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Life accident 2

A)  WOULD: 

1) It's the first and most common usage of would and it is the auxiliary of the conditional', which means the future in the past. 

ex:  As Stoefell said he would do it, you can be sure he  will.  

'conditional' = subject + would + verb.  

Most often, it's the first and only construction that comes to your minds... but there are other ones using would!

2) WOULD : Expresses WILLINGNESS, CHOICE, CONSENT, and INTENTION.

it is a modal  auxiliary expressing willingness; it's often found in the negative form:

ex: He said he was too busy and wouldn't come. => He refused to come .

The refusal even extends to inanimate objects and how they respond to human beings' willpower.

ex: Yesterday, my car wouldn't start !  and the door wouldn't open! The car and the door had a willpower of their own.

3) The Form would expressing HABITS and REPETITIONS: 

This third meaning taken by would is the one you never remember, or use spontaneously! ... It corresponds to a repetitive attitude or behaviour: it often points out to a somewhat ritualistic, if not persistant, repetition of facts which seems to characterize a person.

ex : Stoeffel was so surprised that he would ask the same question again and again. 

TO conclude : 

*  'FUTURE IN THE PAST'

*  expression of 'WILL POWER'

* the expression of a 'CHARACTERISTIC HABIT'.Think carefully which one is the form you're reading or using.

2) As foreign learners of English, you're partial to idioms, often deceiving, indeed, and that you very often consider to be 'traps'. In fact, they are  particularisms of a language. You consider them as 'lacks of logic' that you denounce, (you often say so ...) compared  to  your  mother  tongue.

Well, I must remind you that every language has its own logic, and that each language has the right to exist and evolve differently from all others ! Concerning these idioms, there are no recipes to discover and become familiar with them ...YOU HAVE TO learn how to build them !

 Beware ! The sign * in front of a sentence means that this sentence is incorrect and mustn't be imitated, in the written language as well as the oral one !

Yet, this expression is simple when you know it:' Not everyone understands this rule'!

1) What's the meaning of this sentence? Simply that some people understand this rule whereas others don't ! A certain number of people understand! Some don't! 

Now, if we try a literal translation of this sentence, as many foreigners do, and turn it ( which, for most of you, means the verb!) into the negative form, we have to write : 

* Everyone doesn't understand this rule = Nobody understands this rule!   

We can notice that, in French, the negative is put on the verb. If we translate this new sentence literally, we will have =  'Nobody understands this rule', which is not at all what we meant in the initial sentence .. It's the proof that we are wrong!

2) To make up for this inconvenience, you only have, once again, NOT  TO TRANSLATE  YOUR OWN LANGUAGE  INTO ENGLISH', but to think as British people do, directly in English : 

'NOT  EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS THIS  RULE' => In other words, you ONLY have to put the negative form in front of the indefinite pronoun, which is the 'element that you want to deny', not on the verb.

ex : Not every basket-ball game is interesting to follow.

ex: Not every black kid was able to practise rugby during apartheid.

Well well! Here you are! ready to take the test?  I'm not wishing you ... luck! I'm wishing you carefullness, concentration and success!  

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(Part 2 : continued...)
During his long convalescence, Stoeffel had asked his boss and friend, Martinus de Jong to come and visit, and his banker has being summonedsummonedbeen summonedhad been summonedI don't know too...
Back home at last, Stoeffel informed his boss that he is resignedhe would resignhe will resignhe resignedI don't know and stop working: Martinus doesn't need to keepMartinus won't need to keephe needn't keepMartinus wouldn't need to keepI don't know waiting for Stoefell’s complete recovery… and his banker that Inga had suggested they will cashthey cashedthey had cashedthey would cashedI don't know their life insurance… They had plans…
Stoeffel bought second-hand books, and balls … and started painting lines to make sports fields. In the mornings, he started teaching the black kids of the townships how to read and write English correctly; in the afternoons, he taughthe might teachhe will teachhe would teachI don't know them cricket or rugby... At first, the kids looked at the initiative suspiciously, but soon, they would participatehave participatedthey will participateI don't know and would help him very willingly. At night,he will roamhe had roamedhe roamshe would roamI don't know the streets of the townships to watch for gangs…
Stoeffel died four years and four months later…

What can a black man’s heart do to a white racist? Stoeffel eyes and new heart had been openedhad being openopennedHad opendI don't know wide on new realities and ideals… He had realized and appreciated the heart-rending decision of the black driver’s wife, and had made it his duty to give back what he would be offeredthey offered to himhe has been offeredhe had been offeredI don't know, with interest! What is sure is that not every victim of racism is ablea victim of racism can'tevery victim of racism isn't ablenot a victim of racism canI don't know to forgive and forget the outrages that had been suffered for years… What is sure too, is that racists don't changeevery racist changes notevery racist doesn't changenot every racist changesI don't know his whole vision of life and expresses his gratefulness, and by ripple-effect on his friends and neighbours to help to make up for,helping to making up forhelp make up forhelping make up forI don't know past mistakes…. should sublimateStoeffel would sublimateStoeffel can sublimateStoeffel had sublimatedI don't know his short second life to thank the whole black community for the generosity and forgetfulness of the driver’s widow. He had even outlived the maximum length of time they'd giveThey have given himhe had been givenhe'd be givenI don't know in order to achieve his goal and pass it on to others,

so that the Rainbow Nation might develop'd developingwas developingcould have been developingI don't know and prosper... He wouldn't give up before his task was done!

From: 'A change of heart' in To cut a long story short, by Jeffrey Archer. 2000 : a free narration and commentary.