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Gerunds: Fill in the gaps

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Practise some gerunds:

For some reasons X-ing Gerund has been ................ great difficulty in ................ ................ 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 ................sheep. ................ of all those energetic little animals ................over fences made him ......... energetic himself, so he stopped ................, went downstairs and found the most ................ book he had. It was a book ................ 'Home Rug-................'. At the end of an hour he had become quite interested in ................ rugs. He put the book down in desperation. Then he remembered someone ................ 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 ................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................ exercise. At 5 he stared at a spot on the ................ until his eyes began ................
At 6 his eyes began ................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 ................very tired lately! Obviously, you haven't been ................ enough sleep. I really think you ought ................ ................ to bed earlier!"

Say why these and no other forms are used. State whenever another solution is possible.

Perhaps you need some hints? Here are most of the original verbs. Mark the following lines with your mouse to make the solution appear!
Start here! to have, to get (2), to sleep (2), to count (2), to think, to jump, to bore, to feel(2), to call, to make (2), to tell, to breathe, to ceil=to furnish with a lining (the overhead inside lining of a room), to hurt, to look, to try, to go  This is the ending.

(adopted and slightly changed from: R.O'Neill: English in Situations, London ⁴1973, Oxford University Press, p.176)

Table of Contents

Gerunds: Fill in the gaps

HOMEPAGE

back to Gerunds: Practise

go on to Gerunds: Solution