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Rescue .... or Revenge 2/2

In the preceding part, we have left Adams, a suicidal man, and Steve, a policeman who's trying to reason him, at the top of a very high building. Adams has let  Steve approach him, as if he had always known him ... Will the policeman manage to save the despaired man ?

Remember, the tense of narration is still the  simple past .

      ex : Adams wanted to end his life in front of a huge crowd, the radios and TVs of the country reporting the event.

     * As usual, if  two simultaneous past actions happened at the same time, then : 

  the long (and important one) is in the -ing preterite and the short action interrupting it , is in the  simple past.

    ex: While Adams was leaning against the wall, the policeman got out onto the ledge.

    * If a past action happened  before an action in the simple past, it must be in the past perfect simple (or in the past perfect in -ing if we want to insist on the duration of the action ) :

 had + verb in the past participle   or had + been + verb + ing  

    ex:  For more than an hour, detectives had been trying to convince Adams that nothing could justify killing himself.

.    *   If you have to use the simple future, remember that it doesn't get on well with the past ...Rather use the 'conditional' =>  would + verb

     ex : He thought death would be a solution to all his problems ...

    *  If you need to use a  modal  auxiliary  : can => could and  may=> might    and  must => have to

    ex: Being careful, the policeman could save the man on the ledge.

     * or modal forms  : As if/ as though +  modal pasts  (indicating what's unreal, what doesn't exist in the present reality and is imagined.)

    ex : Adams was looking as if he had already made the decision to die.

* Some easy constructions  will be very useful to you :

     - to let somebody do something =>  Remember that to let is followed by the infinitive without to.

   ex : Adams didn' t let the rescuers convince him to go down, yet ! 

     - In interrogative constructions introduced by WHY followed by an infinitive, TO is omitted. WHY DO IT ?

   ex : Why go on living when life is so hard ?

 

     

This story was freely adapted from a short-story by Daniel Honig : Man with a problem.

Well ! Now, you should be ready to confront the test successfully ! Good luck !

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Adams repeated aloud that he had anybody to go home tohe had anybody to go homehe had nobody to go home toI don't know, no wife … no love, NO ONE !
Suddenly, he had thoughthe thoughthe thinkshe was thinkingI don't know how just the night before, he had gone home to Karen, his beloved wife. He knew she was unfaithfulshe unfaithfulshe unfaithfulledI don't know but he loved her anyway … and Adams had even seen her with her lover, and followed them before they had enteredthey had entered inthey enterthey entered inI don't know the small hotel ...
Adams remembered their quarrels, and his refusing to give herhe has refused to give herher refusal to give herI don't know the divorce she was begging for. She had told him that Steve, a policeman, has promised leavehad promised leavingpromise her leavinghad promised to leaveI don't know his family and live with her ... and last night, entering their home, his whole world collapsedhad collapsedcollapsingwas collapsinghad ben collapsedI don't know when he had found Karen's lifeless body, with an empty bottle of sleeping pills beside her, on the floor, and the note she had left for him ... and now, he loseshe losthe was losthe was a looserhe had lostI don't know without her, his life was meaningless and he had no more hope ... Steve had deceived her. ... Her heart has brokenwas brokenhas brokebreaksI don't know. Life wasn’t worth living … Why liveWhy you liveWhy livingWhy should livingWhy to liveI don't know an empty and lonely life without love and happiness when all can solvecould solvecould be solvedcould have solvedI don't know so easily by jumping ... He was glad he would havehe has hadhe hashe had hadI don't know that great idea .... He would have their revenge …
As Steve is comingcomehas comecamewill be comingI don't know towards him, on the ledge, all the TV Channels filming the event, Adams told him … I knew you had comeyou would cameyou would comeyou will comeI don't know up eventually ... 'What ?' the policeman asked, trying to maintain his balance on the narrow ledge. My name isn’t Adams, Steve, Karen was my wife ... It’s all your fault, have you knowndo you knowdid you knowhad you knownI don't know that last night, she ...
Terror appearswould appearappearedwas appearingI don't know on the policeman’s face …

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