Complete the 12 sentences below. Choose the best answer for each one.
1............... had the committee approved the proposal than fresh objections emerged from the floor.
Wrong!
"No sooner" is correct because it forms the fixed inverted pattern" No sooner... than... ".
2Rarely ............... such unanimity among the senior judges in a case of this kind.
Wrong!
"Have we seen" is correct because inversion follows" Rarely" at the beginning of the sentence.
3Not until the final witness spoke ............... the extent of the deception.
Wrong!
"Did the jury grasp" is correct because inversion is required after sentence-initial" Not until".
4Only by revising the entire chapter ............... the argument internally consistent.
Wrong!
"Could she make" is correct because sentence-initial" Only by" triggers inversion with a modal verb.
5Little ............... that the apparently minor error would later invalidate the whole report.
Wrong!
"Did he suspect" is correct because sentence-initial" Little" takes inversion in this formal pattern.
6Seldom ............... such tension with language so restrained.
Wrong!
"Does a novelist sustain" is correct because inversion is needed after" Seldom" with the singular subject" a novelist".
7Under no circumstances ............... to disclose the source without written consent.
Wrong!
"Are employees permitted" is correct because a negative fronted phrase requires inversion.
8Only when the lights went out ............... how isolated the village really was.
Wrong!
"Did they realize" is correct because inversion follows sentence-initial" Only when".
9So intense ............... that several audience members forgot to applaud at the end.
Wrong!
"Was the performance" is correct because literary inversion is used after sentence-initial" So" plus adjective.
10Had the ambassador been informed earlier, ............... the negotiations so abruptly.
Wrong!
"He would not have ended" is correct because this is an inverted third conditional.
11Never before ............... such a carefully worded refusal from a supposedly eager investor.
Wrong!
"Had we received" is correct because" Never before" takes inversion and the context calls for the past perfect.
12Into the silent hall ............... the curator, carrying the manuscript in both hands.
Wrong!
"Came" is correct because literary inversion often places a movement phrase first, followed by the verb before the subject.
Done.
Score: 0/12
Answers
- No sooner had the committee approved the proposal than fresh objections emerged from the floor.
- Rarely have we seen such unanimity among the senior judges in a case of this kind.
- Not until the final witness spoke did the jury grasp the extent of the deception.
- Only by revising the entire chapter could she make the argument internally consistent.
- Little did he suspect that the apparently minor error would later invalidate the whole report.
- Seldom does a novelist sustain such tension with language so restrained.
- Under no circumstances are employees permitted to disclose the source without written consent.
- Only when the lights went out did they realize how isolated the village really was.
- So intense was the performance that several audience members forgot to applaud at the end.
- Had the ambassador been informed earlier, he would not have ended the negotiations so abruptly.
- Never before had we received such a carefully worded refusal from a supposedly eager investor.
- Into the silent hall came the curator, carrying the manuscript in both hands.
