A. You are interviewing Sophie Dickens, who writes novels for teenagers. Rewrite Sophie’s answers as indirect statements, using the words in brackets. Sometimes more than one answer is possible.
1 ‘OK. I’ll answer some of your questions.’ (agreed)
Sophie ……agreed to answer some of my questions. ……
2 ‘I’ll be as open and honest as I can.’ (promised)
She …………………………………………………… .
3 ‘I know what my readers are interested in.’ (knew)
She …………………………………………………… .
4 ‘Tell me what you think about my last book.’ (asked)
She …………………………………………………… .
5 ‘It’s true some readers didn’t like the ending of my last book.’ (admitted)
She …………………………………………………… .
6 ‘In my opinion, it’s my best book so far.’ (thought)
She …………………………………………………… .
7 ‘I’ve tried to introduce more humour into my new book.’ (said)
She …………………………………………………… .
8 ‘I’ve been reading about birds in preparation for another writing project.’ (told)
She …………………………………………………… .
9 ‘Young writers like you should read as much as possible.’ (advised)
She …………………………………………………… .
Answers
2 promised to be / that she would be as open and honest as she could.
3 knew what her readers were / are interested in.
4 asked me what I thought about her last book. / asked me for my opinion about her last book.
5 admitted that some readers hadn’t liked / didn’t like the ending of her last book.
6 thought it was her best book so far.
7 said (that) she had tried to introduce more humour into her new book.
8 told me (that) she had been reading about birds in preparation for another writing project.
9 advised young writers like me to / that we should read as much as possible.
B. Underline the correct option.
1 I’m not sure where we are / are we going this evening.
2 She asked me what should she do / what she should do.
3 Enrico doesn’t know to / doesn’t know how to use a washing machine.
4 Lizzie couldn’t decide whether or not / if or not to go home.
5 I asked my brother what was he / what he was looking at.
6 Amalia asked the little girl how old she was / was she.
7 We often talk about how can we / how we can improve our environment.
8 I wonder where my keys are / where are my keys.
9 There is some doubt about if / whether we should go by bus or by train.
10 Can you tell me how can I / how I can solve this problem quickly?
Answers
2 what she should do 3 doesn’t know how to
4 whether or not 5 what he was 6 she was
7 how we can 8 where my keys are
9 whether 10 how I can
C. Join the sentences using relative pronouns. Sometimes more than one answer is possible. Then underline the pronouns that can be left out.
1 This is the café. I told you it was good.
This is the café which I told you was good. /
This is the café that I told you was good.
2 There are two people at the door. They want to speak to you.
………………………………………………………..
3 That’s the house! My dad was born there.
………………………………………………………..
4 Martin Amis is a famous author. His father was a writer too.
………………………………………………………..
5 Look at that boy. Emily’s sitting next to him.
………………………………………………………..
6 It was a great day. I’ll never forget it.
………………………………………………………..
7 I have two good friends. They always come when I need help.
………………………………………………………..
8 My cousin goes to a school. They have hardly any rules there.
………………………………………………………..
9 This song is about a woman. Her life was very hard.
………………………………………………………..
10 This photo is of an old friend. I used to play tennis with her.
………………………………………………………..
Answers
2 There are two people at the door who / that want to speak to you.
3 That’s the house where / in which my dad was born! / That’s the house which my dad was born in!
4 Martin Amis is a famous writer whose father was a writer too.
5 Look at that boy who / that Emily’s sitting next to.
6 It was a great day which / that I’ll never forget.
7 I have two good friends who / that always come when I need help.
8 My cousin goes to a school where they have hardly any rules. / My cousin goes to a school in which there are hardly any rules.
9 This song is about a woman whose life was very hard.
10 This photo is of an old friend who / that I used to play tennis with.
D. Complete the text with new words formed from the words in brackets.
A long time before J R R Tolkien’s 1(die) ……death…… in 1973, his books, 2(special) ………………… The Lord of the Rings, had become very 3(fashion) ………………… in many countries round the world. Since the 1970s, their 4(popular) ………………… has continued to grow. Tolkien himself was a very quiet man who was 5(comfort) ………………… with all the attention directed at him. He didn’t write his books in order to become 6(fame) ………………… . In fact, he wrote his first book, The Hobbit, to read to his children. His books are actually full of things he was interested in, like 7(tradition) ………………… ways of life, religion, old stories and languages. His deep love and 8(know) ………………… of languages, particularly ancient ones like Old English, Old Icelandic and Old German, helped him to invent new but 9(believe) ………………… languages for the characters in his books. Not everyone likes Tolkien’s work, and when The Lord of the Rings was first published, it received quiet a lot of 10(criticise) ………………… . Far more people, however, expressed admiration for Tolkien’s incredible 11(imagine) ………………… and 12(skill) ………………… storytelling, and they still do.
Answers
2 specially / especially 3 fashionable
4 popularity 5 uncomfortable 6 famous
7 traditional 8 knowledge 9 believable
10 criticism 11 imagination 12 skilful
E. Complete the sentences using it and there.
1 ……There…… is a strange insect in the bathroom.
……It…… is flying around the light.
2 ………………… is someone at the door. I don’t know who ………………… is.
3 ………………… is an interesting market in the town square on Saturdays. ………………… will only take us 20 minutes to get ………………… .
4 ………………… is easy to buy books on the Internet.
………………… is no point travelling so far to buy them.
5 ………………… is a big, black cloud coming towards us. ………………… looks as if we’re going to get wet.
6 ………………… doesn’t matter if you use all the paper. ………………… is more in the cupboard.
7 ………………… isn’t enough time to cook a big meal now. ………………… is very easy to make a sandwich instead.
8 ………………… will be a party for the opening of the new sports centre. ………………… is reported that several well-known people will be at the party.
9 ………………… is no good complaining.
………………… is no more ice cream for anyone.
10 ………………… is a shame we didn’t get to the museum earlier, because ………………… is such a lot to see.
Answers
2 There; it 3 There; It; there 4 It; There
5 There; It 6 It; There 7 There; It
8 There; It 9 It; There 10 It; there
F. Underline the correct option.
Dear Editor,
I am writing (1) for / to tell you what I think about the plan to build two new car parks in the city centre. (2) Although / However it is true that we have a problem with too many cars parked at the side of the road, building more car parks is not the solution (3) as / but this will only encourage more people to drive into the centre. We already have too many cars in the city centre. (4) So / But, we should try to stop people driving there, not encourage them. (5) On the one hand / Moreover, we need to make big changes (6) before / whereas the problem becomes even worse.
(7) Firstly / Similarly, we need to close some of the city centre streets to traffic. (8) On the contrary / In addition, we need to make it very expensive to park cars in the centre. (9) Next / Finally, we need a much better bus service (10) so / in case more people will be happy to travel by bus. At the moment, the buses are uncomfortable and expensive and, (11) above all / nevertheless, they are very slow. (12) Lastly / On the other hand, we need to make it safer for people to cycle, (13) so / then more special paths for bicycles are needed. Many cities have made changes like these (14) for / in order to reduce the amount of traffic in their centres. We should do the same.
Ron James
Answers
2 Although 3 as 4 So 5 Moreover
6 before 7 Firstly 8 In addition
9 Next 10 so 11 above all 12 Lastly
13 so 14 in order to
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