Worksheet A
Blinded by the glare of the headlights and confused by the incessant groaning of the horns, the apparition stood swaying for a moment before he perceived the man in the duster.
‘What’s the matter? He inquired calmly. Did we run out of gas?’
‘Look!’
Half a dozen fingers pointed at the amputated wheel – he stared at it for a moment, and then looked upward as though he suspected that it had dropped from the sky.
‘It came off’, someone explained.
He nodded.
‘At first I didn’t notice we’d stopped.’
A pause. Then, taking a long breath and straightening his shoulders, he remarked in a determined voice:
‘Wonder if you could tell me where there is a gasoline station?’
At least a dozen men, some of them a little better off then he was, explained that wheel and car were no longer joined by any physical bond.
‘Back out,’ he suggested after a moment. ‘Put her in reverse.’
‘But the wheel’s off!
He hesitated.
‘No harm in trying,’ he said.
The caterwauling horns had reached a crescendo and I turned away and cut across the lawn towards home.
Worksheet B
I. Are the following statements true or false?
1. The man looked like a ghost.
T/F
2. The man thought that they had run out of oil.
T/F
3. The man seemed to think that the wheel had dropped from the sky.
T/F
4. Someone told the man that the wheel had come off.
T/F
5. The man was the richest person among the people who observed the scene.
T/F
6. The man insisted on continuing his journey by car.
T/F
II. Underline the silent letters in the following words.
ghost wreck muesli castle doubt tomb knight
incessant though psychiatrist III.
a. Mark the stress in the following words.
hesitate suggest inquire explain remark regret
b. Which verb doesn’t suit the stress pattern? ...
IV. Change the sentences from the text into reported speech.
1. ‘Back out,’ he suggested after a moment.
He suggested ………..……….
2. ‘What’s the matter? He inquired calmly.
He inquired ……….
3. At first I didn’t notice we’d stopped’
He admitted ………..
4. ‘No harm in trying,’ he said.
He insisted ………
‘See’ he explained. ‘It went in the ditch’.
5. He explained ……….
6. ‘How did it happen?’
He asked ……….………..
7. ‘Don’t ask me’, said Owl Eyes.
He said ………..
8. ‘Do you want to commit suicide?’
He asked ………...………
Worksheet C
V. Change these sentences into reported speech.
a. ‘We might go to the Shetland Islands for the summer’, he said.
...
b. ‘I will get up early if the weather is good’, she promised.
...
c. ‘Yes, we weren’t fair’, they admitted.
...
d. ‘I bought a new car and the gear didn’t work properly’, he complained.
...
e. If it doesn’t rain soon, the food prices will go up in price’, she claimed.
...
f. ‘I’m the best worker in my company’, she boasted.
...
g. ‘What is the past participle of run?’ he asked.
...
h. ‘You must finish your project this week’, she ordered.
IV. Change these sentences into direct speech.
1. She admitted she had cheated on him.
...
2. She advised us not to visit that district.
...
3. They warned us there would be the police on the motorway B.
...
4. He told me he wanted to play chess all night.
...
5. She threatened to call the police if he didn’t leave immediately.
...
6. They boasted about how good players they were.
...
7. He suggested they dined out.
...
8. She asked if he had done the shopping.
...
