UNIVERSITETET
I OSLO
Institutt f or litteratur, områdestudier og europeiske språk
WRITTEN EXAMINATION
AUTUMN 2014
3 pages
ENG1100 – English Grammar, an introduction
4 hours
No dictionaries or other aids are allowed.
All questions must be answered in English.
All answers must be written on copy-sheets.
Thursday 4 December 2014
Pass marks are required on both Part I and Part II.
1. (40 %) Explain the difference in form and meaning between the members of each of
the following sentence pairs.
1a We’re going to be late.
b We’re going to Berlin.
2a We didn’t drink beer much.
b We didn’t drink much beer.
3a There’s a time-consuming task waiting for Fred.
b It’s a time-consuming task waiting for Fred.
4a I made her some sandwiches.
b I made her my spokesperson.
5a Right or wrong, the chairman always has the last word.
b Rightly or wrongly, the chairman always has the last word.
2. (60 %) See next page.
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2. (60 %) Read the following text and answer the questions below.
1
Röyksopp’s new album will be the Norwegian duo’s last
2
Norwegian duo Röyksopp have always stayed ahead of the curve with their innovative
3
electro-pop. Soon they’ll be doing the same with how they release it. Svein Berge and
4
Torbjorn Brundtland aren’t retiring, but they are swearing off traditional albums after
5
dropping their fifth and final LP, aptly titled The Inevitable End, on Nov. 10. After that, it’s
6
all singles and small batches of songs.
7
Perhaps they were inspired by pop pixie and fellow Scandinavian Robyn–no stranger to
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unusual releases herself–with whom they released the experimental Do It Again minialbum in
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May. Or perhaps, as the duo have suggested, they’ve simply said all they needed to say in
10
full-length recordings. That starts to show on The Inevitable End, which alternates between
11
the club-banging exuberance of 2009′s Junior and the chilled-out ambience of 2010′s Senior.
12
While a handful of sinister stompers (like “Skulls,” a perfect anthem for video-game villains)
13
are as fresh as ever, a somewhat lagging second half keeps the record from becoming the true
14
parting gift that the band intended.
(From Time magazine)
Questions:
a) Suggest why the plural form of the verb (have) was chosen at line 2. Discuss whether a
singular verb would be likely here. Would a singular verb have any consequences for
other forms in this sentence?
b) State what word classes the word that may belong in, giving one example construction in
each case. Then account for the use of this word at lines 5, 10 and 14 of the text. Both
word class and syntactic function should be specified in each case.
c) Comment on the use of the form whom at line 8. What is its syntactic function? Would any
other relative pronoun be possible here?
d) Comment on the underlined –ing forms at lines 4 (swearing), 5 (dropping) and 13
(lagging). Identify their syntactic function in each case (such as modifier, part of
progressive verb form, or Verbal in non-finite clause).
e) Explain the difference between restrictive and non-restrictive adjectival relative clauses.
Then identify one clause of each type from the text (avoiding the one with whom at line 8).
f) Explain the difference between the long and the short passive. Then identify one example
of the long passive from the text. What might the active version of that sentence be like?
Why do you think the passive was preferred?
g) Give a complete syntactic analysis of the sentence Soon they’ll be doing the same with
how they release it (line 3).
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The marks will be published approximately 3 weeks after the exam in Studentweb. You will receive an email when the results are ready.
For an explanation of the mark obtained, please contact the exam coordinator, Kristin Berstad
(k.m.berstad@ilos.uio.no) within one week after the exam results have been published. Remember to
include your name and candidate number. The examiner will decide whether to give a written or an oral
explanation.
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