13. Permission and prohibition

Rewrite the signs below, using one of the following expressions: are/aren't allowed, can/can't, mustn't. Sometimes more than one answer is possible.

1. You _________________ to smoke in the toilets.

2. Customers _________________ use their credit cards.

3. You _________________ to visit before 5 p.m.

4. You _________________ go in unless you are a member.

5. You _________________ take any photographs.

6. You _________________ to stay up to two hours.

/From Intermediate Matters Workbook, Jan Bell, Roger Gower/

14. Obligation and permission

a. Read the article and put the correct expression from the box into the gaps.

cannot ride will not marry must dress must sweep may not visit may not travel must be must be at home should command can only keep

The 1901 Teaching Contract for Female Teachers

At the beginning of the 20th century female teachers had a very restricted life. There was a set of 'golden rules' that they had to abide by or risk instant dismissal. The rules were there to make sure teachers commanded authority and respect, but for women it meant sacrificing a lot of personal freedom. Nowadays it seems quite incredible that such strict rules should be enforced on female teaching staff.

1 You _________ during the term of your contract.

2 You _________ company with other women.

3 You _________ authority and respect from your pupils at all times.

4 You _________ between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. unless attending a school function.

5 You _________ ice-cream parlours at any time.

6 You _________ in a carriage or automobile with any man unless he is your father or brother.

7 You _________ the schoolroom floor at least once daily.

8 You _________ in plain colours of grey or black and your dresses _________ no more than 1 inch above the ankles.

9 You _________ beyond the city limits without the permission of the chairman of the board of school governors.

b. Nancy Wilson was a teacher in Valley Road School, Sunderland from 1920 to 1929. Read her comments about it and complete them with a suitable past expression from below.

had to didn't have to was allowed (to)

couldn't weren't allowed to were forbidden to

a. I was the youngest of six daughters and like many middle-class girls, I ______________

become a teacher. I had no choice. I ______________ earn a living any other way.

b. My day started at seven o'clock in the morning, when I ______________ sweep and dust the schoolroom, and we ______________ leave at the end of the day until this task was repeated.

c. I had two grey dresses and I wore one of them every day. It ______________ be grey. Black ______________ also ______________, but we ______________ wear anything

fashionable or colourful.

d. We ______________ ride in automobiles with any men except our father or brothers. This was no hardship because our family had no car.

e. The most ridiculous rule of all was the one about visiting ice-cream parlours. I can't imagine why we ______________ go there.

f. Eventually, when I was 29, I did meet and marry a young man, Jack. Then, of course, I ______________ give up teaching. You ______________ continue as a married woman.

/From New Headway Upper-Intermediate, Workbook/