【明報專訊】MoMo and Bill are participating in a typing competition(打字比賽). Eason has outdone them. Will he get an award?

English highway-sentence

Modals+have+past participle

We use the pattern modal verb + have + past participle to make a guess about something that probably happened in the past.

e.g. Tom must have eaten my pudding.

(= I am quite sure Tom has eaten my pudding.)

e.g. You could have told me before you left.

(= It'd be better if you had told me before you left.)

■Quiz

Choose the correct modal verb in each of the following sentences.

1. MoMo (must/could) have practised hard to win the competition.

2. Bill (must/could) have remained silent, but he pointed out Eason's mistake.

3. Tom (mustn't/couldn't) have been hungry. He had eaten a huge hamburger before he went there.

4. The guard didn't catch the thief. He (must/could) have escaped.

■Glossary

outdo (v) 做得比(某人)好

nervous (adj) 緊張

recognition (n) 辨認

escape (v) 逃走