Teacher Discussion Forums

In the following exercises the suggested answers are "B". Can we choose "A"? Why?
1.A: You look tired. B: Yes. I ___ non-stop until 5 o’clock.
( A. had been working B: was working )
2. Would you change this bucket for another? It ____ hold water. OK. I’m really sorry.
( A. can’t B. doesn’t )
3.A: Would you do me a favour? B: Certainly.
A: Would you please bring me a coup of coffee ? B: _____.
( A: Here it is B: Here you are )
4. A: Why was the special meeting ____ ? B: ____ the new officers.
( A: called, to elect B: called, For selecting )
5. With ropes ____ around their waists, the men went nearer and nearer to the women.
( A: fastened B: tied )
6.A: How are these shoes? B: They are too loose. I need ____.
( A: one smaller size B: one size smaller )
7. _____ he said at the meeting yesterday was very important.
( A: The fact B : What )
8.Later they discovered, ____ was news to him, that Pamela was the headmaster’s daughter.
( A: which B: what )
9.You may ____ find it hard to get along well with them.
( A: probably B: possibly )
10. A :Who did it sound like? Anybody you know?
B: Well, it ____ be Sarah but that’s just a guess. I ____ who was calling but I didn’t.
( A: could, could have asked B: might, should have asked )
11. A: I don’t know why he is late. B: Nor do I. He ____ an accident.
( A: could have had B: might have had )
12. Show cheerfulness even when you don’t feel it, ____?
( A: can’t you B : will you )
13.You must go now, ____?
Can we use both "mustn’t you" and"needn’t you"？
14. In the traffic accident ten were killed and eight were ___.
She felt ___ at your words.
Both"injoured"and"hurt" are right?

Hello,

In some of the cases, you could use "A" rather than "B", and vice versa. I would wonder about whoever may have "suggested" that "B" was the 'correct' answer.

However, and much more important, I'm afraid I must tell you that practically all of the English language in your post above is faulty. Whatever its source, I cannot imagine any native speaker actually speaking any of it. It could be argued that some of this language might be grammatically correct, but that arguement is not sufficient to make it acceptable English in the sense that any native speaker would use it.

Please understand, it is not my intention to embarass you or anyone else about this. I am only interested in helping you to understand that grammatical correctness is not a sufficient measure of good English. There are an infinite number of "correct" sentences in English that any native speaker will recognize as nonsense. You would never encounter them in actual conversation. Correctness only identifies what language might be possible. That sometimes has little to do with what is likely to be used.

Larry Latham