A Dialogue Between A Teacher And A Student On Drug Addiction

Student: May I come in, sir?
Teacher: Yes, come in.
Student: Thank you, sir.
Teacher: How can I help you?
Student: Actually I wish to know about an issue of the present days. I will be benefited if you let me know your ideas about that particular issue.
Teacher: What is it about?
Student: About drug addiction.
Teacher: Fine. Drug addiction is a state in which a man takes an excess of drug to get rid of frustration or any kind of mental ache.
Student: Drug is essential for recovering diseases. But can it be an addiction?
Teacher: You know that excess of anything is bad. I also agree on the point that drugs are the savior of our life. But it becomes an addiction when one takes it excessively for no diseases.
Student: I see. But there must be some reasons for a person for being a drug addict.
Teacher: Of course there are. People get addicted to drug for variety of reasons. Frustration tops the list. Moreover, unemployment, political anarchy, lack of family ties, lack of love and affection leads to frustration. Sometime young people taste drugs only out of curiosity and get addicted to them.
Student: I wonder how the drugs can help someone overcome frustration.
Teacher:  Actually drug can’t help one to recover from frustration permanently. It gives relief for a very short time. But the after-effects of drugs are terrible. When the addicts fail to buy drugs, they commit social crimes like hijacking, stealing, robbery etc. all these cause social anarchy.
Student: That’s why crimes are on the rise nowadays. Then what are the aftermaths of Drugs in our body?
Teacher: Drugs tell upon the human body terribly. They kill slowly but surely. The addicts gradually lose their appetite, and always feel sleepy. Ultimately, their brains get damaged and they meet death.
Student: Oh! The effects of drug addiction are dangerous indeed. Is there any way to fix the social problem?
Teacher: Of course there are. At first we have to realize the bad effects of drug addiction. We should make people aware of its dangers. We should avoid bad company. Obeying the rules of religion can be effective in this regard.
Student: Thank you,sir. Whatever I have learnt from you will help me in future.
Teacher: You are welcome.

Rules for Question Tags

In informal writings or conversations, sentences are often followed by small questions which are used to justify whether something is true or false. These questions are referred to as question tags. Basically, question tags are attached to sentences for agreement or confirmation.

Formation of tag questions:

1.     If the statement is affirmative, the question tag will be negative.

It is raining heavily, isn’t it?

2.     If the statement is negative, the question tag will be affirmative.

They are not coming, are they?

3.     A tag question is formed by two words- an auxiliary verb (is, are, was, were, have, has, had, do, does, did etc) and a pronoun (he, she, we, they, it).

 My mother cooks well, doesn’t she?

4.     There must be a comma and a question mark.

Rules for question tags:

1.   Auxiliary verbs get priority in question tags. In fact, there can be no question tags without auxiliary verbs.

It’s a lovely evening, isn’t it?

He helped me in danger, didn’t he?

2.  When an auxiliary verb ‘have’ used as principle verb, both ‘do’ and ‘have’ are possible.

I have some problems, haven’t/don’t I?

3.  Presence of some negative words such as no, not, never, none, nothing, nobody, notwithstanding, neither, nor, hardly, hardly ever, scarcely, barely, seldom, little, few, until, unless etc make a sentence negative. In that case, question tags will always be affirmative.

Jim can hardly do this, can he?

I have little money to spend, do/have I?

4.    Sentences beginning with ‘let’s’ will always be followed by question tag ‘shall we’.

Let’s leave the place at once, shall we?

Let’s have some music, shall we?

5.    When statements begin with subjects like everybody, everyone, all, nobody, no one, none and one, we use ‘they’ in question tags.

One should do one’s duty, shouldn’t they?

None can be absolutely happy, can they?

6.     It is used in question tag if the statement contains subject like nothing, anything and everything.

Everything seems to be all right, doesn’t it?

Anything is possible, isn’t it?

7.     ‘There’ can be a subject in question tags.

There were at least one thousand activists, weren’t there?

8.  When ‘need’ is used in the statement as principal verb, we use any of don’t/ doesn’t/didn’t in conformity with number and tense.

I need to go home now, don’t I?

I need some money, don’t I?

9.     In case ‘need’ is used as an auxiliary verb, it is repeated in the question tags.

You need not worry about the expenses, need you?

10.   If a statement expresses permission, the tag question is ‘will you’.

Let me do it, will you?

11. If statements are formed by subjects like “all of/none of/some of/ most of/everyone of + us”, ‘we’ will be used as pronoun.

All of us fear to die, don’t we?

None of us is happy, are we?

12. If statements are formed by subjects like “all of/none of/some of/ most of/everyone of + them/plural noun”, ‘they’ will be used as pronoun.

Some of them will join the function, won’t they?

Most of the government employees are corrupted, aren’t they?

13.  If the statement is imperative and expresses order or request, the question tag is ‘will you’.

Please do it for me, will you?

Shut up, will you?

14.   If the statement is imperative and expresses offer or invitation, the question tag is ‘wont you’.

Have a cup of tea, won’t you?

15.  Statements with connecting word such as- as well as, together with, along with, accompanied by, and not, etc always follow the first subject.

He as well as his parents is coming, isn’t he?

Verbs Followed by Gerunds

While writing or speaking in English, we often use one verb after another to express an idea properly. In such cases, the second verb is either an infinitive or a gerund. It rests upon the first one whether it will take an infinitive or a gerund. Verbs which are always followed by gerunds are given below herewith examples-

Verbs	Sentences
Abhor	I abhor gossiping over phone for long hours.
Admit	The convicted admitted doing the crime.
Avoid	My father told me to avoid keeping up late.
Anticipate	I anticipate visiting my paternal home next month.
Appreciate	I appreciate your doing humanitarian work.
Be worth	The matter is not worth discussing about.
Consider	I consider quitting the job.
Contemplate	We have finally contemplated doing a private job.
Can’t help	He can’t help bullying around.
Delay	I delayed informing him about the matter thinking about the pros and cons.
Deny	He can’t deny receiving bribe.
Detest	Though I detest delaying, I sometimes do the same.
Dislike	My father dislikes my roaming about with my friends.
Enjoy	James enjoys doing his new job.
Entail	Your new job will entail working twelve hours per day.
Excuse	Please excuse my coming late.
Escape	The criminal narrowly escaped being arrested.
Fancy	Fancy going on a long trip.
Feel like	When I smelt the perfume, I felt like dying.
Finish	I have finished washing my clothes.
Forgive	Forgive my misbehaving with you; I was helpless.
Imagine	I can’t imagine eating in a grand hotel.
Involve	Your work involves moving from one place to another by cycle.
Keep	The boy kept running until he reached home.
Mean	Investing money in stock market means putting them in dustbin.
Mind	I don’t mind leaving my seat for you.
Miss	The bullet missed hitting the lion.
Pardon	Pardon my asking, what does your father do?
Postpone	The chairman postponed taking the examination.
Practice	Practice speaking in English regularly.
Prevent	Nobody can prevent my leaving the house.
Quit	The man has finally quit taking alcohol.
Recall	I recall finding him fixing the car.
Recollect	He recollected passing his day with my.
Recommend	My father recommended me consulting a doctor before taking any medicine.
Regret	I really regretted hurting John.
Remember	I can clearly remember his fighting with me.
Report	His parents reported seeing him go out of home in the afternoon.
Resent	I resented being treated as an outsider.
Resist	In spite of having allergy, I can’t resist eating shrimp.
Risk	I won’t risk going out in such weather.
Stop	Please stop talking aloud.
Suggest	The doctor suggested taking a lot of water every day.
Understand	I don’t understand his coming to my house.