Emphatic Structures_ Further Practice

A_ Make the sentences more emphatic by rewriting them, beginning with the word(s) in brackets.
Example:

 They are doing something quite unprecedented. (What)

 => What they are doing is quite unprecedented

1. The shellfish made Jasmine sick. (It was)

2. Greg lost the office keys. (It)
3. He’s approaching the problem from an entirely new angle. (What)
4. They’ve done something unforgivable. (What)
5. I came by bus because my car has broken down. (The reason)
6. A second chance is the only thing I want. (All)
7. The guy who told me about the new club was Zack. (Zack)
8. We have to leave our bags and coats here. (This)
9. They told me the same thing. (That’s)
10. He’s very unlucky in love! (Lucky)
11. The interactive displays were much more interesting. (Much)
12. The Lord Chancellor was also at the ceremony (Also)
13. The firefighters were unable to enter the building because the heat was so intense. (So)
14. A parking ticket was stuck to my windscreen. (Stuck)
15. Although they were defeated, they managed to keep smiling. (Defeated)
16. A gnarled old oak tree stands beside the river bank. (Beside)
17. The midnight movie is after this. (Next)
18. The government has hardly ever suffered such an overwhelming defeat. (Seldom)
19. As soon as we arrived, they announced that the show was cancelled. (No sooner)
20. Refunds cannot be given under any circumstances. (Under)

B-Read the information in the box then complete the replies. Each reply must contain a cleft sentence.
The exercise begins with an example (0).

Nick turned up late for work on Monday because he got stuck in a traffic jam on the ring road. Luckily
Nick has a mobile phone so he was able to phone his boss and warn her that he would be late. She was
furious but managed to reschedule an important meeting for the afternoon

 (0) ‘Didn’t the boss turn up late on Monday?’

 ‘No, it…was Nick who turned up……late on Monday.’
 ‘Nick was late because he overslept, wasn’t he?’

1. ‘No, it____that he was late.’

 ‘How on earth did Nick let the boss know he’d be late?’

2. ‘Well, what ____call her from his mobile phone.’

 ‘Wasn’t Nick late on Wednesday?’

3. ‘No, ____that he was late.’

 ‘Nick’s boss had to start the meeting without him. didn’t she?’

4. ‘No, what she ____the afternoon.’

 ‘Didn’t Nick get stuck in a traffic jam in the town centre?’

5. ‘No, not the town centre; it ____ got stuck.’

 ‘Didn’t the boss have to reschedule that meeting because the client didn’t turn up?’

6. ‘No, it _____ had to reschedule the meeting.’

 ‘Nick rang the boss to give her the sales figures, didn’t he?’

7. ‘No, it _____that he rang her.’

 I heard the boss was a little annoyed with Nick for being late.

9. ‘No, she wasn’t “a little annoyed”. What ____!’

Q 2.
For each of the sentences below, write a new sentence as similar as possible in meaning to original
sentence, but using the words given in bold.

 (0) Sebastian left the job because of the long working hours.
 why–The reason why Sebastian left the job was the long working hours.
 We have to wait here.

1. this

 We just need five minutes to fix it.

2. all

 Jennifer started the strike.

3. person

 I’m not questioning his dedication.

4. isn’t .

 These men are totally ruthless.

5. what
 I used to live around the corner.

6. the place

 It was your next-door neighbour who complained.

7. the one

 We inherited everything except the house.

8. only thing

 You know the sales assistant told me exactly the same thing.

9. that’s

 I want you to copy this down in your notebooks.

10. to do

 First of all, we checked the insurance details.

11. first thing

 The climbers reached the peak at six o’clock.

12. was

 We’re taking the au-pair with us.

13. doing

 Before leaving we switched off the power supply.

14. last thing

 They moved to Andalucía because of the climate.

15. reason .

 The company has imposed a ban on private e-mails.

16. has done

 The only thing we want is our money back.

17. all

 Our boss told us the news.

 18. it

 I want you to appreciate that it’s not my fault.

19. what

 The introduction of stamp duties led to the loss of the American colonies,

20. that

C-Make these sentences more emphatic by ‘fronting’ part of them. Do not use any additional words.

 (0) I can’t stand hypocrisy. => Hypocrisy I can’t stand!

1. Though he was exhausted, he managed to reach the finishing line.

2. My life’s ambition is to make the pilgrimage to Mecca.
3. The ninth symphony is his most sublime work.
4. I really can’t accept that proposal.
5. An enormous gold Buddha was placed on the altar.
6. The Cresta Run is much more challenging for the dedicated skier.
7. Several sharp criticisms of ministerial conduct were also included in the report.
8. An old man was lying in the shop doorway.
9. It proved impossible to get to the bottom of the mystery.
10. The pilot couldn’t regain control because the damage was so severe.

C-In twelve of the following sentences, there are mistakes with word order and missing auxiliaries.
Tick (✓) the correct sentences and then find the mistakes and correct them.

1. They’re going to complain about this and so are we.

2. Little we knew the full extent of his involvement in the fraud.
3. The sales director is resigning and so most of the marketing team are.
4. I tried to get there by nine, only was there a traffic jam on the motorway.
5. Over there stood the three-metre tall statue of Lenin.
6. The embassy refuses to intervene. Well, so it be.
7. Tomorrow the first day is of the rest of your life.
8. Long live the glorious republic!
9. No way is the boss treating me like that and getting away with it!
10. Under no circumstances, latecomers will be admitted to the auditorium.
11. Armando and Josepha are quite destitute and such the condition is of many of the
refugees.
12. Now the time is for wise investors to think seriously about buying Treasury Bonds.
13. Rarely had we encountered such friendly and positive attitudes.
14. Oh look – here comes the procession at last.
15. Not since Kubrick’s 2001 a director has made such an intellectually challenging sci-fi movie.
16. The government’s proposals are unrealistic, as those are of the opposition.
17. Opposite this house ran the old city walls.
18. Only with the greatest of luck, he managed to escape from the rising floodwaters.
19. May John and Carol have a long and happy life together.
20. No doubt didn’t he realize the consequences of his actions.
 F- Rewrite the replies in these mini-dialogues to make them more emphatic by using suitable structures
(cleft sentences, fronting or inversion) to emphasise the underlined items. The exercise begins with two
examples (0) and (00).

 (0) ‘That dress looks expensive.’

 ‘No, the shoes were expensive, not the dress.’ => ‘No, it’s the shoes that were expensive, not the dress’.
 (00) ’Did Darren help you with the decorating?’
 ‘No, he did the wallpapering, nothing else.’ => ‘No, the only thing he did was the wallpapering’

 ‘Jerry says Liz is going to quit her job at the bank.’

‘1. I find that really hard to believe.’

 ‘You look as though you’re destroying that rose bush.’

2. ‘No, I’m just cutting off the dead flower heads.’

 ‘Are you sure you brought everything with you?’

3. We left the personal stereo behind, that’s all.’

 ‘Didn’t you own a Volkswagen Golf once?’

4. ‘No, my brother owned one.’

 ‘He said the speech would shake them up a bit.’

5. ‘And it certainly did shake them up.’

 ‘I thought the car chase and the scene in the airport were brilliant.’

6. ‘But the explosion on the jumbo jet was best of all.’

 ‘I think we should try to give them first aid.’

7. ‘No, we should wait for the ambulance to arrive.’

 ‘So what was so awful about the view from your hotel room?’

8. ‘Well, a huge electricity pylon was standing right outside the bedroom window.’

 ‘You’ve always wanted to buy a cottage in the country, haven’t you?’

9. ‘Yes, my greatest ambition has always been to own a cottage.’

 ‘You’re all leaving on Saturday, aren’t you?’

10. ‘No, we’re going on Friday.’

Q 6.
G-In the following magazine article ten emphatic sentences have been changed and underlined. Rewrite the
sentences in their original emphatic form using the clues in brackets. The first one has been done as an
example (0).
RAP JUMPING?
NO WAY, JOSÉ!
I’m quite sporty and I love a new challenge, especially if it’s a little bit risky. I often try out new things with
my friends Tony and Bruce. (0) In fact, Bruce told me about his new hobby – rap jumping. (1) I’ve done
bungee jumping before – that’s the sport where you jump off a crane or bridge with your feet attached to a
long length of elastic – so I had some idea what he was talking about. Bruce promised me that (2) rap
jumping was more exciting and a lot more dangerous than bungee jumping, and (31 he didn’t tell me too
much about it to keep me in suspense. So, of course, I was dying it give it a go.
(4) But Tony actually took me for mv first rap jump. (5) He’s the real daredevil. We went to the top of this
tall building which had a sort of gantry overhanging the edge. (6) I could see a rope and a harness hanging
from the gantry.
‘Oh, I understand,’ I said to Tony, ‘I get into the harness and then lean back over the edge and lower myself
down – it’s like abseiling.’
‘No, no,’ said Tony, ‘(7) You lean forward and walk down.’
I began to feel a little sick. I don’t normally suffer from a fear of heights because I avoid it by looking up or
sideways. (8) I can’t cope with seeing the ground. The idea of going over the edge facing downwards was
just too much for me. ‘(9) I’m not doing that.‘ I announced.
Well, would you have done it?
(0) (it) => In fact, it was Bruce who told me about his new hobby.
1. (fronting)
2. (not only)
3. (fronting)
4. (it)
5. (the one)
6. (all)
7. (What)
8. (It’s)
9. (No way)