FROM GRAMMAR TO WRITING

PART 1 Editing Advice

1. After a modal, use the base form.

You must to pay your rent on time. 2. A modal has no -s form.

He cans carry his bike upstairs. 3. Don’t forget to after be permitted, be allowed, be supposed, be able, and ought. to We’re not permitted leave a bicycle in the hallway. ^ to

I don’t like my apartment. I ought look for a new one. ^ 4. Don’t forget be before permitted to, allowed to, supposed to, and able to. am

I not supposed to have a pet in my apartment.^ 5. Use the correct word order in a question. should I

What I should do in case of fire?

6. Don’t use can for past. Use could + a base form. couldn’t find

I can’t found a roommate, so I live alone.

7. Don’t forget would before rather. would

I rather live with my parents than live alone.^ 8. Don’t forget had before better. had

You better not park here. You can get a ticket.^ 9. Don’t forget have before got to. ’ve

^ I got to change the batteries in the smoke detectors. 10. Don’t use maybe before a verb. mayI maybe will move next month. 11. Use not for negative modals.

not

I don't like garage sales. I’d rather don’t buy used things.

PART 2 Editing Practice

Some of the shaded words and phrases have mistakes. Find the mistakes and correct them. If the shaded words are correct, write C.

C

I am renting an apartment, and I would like to give you some advice. First, before you move

in, you should to take pictures of the empty apartment, keep a copy of the pictures for yourself,

and email a copy to the landlord. The pictures will show the condition of the apartment before

you moved in, so the landlord can’t to blame you for damage you didn’t do. Test everything, like

1.

2.

3.

light switches, toilets, and faucets. You maybe will find that something isn’t working properly.

Make a list of these things. You better show this list to the landlord immediately. He should fix

these things before you move in. If not, he ought give you a credit on your rent so that you can fix

them yourself, if you rather do it that way. You can finding checklists online. You can search for

“rental condition checklist.” This list may help you identify many common problems.

Second, you got to take your lease seriously. If the lease says “no pets,” that means no pets. If

you not allowed to have a pet, it’s for a good reason. A pet cans cause damage. Dogs make noise,

too, so this rule protects other tenants. If you are not supposed use the laundry room during

certain hours, this might be because of the noise.

Third, before you sign a lease, you should try to find out something about the landlord, the

neighbors, and the neighborhood. How you can do that? You can waiting outside the building

during a busy afternoon or on a weekend and talk to the tenants walking in and out. Interview

them. Are they happy? Are there any problems? What should you know before signing the lease?

In my last apartment, I didn’t do this. I was surprised to find that I couldn’t park my car on the

street overnight, so I must to park far away. This is not the fault of the landlord or the lease, but

this was inconvenient for me. I’d rather don’t have this situation again. Find out what you can

before signing a lease for a place where you may don’t be happy.

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WRITING TIP

When comparing things, there are different ways to organize your ideas. One option is to write about the first topic, for example, apartment life in the United States. You cover that topic completely and then write about the next topic you are comparing, for example, apartment life in Brazil. Another option is to write about one point of similarity or difference between the two topics, for example, In the United States, neighbors aren’t typically friendly with each other. In Brazil, however, neighbors usually know one another well. Then you would write about another point of similarity or difference between the two topics.

PART 3 Write

Read the prompts. Choose one and write a paragraph or two about it. 1. Compare apartment life in the United States with apartment life in another country. 2. Compare driving rules in the United States with driving rules in another country.

PART 4 Edit

Reread the Summary of Unit 8 and the editing advice. Edit your writing from Part 3.

UNIT 9

The Present Perfect The Present Perfect Continuous

VIRTUAL

COMMUNITIES

National Geographic’s Space Projection Helmets allow participants to look at Earth from an astronaut’s perspective.

Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have a faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them. STEVE JOBS