Deduction & Speculation exercises — Set 5: Advanced Speculation: Must Have Been Doing & Complex Modal Deduction (Worksheet)
Worksheet • 20 questions • 15 min
When I got home at midnight, the kitchen was a mess — flour everywhere, dirty bowls in the sink, and the oven was still warm. Someone all evening.
I heard some faint music coming from the flat upstairs last night, but I'm not entirely sure what it was. The neighbours a small gathering.
The report claims that Professor Harris was conducting experiments in the lab at 3 p.m., but the security log shows he left the building at 2:15 p.m. He experiments at that time.
Given the severity of the storm last night and the age of the roof tiles, the leak by the heavy rainfall.
Her eyes were red and puffy when she walked into the meeting. She just before she arrived.
When I called the office at 9 p.m., I could hear keyboards clicking and people talking in the background. The team late to meet the deadline.
The defendant claims he was sleeping at home during the robbery, but his phone's GPS data places him near the bank at that exact time. He at home.
The manuscript is dated 1342, but it contains references to events from 1450. The author it in the 14th century.
The children's clothes were covered in mud, their boots were soaking wet, and they looked absolutely exhausted. They outside in the garden for hours.
The sudden decline in the bee population linked to the widespread use of neonicotinoid pesticides, though further research is needed to confirm this hypothesis.
Nobody knows exactly what caused the power cut last night. Engineers say the maintenance crew on the underground cables when something went wrong.
Look — the entire fence has been freshly painted from top to bottom. Someone it while we were on holiday.
I'm not sure what the noise was last night. The neighbours some renovations — I noticed building materials outside their door last week.
The witness says the suspect's hands were covered in grease and oil when he entered the shop. He on a car or some kind of machinery just before that.
At 3 a.m., I could see the light on in the novelist's study window. She on her book at that hour.
The company's profits dropped 30% last quarter, and several senior managers have since resigned. The board the CEO's strategy long before the public announcement.
The surveillance footage shows the building was completely dark and empty from 6 p.m. onwards. The night guard his rounds as he claimed — there is no sign of movement anywhere.
The package was sitting on the doorstep, and the delivery driver had already gone. He it off while I was in the shower — I didn't hear the doorbell.
When we walked into the restaurant, our colleagues were red-faced and laughing uncontrollably, with half-empty bottles on the table. They wine for quite some time before we joined them.
Analysis of the pottery fragments reveals traces of a glaze technique not developed until the 15th century. The vessel during the medieval period as previously believed.
Deduction & Speculation exercises online (Worksheet)
Master C1-level speculation and deduction with past progressive modals — must have been doing, can't have been doing, and could have been doing. Learn to distinguish completed past deductions using modal perfect forms (must have done) from ongoing past deductions (must have been doing), use hedging modifiers like may well and couldn't possibly to express degrees of probability, and apply modal speculation in formal and academic contexts.