Memory, Grammar, and Tenses: A Comprehensive English Language Exercise
1. Complete the text. Use modal verbs where necessary.
Recent studies into memory showed that what we remember and what actually happened can be two very different things. In experiments with students, psychologists revealed that they can now make people ‘remember’ an accident which actually didn’t happen. The students were interviewed about their childhood and shown various pictures. One picture was a computer-generated image of them as a child in a hot air balloon. Approximately 60% described the balloon ride, which was fake. It seems that if your brain is given false information when it is receptive, it makes up a story to give the image meaning.
2. Complete the second sentence.
- Customer to shop assistant: ‘Can I try on a pair of those jeans, please?’ She asked the store clerk if she could try on a pair of those jeans.
- He made bad decisions, so he lost all his money. If he hadn’t made bad decisions, he wouldn’t have lost all his money.
- Someone had eaten the last slice of toast. The last slice of toast had been eaten.
- She’s the girl, her hair is pink. She’s the girl with pink hair.
- Teacher to student: ‘Don’t shout in class!’ The teacher told the student not to shout in class.
- It’s possible that eating ginger helps fight off colds. Eating ginger might help fight off colds.
3. Complete the sentences with the correct preposition.
1. It will take the country a long time to recover from the economic crisis.
2. Politicians insist on saying that everything is OK, but the situation is very difficult.
3. There was a journalist outside, speaking to/with students about last week’s protest march.
4. Do you think that the people will succeed in overthrowing the government?
5. The police were accused of interfering with the results of the election.
6. It’s a topic that not many people want to talk about.
7. Quite a lot of employees were suffering from headaches after working long hours with little water.
4. Reported Speech
- Helen said, ‘The food is rather bland.’ Helen said that the food was rather bland.
- I said, ‘Manuel has just finished baking bread.’ I said that Manuel had just finished baking bread.
- They asked, ‘Is she going to have a picnic?’ They asked if she was going to have a picnic.
- Fatima said, ‘My dad can’t cook!’ Fatima said that her dad couldn’t cook.
- Bill asked me, ‘Where did you do your training?’ Bill asked me where I had done my training.
- She said, ‘I’ll copy the recipe for Pat.’ She said that she would copy the recipe for Pat.
- The manager said to me, ‘You must clean the kitchen.’ The manager told me that I had to clean the kitchen.
- Jack said, ‘I took them to a nice restaurant.’ Jack said that he had taken them to a nice restaurant.
- The journalist asked, ‘Why are there more male chefs than female chefs?’ The journalist asked why there were more male chefs than female chefs.
5. Complete the mini-dialogues with relative pronouns or relative pronouns with prepositions.
Why are you looking at that old house?
That’s the house where/in which I was born.
Why is today special?
It’s the day when/on which I got married.
Do you know anything about those paintings?
Yes, those are the paintings for which van de Meer is famous.
That’s the woman who robbed the bank.
Really? She must be very upset.
Let’s talk about eighteenth-century poetry.
Eighteenth-century poetry, about which I know nothing, is a rather boring subject.
Mary, who is going to teach me to speak German, is standing over there.
Oh, let’s go and talk to her.
What are you studying?
I’m revising some of the verbs that/which we learned last week.
6. Complete with the correct tenses.
1. Andy is tired because he (work) has been working all day.
2. By 1960 most of Britain’s old colonies (become) had become independent.
3. David broke his leg when he (ski) was skiing last week.
4. (you/have) Did you have a nice time in Rome?
5. (you/finish) Have you finished your homework yet?
6. He (be) has been at his computer for six hours.
7. How long (she/have) has she had that car?
8. How many people (die) died in the fire yesterday?
9. I (not/know) don’t know much about art, but I like some.
10. I (wait) had been waiting for ages when finally the bus arrived.
11. I (receive) received a postcard from Jane yesterday.
12. I (correct) have been correcting all morning, I’m exhausted.
13. I (never/be) have never been sailing, what’s it like?
14. It was late. Most of the shops (close) had closed.
15. It (rain) was raining when I got up this morning.
16. Janet (start) started a new job in September.
17. She was cooking dinner when we (arrive) arrived.
18. She (just/come) has just come back from the Mediterranean.
19. My husband (be) will be free for most of the week.
7. Finish the conditional sentences.
If he hadn’t been so rude to his mother, she wouldn’t have been angry.
Will she come with us if we ask her?
If I were you, I would study harder.
They wouldn’t have had the accident if they had been more careful.
If he doesn’t come on time again, he will be in trouble.
We would rethink and talk about it if we had more time.
If you had checked your bag before leaving, your cell phone wouldn’t have been stolen.
I’ll take the dog for a walk if the weather is nice.
8. Complete the text with the correct passive voice forms.
Pet clothes are made by many companies and one of the more famous ones is Coco Pet Fashion. They make pet clothes that are comfortable and elegant. Coco Pet Fashion has become popular with celebrities in the last few years, and many of them have bought Coco clothes for their pets.
Are Coco clothes being worn by your pet at the moment? If they aren’t, perhaps your favorite cat or dog has been influenced recently by the other neighborhood pets!