Fill in the blanks.

1. Each student ……………………. asked to write an essay on the given topic. (was / were / has / have)

2. Neither Shyam nor Ram …………………….. there. (was / were / has / have)

3. My sister along with her family ………………………….. (live / lives / living / are living) in Chennai.

4. Neither you nor I ……………………………. right. (am / are / is)

5. Every situation ………………………. its pros and cons. (has / have / is / are)

6. …………………………. the test. (Both did not pass / Neither passed)

7. A lot of money ……………………… required to buy a home. (is / are)

8. A number of people ………………………. to migrate. (want / wants)

9. There ……………………….. few applicants. (was / were)

Correct the error

10. There was almost anything in the box.

11. Tom is the younger of my four children.

12. The older we grow the wiser we became.

13. She doesn’t remember nothing.

14. They have got married in July.

15. You had better not to annoy him.

16. I would rather you don’t disturb me.

Read the sentences given below and complete the statement using the correct option.

17. There is no light in his room. He ……………………… have gone to bed. (can / must / should / would)

18. What ……………………. you do if you lost your job? (will / would / should / must)

19. You needn’t have ………………………. For me. (to wait / waited / wait / waiting)

20. They said that they …………………….. come in the afternoon. (will / would / may / should)

21. Yesterday, Mom went shopping. She came home and said to me, ‘Bring me a glass of water, please.’ Choose the correct option reporting her sentence.

a) She commands me to bring a glass of water.

b) She requested me to bring a glass of water.

c) She told me to brought a glass of water.

d) She ordered me to bring her a glass of water.

Answers

1. was. (Each is followed by a singular noun and a singular verb.)

2. was (When we connect two singular nouns with neither/nor, the verb is singular.)

3. lives (When we connect two nouns with ‘along with’, the verb agrees with the first noun.)

4. am (When we connect two pronouns with neither/nor, the verb agrees with the pronoun closer to nor.)

5. has (Every is followed by a singular noun and a singular verb.)

6. Neither passed the test (Instead of saying both do not / did not, we say neither.)

7. is

8. want (Use a singular verb with a number of)

9. were

10. There was hardly anything in the box. / There was almost nothing in the box.

11. Tom is the youngest of my four children.

12. The older we grow the wiser we become.

13. She doesn’t remember anything. / She remembers nothing.

14. They got married in July. (We do not use the present perfect tense when we say when something happened.)

15. You had better not annoy him. (Had better is followed by an infinitive without to.)

16. I would rather you didn’t disturb me. (After would rather + object, we use a simple past tense to refer to the present or future.)

17. must (Must have + past participle is used to make inferences.)

18. would

19. needn’t have waited

20. would

21. She requested me to bring a glass of water.

Fill in the blanks with an appropriate verb form.

A mechanical arm that ……1….. (picks / is picking / pick / has picked) 120 items a minute from a conveyor belt ……2……. (win / wins / won / had won) Japan’s Robot of the Year award recently, ………3…… (defeat / defeating / defeated) a dozen other finalists including a walking humanoid robot and a fire-fighter robot. Japan ………4……… (has been / is / was) aggressively campaigning to trumpet its robotic technology as the road to growth.

The mechanical arms that won the award ………5….. (are built / have built / was built) by Fanuc Ltd. They are already ………6…… (using / being used / been used) at food and pharmaceutical plants, where sanitation is critical and human error must ………7….. (avoid / be avoiding / be avoided). The robotic arms pick up the items using suction cups that ……8…….. (blow / blown / blows) air in and out at their tips. They then work together to neatly place them in rows in boxes. The robots have no ……9……. (expose / exposed / exposing) wiring for easy washing. They also ……10…….. (work / worked / are working) tirelessly for 24 hours straight. And they ……11…… (does not / do not / has not / have not) misbehave.

Answers

A mechanical arm that picks (1) 120 items a minute from a conveyor belt won (2) Japan’s Robot of the Year award recently, defeating (3) a dozen other finalists including a walking humanoid robot and a fire-fighter robot. Japan has been (4) aggressively campaigning to trumpet its robotic technology as the road to growth.

The mechanical arms that won the award are built (5) by Fanuc Ltd. They are already being used (6) at food and pharmaceutical plants, where sanitation is critical and human error must be avoided (7). The robotic arms pick up the items using suction cups that blow (8) air in and out at their tips. They then work together to neatly place them in rows in boxes. The robots have no exposed (9) wiring for easy washing. They also work tirelessly for 24 hours straight. And they don’t (10) misbehave.

Complete the following sentences with an appropriate word or phrase. Choose your answers from the options given below.

Chinese scientists ………….1……………. a Wing-In-Ground aircraft ……………2…………. can fly long distances just a few feet …………3…………… the sea surface. The plane can fly ………….4………….. speeds of up to 300 kmph, and can carry up to 4 tonnes of weight …………..5………….. take off. It is as safe …………6…………. ships, although five or six times ………………7…………… and it can carry much more weight than ordinary planes, ……………..8…………… costing as ………….9…………. and using half as much fuel.

1. a) developed; b) have developed; c) has developed; d) had developed

2. a) who; b) what; c) which; d) whom

3. a) above; b) over; c) across; d) under

4. a) on; b) at; c) with; d) in

5. a) in; b) at; c) on; d) from

6. a) as; b) so; c) like; d) than

7. a) fast; b) faster; c) fastest

8. a) while; b) though; c) although; d) in spite

9. a) many; b) much; c) more; d) much more

Solutions

Chinese scientists have developed a Wing-In-Ground aircraft which can fly long distances just a few feet above the sea surface. The plane can fly at speeds of up to 300 kmph, and can carry up to 4 tonnes of weight on take off. It is as safe as ships, although five or six times faster and it can carry much more weight than ordinary planes, while costing as much and using half as much fuel.