This text repeatedly contrast the past with the present or the future. We can use coordinated clauses to contrast two views, for emphasis or effect.

Given below are sentences carrying one part of the contrast. Find in the text the second part of the contrast, and complete each item.


Identify the words which signal the contrast. This has been done for you in the first item.


1. For decades the Union Buildings had been the seat of white supremacy, and now…..


2. Only moments before, the higher generals of the South African defense force and police……saluted me and pledged their loyalty….not so many years before they would not have saluted…..


3. Although that day neither group knew the lyrics of the anthem….they would soon……………..


4. My country is rich in the minerals and gems that lie beneath its soil,…………….


5. The Air show was not only a display of pinpoint precision and military force, but…………………..


6. It was this desire for the freedom of my people………that transformed………….into a bold one, that drove………………to become a criminal, that turned……………..into a man without a home.

1. It was the site of a rainbow gathering of different colors and nations for the installation of South Africa’s first democratic, non-racial government.


2. Officials; but arrested me.


3. now; know the words by heart.


4. But I have always known that its greatest wealth is its people.


5. A demonstration of the military’s loyalty to democracy.


6. A frightened young man; a law-abiding attorney; a family-loving husband.


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