3

have (get) something done get somebody to do something

1 Read the following pairs of sentences. In which sentence are you saying that a) you have done/did/will do something by yourself, b) you (have) employed/will employ someone to do something for you. 1.a. 1.b. 2.a. 2.b. 3.a. 3.b. 4.a. 4.b. I had the roof repaired. I have repaired the roof. She had Tom feed the dogs. She has fed the dogs. Brenda has cleaned the windows. Brenda got him to clean the windows. They will probably get the house redecorated. They will probably redecorate their house next week.

2 Choose the structures that are used when you say that you employed / employ / will employ somebody to do something for you. Choose the corresponding example from exercise 1. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. be be + object + past tense + object + past participle

have + object + bare infinitive (without to) have + object + past participle have + object + present participle get get get + object + infinitive + object + bare infinitive + object + past participle

3 Read the examples below. What is the function of the structure have something done in these examples? Choose two statements out of five. a. It replaces the passive voice when describing an accident or misfortune. b. It shows that we employed somebody to do something. c. It focuses on the object, not on the subject. d. It indicates that the subject suffers as a result of the action. e. It replaces people with things. 1. Unfortunately, he wont be able to give you a ride as he had his car stolen. 2. She had two of her ribs broken in the accident. 3. The cars had their roofs ripped off by the hurricane.

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4 Complete the sentences with the appropriate form of have (get) something done get somebody to do something. 1. They _____________ their room _____________ now. (redecorate) 2. She _____________ her hair _____________ recently. (do) 3. Mrs Wallace had to _____________ a famous architect _____________ the interior of the house. (design) 4. Linda _____________ her clothes _____________ by one of the fashion houses. (make) 5. _____________ you _____________ the trees _____________ down or did you cut them down yourself? (cut) 6. Next year I think I _____________ the gardener _____________ roses in the garden. (plant) 7. How often _____________ you _____________ your eyes _____________? (test) 8. He went to hospital to _____________ his arm _____________ as it was broken. (set)

GP

I never thought it could happen to me

1 Read the information and the story. What disaster is being described? A tornado hit Sacramento, California on Thursday during a second day of storms blanketing the state. The tornado ripped a chain-link fence away from a construction site, dropping it on about 30 cars a few hundred feet away. No injuries were reported. The weather forecasters warned that more rains and high winds were likely, as another big storm moved towards the region.

A true story
About 20 min before school finished it rained and hailed really hard. I thought it was just another rain shower. When I went to pick up my children from school the roads were flooded and I couldnt get to the school. They said that it would probably be 3 hours before we could get our kids. Well, after about an hour of sitting in the car and waiting everyone started leaving. When I was finally able to get to the school, it only took an hour and a half for one of the other roads to become clear enough to get through; the teacher informed me that a tornado had hit the school. It was not a big one but it did hit the playground. Nobody was hurt, thank goodness. The kids were all playing games in the classroom laughing and carrying on as it nothing happened. But the worst was still to come. When we got home I saw that my house was completely destroyed Luckily my husband wasnt at home at the time. All in tears and with petrified children on the back seat, I called him on his mobile and told him what had happened. He was there in no time It all ended well because we were well compensated for our loss. After this nightmare we were able to buy more things than we used to have.

2 a. Look at the pictures and write what has happened in them (use have + object + past participle as a form of the passive voice). b. What did they have done? First we had the roof repaired

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unit 5

Disaster