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!
Use "No sooner" with the pattern "No sooner had... than...".
2Rarely ............... such unanimity among the senior judges in a case of this kind.
Wrong!
After sentence-initial "Rarely", use inversion, so "have we seen" is correct.
3Not until the final witness spoke ............... the extent of the deception.
Wrong!
After sentence-initial "Not until", use inversion, so "did the jury grasp" is correct.
4Only by revising the entire chapter ............... the argument internally consistent.
Wrong!
After sentence-initial "Only by", use inversion, so "could she make" is correct.
5Little ............... that the apparently minor error would later invalidate the whole report.
Wrong!
In this formal pattern, sentence-initial "Little" means "not at all" and takes inversion, so "did he suspect" is correct.
6Seldom ............... such tension with language so restrained.
Wrong!
After sentence-initial "Seldom", use inversion, so "does a novelist sustain" is correct.
7Under no circumstances ............... to disclose the source without written consent.
Wrong!
After the negative phrase "Under no circumstances", use inversion, so "are employees permitted" is correct.
8Only when the lights went out ............... how isolated the village really was.
Wrong!
After sentence-initial "Only when", use inversion in the main clause, so "did they realize" is correct.
9So intense ............... that several audience members forgot to applaud at the end.
Wrong!
In the formal pattern "So" plus adjective, use inversion, so "was the performance" is correct.
10Had the ambassador been informed earlier, ............... the negotiations so abruptly.
Wrong!
After the inverted conditional clause, the main clause keeps normal word order, so "he would not have ended" is correct.
11Never before ............... such a carefully worded refusal from a supposedly eager investor.
Wrong!
After sentence-initial "Never before", use inversion, so "had we received" is correct.
12Into the silent hall ............... the curator, carrying the manuscript in both hands.
Wrong!
With a fronted place phrase in literary style, the verb can come before the subject, so "came" is correct.
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.
