Re-write the following sentences according to the instructions given after each. Make other changes that may be necessary, but do not change the meaning of each sentence.
Anil is too fast a runner not to come first in the race. (Begin: Anil is so ..................)
Topic: Transformation — 'so... that'
Answer
Anil is so fast a runner that he will come first in the race.
This is the hardest transformation in the paper, because the original contains a DOUBLE NEGATIVE hidden inside a "too... to" construction.
Read it carefully: "too fast NOT TO come first" means he is so fast that it is impossible for him NOT to win — that is, he WILL win. The two negatives cancel.
Original: too fast a runner NOT TO come first Transformed: so fast a runner THAT HE WILL come first
The ordinary "too... to" pattern converts to "so... that... CANNOT", and that is what most candidates write here by reflex — producing "so fast that he cannot come first", which is the exact opposite of the meaning.
THE RULE: when "too... to" contains a NOT, the "so... that" version is POSITIVE. Always read the transformed sentence back and ask whether it still says the same thing.