Problem about Conditional 1

Question

Hi all,I have a problem about conditional 1.I need to change this sentence " No, it must be possible to work out the answer so that a shock makes a difference." into the conditional 1 form which isA shock _____ a difference only if the answer _____ worked out.I know the answer for the first is "will make", what is the answer for the second one?Thank you.

Cjhaw · Accepted Answer

Hi all,

I have a problem about conditional 1.

I need to change this sentence " No, it must be possible to work out the answer so that a shock makes a difference." into the conditional 1 form which is
A shock _ a difference only if the answer _ worked out.
I know the answer for the first is "will make", what is the answer for the second one?

Thank you.

Mr Wordy · Answer

This first sentence is grammatical, but I can't imagine what it is talking about or why anyone would want to say it. The conditional sentence seems equally unlikely. Perhaps it would become clearer with more context.

Grammatically, there is no unique answer to your question. The first blank could be "makes", "will make", "would make", amongst others. If you make the first blank "will make", then the second could be "is", "can be", "has been" (and possibly other things too).

Cjhaw · Answer

Hi Mr Wordy,

Thank you for your help. The "can be" is correct. I had tried the answers for "is", "has been" and any other answers but neither of them is correct (the exercise I did is from internet, it is only giving marks if you fill in correct answer and it does not provide any solutions if fill in wrongly).

So, I think that the marks are given only for the best answer. It needs to refer the sentence of " No, it must be possible to work out the answer so that a shock makes a difference." As it mentioned 'it must be possible to work out', thus, the "can be" is the best answer to explain that 'the answer' is not guaranteed work out instead of using "is", "has been" and so on
. My statement might wrong, so what do you think?

The exercise is a bit tricky. Anyway, I had found the best answer from here. Thank you for your help again.

cjhaw

Cjhaw · Answer

Ignore the "Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-US
ZH-TW
X-NONE" sentence as I didn't write it but it turned out after I post the quote.

Cjhaw · Answer

Hi Mr Wordy,

This is the full context of the exercise.

"
Use the 1st Conditional, and fill the blanks with ONE or TWO words suggested by the preceding text. Use won't for will not, and don't for do not. These count as ONE word.

You are a member of a group of three students who have been asked by your lecturer to design an experiment to investigate the effect of electricity on intelligence. Your colleagues make various suggestions, which you repeat in the form of conditional sentences to make sure you have understood.

“How do we measure intelligence?” “It’s only possible to find out a person’s intelligence by asking them questions.”

If we 1.----- a person questions, we 2.----- out if they 3.----- intelligent.

“And the electricity?” “A wrong answer will result in the person being given an electrical shock...”

If they 4.----- know the answer, we 5.----- the person an electrical shock.

“...and then increasing the voltage will make the person get better at answering the questions.

The person 6.----- better at answering the questions if we 7.----- the voltage.

“But what kinds of question?” “Everyone finds engineering questions difficult.”

If we 8.----- engineering questions, the person 9.----- them difficult.

“But not a question that requires knowledge - a shock is useless for teaching someone something.”

If we 10.----- a question that requires knowledge, a shock 11.----- the person.

“No, it must be possible to work out the answer so that a shock makes a difference.”

A shock 12.----- a difference only if the answer 13.----- worked out.

“For example ‘Who invented Ohm’s Law?’ – it’s possible to work that out.”

If the question 14.----- ‘Who invented Ohm’s Law?’, the person 15.----- able to work it out.

“Finally, what kind of person shall we choose?” “Not an engineer – engineers know the answers already.”

If we 16.----- an engineer, they 17.----- the answers already.

“I know, an English teacher – they’re certain not to know the answers.” “But not a genius.”

If we 18.----- an English teacher, they 19.----- the answers unless they 20.----- a genius.

“Ha, ha!” “Ha, ha!” “Ha, ha!”
"

Tanit · Answer

cjhawIgnore the "Normal 0 false false false EN-US ZH-TW X-NONE" sentence as I didn't write it but it turned out after I post the quote.

Hi,

That happens when you copy a piece of text in MS Words (or in other text editors) and paste it in your posts.
I've edited your last post to remove similar strings of text.

Cjhaw · Answer

Mr WordyThis first sentence is grammatical, but I can't imagine what it is talking about or why anyone would want to say it. The conditional sentence seems equally unlikely. Perhaps it would become clearer with more context.

Grammatically, there is no unique answer to your question. The first blank could be "makes", "will make", "would make", amongst others. If you make the first blank "will make", then the second could be "is", "can be", "has been" (and possibly other things too).

Cjhaw · Answer

Tanit
cjhawIgnore the "Normal 0 false false false EN-US ZH-TW X-NONE" sentence as I didn't write it but it turned out after I post the quote.
Hi,That happens when you copy a piece of text in MS Words (or in other text editors) and paste it in your posts. I've edited your last post to remove similar strings of text.

I see. Thank you for the edit.

Mr Wordy · Answer

cjhaw As it mentioned 'it must be possible to work out', thus, the "can be" is the best answer to explain that 'the answer' is not guaranteed work out instead of using "is", "has been" and so on Normal 0 false false false EN-US ZH-TW X-NONE . My statement might wrong, so what do you think?

The question makes a lot more sense now that you've posted the full context!

Yes, you're right. "can be" is indicated by "it must be possible". Another way of putting it would be "A shock will make a difference only if it is possible to work out the answer."

Problem about Conditional 1

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