6. Ted drew a straight line a ruler.

7. Is there any way you could touch the ceilingyour foot?

8. Some advertisers try to reach target audiencesmail.

9. Rebecca tightened the screw in the corner of her eyeglasses her fingernail.

10. I called Bill "Paul"mistake.

11. The fastest way to send a copy of a piece of paper halfway around the world is fax.

12. The chef sliced the partially frozen meat into thin strips arazor-sharp knife.

10-9 USING GERUNDS AS SUBJECTS; USING IT + INFINITIVE

(a) Riding horses is fun.

(b) 'hi is fun [to ride horses.'

(a) and (b) have the same meaning.

In (a): A gerund (riding) is the subject of the sentence.* Notice: The verb (is) is singular because a gerund is singular.

In (h): The word it is used as the subject of the sentence. The word it has the same meaning as the infinitive phrase at the end of the sentence: it means to ride horses.

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(c) Coming to class on time is important.

(d) It is important to come to class on time.

*It is also correct (but less common) to use an infinitive as the subject of a sentence: To ride horses is fun.

E EXERCISE 16ORAL: Make sentences with the same meaning by using it +

INFINITIVE.

1. Having good friends is important.It is important to have good friends.

2. Playing tennis is fun.

3. Being polite to other people is important.

4. Learning about other cultures is interesting.

5. Walking alone at night in that part of the city is dangerous.

6. Is learning a second language difficult?

7 Is riding a motorcycle easy?

8 Having a cold isn't much fun.

9. Learning a second language takes a long time.

10. Cooking a soft-boiled egg takes three minutes.