Short answerHard1 mark
5(d)
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.
How cruel Shylock was to demand his pound of flesh! (Begin: It was cruel ...........)
Topic: Exclamatory to assertive sentence
Previous-year question practice database
Answer
Exam answer
It was cruel of Shylock to demand his pound of flesh.
Explanation
This converts an EXCLAMATORY sentence into an ASSERTIVE one, and three things change:
- the question word HOW disappears
- the EXCLAMATION MARK becomes a full stop — a detail candidates forget, and it is part of the mark
- the word order becomes ordinary statement order
Note the preposition: "cruel OF Shylock", not "cruel FOR Shylock". With adjectives describing a person’s character or conduct — cruel, kind, foolish, generous — English uses OF. The same point arises in 5(c)(iii) of this paper.
The general pattern for exclamatory conversions:
How cruel he was! → It was very cruel of him. / He was very cruel.
What a beautiful garden! → It is a very beautiful garden.
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