Stone: Multiple Choice Grammar Test
‘You have hardened’, said the flower, (1) _________ her petals downward toward the half stone at her roots. ‘These rains should (2) _________ you, made you more fertile and receptive to the seeds of the fields; but they did not. You have accumulated minerals and have become (3) _________ and full of calcium. Why do you stay here? Why do you resist the brook that gives us water?’
The stone said nothing.
A number of clouds passed by, the sun set and the night arrived with an immense bronze-coloured (4) _________ moon with acne scars upon her worn face and in this manner reflected down upon the silent stone which still (5) _________ . The flower, by now, had tucked-in her petals and slept (6) _________ , and at this time the stone began to answer:
‘I stay here because your roots (7) _________ me yours. I stay here because it is no longer about my feeling the earth rather because I have become part of that which functions as a support of your stem which (8) _________ the wind and the rain. Everything changes, my sweet flower’, said the stone, ‘but I stay here because love is that microscopic space between your feet and my (9) _________ skin. You would only be able to feel it if destiny were ever, to separate the two of us.’
The moon followed the fade of the stars. Dawn gave a yawn as the sun began (10) _________ its horizon on the lower lip of the mouth of a new day. The flower awoke and extended her beautiful petals. ‘Good morning’, she said, ‘I dreamt that you (11) _________ to me. How foolish of me, don’t you think?’
The stone said nothing.
A | B | C | D | |
1 | having bent | was bending | bending | to bend |
2 | have softened | soften | be softened | has soften |
3 | most silent | more silent | the more silent | the most silent |
4 | freckling | freckled | freckles | freckle |
5 | haven’t fallen asleep | not fall asleep | has’t fallen asleep | wasn’t falling asleep |
6 | profoundly | profound | less profound | more profound |
7 | making | have made | are made | had made |
8 | resists | resist | resisted | resisting |
9 | salt | salted | salty | salting |
10 | burn | to burn | to have burned | to be burning |
11 | to be singing | have sung | had sung | sing |
1.C; 2.A; 3.B; 4.B; 5.D; 6.A; 7.B; 8.A; 9.A; 10.D; 11.C