Choose the best answer to complete each sentence.
1At Monday's review, Mia said that by the end of that week she ............... the revised schedule.
Wrong!
The deadline was still in the future at the time of the past report, so "would have sent" expresses a completed future action viewed from that past point.
2When I interviewed Leo in May, he said that he ............... the gallery twice before it closed the previous December.
Wrong!
The visits occurred before both the May interview and the gallery's closure, so the past perfect "had visited" shows the earlier past action.
3The auditor asked ..............., but nobody could explain the delay.
Wrong!
An indirect question uses statement word order, and the warning should have preceded the failure: "why the warning had not been issued before the system failed".
4Because Omar was severely dehydrated, the doctor ............... at least two litres of water a day until his next appointment.
Wrong!
The pattern is advise + object + to-infinitive, so "advised him to drink" is correct.
5Since two key people were unavailable, Priya ............... the meeting until Friday instead of cancelling it.
Wrong!
The reporting verb suggest is followed by a gerund here, making "suggested postponing" the correct form.
6When smoke filled the lobby, the guide ............... the lift under any circumstances.
Wrong!
A negative warning to someone uses warn + object + not to-infinitive, as in "warned us not to use".
7Although the camera clearly recorded the incident, the driver denied ............... the red light moments earlier.
Wrong!
Deny is followed by a gerund, and the perfect form in "having ignored" emphasizes that the alleged action occurred earlier.
8Investigators accused the contractor ............... the safety reports before the inspection.
Wrong!
The pattern is accuse someone of doing something; "of having altered" also marks the alteration as earlier than the accusation.
9Because the documents had not been authenticated, the newspaper ............... officials had hidden the payments; it did not present the claim as established fact.
Wrong!
Because the documents were unauthenticated and the claim was not established as fact, "alleged that" has the required meaning.
10Although the reporter asked twice for a response, the minister ............... on the allegations.
Wrong!
Repeated requests followed by no response indicate unwillingness, expressed by "refused to comment".
11As a condition of approving the repair, the inspector insisted that the machine ............... off before any work began.
Wrong!
The condition shows that insist expresses a demand, so the passive mandative form "be switched" is required.
12At the hearing, the company claimed ............... every affected customer before the legal deadline, but records later disproved this.
Wrong!
The company claimed that informing customers had already been completed, so the perfect infinitive "to have informed" is correct.
Exercise complete
0 out of 12
correct answers
Answers
- At Monday’s review, Mia said that by the end of that week she would have sent the revised schedule.
- When I interviewed Leo in May, he said that he had visited the gallery twice before it closed the previous December.
- The auditor asked why the warning had not been issued before the system failed, but nobody could explain the delay.
- Because Omar was severely dehydrated, the doctor advised him to drink at least two litres of water a day until his next appointment.
- Since two key people were unavailable, Priya suggested postponing the meeting until Friday instead of cancelling it.
- When smoke filled the lobby, the guide warned us not to use the lift under any circumstances.
- Although the camera clearly recorded the incident, the driver denied having ignored the red light moments earlier.
- Investigators accused the contractor of having altered the safety reports before the inspection.
- Because the documents had not been authenticated, the newspaper alleged that officials had hidden the payments; it did not present the claim as established fact.
- Although the reporter asked twice for a response, the minister refused to comment on the allegations.
- As a condition of approving the repair, the inspector insisted that the machine be switched off before any work began.
- At the hearing, the company claimed to have informed every affected customer before the legal deadline, but records later disproved this.