Inversion

  • 32. Rewrite the underlined parts of the conversation emphasizing the word(s) in italics. In each case use fronting, a cleft sentence or inversion.
    A: I hear you and Anna didn’t have a great holiday on the island.
    B: No, not really, although (1) we liked the island a lot. (2) The hotel was the real problem.
    A: Why? What was wrong with it?
    B: Our room was just awful. The shower only had cold water, the air conditioning didn't work and sparks came out of the light switches when you turned them on.
    A: Didn't you complain?
    B: Oh, yes. We phoned the reception desk as soon as we found there were problems. (3) The hotel porter came along, looked around the room, and said he would send someone to sort things out. (4) He went away and an hour later (5) a man walked in carrying just a screwdriver. We left him to it, and went and had a swim in the pool. But when we got back, nothing had changed. By this time Anna was getting quite annoyed, so she went down to reception to complain. (6) They told her there she was just being fussy. And (7) she got really furious about that. She insisted on seeing the manager, and demanded that something should be done.
    A: And was it?
    B: Well, we had a steady stream of workers coming into the room after that. (8) An electrician came first and then the next day a plumber. But none of the problems got fixed. (9) It took them three days to decide that we needed another room.
    A: You must have been fed up with the hotel by that time.
    B: I think (10) the attitude of the staff annoyed me most – they really just didn't care. (11) I have never seen such a total lack of interest from people who are supposed to be providing a service. (12) No one apologised once the whole time we were there…