UNIT 13: GRAMMAR

A. Write the verbs in brackets in the correct form in each gap.

The importance of nothing

There is a lateral thinking question which asks: 'If the Romans (1) had had (have) all our

technology we have today, why would they not have been able to get to the moon?' (2) Were

we (we / be ) think about this logically, we would probably be unable to come up with a

satisfactory reason. However, with lateral thinking, there is a perfectly reasonable explanation.

(3) Had the Romans been (the Romans / be) as technologically advanced as we are, they

would indeed be stuck here on Earth. Why? Because if 2,000 years ago, they (4) had employed

(employ) a Roman centurion to count down their Roman space rocket, he would have started at

ten (in Latin, of course), got down to one and then stopped. The Romans had no word for 'zero',

so there would have been no 'Lift-off!'

Of course, the truth is that if these hypothetical Romans (5) did not have (have) the number

'zero', it would be impossible for them to have all our technology. If the concept of zero (6)

hadn’t (been) developed (develop), we would not have computers today. Modern maths and

physics relies absolutely on there being a numeral to represent nothingness. It may seem

obvious to us now that zero should exist, but many philosophers in the past were very

uncomfortable with the idea. The ancient Greeks tied themselves in logical knots by stating: 'If

nothing (7) were/was (be) a number, then it would be something. And if it (8) did (do) become

something, then it would no longer be nothing.' If it (9) hadn’t been/wasn’t/weren’t (be) for

an Indian mathematician called Brahmagupta, who knows what would have happened? He

wrote the earliest known text stating that zero was a number. If he (10) hadn’t done (do) we

might not have set foot on the moon either.

B Write the verbs in brackets in the correct form in each gap to make hypothetical

situations.

1. Supposing you had (have) the chance to spend a year in space, would you take it?

2. What if we decided (decide) to run away right now and never come back?

3. Suppose all your friends were/had been saying/said (say) bad things about you behind your

back and you found out.

4. Imagine you didn’t have (have) any money or any means of getting any. What on earth

could you do?

5. What if the Internet hadn’t been invented (invent)? Wouldn't that be weird?

6. Supposing the sun stopped (stop) shining right now, how long would it take for us to

realise?

7. Imagine we had just been told (just / tell) that a huge meteor was on its way to Earth.

What would be the best thing to do?