded hospitals, and frequently
there are reports
that people have had to wait months if not years for minor surgery. Set against this, however, is the fact that the British people value the principle of the National Health Service, and
most people acknowledge
that no government would dare try to dismantle it. When
politicians suggest
that there could be some kind of private investment, there is strong opposition; but, on the other hand, there is equally strong opposition, when
they say
that there will have to be tax increases to fund the service properly.
Most analysts acknowledge
that, in many ways, the service is the most efficient in Europe and that with more investment, it could be one of the best.
There are many people who assume
it will always be there, but
there are also many who fear
it will disappear because of lack of financial support.
They don’t appreciate
how determined the government is to see it survive.

17.8. Organising information – Other choices

Sections 430–432; 488; 608; 613–618; 730; 740

Choices of position

The passive can be used to give a sentence end-focus or end-weight.

The position of the direct and indirect objects can be postponed for the same purpose.

Task one **

Rewrite the sentences below to give end-focus or end-weight to the underlined sections.

1.
How could he afford such a large house?

His parents
gave him the money.

2.
They have proved
the reasons he gave for meeting that woman
false.

3.
How did such a successful company collapse like that?

The Chief Executive
made some poor decisions.

4.
In 2001, they gave
Peter Carey
the prize for the second time.

5.
The writer checked
the samples he’d been sent
carefully.

6.
Don’t leave
work for the exam
to the last minute!

7.
That he’d done so well in his career
finally pleased his father.

8.
That Marc insisted on spelling his name with a ‘c’ instead of a ‘k’
irritated his girl friend.

9.
Ivan often failed
to contact his friends
for months.

10.
Cathie asked
if she could leave early
for a second time.

Task two **

Give end-focus or end-weight to the sections underlined in the article below.

More than fifty years after the event, it is instructive to look at how honestly
Second World War leaders
treated the civilian population. Were we regarded as delicate flowers? Did they give
all the truth and nothing but the truth compatible with security
to us?

“There may always be another reality. To make fiction of the truth we think we’ve arrived at,” said the playwright, Christopher Fry. Goodness knows he saw enough reality in the pioneer corps.

Beady-eyed people who have second thoughts about mighty events
are revisionist historians. They can really make a veteran’s moustache bristle and steam gush from his ears.
Burrowers and snufflers through the once-secret archives
sometimes force us to face freshly revealed unpalatable truths: in the war, there was the usual tarnished brass –
cowards, deserters, psychopaths and black marketeers
supported the military geniuses, heroes, yeomen who were worthy of their country.

17.9. Organising information – Avoiding intransitive verbs

Sections 433–434

We tend to avoid predicates consisting of just a single verb as there is a feeling that the predicate of a clause should be longer or grammatically more complex than the subject. This is connected with the principle of end-weight.

Task **

In the following comment, Lionel is talking about himself to Miriam. Rewrite the text by using a more complex predicate: replacing
drank
by
had a drink
.

“You must excuse my chatting away like this, my dear. It’s so long since anyone called round, especially an old friend like you. The children have all gone away now. I know I could visit, but I don’t like to travel much now. Christine is living in the south of Portugal.
I visited her
. I suppose it’s a lovely spot. Nice beach. Every day at ten o’clock,
Christine swims
. Then in the afternoon from two to four,
she rests
. I got bored being there. It’s like that really, I suppose. We older folk always had to work hard.
They work very little
. They’ve got the money. I don’t know how. Don’t like to ask. And they’re so organised. Everything has to be in its place. You won’t believe this, but one day, Tom … He’s her husband, partner … I don’t know what they call them now. Well,
Tom was showering
. Suddenly
he shouted
. We rushed upstairs. Couldn’t get in. The door was locked.
I kicked the door hard
. It didn’t give. Christine called out, asking what was wrong. You really won’t believe this. They have a lot of plants in the bathroom. He’d noticed two were out of place. I couldn’t live there. They have different standards from us. But then we knew hard times. We did, didn’t we? Will you
dine
with me tonight? Please do. It’s been such a long time. We’ll have my best wine.”

Answer key

UNIT ONE

Spoken and written English

1.1. Informal spoken English

Sections 17–19

Task one **

Non-grammatical features:
er(m)
(×7) /
you know
(×2) / repeated elements (suggesting stammer), especially in line 4 /
WHOOSH!