Complete the 12 sentences below. Choose the best answer for each one.
1The committee requested that every application ............... before the deadline, regardless of whether the references had arrived.
Wrong!
After "requested that", formal mandative clauses use the base form, so "be submitted" is correct.
2Rarely ............... such a meticulously documented case, which is why the journal accepted it so quickly.
Wrong!
With fronted negative adverbials like "Rarely", inversion is required, so "have we seen" is correct.
3No sooner ............... the lights go out than the backup generator kicked in.
Wrong!
The fixed correlative pattern is "No sooner had we seen ... than ...", so "had we seen" is correct.
4If you ............... to consult the archive, please sign the access log first.
Wrong!
In formal institutional English, "wish" is the most natural polite register here, so "wish" is correct.
5The report was ............... critical of the policy that even its supporters called for revisions.
Wrong!
The degree structure "so ... that" is required before the result clause, so "so" is correct.
6Not until the final audit ............... that several invoices had been duplicated.
Wrong!
After "Not until" at the start of the sentence, inversion is needed, so "did they realise" is correct.
7Had the merger gone ahead, hundreds of staff ............... redundant within a year.
Wrong!
The inverted conditional refers to an unreal past result, so "would have been made" is correct.
8The keynote was cancelled at short notice; ..............., the panel discussion drew a full house.
Wrong!
The second clause contrasts with the first, so the formal linker "nevertheless" is correct.
9Only by working through the night ............... the prototype in time for the demonstration.
Wrong!
After sentence-initial "Only by...", inversion is required, so "could the team finish" is correct.
10I would sooner the matter ............... confidential until the inquiry is complete.
Wrong!
After "would sooner", a formal preference about another situation takes a past-form clause, so "remained" is correct.
11The consultant spoke ............... about the board's decision that several members walked out.
Wrong!
Because the adverb modifies "spoke", the correct form is "so bluntly" before the result clause.
12It is imperative that no confidential files ............... to personal devices under any circumstances.
Wrong!
After "It is imperative that", formal mandative clauses take the base form, so "be copied" is correct.
Exercise complete
0 out of 12
correct answers
Answers
- The committee requested that every application be submitted before the deadline, regardless of whether the references had arrived.
- Rarely have we seen such a meticulously documented case, which is why the journal accepted it so quickly.
- No sooner had we seen the lights go out than the backup generator kicked in.
- If you wish to consult the archive, please sign the access log first.
- The report was so critical of the policy that even its supporters called for revisions.
- Not until the final audit did they realise that several invoices had been duplicated.
- Had the merger gone ahead, hundreds of staff would have been made redundant within a year.
- The keynote was cancelled at short notice; nevertheless, the panel discussion drew a full house.
- Only by working through the night could the team finish the prototype in time for the demonstration.
- I would sooner the matter remained confidential until the inquiry is complete.
- The consultant spoke so bluntly about the board’s decision that several members walked out.
- It is imperative that no confidential files be copied to personal devices under any circumstances.