Grammar in context 1
Modal verbs of speculation and deduction – Present and past 1 Choose the correct alternative. 1 I hope you’ll get lots of people to sign the petition. It could/must really make a difference. 2 I’m not sure where Alana is. She may/can be voting at the polling station. 3 This anthem’s got twenty-eight verses! It mustn’t/ can’t be easy to learn the words. 4 You never know when you might/can need to know the flags of the world. 5 That MP must/can be freezing. He’s been campaigning all day in the snow. 6 You might not/could not need your passport. I’ll check. 2 Match the halves to make sentences. 1 I can’t get online. The wi-fi connection … 2 Jo isn’t answering her phone. I suspect she … 3 They visited The Shard in London. It …
Rewrite the sentences with the past or present form of a modal verb and the verbs given. 1 There is a small chance we’ll find out the election date today, but I doubt it. (announce) They the election date today, but I doubt it. 2 It’s possible that they went to the Town Hall that morning. (visit) They the Town Hall that morning. 3 It’s not possible that it’s much further. We’ve been driving for hours. (be) It any further. We’ve been driving for hours. 4 I’m sure you didn’t know about it because no one said anything. (know) You about it because no one said anything. 6 Complete the article with one word in each gap. Grammar challenge
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4 I didn’t sleep at all last night. It … 5 She doesn’t like cheese so it … 6 Amy’s in Paris so you … a couldn’t have been her who finished it. b can’t have seen her this morning. c might have been all that coffee. d may have left it at home. e could have stopped working. f must have been really interesting. the box. can’t • could • might not • m ust 1 That history book
Is Easter Island Mystery Finally Solved?
Chile’s Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, is famous for (a) gigantic monumental statues, called moai. They (b) constructed in the 13 th century by the Rapa Nui, a Polynesian people. Why the islanders built these statues (c) remained a mystery for centuries. It (d) have been easy for a Stone Age culture to sculpt and transport these huge statues weighing up to 92 tons. The Rapa Nui (e) have the help of the wheel and there were no large animals (f) these massive statues were constructed. However, in 2012, Carl Lipo, an anthropologist at Binghamton University in New York, and Terry Hunt of the University of Arizona, showed that around eighteen people (g) move the moai a few hundred metres, using three strong ropes and a rocking motion. Evidently, the Rapa Nui was a strong community that must (h) worked very closely together. Lipo and Hunt also have a theory that the location of the statues (i) have been chosen because they were near to fresh water. It’s possible that fresh water may have ( j) a limited resource on the island and the statues could have served (k) mark Rapa Nui’s communities. Many statues (l) on the coast with their backs turned to the ocean. Lipo puts forward the idea that they may (m) faced towards the Rapa Nui’s villages, watching over the water and the people. However, many experts disagree and we (n) never know the exact explanation for one of the world’s great mysteries.
Complete the sentences with the modals in
3
be yours because
I’ve already got mine.
2 If you’re lucky, you need an umbrella. However, I would take it anyway. 3 The government’s deciding today. We have another election in June. 4 It be the South African anthem. That’s the wrong music! of a modal verb and the verbs given. 1 I can’t find my mobile. I it on the bus. (must / leave) 2 I the door this morning. The cat got in! (couldn’t / close) 3 It’s lucky you moved the car. A tree on it last night. (might / fall) 4 Is his car there? He . (may / go out) 5 Those bags were really heavy. He them. (can’t / carry) Complete the sentences with the past form
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Unit 9
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