UNIT 2 - Page 2
   SHORT ANSWERS

   Answer the following sentences with short answers.
   Contractions are not used in the affirmative. Note also
   the following changes: I->you; we->you, we; you->I, we;
   he, she, it and they do not change.

11 Example:
   Will you have finished your article by tomorrow evening?
   Yes, I will.
   No, I won’t/I will not.

a  Will this pain wear off in a couple of days or so?
b  Will she take over her father’s business?
c  Will he speak for our cause?
d  Will it heat this room?
e  Will they take prisoners?


12 Example: (See unit 1, section 17, and unit 22,
   section 24.)
   Must/Need I read the book?
   Yes, you must.
   No, you needn’t/No, you need not.

a  Must I do the cooking?
b  Need I take these pills, doctor?
c  Need we buy him a present?
d  Must I park here?
e  Must I water the trees, father?


13 Example: (See unit 6, part 4, section 9,
   and unit 7, parts 7 and 8.)
   Had you had your beard shaved off when your
   girl-friend arrived at the barber’s?
   Yes, I had.
   No, I hadn’t/No, I had not.

a  Had you seen an insect like this before?
b  Had you ever eaten snails?
c  Had they already broken off their engagement
   when you last saw him?
d  Hadn’t they met before?
e  Had you worked so hard before?


14 Examples: 
   Should I take my car?
   Yes, you should.
   No, you shouldn’t/No, you should not.
   Ought we to carry on with the plan?
   Yes, we ought (to).
   No, we ought not (to)/No, we oughtn’t (to).

   Should and ought to are usually interchangeable.
   See unit 22, sections 26, 27, 29, 30, 31 and 33.

a  Should I help her with the cooking?
b  Ought I to arrive in good time?
c  Should they tell the truth?
d  Should we go to Canada?
e  Ought I to sleep on the floor?


15 Examples: (See unit 22, section 5.)
   May/Might I stay up late? (permission)
   Yes, you may.
   No, you may not.
   Could/Can I stay up late? (permission)
   Yes, you can.
   No, you can’t/No, you cannot.

   Might expresses less confidence than could and may.
   Can is informal. 

a  Could I go to the loo?
b  Might I smoke a cigar now?
c  Might I light a cigarette?
d  May I come in?
e  Can I ask you a question?


16 Example:
   Would you visit her if you had a car?
   Yes, I would.
   No, I wouldn’t/No, I would not.

a  Would you love me for ever if I were poor?
b  Would he marry me if I were much younger?
c  Would they run away if that horrible man appeared again?
d  Would she give up drinking if we helped her?
e  Would it work if they were with us?


17 Revision exercise.
a  Is he a wet blanket?
b  Did you catch him red-handed?
c  Did he tell her a white lie?
d  Did you get it straight from the horse’s mouth?
e  Is he a dark horse?
f  Is your life an open book?
g  Can I fetch some more wood?
h  Have you ever had such an opportunity?
i  Do you go swimming very often?
j  Might I kiss you?
k  Does the house look deserted?
l  Had you come to that island before?
m  Can they show you how to play cards?
n  Have you got any children?
o  Was he an astronaut?
p  Did he kick the bucket?
q  Would you travel a lot if you were rich?
r  Has he been living here all his life?
s  Did you discover the cave?
t  Need we send her a message?
u  Must I finish my supper?
v  Are they used to the heat?
w  Did he use to play truant?
x  Did he get used to running twelve miles a day?
y  Should I get up early tomorrow?
z  Was she sobbing when you visited her?


18 Examples:
   Who has inspected the school?
   Nobody (has)/I have/Me3. (Me is informal.)
   What caused that terrible accident?
   A brake failure (did).
   Which parent is going to talk to us?
   The mother (is).
   Where did you learn to drive?
   (I learnt to drive) nowhere.

   When the wh- question word is the subject of the
   interrogative sentence, we do not use yes or no,
   which is the only thing that differentiates answers
   of this sort from the ones previously seen. In a
   less formal style, we can leave out the auxiliary do,
   does, did, have, will, and so forth, and use a
   personal object pronoun (me, you, him, her, it, us,
   you, them), as in the first example. However, if the
   wh- question word is not the subject, do, does, did,
   have, will, and so on, cannot be used, as in the last
   example. For full details about wh- questions,
   see unit 4.

a  Who told you that?
b  When are you going to carry out my plans?
c  Which of you coped with the crisis?
d  Whose lighter is this?
e  What has killed my dog?
f  What do you pretend?
g  How long have you been studying Catalan?
h  Who was being tried?
i  What does she look like?
j  Where did you find the money?


19 As a general rule, we can use the structure of
   ‘short answers’ when  there is no need to repeat
   the whole statement:
   —He was dismissed.
   —Yes, he was/No, he wasn’t (dismissed).
   My sister is a hard-working person, but
   my brother isn’t (a hard-working person).
   —I talk to ghosts from time to time.
   —Do you (talk to ghosts from time to time)? I don’t
   (talk to ghosts from time to time). (See unit 3,
   section 26.)

   Now, you have to fill in the blanks.

a  —I haven’t been to a rock concert since I was a teenager.
   —I __________ either.
b  I’m totally against bullfights and cockfights, but
   my brother __________.
c  —I think they want to ban smoking in public places. 
   —I hope they __________.
d  —She adores going to posh restaurants.
   —I __________ too.
e  My sister failed to write to our parents, but I __________.
f  —Unfortunately, you have taken a false step.
   —Yes, I __________.
g  Trouble-makers will be expelled, but you __________ if you
   promise to behave well.
h  She denied having committed the crime, but he __________.
i  —I took the plunge, and went to live overseas.
   —Did you? I __________; but I would have liked to.
j  I thought it was a false alarm, but it __________.


____________________
3  See unit 10, section 7.

Author: Miquel Molina i Diez