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. Choose the correct options.
Jaswant’s grandfather is too old to take up this job. (Use: .......so.......... that...)
Topic: Transformation — 'so... that'
Try it
Pick an option and check your answer. The full worked answer is below either way.
Answer
(b) Jaswant’s grandfather is so old that he cannot take up this job..
The transformation from "too... to" into "so... that" is a fixed pattern: too + adjective + to + verb so + adjective + THAT + subject + CANNOT + verb
Three things must all be right, and each wrong option fails on one: THE NEGATIVE is essential — "too old to take up" means he CANNOT take it up. Options (c) and (d) drop it and reverse the meaning. THE TENSE must match the original. The sentence is in the PRESENT ("is too old"), so the modal is CANNOT, not "could not". That eliminates option (a), which is otherwise correct — and it is the distinction most candidates miss. THE ADJECTIVE stays where it was: "so OLD that", not "so young".
Compare the 2025 and 2026 papers, which set the same construction in the past tense, where "could not" WAS correct. The modal follows the tense of the original sentence.
Jaswant’s grandfather is so old that he cannot take up this job..