Reading and Speaking: Crime

Focus on Grammar:

The Infinitive, the Gerund

Grammar Training

1. Study Grammar Reference p. …. And analyze the meaning of the infinitive forms in the following examples. Translate the sentences into Russian.

1. It’s nice to be sitting here with you.

2. I noticed that he seemed to be smoking a lot.

3. It’s only too bad not to have finished the work in time.

4. He’s proud to have been working with Professor Jones all the time.

5. I’d like to have been sitting there when she walked in.

6. She was angry not to be taken seriously.

7. She was furious to have been told lies.

8. There are many documents to be signed.

9. The houses to be built here will be very expensive indeed.

2. Replace the clauses given in italics with corresponding infinitive forms.

1. Mr Jackson is sorry that he is causing so much trouble to his colleagues.

2. All the members of the delegation are proud that they are taking part in the discussion of these vital issues.

3. Greenpeace volunteers are proud that they are carrying on a fight against major corporations polluting environment.

4. Local authorities are sorry that they are imposing restrictions on fishing in the area, but there isn’t much they can do about it.

5. Many MPs are proud that they have adopted these conservation laws.

6. Alison is sorry that she has gone back on her word.

7. Some politicians aren’t happy that they have followed through with this program in spite of protests on the part of the opposition.

8. General Motors is one of the first corporations which have imposed restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions.

9. Some members of the municipal council are sorry that they failed to implement this program.

10. This plant has been contaminating water supplies for years. Environmentalists are sorry that they didn’t intervene in time.

11. If big corporations go on plundering natural resources national economy will go into a decline soon. Everybody will be sorry that they didn’t do anything about it.

12. There are many programs that must be implemented.

13. There are many people who will be questioned in connection with poaching in the area.

14. The president is furious that he has been forced to specify some provisions of the treaty which will be signed soon.

15. The official who was brought to trial last week is happy that he was given a suspended sentence.

16. The mayor of the city is angry that he was called to account when the problem of bribes arose.

17. ‘Friends of the Earth’ members are happy that they have been fighting against rain forest destruction and have achieved some results.

18. The workers of this plant are sorry that they have been discharging radioactive substances into the environment, but they claim they haven’t been properly informed.

3. Analyze the structure of the following sentences.

1. It’s time we did something about environmental problems.

It’s time for us to do something about environmental problems.

2. He must find a place where we could spend our holiday.

He must find a place for us to spend our holiday.

3. We must find something the children could do now.

We must find something for the children to do now.

4. She opened the door so that we could come in.

She opened the door for us to come in.

4. Change the following sentences replacing the clauses given in italics with ‘for + the infinitive’. Translate the sentences into Russian.

• It’s time you did it.

• It’s time for you to do it.

1. It’s important that we should pursue our own interests.

2. It’s important that the committee chairperson should get an exhaustive report on the subject.

3. It’s important that the authorities should lift restrictions on fishing in the local rivers before the next election campaign starts.

4. It is natural that partners share profits in a company.

5. It was unusual that such information became public knowledge.

6. It’s time the government imposed restrictions on the use of natural resources.

7. There is a plan that local residents should migrate out of uninhabitable areas.

8. It was a big mistake that they didn’t make a re-evaluation of the cost of the whole program.

9. It is a real shame that he is going back on his word.

10. His idea is that scientists should present a sound justification why they don’t find the projects economically viable.

11. Is there anybody who we can ask for help in case of emergency?

12. There is nowhere we could stay as all the hotels are full.

13. There will be nothing that people could drink if these water supplies are contaminated with chemical waste.

14. Can you think of something that people could do if Parliament is reluctant to ratify the treaty?

15. Parliament adopted conservation laws so that law enforcement bodies could stop big corporations plundering natural resources.

16. You must collect as much information as possible so that the committee could prepare an exhaustive report on the subject.

17. Greenpeace exposed the activities of the company so that the authorities could call it to account.

18. Police put the criminal under pretrial arrest so that he couldn’t commit another crime.

19. They arranged that these important issues should be put on the agenda of the next conference.

20. The mayor of the city arranged that the reports spotlighting parliamentary debates should not be published.

5. Analyze the structure of the following sentences and translate them into Russian.

1. It is reported that the Foreign Ministers have completed the talks.

The Foreign Ministers are reported to have completed the talks.

2. It is known that environmentalists have been fighting the project for months.

Environmentalists are known to have been fighting the project for months.

3. It is said that the project will have been completed by the end of next year.

NB. The infinitive construction for this sentence is impossible.