Q14
EnglishVerbs, Tenses & Agreement
Fill in the modal auxiliaries as required: _____ you be more careful in the future? [Request]
- a.Could
- b.Should
- c.Must
- d.Have
Answer: (A) Could
A question beginning with 'Could you ...?' is the standard polite request form, so 'Could' matches the hint [Request]. 'Should you be more careful?' asks about advisability, 'Must you ...?' expresses compulsion or irritation, and 'Have you be ...' is ungrammatical because 'have' needs a past participle (been). The usual request modals are can, could, will and would, with 'could' and 'would' sounding more polite than 'can' and 'will'; 'may' and 'might' are used when asking permission for oneself (May I come in?).