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Gerund: practice (solution) | HOMEPAGE | back to
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For some reasons X-ing Gerund
has been having great difficulty in
getting to
sleep lately. Last night he thought it might help if he went
to bed even earlier than usual. So at 9.30 he lay down, closed his eyes
hopefully, and began counting sheep.
Thinking
of all those energetic little animals jumpingover
fences made him feel energetic himself,
so he stopped
counting, went downstairs
and found the most boring book he had.
It was a book called 'Home Rug-Making'.
At the end of an hour he had become quite interested in making
rugs. He put the book down in desperation. Then he remembered someone telling
him once that if he repeated "Sleep" often enough, it would finally come.
15 minutes later the people in the bedroom above him tapped angrily on
the floor.
At 2 o'clock he took a
sleeping-tablet.
It had absolutely no effect.
At 3 he got up and walked
around his room at least 20 times. At 4 he did a deep-breathing
exercise. At 5 he stared at a spot on the ceiling
until his eyes began to hurt.
At 6 his eyes began to
feel heavy and, finally, he dropped off. His alarm-clock rang
at 7. This morning at work his boss looked at him gravely, shook his head,
and said in a critical tone of voice: "See here, Gerund, you have been
lookingvery
tired lately! Obviously, you haven't been getting
enough sleep. I really think you ought to try going
to bed earlier!"
Say why this and no other form is used. State whenever another solution is possible.
(adopted and slightly changed from: R.O'Neill: English in Situations, London 41973, Oxford University Press, p.176)
Table of Contents |
Gerund: practice (solution) | HOMEPAGE | back to
Gerund: Fill in the gaps |
go on to
List of prepositional phrases |