LanGYM — Modals (2)

Section 1 — Context Listening

The art gallery theft

Listen to this extract from a radio drama. Two police officers are discussing a major art theft from the fourth floor of a modern art gallery.

a🚐Van outside the building at night

b🏃Figure running near a broken window

c🚁Helicopter lowering something to the roof

d🚪A door, opened from inside

e🔦Figure with a torch inside the gallery

f🌙Figure jumping in the moonlight

1.1 Listen and decide which of these pictures (a–f) the police officers discuss.

🎧 Listen:

Recording 06 — Transcript

Police Officer 1: So, how on earth did they manage to get in? There's no sign of a forced entry.

Police Officer 2: Well, I suppose they could have got in through a window up on the fourth floor.

Police Officer 1: But no one would have dared climb up the outside of the building. Anybody trying to do that would have been seen from the street below. You don't think they would have been able to jump from the block across the road, do you?

Police Officer 2: No, it's much too far. Of course, there's always the fire escape around the back of the building. They could have climbed up there reasonably easily, and after that they might have been lowered by rope from the roof. If that was the case, people living in the block of flats behind the museum might have seen something, so we need to talk to them.

Police Officer 1: Right, but we needn't interview everyone in the block, just the people who have windows facing the museum. I'll arrange that.

Police Officer 2: If it wasn't a window, the only other possibility is that they went in through the front door. Perhaps they forced the lock, but the door didn't appear to be damaged at all.

Police Officer 1: And the entry code is supposed to be known only by the security guard.

Police Officer 2: So someone else must have opened the door from the inside.

Police Officer 1: Only the security guard was allowed to stay in the museum after it closed. Do you think they somehow persuaded him to let them in? Maybe they just knocked on the front door and he opened it.

Police Officer 2: He surely wouldn't have done something as stupid as that. Do you think he might have been expecting them and that he was part of the gang?

Police Officer 1: But then why would they have attacked him?

Police Officer 2: I don't know, but we'd better find out all we can about that guard as soon as possible. Now, who was it that raised the alarm?

Police Officer 1: It was the head cleaner, who went into the building early this morning. He must have to know the entry code, too.

Police Officer 2: Yes, maybe. He says the front door was unlocked when he got here. But he claims he didn't see anything else unusual until he got to the fourth floor. But of course, he might be lying.

Police Officer 1: Yes, he must know that he ought to have called the police as soon as he found the door open. I wonder why he didn't. I think we should talk to him again. I suppose he could be hiding some information from us, and he might be prepared to tell us more if we put a bit of pressure on him.

Police Officer 2: The other puzzling thing is how they took the paintings away. Apparently, they're very big, so the robbers must have had to bring a van around to the front of the building.

Police Officer 1: The driver must have been waiting nearby and drove up when they'd got the paintings. They could have loaded the paintings up very quickly, and might have driven straight to a port or airport. Anyway, the forensic team should have finished examining the building by now. Once they've done that, I think we should go and look around for ourselves …

1.2 Listen again and match the sentence beginnings and endings.

1 is done for you (1 → c).

1 Anybody trying to do that would → c have been seen from the street below. (example)

2 After that they might

3 So someone else must

4 Do you think he might

5 But of course, he might

6 I suppose he could

7 The driver must

8 The forensic team should

1.3 Which of the sentences in 1.2 include these grammatical patterns?

modal verb + have been + past participle

modal verb + have + past participle3 & 8

modal verb + have been + present participle4 & 7

modal verb + be + present participle5 & 6

Answers are shown above — check your thinking against them.

Section 2 — Grammar

How the modals work

2.1May / might / could + be + present participle; may / might / could + have + past participle

Start Point

But of course, he might be lying. (= present: it's possible he's lying)
They could have got in through a window. (= past: it's possible they got in)

The same patterns also work with a future reference: to say something will possibly happen.

He might be lying.

They could have been expecting them.

The thieves might have left the country by the time we get to the airport.

2.2Would / will + have + past participle

Would have = imaginary past (it didn't happen). Will have = confident conclusion that something actually happened.

People would have seen them from the street below.

People living nearby will certainly have heard something.

2.3Should / ought to + have + past participle

Use should/ought to have for regret or criticism about the past, or to express an expectation about what has already happened.

He ought to have called the police as soon as he found the door open.

The forensic team should have finished examining the building by now.

2.4Must / can't / couldn't + have + past participle; must be + present participle

Start Point

Someone else must have opened the door. (active — certain past deduction)
It must have been opened from the inside. (passive)

For impossible past deductions use can't/couldn't have. For a deduction about something happening right now use must be + present participle.

The driver must have been waiting nearby.

One man alone couldn't have carried all those paintings.

She must be feeling devastated.

2.5Dare and need

Start Point

I daren't criticise him. (modal + bare infinitive) / She dared me to jump. (ordinary verb + to-infinitive)
A good car needn't cost a lot. (modal) / We need to talk. (ordinary verb)

As modals, dare and need are mostly negative. No to after needn't. Dare (without not) can take optional to.

No one would have dared climb up the outside of the building.

We needn't interview everyone in the block.

She dared me to jump across.

2.6Had better / be allowed to / be supposed to

Had better = advice for a specific situation now (not past, not general). Was/were allowed to = permission (specific occasion: use allowed to, not could). Be supposed to = what's expected or what people say is true — often implies reality differs.

We'd better find out all we can about that guard as soon as possible.

Although he had no ID, the man was allowed to enter the building.

The entry code is supposed to be known only by the security guard.

2.7Other verbs with modal meanings

Several ordinary verbs carry modal-like meanings: is to / are to (formal obligation), manage to / succeed in (ability), be prepared to (willingness), refuse to (unwillingness), it follows that / conclude that (conclusion).

No one is to enter the building until the police give permission.

How did they manage to get in?

He might be prepared to tell us more.

From the evidence found, it follows that it was carefully planned.

Section 3 — Grammar Exercises

Practice

3.1 Choose the correct verbs. Each sentence has two gaps.

You have been mad to jump off that wall like that. You have broken a leg.

I that I'd dropped his laptop. He so angry with me.

The weather forecast said it later, so take an umbrella when we go out.

The work on repairing the bridge next month, but there have been a lot of complaints about it. It's the height of the tourist season, so they have chosen a worse time to do it.

Jan the brakes on the car weren't working properly. He really me when he sold it to me.

There have been yet more delays in building our new office block. They have finished by now, but I'm starting to think that I have retired before it's built.

3.2 Complete the sentences using the verbs from the box in one of these forms:

have + past participle · be + present participle · have been + past participle · have been + present participle

causechangefindsnowtalktemptwaitwork

1 A: The clouds are getting really dark.
B: Yes, I think it could by morning.

2 A: So how did the explosion happen?
B: They think it may by a gas leak.

3 A: You were born in Wooton, weren't you? It's supposed to be a lovely village.
B: It certainly used to be, but it may since then — I haven't been there for years.

4 A: I rang Wei's doorbell twice, but there was no answer.
B: He must in the garden.

5 A: Cutting those roses was so difficult. I've still got thorns in my hands.
B: You might it easier if you'd been wearing gloves.

6 A: I thought we were meeting Anika outside the theatre.
B: Yes, but I can't see her. I suppose she might for us inside.

7 A: Did you apply for that job in Canada I told you about?
B: Well, if the salary was higher I might but it was even less than I'm earning now.

8 A: When Aya said 'He's really lazy', do you think she meant me?
B: Well, she could about someone else, I suppose.

3.3 A group of geography students are going on a field trip to Iceland. Their teacher is talking about the arrangements. Rewrite the underlined parts using one of the words or phrases from the box. You need to add extra words in each case.

alloware tocompulsorymanagedpossibility ofrecommendrefusedsucceeded

'Unfortunately, the authorities 1won't allow us to carry out fieldwork on the glacier. Apparently, because of weather conditions it's not safe at the moment. Instead, 2we've been able to arrange a boat trip to study coastal features, and 3we may see whales. So I think 4you should bring a pair of binoculars if you can. You might want to bring a camera, too. In past years, students have 5been able to take some excellent photographs during our Iceland fieldwork. Let me remind you, however, that no portable stereos with external speakers 6should be taken on the trip, although 7you may bring an MP3 player if you want to. And finally, can you remember that 8everyone must arrange their own private medical insurance for the trip. I'll check next week that everyone has done this …'

3.4 Read these extracts from newspaper and magazine articles. Choose one phrase from each of the pairs in the box to complete the sentences.

could be facing / can be facing

could have been prevented / ~~can have been prevented~~

ought to give / ought to have given

would not have been able to grow / will not be able to grow

might be working / might have been working

must get easier / must be getting easier

1 An enquiry into last year's explosion at the Amcon Refinery that killed 25 workers concluded that it if the refinery had installed a hazard warning system, as safety officers had recommended.

2 There is some evidence to suggest that Jon Ricci as a secret agent during the 1960s, although even after the end of the Cold War this was never confirmed.

3 Mateus Weber, chief executive of the Schools Examination Authority, said: 'The newspapers claim that the improving results show that exams . But we are absolutely certain that standards have remained the same.'

4 Mr Rosi will return to court on 31 January to hear his sentence, having been warned yesterday that he a long period in prison.

5 Mesi them the lead just before half time, but he shot straight at the goalkeeper, who made an easy save.

6 For centuries the flooding of the Nile was very important because, without it, the people crops in the dry desert. But global warming has changed the traditional patterns of agriculture in this part of the world.