Three Unsolved Mysteries Continue to Fascinate

So you think there are no more mysteries, that all mysteries (1) …….. (solve) in time? Think again. The pages of history teem with mysteries that (2) …………….. (never / crack).

Consider, for a example, the case of Billy the Kid, (3) ……. (name) Henry McCarty at birth but also known as William Bonney. Young Bonney went west in 1870s and established himself as a force in Lincoln County in the New Mexico territory. Along with several other young men, he (4) ……….. (befriend) by John Tunstall, an immigrant shop owner from England. When Tunstall (5) ………. … (shoot and kill) in a frontier feud in the Lincoln County War, Billy and his friends retaliated by forming a gang and killing Tunstall’s murderers. For years Billy and his gang (6) …………. (pursue) by the law. Finally, Pat Garret, formerly Billy’s friend, (7) …………. (elect) sheriff of Lincoln County. As the record tells it, Billy (8) ………… (gun down) by Garret on July 13, 1881, in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, and (9) ………… (bury) there.

Or was he? Some individuals believe that the Kid didn’t die in Fort Sumner at all and that someone else (10) ………… (inter) in the grave. In fact, some reports claim that Billy escaped and took another identity. One report insists that an old man who was believed to be Billy (11) ……….. (see) walking along a highway in New Mexico in 1947. What is the truth?

Another puzzling case involved the brigantine ship Mary Celeste. She had left New York in 1872 and (12) ………. (later sight) floating erratically east of the Azores. No one (13)……….. (find) on board, though everything else on the ship (14) …………….. (determine) to be in order, and there was no indication why the Mary Celeste (15) ……………… (abandon). In fact, tables (16) …………… (apparently / set) for afternoon tea. One theory speculates that the ship (17) ………….. (threaten) by an impending explosion that (18) ……….. (cause) by fumes from her cargo of alcohol. That theory, however, (19) …………… (never / prove).

A third perplexing mystery is the case of Amelia Earhart, the famous aviator who in the twenties and thirties was considered the quintessential example of the rugged female individual.

Earhart flew across the Atlantic in 1928 and set a record for a cross-Atlantic flight in 1932. In 1937 she embarked on her most ambitious plan, a flight around the world. Earhart began her flight in Miami in June and (20) …………. (accompany) only by Fred Noonan, her navigator. They reached New Guinea and left for Howland Island in the south Pacific on July 1. After that, no radio reports or messages of any kind (21) ………… (receive). No remains of her plane (22) ………… (locate) by naval investigators.

Did she simply attempt the impossible? …….. she and Noonan (23) ……….. (simply kill) when her plane ran out of fuel and crashed in the Pacific? Historian William Manchester holds his own view. He believes that Earhart and Noonan saw evidence of the illegal Japanese military build-up in the Mariana Islands. Manchester says, ‘She (24) ………….. almost certainly …………… (force down and murder).’ Or could something else have happened? No one really knows.

For the time being, at least, the fate of Amelia Earhart, along with that of Billy the Kid and the Mary Celeste, will have to remain mysterious.

7. Rewrite the sentences using have something done. A)

A) 1. His teeth are checked twice a year. _______________________ 2. Her skirt is being cleaned at the moment. _____________________________ 3. My hair is trimmed once a month. _______________________ 4. Central heating is going to be installed in our house next month. ___________________________ 5. Sam’s burglar alarm was fitted last month. _______________________ 6. My car is being repaired at the moment. __________________ 7. The band’s new single has just been recorded. ______________________ 8. The secretary is going to prepare the minutes for him. _________________________ 9. Their house is being decorated at the moment. __________________ 10. Our new furniture is going to be delivered tomorrow. ___________________ 11. I’ll ask her to make the appointment with the dentist for Friday. ___________________ 12. Our windows will be cleaned. ____________________ 13. The licence is going to be registered for him. ___________________ 14. His new jumper has been knitted. _____________________ 15. My lock has to be fixed. ______________________

B) 1. Their windows need to be cleaned. ________________________ 2. The hairdresser was styling Mrs Brown’s hair. _______________________ 3. Her car was broken into last night. _____________________ 4. Dan is going to arrange for somebody to cut the grass. _______________________ 5. They used to employ a cleaner who cleaned their house. ______________________________ 6. Did the mechanic repair Paul’s motorbike? _____________________ 7. The boss asked the assistant to type the letter. ________________ 8. Someone stole their car while they were asleep. ____________________. 9. Have you told the secretary to make some photocopies? _________________________ 10. The chef was cooking Tom’s lunch. ______________________ 11. Did you tell the shop to deliver the sofa for you? ___________________ 12. My purse has been stolen. ___________________ 13. Did you employ a painter to paint your house? __________________________ 14. They are going to put a new roof on Adam’s house. __________________________ 15. She asked the maid to polish the silver. _____________________ 16. The police took away his licence because of careless driving. ________________________ 17. The police are towing away his car. _____________________ 18. Did you pay someone to do your accounts? ____________________ 19. I hired a professional to cater for my party. _________________. 20.Was his car badly damaged in an accident? _______________________ 21. She asked him to do the shopping. ____________________ 22. Their house was burgled last night. ______________________________ 23. When will your glasses be made? ______________________________ 24. He employed a carpenter to build the fence. ______________________________ 25. His shop windows were smashed in the riot. ______________________________

REPORTED SPEECH

The reported speech is used:

In statements:

‘I will not come to the College tomorrow.’ She said (that) she would not come to the College the next day.

‘This is the first bad letter we've had this month.’ He said (that) it was the first bad letter they had that month.

In requests:

‘Can we send you these documents today?’ She asked whether she could send us the documents the same day.

‘Will you count our high grades for this year, please?’ They asked me whether I would count their high grades for that year.

In questions:

‘Are you seeing my classmates next week?’ She wanted to know if they were seeing her classmates the week after.

‘Which of the two grammar Tests is this year's?’ They wondered which of the two grammar Tests was that year's.

We can report someone’s words either a long time after they were said (out-of-date reporting) or a short time after they were said (up-to-date reporting).

Statements

Out-of-Date Reporting

We usually report someone’s words a long time after they were said. In this case the introductory verb is in the past simple and the tenses change as follows:

Observe the Sequence of Tenses:

	Simple	Perfect	Continuous	Perfect Continuous
Past	→		(→)
Present	↑	↑	↑	↑
Future	↓	↓	↓	↓
Future-in-the-Past

When the introductory verb is present simple, present perfect, or future, the verb in the clause is not changed.

He says, ‘I listen to the music every day.’  He says he listens to the music every day.

He has said, ‘I listen to the music every day.’ He has said (that) he listens to the music every day.

He will say, ‘I listen to the music every day.’ He will say (that) he listens to the music every day.

 

Some pronouns, adverbs and words that indicate the time of acting are changed as follows:

Quoted (or Direct) Speech → Reported Speech

this, these → that, those (time expressions)	the day after tomorrow → two days later	the day before yesterday → two days before
today → that day tonight → that night this week → that week	here → there come → go	last → the previous / before last week – the week before, the previous week
tomorrow → the next day/the following day     following day	in (a week) → (a week) later	yesterday → the day before
next → the following / the next	now → then	ago → before

• When this/these are used in time expressions, they change to that/those. E.g. this week – that week; these days – those days
• When this/these are not used in time expressions, they change as follows:

a) They change to the when used as adjectives, that is, when they are followed by a noun. E.g. ‘This film is boring,’ Clare told me. – Clare told me that the film was boring.

b) They change to it or they/them when used as pronouns, that is, when they are not followed by a noun. E.g. ‘This  is an unusual situation,’ Dad said – Dad said (that) it  was an unusual situation.

 

· Certain modal verbs change in reported speech as follows:

 will / shall – would          can – could / would be able to (future reference)

 may – might                     must – had to (obligation)

 can – could                      shall – should (asking for advice / suggestion)

· Would, could, might, should, ought to, had better, used to and mustn’t do not change. Must does not change when it expresses a logical assumption. E.g. a) ‘I might talk to her,’ she said. -  She said (that) she might talk to her. b) ‘You must be tired,’ Paul told Susan. - Paul told Susan (that) she must be tired.

· In Type1 conditionals tenses change in reported speech as follows: the present simple becomes past simple in the if-clause and will becomes would in the main clause. E.g. ‘If I have the time, I’ll come round,’ Lisa said. - Lisa said (that) if she had the time, she would come round.

· Type 2 and Type 3 conditionals tenses do not change in reported speech. E.g. a) ‘If she knew, she would help us,’ Tony said. – Tony said (that) if she knew, she would help us. (Type 2) b) ‘If she had known, she would have helped us,’ Tony said. – Tony said (that) if she had known, she would have helped us. (Type 2)

· The verb tenses and time expressions change in reported speech:

a) when reporting someone’s words a long time after they were said (out-of-date reporting).

b) when we consider what the speaker says to be untrue. E.g. ‘I like Shakespeare’s plays a lot,’ he said to us. – He told us (that) he liked Shakespeare’s plays a lot, but he didn’t know the name of any.

· The verb tenses and time expressions either change or remain the same in reported speech:

a) when reporting someone’s words a short time after they were said (up-to-date reporting).

b) when reporting a general truth or law of nature. E.g. ‘The sun sets in the west,’ the teacher said. – The teacher said (that) the sun sets/set in the west.

c) when the reported sentence contains a time clause (in Past Simple / Continuous), the tenses of the time clause remain unchanged. E.g. ‘She came round to my house while I was doing my shopping,’ he said. - He said (that) she had come round to his house while he was doing his shopping.

Study the following information.

We can use say and tell both in direct and reported speech.

• Tell is always followed by a personal object (e.g. told me): He told me, ‘I’m tired.’ - He told me (that) he was tired.
• Say is used with or without a personal object. When used with a personal object it is always followed by the proposition to (e.g. said to me): 1) He said, ‘I’m tired.’ – He said (that) he was tired. 2) He said to me ‘I’m tired.’ – He said to me (that) he was tired.

Say and tell are also used with the following expressions:

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