14 lntroduction 15

a wealth of material an tape for listening practice, and the amount of video Section one
material avaîlable is steadily increasing.
The fundamentals of grammar
Section four
It is, perhaps, through composition work that teachers can best view the
overalllevel a student has anained in writing skills at any given stage in his
General review of tenses and verb forms 1
language learning. "While it has been left to the teacher to instruct students
in essay-writing techniques, some exercises leading up to the full-scale
essay are included at the beginning ofthis section. Many students find 1 Write out the sentences, using the most logica! tense ar fonn of the
composition work unfamiliar or difficult, and the earlier exercises should verbs in brackets. The words in italics should be put in their correct
help, partly in that they are limited in scape, and partly in that they demand position in relation to the verb.
a simple descriptive technique.
1 Hello! 1 (try) ta telephone you ali week. Where you (be)?
The exercises in arguments 'for' and 'against' should provide a link 2 '] don't think we (meet) before?' 'Well, I (see) you once ata party,
between the simple descriptive paragraphs and the full-scale essay. Class but we not (be) introduced then.'
discussion can do much, under the guidance ofthe teacher, to stimulate a 3 It (look) as if this light (bum) all night. 1 must (forget) (switch) it off
wider view of the topics under review. The first set of composition subjects before 1 (go) to bed last night.
consists of those making fewer demands on the students in re gard to both
4 Carne in now. l'm sorry (keep) you (wait) so long.
subject and length. The subjects in the second set should provide the hasis
of composition work for students in the later part of a Proficiency course. 5 1 (buy) the book, but when 1 (hear) the opinion of the critics, 1
(change) my mind.
6 At last you're here! 1 (wait) here for more than half an hour. 1 might
(know) you (be) late!
Select list ofbooks
7 My father (work) in Canada for the last year, sa by the time he
(return) the month after next Inot (see) him for fourteen months.
Students will find the following books useful for reference and further
study. One book that ali advanced students would do well to possess is a 8 When you (see) him again you (be struck) by the way his health
monolingual English dictionary designed for foreign students. (improve) since he (go) ta Switzerland.
HORNBY, A. S.
9 If you (tel!) me you a/ready (buy) the book, 1 not (give) it ta you as a
OxfordAdvanced Learner's Dictionary ofCurrent English birthday present, but now it (be) too late.
(Oxfurd) 10 1 (ring) the beii once more, but as he not (answer) yet, 1 think he
COWIE1 A. P., MACKIN, R. and McCAIG, 1. R. must (go) out. 1 not (bother) (come) all this way ifl (know).
OxfordDictionary ofCurrent ldiomatic English, Vals. 1 & 2 11 lt's just as well we (bring) a guide-book with us. lf we not (have), we
(Oxford) (be) completely lost.
SWAN,M. 12 You can't (remember) (tel!) him how to get here. lf you (have), he
Practica/ English Usage (arrive) long before now.
(Oxford)
THOMSON, A.J. and MARTINET1 A. V.
2 lnstructions as for 1
A Practica! English Grammar
(Oxford) 1 By the rime the firemen (arrive), the house (be) ablaze from top to
LEECH, G. and SVARTVIK, J. bottom, but it (be) ele ar that ifsomeone (give} the alarm earlier,
A Communicative GrammarofEnglish they might (stand) a chance of (save) the building.
(Longman) 2 1 wish you (tel!) me last week that you (carne) ta London. !fi (know)
QUIRK, R., GREENBAUM, S., LEECH G., and SVARnriK,J.
in rime, you not (have ta) stay in a hotel.
A GrammarofContemporary English
(Longman) 1
These exercises may be used as a preliminary test of the student's grasp ofthe
language. They incorpora te many points of gram mar that are dealt with more fully
in !ater exercises.
 16 General review oftenses and verb forms Modal auxîliary verbs 17

3 Why you not (tell) me you (can) lend me the money? 1 not (need) 11 The blackmailer not (realize) that the police (be informed) ofhis
(borrow) it from the bank. activities, and that his victim (be asked) (go on) (talk) to him while
4 The driver said he not (can) (understand) why the car (break down) the caii (be traced).
during the race. It (undergo) thorough testing before (be) entered in 12 You hardly (believe) it, but that (be) the third time tonight someone
the competition. (telephone) me and then (apologize) for (get) the wrong number.
5 lt's time we (go). lf we not (le ave) now, we (miss) the last train. The next time the phone (ring) 1 not (answer).
6 (Be) you cut off while 1 (talk) to you just now? You (be)? 1 think
something must (go) wrong with the telephone.
7 The manager (talk) to an important customer at the moment but he
(be) free (see) you presently. (Like) you (take) a seat for a few Modal auxiliary verbs
minutes?
8 1 know 1 ought (write) to you before, but 1 (be) so busy recently that
1 not (have) rime for (write) letters. 1 (telephone) you instead, but 1 Introduction
(forget) your number.
9 When 1 last (see) him, he (live) in London. He (tell) me then that he [1] There are only twelve modal auxiliary verbs, but they are used with very
(think) of(emigrate) to Australia, and he may well (do) so by now. great frequency and in a wide range of meanings. They express concepts ar
10 1 (be) very excited at the prospect of(go) (ski).lt (be) the first time 1 attitudes relating to recommendation, obligation, necessity, and
(try). 1 think there's nothing like (ski) for (make) a holiday enjoyable. prohibition; permis sion and refusal; possibility, expectation, probability and
11 1 wish you (let) me (know) you not (be able) to come to dinner. 1 certainty; promise and intention, ability and willingess.
certainly not (go) to ali this trouble ifl (know). [2] There are faur paired forms-can, could; may, might; shall, should; will,
12 He said he not (want) (see) the film as he (hear) that it (be) not as wauld; and faur single forms-must, ought, need, dare. There are no other
good as the critics (suggest). fonns, and ali moda1s are therefore, ta varying degrees, 'defective' verbs.
The two verbs need and dare present special problems: dare can fo1low the
3 Instructions as for 1 grammatical pattems of either modal auxiliaries ar lexical, 'regular' verbs,
while need contrasts grammatically with the regular verb to need.
1 It's agreat pityyou not (come) to Brighton with us last Saturday. As
[3] The grammatical (or 'formal') contrast between modals and regular verbs is
you never (see) the sea before, it (be) a new experience for you.
perhaps best illustrated and SUfi?.marized in sentences with question tags:
2 By the time 1 (complete) my studies next month, I (live) in London
for nearly a year. 1 not (ţhink) 1 (stay) any longer after that. He can not go, can he?
m<ry m<ry
3 lt's odd that you (mention) his name. !just (think) about him and
need need
(wonder) what (become) ofhim. dare dare
4 1 not (caii) on him just yet ifl (be) you, as 1 don't think he (get) home 1-
fromwork. ought to go, ought
5 He said he (wish) he (be able) (see) you before he (leave). He (like) He doesn't want to go, does he?
(say) goodbye personally. He (hope) you (accept) his apologies. like
6 (Be) you sure there (be) no one in the room next door? 1 (can swear) need
1 heard someone (talk) in there. dare
7 'Mr Smith not (work) here for fouryears. (Be) you sure you (get) the The principal distinctive formal features of madai verbs are, explicitly:
right name?' 'Quite sure. He (ring) me only yesterday, and 1 certainly (a) negative sentences are formed by adding twt after the modal verb; 1
not (come) here ifhe not (ask) me to.' (b) interrogative sentences are formed by invening the subject and the
8 Not until we (arrive) at his house we (discover) that he (be) on modal verb; 1
holiday, and that we (waste) our time in (caii) on him. (c) there is no -s ending in the third person singular in the present tense,
9 It not (take) very long (get) here after all. We not (need) (take) a taxi. as there is with regular verbs (hewants, likes, etc.);
We could (save) the money we (spend) and (have) dinner on the (d) the madai verbs are followed by the infinitive of a verb without to
train. (except in the case of ought).
10 lt's high time you (make) up your mind about (choose) a career. lf 1
This feature is, of course, common to ali auxiliary verbs.
you not (decide) soon, you never (settle) down to anything.