A question on my previous post: is that a mistake to say "he requested me to leave" Can't "request" be followed by "someone to do something"?
Can I write the summary below in the present tense though the chapter is in the simple past?
1)The first person Gulliver sees at the Academy of Lagado is a long-haired man with sooty hands and face wearing ragged clothes.
2) He tells him that he had spent eight years extracting sunbeams out of cucumbers which were then put in vials hermetically sealed and used to warm the air in cold summers.
3) He also tells Gulliver that in eight years' time he will be able to supply ( I need a synonym) the Governors gardens with sunshine at a reasonable price (rate).
4) He complains that it had been a very dear season for cucumbers and begs him for money (asks him to give him some money)
5) Then Gulliver goes into another chamber and he is almost overcome (??) with a horrible stink. The projector of this cell is the most ancient student of the Academy.
6) His hands and clothes are covered with filth since his task is to reduce human extrement to its original food.
Another projector is busy at turning ice into gunpowder.
7) The most ingenious architect has contrived (found out?) a new method for building houses by beginning at the roof and working downwards to the foundations, which is normal practice among the bees and spiders.
A question on my previous post: is that a mistake to say "he requested me to leave" Can't "request" be followed by "someone to do something"?
You can say/write like these --
~ He requested that I leave.
~ He requested that she pick up his tickets for the baseball game for him.
OR
~ He asked her to pick up his tickets...
The two verbs (request & ask) have slightly different needs as far as what words/phrasing go after them.
Can I write the summary below in the present tense though the chapter is in the simple past?
yes
1)The first person Gulliver sees at the Academy of Lagado is a long-haired man with sooty hands and face wearing ragged clothes.
Comma after "face" - the rest is fine.
2) He tells him that he had spent eight years extracting sunbeams out of cucumbers which were then put in vials hermetically sealed and used to warm the air in cold summers.
Clarify all the he's - which one is Gulliver? Which one is the long-haird man? -- Comma after "vials" and "sealed."
3) He also tells Gulliver that in eight years' time he will be able to supply ( I need a synonym) the Governors gardens with sunshine at a reasonable price (rate).
Use "provide" in place of "supply." Either "price" or "rate" will be fine.
4) He complains that it had been a very dear season for cucumbers and begs him for money (asks him to give him some money)
I don't understand "dear season" - and again, clarify those pronoun references.
5) Then Gulliver goes into another chamber and he is almost overcome (??) with a horrible stink. The projector of this cell is the most ancient student of the Academy.
Comma needed; "overcome by"
6) His hands and clothes are covered with filth since his task is to reduce human extrement to its original food.
Another projector is busy at turning ice into gunpowder.
"excrement" (sp); remove "at"
7) The most ingenious architect has contrived (found out?) a new method for building houses by beginning at the roof and working downwards to the foundations, which is normal practice among the bees and spiders.
contrived, discovered, found (but not with "out"