Download Unit 10 The Mood System

Unit 10 The Mood System
Check Your Understanding
1. T
2. W We were faced with the demand that this tax (should) be abolished.
3. T
4. W He is my best friend, my second self, as it were.
5. T
In-Class Activities
1. (1) a. WERE-subjunctive and WOULD-subjunctive;
b. HAD-subjunctive and WOULD-subjunctive;
c. WOULD-subjunctive;
d. HAD-subjunctive and WOULD-subjunctive;
e. ED-subjunctive;
f. BE-subjunctive;
g. ED-subjunctive;
(2) a. To make an implicit suggestion.
b. To give an implicit criticism.
c. To make an implicit complaint or to blame the listener in an indirect way.
d. To make self-reproach.
e. To express regret.
f. To make a concession.
g. To express a wish for an almost impossible thing.
(3) a. You’d better take the job.
b. You are always doing things carelessly, so you have your mistake.
c. Why don’t you inform us of your arrival?
d. It’s my fault not to follow your advice.
e. I regret that I don’t have the ability to help you out of difficulty.
f. Although it is an official view, it cannot be accepted.
g. Obviously, it is impossible for me to know the answer, but I really want to know it.
2. (1) In the first picture, the so-called the WOULD-subjunctive is used, and in the second
picture the BE-subjunctive is used.
(2) The first picture is an advertisement promoting a wireless service, the
WOULD-subjunctive makes this commercial advertisement more polite and thus serves as
an implicit suggestion rather than a requirement; the second picture is a public notice in an
airport, so the BE-subjunctive makes this requirement more forceful and authoritative.
3. (1) a. BE-subjunctive; b. SHOULD-subjunctive; c. indicative; d. indicative
(2) Sentence (a) is the most formal one in British English. Sentence (b) is the version
preferred by British speakers on less formal occasions.
(3) Among the first three versions, sentence (a) is the best choice for a TOFEL test.
4. (1) A pessimistic camp versus an optimistic camp.
(2) Giving each side a separate paragraph, the opinions held by these two sides are in sharp
contrast; such verbs expressing the psychological state or activities as “believe”, “feel”,
“wish”, and “hope” are used. Linguistically, the major difference between these two
descriptions is that when the pessimistic view is described, the verb “wish” and the
WERE-subjunctive mood is used, but when the optimistic view is described, only the
indicative mood is used.
(3) The two coordinated that-clauses after the matrix verb “wish” imply that what is desired is
impossible, for they are both in the subjunctive mood.
(4) The that-clause after the controlling verb “wish” is usually in the subjunctive mood, but
that after “hope” is generally in the indicative mood. If I am a dictionary compiler, I will
define the verb “wish” as “(usually taking as its object a that-clause in the subjunctive
mood) to want sth. to happen or to be true even though it is unlikely or impossible” and the
verb “hope” as “to want sth. to happen or think it is possible”.
(5) Obviously, the verb “suggest” in sentence (a) is used in the sense of “to state indirectly”
and “suggest” in sentence (b) is used in the sense of “to put forward an idea or a plan for
other people to think about”. That is why the that-clause after the first “suggest” is in the
indicative mood, and that after the second “suggest” is in the BE-subjunctive mood.
5. (1) a. If I had known, I would have written before.
b. If it were to reveal its secrets, that house would collapse in shame.
c. If you should change your mind, no one would blame you.
(2) a. HAD-subjunctive and WOULD-subjunctive;
b. WERE-subjunctive and WOULD-subjunctive;
c. SHOULD-subjunctive and WOULD-subjunctive
(3) Sentence (d) is unacceptable, but Sentence (e) is acceptable.
(4) f. If I hadn’t had his help, I couldn’t have survived the crisis.
g. If there were no mismatch between the form and function, the subjunctive mood in
English learning would be much easier.
h. If I was given more time, I would have less pressure.
i. If he had been born ten days earlier, the baby could have seen his father.
j. If he had taken a step further, he would have dropped into the river.
k. If he were a wise man, he would refuse the offer.
(5) The l-sentence can be paraphrased as: What would have happened if he had been thrown
out by the landlord; Sentence (m) can be paraphrased as: If you knew the answer,
everything would be fine. Sentence (m) can be rewritten as “If you only knew the answer”
to express greater emphasis, but it is more common in informal English.
6. (1) HAD-subjunctive; WOULD-subjunctive; WERE-subjunctive
(2) The use of the subjunctive mood is effective in that it presents a different state of
situations which is in contrast to the present unpleasant one caused by the defective product,
thus emphasizing the damage inflicted by the product but in a polite way.
Post-Class Tasks
1. a-e BCCDA
f-j CAABD
2. a. If only nuclear bombs wouldn’t have been invented.
hadn’t been invented
b. I’d rather spend it on something frivolous.
√
c. Hadn’t Roentgen discovered X-ray, doctors could not diagnose some disease correctly.
Had Roentgen not discovered
d. If he had taken his doctor’s advice, he might not have died.
√
e. It’s about time I didn’t stay at home; I am twenty-five after all!
left home
f. What a mess; you look as though you’ve been in a fight!
√
g. I wish I would be a child again.
could be/were
h. If you only knew how much trouble you’ve caused.
√
3. A. Sentence (a) is a suggestion for or a criticism of the listener concerning the present
situation, while Sentence (b) is most probably a criticism of the listener’s failing to be more
careful in the past.
B. The indicative mood of the that-clause after the verb “insist” in Sentence (a) indicates that
“he” firmly believes in the fact that the book was rewritten by John, while the subjunctive
mood of the that-clause in Sentence (b) indicates that “he” demands for the rewriting of the
book by John.
C. The indicative mood of the clause after “as if” in Sentence (a) conveys less doubt about the
fact that he knows what he’s talking about than the subjunctive mood in Sentence (b).
D. The indicative mood in Sentence (a) indicates the speaker’s belief in the possibility of
taking immediate actions, while the subjunctive mood in Sentence (b) conveys the
impossibility of taking immediate actions from the speaker’s perspective.
E. The subjunctive mood in the that-clause after the verb “wish” in Sentence (a) indicates the
small or even no possibility of the realization of the desire for more time, while the
indicative mood in the that-clause after the verb “hope” in Sentence (b) indicates there is
some possibility of the realization of such a desire.
4. A: a; B: b; C: a; D: a; E: b; F: a; G: b; H: b
5. Teacher: Should Nancy’s boss give her a raise?
Student A: Yes, he should. After all, Nancy had worked there for a whole year. Her boss
shouldn’t have refused at that moment.
Student B: But maybe her boss couldn’t afford a raise. Anyway, Nancy still did take the skirt.
It wasn’t hers.
Teacher: What should she do instead?
Student C: She might have asked her boss to sell her the skirt. Then she could have paid /
could pay for it slowly, out of her salary.
Student A: She should have worn her old clothes to the party. A new skirt just was worth all
this trouble.
Teacher: Well, shouldn’t Nancy’s boss dismiss her?
Student B: No, he shouldn’t. Nancy had been a good employee for a whole year. And she did
bring the skirt back.
Teacher: How could he handle the situation?
Student C: He could have warned her. He shouldn’t have dismissed her without any previous
warning.
6. During her staying at home for recovery, Ms. Wang found it hard to compose herself for the
whole week. “If the bus driver had shouted backwards at him, he wouldn’t have been that
ferocious.” “If those big fellows around me had given me a help, he couldn’t have pulled me
down the bus.” “If the door hadn’t been opened, he wouldn’t have had a chance of beating me
further.” Dwelling upon so many “if’s”, Ms. Wang ended up lying painfully at home, but the
thug was still at large.