wish, try, be, bankrupt and bankruptcy

[jiang]

Dear teachers,

I have four questions to ask:

No.1

The government doesn't wish Dr. Smith___ a professorship at a foreign university.

a. will accept b. to accept
c. accepts d. accepting

My questions is: We can say "to wish somebody to do something". But we seldom say "not to wish somebody to do something". Is that right? Even though in this condition we can only choose "b", to me there is no proper answer. Is that right?

No.2

The tourist tried____ something funny to get rid of the embarrassment.
a. to recall b. recalling

There used to be difference between the two but according to Longman dictionary "try doing something=try to do something" so I think both are correct.

No.3

Workers seldom commit acts of violence, because they can put their aggression into their work,________ it physical like the work of a smith, or mental like the work of a scientist.

a. be b. were c. is d. was
The key is "a". Could you please kindly explain why?

No.4
The family _________ after federal financial support and protection was withdrawn.
a. went bankrupt b. became bankruptcy

The key is "a". But I can't see the difference between the two.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

[5jj]

1. The government doesn't wish Dr. Smith___ a professorship at a foreign university.
a. will accept b. to accept c. accepts d. accepting

My questions is: We can say "to wish somebody to do something". But we seldom say "not to wish somebody to do something". Is that right? No. The meaning of 'I don't want/wish you to do something' is normally 'I want/wish you not to do something'. It is normal and natural.

2. The tourist tried____ something funny to get rid of the embarrassment.
a. to recall b. recalling......There used to be difference between the two...
There still is. If he tried to do something, he made the attempt - and probably did not succeed. If he tried doing something, he actually did it - in order to see if it would succeed in getting rid of the embarrassment. Incidentally, 'get rid of the embarrassment' is not very natural, but that's a different point.

3. Workers seldom commit acts of violence, because they can put their aggression into their work,________ it physical like the work of a smith, or mental like the work of a scientist.
a. be b. were c. is d. was......The key is "a". Could you please kindly explain why?
be it = whether it be. In this hypothetical situation, the subjunctive form 'be' is used.

4. The family _________ after federal financial support and protection was withdrawn.
a. went bankrupt b. became bankruptcy......The key is "a". But I can't see the difference between the two.
'Become bankruptcy' is not an English expression.

If there are follow-up questions, this thread may become very confusing. Please start a new thread for each different question in future.