You shall have it by Friday

[joham]

--I haven't got the reference book yet, but I'll have a test on the subject next month.
--Don't worry. You _______ have it by Friday.
A. could B. shall C. must D. may

The given answer is B.


What do you think of this test problem? Would "but I'm having a test..." or "but I'm to have a test" sound better? Would "will" be more natural than the given answer "shall"?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Raymott]

--I haven't got the reference book yet, but I'll have a test on the subject next month.
--Don't worry. You _______ have it by Friday.
A. could B. shall C. must D. may

The given answer is B.


What do you think of this test problem? Would "but I'm having a test..." <- Yes, this one..
or "but I'm to have a test" sound better? Would "will" be more natural than the given answer "shall"?

Thank you in advance.

No, but "should" would be what I'd choose. Why torture your students with 'shall/will' when not many people care any more? Besides, "should" is the most likely answer.

 

[joham]

Thank you very much, Raymott, for your kind help. This is one of the most frequent test problems that keep appearing in China's English test papers. I doubt the correctness of it and want to make sure. But when we are making a promise, can we use 'will', just as in this case?

Thank you again.

 

[Raymott]

Thank you very much, Raymott, for your kind help. This is one of the most frequent test problems that keep appearing in China's English test papers. I doubt the correctness of it and want to make sure. But when we are making a promise, can we use 'will', just as in this case?

Thank you again.

In AusE, most of us wouldn't know the difference between "You will have it" and "You shall have it." I'm not even sure myself, since I only ever use "shall" with 'I', and then, not often.

 

[BobK]

In AusE, most of us wouldn't know the difference between "You will have it" and "You shall have it." I'm not even sure myself, since I only ever use "shall" with 'I', and then, not often.

:up: Same in BE. And in response to johan's original question ('What do you think of this test problem?'), I can't answer in a public forum, but the gist is 'Not a lot'. ;-)

b