21. Choose the correct word given in italics.

1. The thief got clean/cleanly away and was never seen again.

2. He pulled the cork out of the bottle clean/cleanly.

3. Steer clear/clearly of that man. He’ll do you no good.

4. If you look at the situation clear/clearly, you’ll see that I’m right.

5. He beat me easy/easily. He was much too good.

6. Take it easy/easily. You push yourself too hard.

7. He free/freely admits he has never done a day’s work in his life.

8. A lot of teenagers spend their time trying to break free/freely from their parents.

9. I can throw the ball high/highly into the sky.

10. I’ve heard a lot about you from Paul. He speaks very high/highly of you.

11. I’ve spent a lot of time abroad, most/mostly in the USA.

12. Which part of the States do you like most/mostly?

13. Don’t move! Stay right/rightly there!

14. He was sacked for incompetence, and right/rightly so.

15. The houses were tight/tightly packed, with hard/hardly a space between them.

16. Hold tight/tightly! We are going to move soon.

17. She left the door wide/widely open.

18. My views on the subject are wide/widely known.

19. He was wrong/wrongly accused of treason. He was in fact a most loyal citizen.

20. Oh dear! Did I do something wrong/wrongly?

21. I hard/hardly think it’s the proper time to raise the subject.

22. Think hard/hardly and you’ll see the point.

Grammar in Speech

22. Supply the correct form of the verbs given in brackets and perform the role play given below. Fry and Drive

Jim White reports.

According to Mike Hebson, the manager of Asda’s store in Swansea, South Wales, there was a reason to be suspicious that sales of company’s cheapest bottles of cooking oil (1) _______________ (to run) 20% higher than the previous year, way above any other store in Britain. When one customer (2) _______________ (to come) in and (3) _______________ (to fill) a trolley to the brim with plastic containers, the checkout operator barely (4) _______________ (to give) a second glance. ‘Naturally, we assumed they (5) _______________ (to buy) on price,’ says Hebson. ‘We just thought they (6) _______________ (to do) a lot of frying. You have to remember, healthy eating (7) _______________ (not to hit) Swansea in a big way.’

It wasn’t until December that the Department of Transport (8) _______________ (to begin) a series of trials in the city last March that staff (9) _______________ (to realize) something off (10) _______________ (to go on). In an attempt to take diesel vehicles belching out illegal emissions off the road, department inspectors (11) _______________ (to introduce) experimental spot checks on roads to Bristol, Westminster, Glasgow and Swansea. It was in the latter that they found something surprising: a car with a fuel tank half full of cooking oil.

‘The funny thing was,’ says Hebson, ‘the driver told them he (12) _______________ (to get) it from Asda Swansea for four or five months, because it (13) _______________ (to be) the cheapest around. When we (14) _______________ (to read) the report in the local paper, we (15) _______________ (to begin) to put two and two together.’

The enterprising motorist (16) _______________ (to run) his diesel-engine motor on a mix of Asda cooking oil and standard fuel. At 42p a liter, the supermarket chain’s oil is considerably cheaper than the 73p a liter diesel oil. The astonishing thing was it (17) _______________ (to work). What’s more, instead of diesel fumes, the engine gave off a rather pleasing odour – like frying time at the local chippy.

And if Asda’s sales figures were anything to go by, unless he (18) _______________ (to run) a fleet of buses across South Wales, the driver who (19) _______________ (to pull over) by the emissions inspector wasn’t the only one. Wind your windows down in a Swansea traffic jam last spring, the rumour went, and the chances were you would think someone (20) _______________ (to have) a barbecue.

It was a nice irony, because, as the cooking-oil driver (21) _______________ (to discover) when he (22) _______________ (to fine) £500, the government (23) _______________ (not to amuse) by cheap alternative fuel. Diesel is relatively pricey because a large chunk of the cost (24) _______________ (to make) up by duty. Cooking oil (25) _______________ (to carry) no such tax. But if it (26) _______________ (to put) to use in a petrol tank, duty is due.

(From ‘The Guardian’, abridged)

Role play

Role 1. You are John Blake, a ‘Daily Mail’ reporter. You don’t believe the information in the article given above is true. Interview the people concerned again and find out every small detail of the situation. (Who/what – to do – when; how long – to buy – before; how much – to save – before, etc.)

Role 2. You are Mike Hebson, the manager of Asda’s store in Swansea. Tell the reporter what you thought of the situation before the truth came out.

Role 3. You are Ben Sturdy, the Department of Transport inspector. Tell the reporter how you discovered what was going on and why some drivers were fined.

Role 4. You are Jim Belch, a driver who was fined. Explain why you ...; how long you ... . Naturally, you are indignant and find the fine unjust.

Role 5. You are Patricia Clark, a local resident and an environmentalist. Tell the reporter what you think of the situation.