First certificate language practice part 28 potx

Question tags • Sometimes a simple statement is too short and does not help the conversation to develop in a friendly way.. • A positive statement has a negative tag, and expects the ans

Question tags • Sometimes a simple statement is too short and does not help the

conversation to develop in a friendly way

You're French

The other person does not know what to say We can add a tag to the end of the statement so that it becomes a question

You're French, aren't you?

Now the other person knows that they have to reply and the conversation can continue

• Tags are formed using auxiliaries {do, be, have or a modal)

Helen lives here, doesn't she?

You left early, didn't you?

Jack was born in Italy, wasn't he?

You will help me, won't you?

Someone's got to pay, haven't they?

• A positive statement has a negative tag, and expects the answer Yes

A: You agree with me, don't you?

B: Yes, I do

A negative statement has a positive tag, and expects the answer No

A: You don't take sugar, do you?

B: No, I don't

It is possible for a positive tag to follow a positive statement, to express interest, or ask for confirmation This is less common

So you like working here, do you?

Tags with will and won't can be used after imperatives

Don't drive too fast, will you?

- Let's has a tag formed with shall

Let's have a drink, shall we?

G R A M M A R 3 1 I N V E R S I O N A N D Q U E S T I O N T A G S

Underline the most suitable words in each sentence

a) Let's go to London next weekend, shall we/won't we?

b) You shouldn't have told me, did you/should you?

c) Jim hasn't been waiting long, was he/has he?

d) You won't tell anyone about this, do you/will you?

e) You're not doing what I told you, do you/are you?

f) Answer the phone for me, will you/do you?

g) George can't have noticed, can he/has he?

h) You've got to leave now, don't you/haven't you?

i) Pam and Tim got married last year, didn't they/haven't they?

j) I don't think John's very friendly, does he/is he?

2 Add suitable question tags (Do not use positive tags for positive statements.)

a) Don't leave anything behind, will you ?

b) David is bringing some wine, ?

c) You'll be home before midnight, ?

d) Harry was working in Bristol then, ?

e) Nobody knows who invented the wheel, ?

f) You don't need me any more, ?

g) The ticket to London doesn't cost a lot, ?

h) Let's invite the Smiths from next door, ?

i) You aren't too busy to talk, ?

j) Jean owns a restaurant, ?

3 Rewrite each sentence, beginning as shown, so that the meaning stays the same a) Tony was not only late, but he had left all his books behind

Not only was Tony late, but he had left all his books behind

b) I had no sooner gone to bed than someone rang my doorbell

No sooner c) I have seldom stayed in a worse hotel

Seldom '

d) I have never heard such nonsense!

Never e) I realised only then that I had lost my keys

Only then f) The economic situation has rarely been worse

Rarely g) The manager not once offered us an apology

Not once h) You should not send money to us by post under any circumstances

Under no circumstances

i) I understood Hamlet only after seeing it on the stage

Only after seeing Hamlet

j) The embassy staff little realised that Ted was a secret agent

Little

4 Rewrite each sentence so that it begins w i t h the w o r d or words in italics

a) The best time to buy a house is now

b) The bus came round the comer

c) The price of petrol went up

d) The Parthenon stands on the top of the Acropolis

e) The wheels of the engine went round and round

f) Winston Churchill lived in this house

g) The flag went down

G R A M M A R 3 1 I N V E R S I O N A N D Q U E S T I O N T A G S

1) A are you B is it C do you D isn't it 2) A No sooner B After C Not only D As soon as 3) A that B but C and D than 4) A Not only B Seldom C Not once D Only then 5) A than B but C so D and 6) A can't I B won't I C will I D can I 7) A It goes B Goes it C Goes there D There goes 8) A isn't it B haven't you C didn't you D don't you 9) A do we B don't it C shall we D aren't we 10) A don't you B isn't it C can't you D won't you 11) A on comes B comes on C it comes on D comes it on 12) A does it B should it C shouldn't it D won't it 13) A isn't it B don't you C can't you D can't it 14) A Not only B Only then C Never D Under no circumstances 15) A isn't it B are you C don't you D aren't you

Key points 1 In formal speech and writing it is possible to use inversion after negative

adverbs The adverb has to be at the beginning of the sentence or clause

2 Intonation carries important meaning in question tags Rising tags are questions, falling tags are checking information

(question)

(checking)

5 Decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each space

Asking for advice

You don't happen to know how this computer works, (1) C ?

(2) had I bought it (3) I regretted spending so much money! I haven't even got an instruction manual (4) did I

completely fail to understand the instructions, (5) then I accidentally threw the manual away Now I'll never understand it, (6) , I said to myself (7) my weekend, I thought, but then I remembered you You've done a course on computers, (8) ? Let's look at it together, (9) , and try to understand it You press

this button first, (10) ? Then (11) this little light, and a message that says 'Error' It shouldn't do that, (12) ? You can fix it, (13) ? Don't do that! This label says: '(14)

should an unqualified person remove this panel' Well, you are unqualified, (15) ? What do you mean, do it yourself!

As and since have the meaning of because and can begin a sentence

As/since it was late, we decided to go home

In formal, written language we can use for to mean because, but it cannot

begin a sentence

Peter has given up sailing, for he doesn't have the time

• Because of, on account of, due to and owing to

We can use all these words in place of because of

Everyone was depressed on account of/due to/owing to the bad weather

Note this difference:

Sue's success was due to her hard work (noun + be + due to) Sue succeeded owing to her hard work (verb + owing to)

Grammar 13 and the first part of this unit cover linking words that join clauses within a sentence There are also linking words that join ideas across sentences and paragraphs These are sometimes called 'text organizers' because they make clear the organization of what we say or write They are more common in writing or formal speech They usually come at the start of a sentence and have

a comma afterwards, but can come after a comma in the middle of a sentence

• Sequencing

We often number or order the points we are making

First (of all) , Secondly , Next , Then , Finally/lastly/last of all

In narrative, the sequence of events can be introduced by:

First , Then , After that , Finally/in the end

• Adding

We can introduce additional points

Furthermore , Moreover , In addition to , As well as this , Besides this

• Giving opinions

We can introduce personal opinions

Personally , In my own opinion/view

• Giving examples

We can introduce examples

For example , For instance

We can also use such as to give an example, but it is not used at the

beginning of a sentence

Text organizers

G R A M M A R 3 2 L I N K I N G W O R D S 2

• Showing a result

Grammar 13 gave some informal ways to show a result Formal ways include:

Consequently , As a result , Thus

• Making a contrast

Grammar 13 gave some informal ways to make a contrast Formal ways include:

On the other hand , However , Nevertheless , In contrast ,

In comparison

• Summarizing

We can summarize all the points we have made

In conclusion , To sum up

187

Underline the most suitable w o r d or phrase in each sentence

a) Many people feel nervous about flying, and worry about the possibility of an

accident Furthermore/However, according to statistics, flying is actually safer

than walking down the street

b) Our local supermarket no longer opens every day, as/on account of very few

people live in our village

c) There are a number of objections to the planned motorway As well as

this/First of all, the new road will destroy valuable farming land In contrast/In addition to this, it will bring thousands of vehicles and tourists As a result/For example, our peaceful way of life will be destroyed forever

d) We conducted a survey of accommodation in the town, and came up with some interesting results The hotels we saw were rather expensive, and

consequently/moreover the actual facilities on offer were not always impressive

Besides this/In contrast, there were many guest houses, offering just bed and

breakfast, which were not only good value but also had much better rooms

than the hotels did Finally/Personally, I would recommend The Oaks, a

particularly impressive guest house in Long Harbour Road

e) Owing to/Since the increased demand for parking spaces, the company has decided to enlarge the car park Consequently/Nevertheless the exit road on the

west side of the car park will be closed from Monday to allow building work

to begin

2 Put one suitable w o r d in each space

a) In conclusion, I would like to thank you all for your help

b) it's too late to finish the work today, we'll come back tomorrow

c) The flight was delayed a result of the high winds

d) This radio is expensive, but the other hand it has very good reception

e) First all, I would like to welcome you to our annual dinner

f) John is a hard worker As as this, he is completely reliable

g) Science has not entirely changed the way we think instance,

we still speak of the 'sunrise' although we know it is the Earth that is moving

h) Although this building project seems attractive, in my it would

be a mistake to spend so much money on it