A modern suspense story that models natural use of gerunds and infinitives.

It started with a single buzz. Mara paused to read the screen: “Unusual login on your account. Tap to verify identity.” She remembered reading warnings about fake alerts, so she resisted clicking. Then the hallway lights flickered. Someone was waiting by the stairwell door—too still, too quiet.

Mara hated walking past strangers at night, but she needed to leave for work. She pretended to search for her keys while listening for footsteps. The man checked his phone and whispered, “We recommend resetting your password now.” He wasn’t talking to her—but it sounded like her exact alert.

Her phone buzzed again. “Remember to confirm your identity within 10 minutes.” She tried to ignore it, but a new message appeared with her apartment number. Fear suggested doing something rash; caution urged her to wait. Mara decided to call the bank directly.

The bank agent advised checking the last activity and refusing to share any codes. “We regret to inform you there are multiple attempts.” While she was talking, the stairwell door creaked. The man stepped closer, pretending to scroll.

Mara stopped answering the texts and moved toward the lobby guard. She went on explaining what happened while the guard went on to call building security. The “alert” turned out to be a phishing script pinging nearby devices, and the quiet man—just an opportunist hoping to trick someone into giving a code.

Later, Mara kept practicing safer habits: using a password manager, avoiding clicking unknown links, and remembering to verify alerts on official apps only. She didn’t plan to stop being careful. Suspense had taught her well.

Answer order is randomized on load.

Options shuffle while the placeholder stays first.

1. I remember — select —to readreading that warning last week. (past memory)
2. Remember — select —to readreading the warning before you click. (future duty)
3. She stopped — select —answeringto answer the texts. (quit the activity)
4. She stopped — select —to answeranswering the guard’s question. (paused in order to)
5. Try — select —addingto add a longer passphrase. (experiment)
6. Try — select —to finishfinishing your backups tonight. (attempt)
7. We regret — select —to informinforming you there were multiple attempts. (announcement)
8. I’ll never forget — select —gettingto get that eerie notification. (past memory)
9. He went on — select —to callcalling building security. (next action)
10. He went on — select —explainingto explain the scam for ten minutes. (same action)

Drag each example to its matching verb pattern.

When a strange alert arrives, avoid it completely; instead, try details in the official app or call the situation to support. Remember the sender.

Rewrite using the correct gerund/infinitive form.

1. I suggest to call the bank instead of to tap links.
2. Remember checking the official app first.
3. I stopped to answer the messages immediately. (meaning changed!)
4. The guard went on calling security while I went on to explain.
5. They regret informing you there were multiple attempts. (formal announcement)
6. Consider to use a password manager instead of to reuse passwords.

Write 3–4 sentences using at least two gerunds and one infinitive of purpose about how you’ll handle suspicious alerts.