Grammar

Grammar

1. A) You look really great! Have you been working out at the fitness center recently?
   2. A: What were you doing when the accident occurred?
   B: I was trying to change a light bulb that had burnt out.
2. I have had the same car for more than ten years. I am thinking about buying a new one.
3. If it snows this weekend, we’re going to go skiing near Lake Tahoe.
4. A: What do you call people who work in libraries?
   B: They are called librarians.
5. I came to England six months ago. I started my economics course three months ago. When I return to Australia, I will have been studying for nine months and I will have been in England for exactly one year.
6. Sam arrived in San Diego a week ago.
7. Samantha lived in Berlin for more than two years. In fact, she was living there when the Berlin wall came down.
8. If Vera keeps drinking, she will eventually lose her job.
9. The Maya established a very advanced civilization in the jungles of the Yucatan; however, their culture had virtually disappeared by the time Europeans first arrived in the New World.
10. Shhhhh! Be quiet! John is sleeping.
11. It  has been raining all week. I hope it stops by Saturday because I want to go to the beach.
12. Listen Donna, I don’t care if you missed the bus this morning. You have been late to work too many times. You are fired!
13. I am sick of rain and bad weather! Hopefully, when we wake up tomorrow morning, the sun will be shining.
14. I have not traveled much yet; however, I will have visited the Grand Canyon and San Francisco by the time I leave the United States.
15. I had seen many pictures of the pyramids before I went to Egypt. Pictures of the monuments are very misleading. The pyramids are actually quite small.
16. In the last hundred years, traveling has become much easier and very comfortable. In the 19th century, it took two or three months to cross North America by covered wagon. The trip was very rough and often dangerous. Things have changed a great deal in the last hundred and fifty years. Now you can fly from New York to Los Angeles in a matter of hours.
17. Joseph’s English is really improving, is not it? He has been watching American television programs and studying his grammar every day since he first arrived in San Diego. Soon he will be totally fluent.
18. When I arrived home last night, I discovered that Jane had prepared a beautiful candlelight dinner.
19. . If you need to contact me sometime next week, I will be staying at the Sheraton in San Francisco.

 

1. B) Nate deserved to win the prize for writing that amazing short story about traveling through Peru. I do not understand his not receiving the award.
2. I can’t believe you wanted to go fishing, and you forgot to bring a fishing pole. How did you expect to catch any fish? Were you just going to sit in the river trying to catch fish with your bare hands? You would have had a hard time doing that!
3. Vince is determined to save enough money to travel to South Africa next year. If he avoids wasting his money and manages to save what he needs to make the trip, he plans on leaving in June.
4. When Sam mentioned wanting to go swimming, Nina warned him not to go into the river. She explained that the national park did not allow visitors to swim for several reasons. The number one reason for not permitting visitors to swim was the large number of crocodiles in the park.
5. The Oscar-winning actor avoids talking to his fans and refuses to give his autograph. Moreover, he has difficulty giving interviews and appears to have problems interacting with other people. Doesn’t he seem way too shy to be an actor?
6. Simone and Michael discussed going to Tahiti on their honeymoon, but they had very different opinions about visiting such an expensive destination. Michael said that after such a costly wedding, he could not see spending so much money on a vacation. Simone defended their going to Tahiti by arguing that a honeymoon is a once in a lifetime experience.
7. Using a search engine to look things up on the Internet is a skill that all students need to learn. That is why the government is urging schools to begin teaching basic computer skills in elementary school. Schools also encourage parents to reinforce these skills at home by surfing the Internet together with their children.
8. Samantha kept having problems with her computer at work. Her co-worker Denise suggested shutting down the computer and restarting it to see if that would solve the problem.
9. Jack’s interest in learning foreign languages is a major factor in his decision to move to China. One of his life-long goals is to learn to speak Chinese fluently. Learning Chinese will be quite a challenge, but living in China should enable him to achieve his goal of mastering the language more quickly.
10. Simon’s attempts to find accommodation in Paris were not very successful. He tried calling every hotel in his guidebook, but he was shocked to discover they were all full. He called all the youth hostels to find out if they had any beds, but they were full, too. Another traveler advised him to go to the tourist information office to ask for help, but the office was closed. Although Simon hated the idea of leaving Paris without having seen anything, the thought of sleeping in the train station or walking the streets all night convinced him to take the train to another city to look for accommodation there.