121
PRO OR ANTI?
12.3
GRAMMAR
CONDITIONALS: THIRD AND MIXED
7
12.2
Listen to two students talking about golden
rice and answer the questions.
1
Did Edward Jenner discover vaccines?
2
Did the authorities block the introduction of golden rice?
3
Did they save many from blindness?
4
Does wheat grow in the desert?
8
Listen again and complete the sentences with up to
four words in each gap.
1
If Edward Jenner
vaccines, there
far
more fatalities every year than there actually are.
2
If the authorities
the introduction of golden
rice, we
many from blindness.
3
If wheat
in the desert, we
to develop
GM crops.
9
Use the clauses in Exercise 8 to complete the
examples in the table.
We use the third conditional to speculate about past
events and about how things that happened or didn’t
happen might have affected other things.
If-
clause
Main clause
If
+ past perfect
would/could
, etc.
+
have
+ past participle
There are also mixed conditionals to describe:
1
things that happened in the past which may have
present consequences
If-
clause
(3rd conditional)
Main clause
(2nd conditional)
2
past events which may be the result of timeless or
present facts
If-
clause
(2nd conditional)
Main clause
(3rd conditional)
¬
Language reference and extra practice, pages 126–149
10
Match the beginnings of conditional sentences
1–9 with their endings a–i. Some are third conditional,
some are mixed (both types).
1
If Sir Alexander Fleming hadn’t discovered penicillin
in 1928,
2
If we didn’t like the professor,
3
If he didn’t believe in his research proposal,
4
If I had studied harder,
5
If we’d bought a GPS system for the car,
6
If I’d wanted to,
7
If Sir Tim Berners-Lee hadn’t invented the internet,
8
If she hadn’t wasted so much money,
9
If I weren’t so busy,
a
we would know where we are now.
b
he wouldn’t have started his doctorate.
c
we’d find it difficult to treat infections.
d
I could have gone to university to study technology.
e
I might have passed the technology exam.
f
we would find it much more difficult to get
information.
g
we wouldn’t have invited him to lecture here.
h
I could have gone to the conference on GM foods
last week.
i
we’d be able to afford a better laboratory.
11
Complete the prompts, in more than one way if
possible. Then discuss them with a partner.
1
If I had found some buried treasure last week, …
2
If I’d told my friend the truth, …
3
If we hadn’t gone to live abroad, …
4
If we wanted to have solar panels, …
5
If we had had more money when we were
growing up, …
6
If we didn’t take life so seriously, …
7
If I weren’t so busy, …
SPEAKING
12
Hold a class debate on the motion:
The rapid rate
of technological development has improved our lives
.
First, discuss the motion in two groups.
Group A:
you are
for
the motion; turn to page 160.
Group B:
you are
against
the motion; turn to page 160.
