1 5.3 Listen to Aisha, Muna and Rola talking about their experiences of exams. For each speaker, note down what exam or test they were taking, and what happened to them on the day.
Modal and related verbs
2 5.4 THINK BACK Choose the correct forms to complete the sentences from the recording. Then listen and check.
1 - I can’t / mustn’t say I enjoyed the exams though.
2 - I probably must / ought to have put in a bit more effort.
3 - I need to / can’t do a lot of revision to get stuff to stick.
4 - I had to get / must have got at least a six in order to study Psychology this year.
5 - Oh dear, I can imagine what can’t / must have happened.
6 - I needn’t have / shouldn’t have bothered revising at all!
7 - Surely, they have to / must give you a second chance when something like that happens?
8 - It mustn’t / can’t have been that bad, you passed after all, didn’t you?
9 - I needn’t / mustn’t be impatient.
10 - The driving examiner turned to me and said, ‘You have to / may drive on now.’
11 - I couldn’t / didn’t need to understand what he meant.
12 - I must / should have been practising every day, but I hadn’t taken the trumpet out of the box for weeks.
3 Match sentences 1–12 from Exercise 2 with their functions a–g. Say if the sentences refer to the past or present. How is the form of the verbs different when we refer to the past?
a □□ ability b □□ mild obligation
c □□□ strong obligation d □ lack of obligation
e □ permission f □ prohibition
g □□ speculation
Grammar Reference > page 70
4 5.5 Study Watch Out! Then think of two different possible meanings for sentences 1–3. Listen and check your ideas.
1 - He must be responsible.
2 - He could have eaten it.
3 - He won’t tell anyone.
WATCH OUT!
Modal verbs are weak words in a sentence, so they are not emphasised. However, sometimes we can stress them to convey different meanings and so their functions change.
Ø If we stress the modal verb may/might/ could, it expresses possibility, e.g., You may/ might/could have told me. (It was possible.) Compare: If we stress the main verb, we can use may/might/could with a similar meaning to should to complain, e.g., You might/could have helped me! (Why didn’t you?)
Ø If we stress the modal verb must, it will express speculation, e.g., She must be home. I can hear somebody talking. Compare: He must stay home and do homework. (obligation)
Ø If we stress the modal verb won’t, it will express refusal, e.g., She won’t go to school. I can do nothing about it. Compare: He won’t do it again. It was too stressful. (prediction)
Grammar Reference > pages 70-71
5 Rewrite the underlined parts of the sentences with modal verbs and the correct forms of the verbs. There is one sentence where this is not possible. Say why.
1 - I don’t seem to be able to keep the information in my head.
2 - I was required to pass it in order to study Psychology.
3 - I was supposed to get up at about 7 a.m.
4 - I was so tired I managed to sleep right through the alarm.
5 - Were you allowed to take the test again?
6 - I mean, surely I wasn’t meant to overtake all the cars.
6 Complete the second sentence using the word in bold so that it means the same as the first one.
1 - It wasn’t necessary for you to make so much effort. NEEDN’T
You . ………………………………………………………………..
2 - I can’t find my key anywhere. Perhaps I left it at home? MIGHT
I can’t find my key anywhere.
I . …………………………………………………………………..
3 - He wasn’t allowed to enter the building. BANNED
He . ………………………………………………………………..
4 - You shouldn’t have told him. SUPPOSED
You . ………………………………………………………………..
5 - They made me attempt it, even though I knew it was futile. FORCED
They ………………………………………………………………..
6 - You weren’t meant to see that! SEEN
You ! ………………………………………………………………..
7 Complete the story with the correct forms of the verbs from the box.
be forced to couldn’t can’t have might not
manage to must be must have need to
not be allowed to shouldn’t
A COOING DISTRACTION
This is the kind of story that you 1 ……………………. even believe really happened – but I promise it did! I was taking my final exams at school and we were all sitting in the big hall. It was really hot, so the teacher 2……………………. to open all the windows. Usually, the school kept them closed because they were very high up, which meant the teacher 3 ……………………. climb up a step ladder to open them. Anyway, the exam started and I was just getting my head down when I heard a kind of rustling noise. To be honest, I thought it 4 ……………………. someone fiddling with the exam papers or looking for something in their bag, though we weren’t actually allowed to bring in bags. I didn’t give it too much thought until I heard another strange noise, a kind of cooing. I looked up and saw that a bird,
a pigeon to be precise, was flying round the room. It 5 ……………………. come in through the open windows. The teacher made a speech about how we 6 ……………………. let it deflect our attention from our exam, and that we 7 ……………………. talk or anything, and then he started going around, climbing on the step ladder and trying to shoo the pigeon out of one of the windows. But the pigeon just 8 ……………………. find its way out at all. It was getting more and more agitated, and making more and more noise. The teacher 9……………………. expected us to just ignore it all! Eventually, she 10 ……………………. direct the pigeon towards an open window, and it flew off, no doubt very relieved to have escaped.
8 SPEAKING Tell your partner about an exam experience you had, either positive or negative. What did you learn from the experience? Use modal and related verbs.
Now go to Workbook page 38 for the next lesson.
□ I can use modal and related verbs to complain or express possibility.
