A Workbook to Communicative Grammar of English (20 page)
Read A Workbook to Communicative Grammar of English Online
Authors: Dr. Edward Woods,Rudy Coppieters
3.
I admire his paintings. I doubt if he is a major artist. (much as)
4.
Film directors in Hollywood have a long training. Young British directors can go straight into making major films. (whereas)
5.
He puts in a lot of hard work. He never gets any promotion. (for all)
6.
The administration maintains an aggressive stance. There are signs of compromise among some of its members. (nevertheless)
7.
These are favourable weather conditions. The rough terrain should persuade them not to make the trip. (notwithstanding)
8.
Some critics had written some very bad notices. The play was sold out for all performances. (even so)
9.
The evidence points strongly towards a conviction. The defence still believes the woman will be found not guilty. (while)
10.
The ruined abbey is in a very beautiful setting. I’m not sure I want to see it. (all the same)
Task two ***
Complete the text with the following conjunctions or adverbial phrases. Each one can only be used once.
although, despite, however, in spite of, nevertheless, so, though, whereas, while, yet
…………..(1)………… he walked on the moon in 1969, Edwin Aldrin still has space-travelling ambitions. …………..(2)………… his age, he’s still interested in space-travel and is involved in developing ‘cyclers’ as a means of getting to Mars. …………..(3)………… he went direct from the earth to the moon in a space-craft, going to Mars is much more complex. …………..(4)………… the moon is always the same distance from the earth, the distance between the earth and Mars can vary from 33m miles to 250m miles, and periodically the planets are at opposite sides of the sun. …………..(5)………… all the problems this presents, scientists believe it will be possible to go there by 2018. …………..(6)………… they are now looking for plants which will provide food and keep the air fresh in the ‘cyclers’. …………..(7)………… ‘cyclers’ will be principally shuttles between earth and Mars, they will provide all the comforts of a good hotel. Absurd it may be now, …………..(8)…………, two men, one a billionaire and the other a multi-millionaire, have already booked themselves to be among the first to holiday on a space-station. It might seem to be very exciting to be travelling in space, …………..(9)………… scientists are concerned about the effects of boredom on long journeys. Mars is a long way away, …………..(10)…………, it is no longer a fantasy destination.
Linking
Sections 351–359; 238; 470–472
We help people to understand our messages by signalling how one idea leads to another. Most of the words and phrases which have this connecting function in English are sentence adverbials, and they generally come at the beginning of a sentence. Their most important functions are:
•
making a new start
•
changing the subject
•
listing and adding
•
reinforcement
•
summary and generalisation
•
explanation
•
reformulation
Task **
Complete the dialogue by adding a suitable linking signal as suggested by the function in brackets.
Andy: | Didn’t it snow heavily last night. (1. Making a new start), not heavily, but a lot. (2. Reformulation), I’ve had a bad time getting into work this morning. |
Ben: | It wasn’t easy. (3. Changing the subject), you do realise that that report has to be finished by Friday, don’t you? |
Andy: | Friday? That’ll never happen. |
Ben: | Why not? |
Andy: | There just isn’t the time. We haven’t got all the information we need. (4. Explanation), we don’t have the figures for the last quarter of the year. |
Ben: | I can easily get those. (5. Making a new start), what other problems are there? |
Andy: | (6. Making a new start), (7. Listing): what about staff reductions? How are they to be included? |
(8. Listing): what about the “bad debt” write-offs? | |
(9. Listing): Is the Managing Director’s pension enhancement to be included in the whole of last year’s figures? | |
All these things have made a dent in our profits. (10. Generalising), they do not reflect on the increased business, (11. Explanation), the fact that we have opened up new markets, (12. Explanation), in South-east Asia and some of the Russian republics. | |
Ben: | (13. Summary), you want to be able to say that the business is improving, so we have to figure in special items for this year. |
Andy: | Yes. (14. Adding), I want to stress that things like the bad debts are one-off items, (15. Explanation), of course, they won’t be repeated. |
Ben: | Not even the managing director’s pension? |
Andy: | (16. Summary), no! Not even the Managing Director’s pension provision. (17. Reinforcement), I think that was already considered in the mid-year report. (18. Changing the subject), what do you think about the proposed branch closures? |
Ben: | It’s terrible. |
Andy: | It will be for some people. (19. Explanation) the older staff who won’t easily find another job. |
Ben: | It won’t? |
Andy: | No. Not here at head office. (20. Reinforcement), we may take on more staff. |
Ben: | Glad to hear it. |
Sections 371–374; 110–111; 493–494; 686–694
In addition to a positive link between two ideas expressed by ‘and’, there are other vague or ‘general purpose’ connections:
•
relative clauses
•
participle and verbless clauses
•
grammatically unlinked clauses
Task one **
Identify the restrictive and non-restrictive clauses by re-writing them to show their connecting function. Insert commas where appropriate.
1.
They won’t finish the work today and that causes a problem.
2.
I don’t like mobile phones that have a musical repetitive tone.
3.
He was always late and that lost him his job.
4.
Be sure to buy a savings bond that gives you a good return on your investment.
5.
The books that were badly stacked fell across the floor.
6.
They have problems with their neighbours who are very noisy.
7.
Many people who found themselves always playing ‘Solitaire’ on their computer have had the game removed.
8.
People shouldn’t ski off-piste which is dangerous.
9.
The arrangements for the conference which were very bad angered him.
10.
He fell madly in love with Barbara who was directing the play.
Task two **
Match the unlinked clauses in columns I and II, and identify the connecting function.
I | II | ||
1. | I haven’t seen them for some time. | A. | I’ve got to finish this work. |
2. | Always keep the TV volume down at night. | B. | They’ve been away in Africa. |
3. | He published the book himself. | C. | You’ll be late. |
4. | He drove fast along the road, swerving round the corner. | D. | Winter’s coming. |
5. | You must answer truthfully. | E. | There was a terrible crash. |
6. | Get a move on! | F. | You can’t make a can of peas look sexy. |
7. | I can’t come out to play. | G. | It won’t disturb the neighbours. |
8. | The train was delayed. | H. | No harm will come to you. |
9. | The birds are going south. | I. | No publisher was interested. |
10. | Supermarkets put fresh produce in front. | J. | There was a cow on the line. |
Task three **
Rewrite the following text changing the underlined clauses into participle or verbless clauses.
As he knew it was time to go
, Rob finally got his things together.
He didn’t want to leave
, so he had left tidying up to the last minute.
Now it was empty of all his books and papers
, the office seemed quite large.
Just by looking round the room
, he recalled the thrill of the first time he had walked in.
He had felt proud
and determined to succeed in this new position.
If he had been seen to be a keen and co-operative worker
, he would have had further promotion.
But because he didn’t understand the corporate culture
, he tried to do everything to promote himself above his colleagues.
They grew tired of this
and made his work difficult.
He was soon failing to get things done on time
, so he was asked to reconsider his position.
He knew there was nothing he could do
, so he resigned.
9.3. Cross-reference to noun phrases and substitutes for a noun phrase
Sections 375–382; 510; 529; 597–601; 619–622; 675–680
The personal pronouns
he, she, it, they
, etc. cross-refer to noun phrases, and agree with them in number and/or gender.
Occasionally, 1st and 2nd pronouns substitute for coordinate noun phrases.
Sometimes a plural pronoun cross-refers to quantifier pronouns like
everybody, somebody, no one
, and
anyone
.
Other pronouns such as
one, some, each, none
can act as substitutes for a noun phrase.
The pronouns
that
and
those
can act as substitutes with definite meaning.
Task one **
Replace the phrases underlined with appropriate pronouns.
1.
I used to have high blood pressure.
The high blood pressure
somehow affected my eyes.
2.
Thubron’s journey takes
Thubron
through a spectacular area of desert and mountains.
3.
The book will deserve, through the beauty of
the book’s
prose, to stand alongside the best of travel writing.
4.
Thubron is an extraordinary traveller, but
Thubron
wears
Thubron’s
knowledge as casually as
Thubron’s
rucksack.
5.
Nobody is quite as you remember
the person
.
6.
In
the Tajiks’
villages of clay and brushwood, the Tajiks walk about in bright colours.
7.
People began to laugh. Jacobi turned to glare at
the people who began to laugh
.
8.
Pat and I always went there. It was one of
Pat’s and my
favourite spots.
9.
Jacobi found he was bored with the piano and switched over to the violin. The only problem with
switching from the piano to the violin
was that he had to carry
the violin
home in a canvas case.
10.
My two companions and I were summoned back to the office although
my two companions and I
still had unfinished business in the town.
Task two **
Complete the sentences with an appropriate pronoun.
1.
It was obvious that the two students had cheated though neither of ………….. would admit it.
2.
This early sonata is among his best. …………..he wrote later were too formulaic.
3.
The daffodils this year have done better than …………..last year.
4.
They short-listed six of the applicants, but ………….. of them interviewed well.
5.
It’s every man for …………..
6.
I’ve read all Shakespeare’s plays.
Romeo and Juliet
is the ………….. I know best.
7.
He’s won many prizes, including several of the most important …………..
8.
She takes very good photographs. ………….. have won the top international prizes.
9.
He has a house in London, ………….. in Geneva and ………….. in the Caribbean.
10.
There are too many books here. ………….. of them belong to you. Take ………….. back, please.
11.
The problem of including sensitive questions in a census is always a delicate …………..
12.
It was only in 1829 that provision was made for a regular police force in the metropolitan London area. ………….. was followed by further legislation establishing 43 county and borough forces.
13.
Would you like a cup of tea? No thanks. I had ………….. just half-an-hour ago.
14.
I preferred the play they did last year to the ………….. this year.