Answers to Questions in the Book: Chapter 5

Answers to questions in the book: Chapter 5

Exercise 5.1Subject–verb agreement (section 5.1)

Select the appropriate verb form from those given in brackets at the end of each sentence to fill in the blank space.

**[Answers in italics]

He sees his neighbour jogging.
He doesn’tknow what kind of exercise to do.
Exercise for the middle-aged isconsidered a prophylactic.
Too many people endup with heart attacks.
To undertake an exercise test isprudent.
The test determinesyour level of fitness.
Usually the test comes after a physical examination.
Finding out what your heart can do isthe goal of the test.
Most tests usea treadmill.
Some clinics also usea bicycle.
Walking on an elevated fast-moving treadmill ishard work.
The doctors constantly monitoryour heart rate.
On the basis of the tests, the doctor islikely to recommend an exercise programme.
To take up a regular programme requiresdiscipline.
Exercise improves the heart, doesn’tit?
That you shouldn’t over-exert yourself goeswithout saying.
On the other hand, we dotoo little exercise.
We don’twant heart trouble at our age.

Exercise 5.2Subject–verb agreement (sections 5.1–5.12)

Select the appropriate verb form given in brackets at the end of each sentence, to fit in the blank spaces.

**[Answers in italics]

Surgeons in the US successfully alleviate clouded vision or outright blindness by transplanting about 10,000 corneas a year.
The congregation consistsmainly of factory workers.
Analysis with the aid of computers selectsthose accounts that appear to be conduits for drug money.
What makes the situation serious isthat no new antibiotics have been discovered in the past 15 years.
Riding a bicycle in London demandscourage and agility.
If the sound spectrum is divided into frequency bands, each isseparately coded.
He was fascinated by the stories in the Old Testament that showhistory to be determined by chance meetings and by small, personal incidents.
The job of establishing sufficient controls and measurements so that you can tell what is actually happening to athletes istediously complex.
Both science and medicine contributeto preparing athletes for competition.
The only equipment they work with isa blackboard and some chalk.
One area of research that shows great promise isgenetics.
The Producersisthe most widely praised Broadway show in decades.
The blind donot want pity.
These are not the conclusions that she drawsfrom her survey of the current economic policies of countries in the European Union.
Where he went wrong wasin the arbitrary way he allowed dialect to pepper his narrative.
The extraordinary isdescribed as though it were ordinary.

Exercise 5.3Subject–verb agreement (sections 5.1–5.12)

These sentences form a connected passage. The base form of a verb is given in brackets at the end of each sentence. Select the appropriate form of the verb to fill in the blank spaces.

**[Answers in italics]

The young woman now sitting in the dermatologist’s waiting room hasan itchy rash.
The rash on her elbows and legs is due to an allergic reaction.
There are many allergies that causerashes.
The existence of allergies wasknown long before scientists had any understanding of their nature.
The nature of allergy isstill not fully understood.
The victims of allergy seldom die and seldom recover.
There isnothing like an itchy rash for wearing a person down.
Some allergies, such as asthma, haveno external cause.
Others arecaused by contact with a foreign substance.
The young woman’s allergy wasbrought about by contact with copper.

Exercise 5.4Indefinite pronouns (section 5.6)

Rewrite each sentence to avoid sexist bias.

**[Only answers are shown]

Students must fill out an application form if they wish to be considered for postgraduate studentships.
Everybody worked their hardest to ensure that the event was a success.
Astronauts run the risk of serious injury, even death, if their spacecraft malfunctions while they are in orbit.
Workers should show up promptly for work or run the risk of having an hour’s pay deducted from their pay-packet.
American politicians must raise considerable sums of money if they wish to be elected to office.
Individualsare responsible for their own welfare.
Engineering graduates will find that they can easily get a job.
Shop stewards have less influence than they had twenty years ago.

Exercise 5.5Coordinated phrases (section 5.14)

Complete the sentences by selecting the pronoun form that would be appropriate in formal writing from the words in brackets.

**[Answers in italics]

Edward and Iwent for a walk after the talk.
Our boss thinks that Mary and Italk too much when we work together.
The police officer gave the driver and mea stern lecture on the condition of our car.
WeAustralians are proud of our culture.
Between you and methis class is much harder than I thought it would be.
Your parents expressed their appreciation of how well Fred and I had decorated the house.
Either Rebecca or Iwill be in contact with you about the campaign.
Everyone except John and mewere present at the rally.

Exercise 5.6Who, whom(section 5.18)

Select the pronoun form from the words in brackets that would be appropriate in formal writing, to complete the sentences.

**[Answers in italics]

She is the only person whomI trust completely.
Go to the office and speak to whoeveris working at the reception desk.
Ted is the only person whoI think is capable of filling the position.
People should vote for the candidate whothey feel will best represent their interests.
The manager has already decided whom to promote.
Whoeveris selected to chair the committee must be prepared to devote several hours a week to the task.
Naomi is the one whois to be transferred to Liverpool.
I will vote for whomeveryou suggest.
We have supervisors whoare themselves supervised.
The shop will press charges against whoever is caught shoplifting.

Exercise 5.7Case (sections 5.13–5.18)

Select the appropriate wordfrom the brackets at the end of each sentence to fill in the blank spaces. If more than one seems appropriate, give the more formal word.

**[Answers in italics]

We should help those whowe know are helping themselves.
We do not know whomto ask.
They will pay the reward to whomeveryou nominate.
My grandmother was one of six sisters, each of whomhad at least five daughters.
Speak to the person whois in charge.
Joan and I are about to leave.
Whomdo you want to see?
I am playing the record for whoeveris interested.
They called while you and I were at the party.
Did you see whowas there?
Let you and metake the initiative.
He speaks English better than she.
It was Iwho seconded the motion.
They recommended that I consult the lawyer whomthey employed.
Their advice was intended for Bruce and me.
Nobody knows the way but me.
People were speculating about whowas in charge.

Exercise 5.8Case with -ing clauses (section 5.19)

Select the appropriate word from the brackets at the end of each sentence to fill in the blank space. If more than one seems possible, give the more formal word.

**[Answers in italics]

I watched themplaying football.
They were angry at hisrefusing to join the strike.
Are you surprised at mywanting the position?
They can at least prevent hisinfecting others.
I certainly do not object to yourpaying for the meal.
Yourwriting a reference for me persuaded the board to give me the position.
They were annoyed at their neighbourtelephoning after eleven.
I cannot explain theirnot answering your letters.
They appreciated meexplaining the differences between the two policies.
I was delighted to hear of yourpassing the examination.

Exercise 5.9Auxiliaries and verbs (sections5.20–5.21)

Select the verb form from the brackets at the end of each sentence that would be appropriate in formal writing to complete the sentences.

**[Answers in italics]

You shouldhavecompleted the assignment before leaving the office.
I wanted to liedown before preparing dinner.
I couldhaveplayed the game but I had injured my ankle the previous day.
Joan laydown for a few hours because she wasn’t feeling well.
Ronaldo has been lyingdown during the entire game.
The children hadbetterplay quietly or they will upset their mothers.
They must have laindown for quite some time.

Exercise 5.10Present tense (section 5.22)

For each verb listed in its base form, give the -s form (third person singular present). For example, live has the third person singular present form lives, as in He lives in Sydney.

**[Only answers in columns]

thinks

pushes

camouflages

tastes

dies

does

says

refuses

goes

implies

flies

types

buries

cries

shouts

crushes

makes

undertakes

disagrees

wrongs

recognizes

crouches

Exercise 5.11Past and -ed participle (section 5.23)

For each irregular verb listed in its base form, give the past form. For example, live has the past form lived,as in I lived in Sydney last year.

**[Only answers in columns]

chose

shook

made

brought

wrote

cost

taught

lost

kept

held

caught

threw

went

began

drew

took

tore

Exercise 5.12Past and -ed participle (section 5.23)

For each irregular verb listed in its base form, give the -ed participle. For example, draw has the -ed participle form drawn, as in I have drawn a map.

**[Only answers in columns]

heard

grown

driven

told

thought

fallen

given

seen

made

found

spent

forgotten

shown

gone

done

stood

known

taken

come

read

eaten

Exercise 5.13Past and -ed participle (section 5.23)

Select the form from the words in in brackets at the end of the sentence that would be appropriate in formal writing, to complete these sentences.

**[Answers in italics]

We sawan accident on our way to work this morning.
Her husband camehome late after spending the night with his friends.
The other workers and I didthe job without even being asked to do so.
He was hangedfor murder in 1951.
I hungout the washing so that it would dry.
You should have spokento me before you came to a decision.

Exercise 5.14Past and were subjunctive (section 5.24)

Select the verb form from the words in brackets at the end of the sentence that would be appropriate in formal writing, to complete these sentences.

**[Answers in italics]

If I wereyou, I would make an effort to come to work on time.
We did not know if she wasthe right person to ask.
The commander acts as though he wereready for combat at any time.
If he wereto work a little harder, he would have no trouble getting into a very good university.
I believe strongly that if the committee wereto pass the amendment our problems would be solved.
If I were given a second interview, I am sure that I would be offered the position.
Had the train arrived a few minutes earlier, we wouldhave made the first act of the play.
If England were to score now, it wouldcompletely change the game.

Exercise 5.15Multiple negation (section 5.25)

Rewrite the sentences that contain non-standard double negatives. Some sentences may not need any revision.

**[Only answers are shown]

I can hardly hear with the radio turned up so loud.
We are not displeased with the jury’s verdict.
Nobody has better ideas.
You can’t not become involved in such an emotional issue as saving baby seals from being murdered by hunters.
I am not unhappy.
Those two suspects didn’t do anything to anybody.
It is not unusual for there to be cold weather in Scotland even in April or May.
It is not police policy to say nothing about police corruption.

Exercise 5.16Confusion between adjectives and adverbs (section 5.26)

Correct these sentences where necessary by substituting adjectives for adverbs or adverbs for adjectives. Some of the sentences do not need to be corrected.

**[Only correct answers are shown]

The child is eating too fast.
Do your pants feel tight?
They fought hard against the change.
I didn’t sleep too well last night.
We left early because I was not feeling well.
The milk tasted sour this morning.
I felt good about the way they treated you.
Your dog is barking loudly.
They should think more positively about themselves.
He hurt his neck badly.

Exercise 5.17Comparison (section 5.27)

Give the inflected comparative and superlative of each adjective or adverb.

**[Only answers in columns]

wiser, wisest

deeper, deepest

harder, hardest

happier, happiest

sadder, saddest

friendlier, friendliest

angrier, angriest

riskier, riskiest

rarer, rarest

fiercer, fiercest

stronger, strongest

taller, tallest

heavier, heaviest

redder, reddest

larger, largest

Exercise 5.18Comparison (section 5.27)

Select the appropriate determiner from the choices provided in brackets, to complete these sentences.

**[Answers in italics]

To protect the environment, we are using fewerplastic bags.
They have littlereason to complain.
You put too muchgarlic on the pizza.
We seem to get lessmail these days.
A high pollen count causes problems for manypeople.
After the accident he had littleenergy.
You will lose weight if you consume fewercalories.
We don’t get manyletters since everyone started using email.

Exercise 5.19Dangling modifiers (section 5.29)

Rewrite each sentence, avoiding dangling modifiers.

**[No answers provided for this exercise]

Having completed the balloon crossing, hundreds of French villagers welcomed the three balloonists.
Unwilling to lay down his gun, the police shot dead the escaped convict.
When delivered, they found the merchandise spoiled.
When approaching the building, no single feature has an impact on the viewer.
A weak student, his teacher gave him extra essays and went over them with him privately.
After completing the first four columns, each should be added separately.
Being in charge, the accusation was particularly annoying to me.
Having found the first stage of our work to be satisfactory, permission was given by the inspector for us to begin the second stage.

ADVANCED EXERCISES

Exercise 5.20Prescriptive rules and descriptive rules (Chapter 5 and Introduction)

Indicate whether these rules are prescriptive or descriptive.

**[Answers in brackets after each sentence]

In English, only nouns and pronouns display distinctions in case. (descriptive)
The superlative adjective is required for more than two items or sets of items: the best of the (three) groups, not the better of the three groups. (descriptive)
Where there is a choice between if and whether, prefer whether in formal English, as in I am not sure whether she is at home. (prescriptive)
Definite and indefinite articles come before their nouns in English, as in the library and a restaurant. (descriptive)
Words are frequently converted from one part of speech to another; for example, the noun walk from the verb walk. (descriptive)
Conditional clauses sometimes begin with an auxiliary and have no conjunction, as in Had I known, I would have telephoned you. (descriptive)
The preposition but should be followed by an objective pronoun, as in nobody but me. (prescriptive)
The most common way of expressing future meaning is with will. (descriptive)
Adverbs such as very modify adjectives (e.g. very good)and other adverbs (e.g. very carefully).(descriptive)
When you are writing formally, use the subjective pronoun after the verb be,as in It was he who told me the news,not It was him who told me the news. (prescriptive)

Exercise 5.21Usage problems (Chapter 5)

Write an essay on a usage topic.

**[No answers provided for this exercise]

Select a usage topic. Some examples of usage topics are listed below.
Look up the topic in at least three usage books. A list of usage books may be found in the Further Reading section.
In your essay summarize what you have found in the usage books, showing the similarities and differences in their approaches. Draw conclusions from your reading on the topic.

Topics:

the split infinitive
the use of like as a conjunction
ending a sentence with a preposition
the uses of who and whom
the uses of shall and will
the uses of the subjunctive
adding an apostrophe to names ending in -s
the case of pronouns after be
the case of pronouns after as and than
the number of verbs with either…or and neither…nor
the use of they, them and their as gender-neutral pronouns
the case of pronouns and nouns with -ing clauses. These may be referred to in some usage books as ‘gerunds’ or ‘fused participles’.

Chapter 5p. 1