Assignments for self-control

Insert the articles where necessary. Check your answers in the keys.

1. Did you hear ___ noise just now? – No. I didn’t hear anything.

2. If you want to write some letters you should take ___ paper.

3. Jane is ___ teacher. Her parents are ___ teachers too.

4. I’ve been walking for 3 hours. I’ve got ___ sore feet.

5. It’s a pity we haven’t got ___ camera. I’d like to take __ photograph of that house.

6. My friends live in ___ old house in ___ small village. There is __beautiful garden behind __ house I would like to have ___ garden like that.

7. We had dinner in ___ most expensive restaurant in ___ town.

8. I’m going away for ___ week in September.

9. What’s ___ name of ___ man we met yesterday?

10. We looked up at all ___ stars in ___ sky.

11. We had __ very nice dinner today.

12. Peru is ___ country in ____South America. ___ capital is Lima.

13. Two people were injured in ____ accident and were taken to ___ hospital.

14. I like to read in ___ bed.

15. There were some people waiting outside ___ school to meet their children.

16. If you commit ____ serious crime you could be sent to ___ prison.

17. ___ test wasn’t very difficult. I answered all ___ questions without ___ difficulty.

18. Don’t stay in that hotel. It is very noisy and ___ beds are very uncomfortable.

19. ___ apples are good for you.

20. All ___ books on ___ top shelf belong to me.

21. ____ young have ____ future in their hands.

22. ____ giraffe is ____ tallest of all ____ animals.

23. ____ flute is ___ wind instrument.

24. We saw ___ lion at ___ Zoo.

25. Do you know ____ Wilsons? They are ___ nice couple.

26. ___President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.

27. ___ Milan is in ___ north of ___ Italy.

28. ___ Seychelles are ___ group of islands in ___Indian Ocean.

29. This article was published in ___ Daily Express.

30. ____Trafalgar Square is in ____ centre of ___ London

Section III. The adjective

Preparatory activities.

Review the following topics:

1. Give the definition of the Adjective. State its morphological composition giving examples.

2. Comment on the classification of English adjectives, their morphological and syntactical characteristics?

3. What are the differences between relative and qualitative adjectives?

4. Name the ways of forming the degrees of comparison in English, comment on the spelling rules.

5. Comment on wholly and partially substantivized adjectives.

6. Name all the comparative conjunctions you know.

Exercises

Exercise 1. State the morphological composition and classification of the following adjec­tives.

Pretty, bushy, weather-stained, thoughtful, hard-hearted, ille­gitimate, sober, non-party, low-bred, improbable, sceptical, coun­ter-revolutionary, careworn, beloved, wicked, disobedient, long-legged, regular, water-proof, large, well-timed, homeless, shaky, courageous, panic-stricken, blindfold, Portuguese, newly-baked, antique, peace-making, forlorn, illegible, abundant, red-haired, small, deep-blue, bookish, snow-white, respectable-looking.

Exercise 2. Give, the comparative and superlative degrees of the following adjectives.

Cosy, merciful, bad, complete, fat, cheap, big, clumsy, stupid, far, miserable, narrow, virtuous, simple, merry, regular, expensive, low, deep, sad, significant, bitter, intimate, lazy, old, serious, tiny, clever, little, considerate, gay, good, much, dark, beautiful, dear, fit.

Exercise 3. Use the adjective in the comparative or superlative degree.

1. He was the (amusing) lad you ever met. 2. He's a far (intelligent) person than my brother.3. He was only five years ____ than I was, which made him forty-five. (young) 4. He loved his brother and he had done his brother what people seemed to consider ____ of wrongs. (bitter) 5. ____ sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indif­ferent to them. (bad) 6. He had been a great fencer, be­fore the war ____ fencer in Italy. (great) 7. She is stopping at one of ____ hotels in town. (good) 8. Diffi­cult to believe it was so long, ago, he felt young still! Of all his thoughts this was ____ , ____ . (poignant, bitter) 9. She received congratulations as if she were ____ of women. (happy) 10. Kate remembered the little general; he was a good deal ____ than herself. (small) 11. I think we'll resume the conversation when you're a little ____ , Caroline. (calm) 12. They had never made ____ pretence of believing him. (little) 13. Things went from bad to ____ . (bad) 14. He took his trinkets, carried them to the ____ pawnshop he could find, and being offered forty-five dollars for the lot, took it. (presentable) 15. He felt her breathing grow ____ and ____. (slow, easy) 16. To be ashamed of his own father is perhaps ____ experience a young man can go through. (bitter) 17. It's ____ in here than it is on the street. (hot) 18. I think you're about ____ girl in school. (pretty) 19. All his life he had taken pains to be ____ , ____than his fellows. (strong, brave) 20. From that moment may be dated the downfall of ____ and ____ of the Indian nations, that existed within the limits of the present United States. (great, civilised) 21. Mr. Micawber, under pretence of showing me a ____ way than that by which I had come, accompanied me to the corner of the street. (near) 22 He would walk here and there and be no ____ than an ant in an ant hill.(conspicuous) 23. We slept in a double-bedded room, which was ____ that the little country inn could do for us. (good) 24. This is Sam Penty one of our ____ artists. (good) 25. He basked in the company of the young. 26. We must take the bitter along with the sweet. 27. She was the (practical) of the family. 28. When they told me I was cured and could go, I can tell you I was (afraid) than glad. 29. I wanted to ask you both what you thought of my (late) films if you saw them. 30. He is (talkative) than his sister. 31. He won't tire you so much. 32. He turned out to be (angry) than I had expected. Today I'm no (wise) than yesterday. 33. This wine is the (good) I ever tasted. 34. Jack is the {clever) of the three brothers. 35. I don't think it matters in the (little) which seat I choose. 36. He felt (bad) yesterday than the day before. 37. The (near) house is three miles away. 38.Of the two evils let us choose the (little). 39. He was the (late) man to come. 40. She waited until her silence became the (noticeable) thing in the room. 41. The (near) item on the program is a piano sonata. 42. He is the (tall) of the two. 43. She is (amusing) in a small company. 44. Uncle Nick was the (old) son of the family. 45. She warned the do­mestics not to touch the child, as Mrs. Osborne might be offended.

Exercise 4. Translate into English.

1. Киев — более древний город, чем Москва; это один из древ­нейших городов России. 2. В XVI веке Испания была самой могущественной державой мира. 3. Волга длиннее Днепра; это самая длинная река Европы. 4. Ватикан – самое маленькое государство в Европе. 5. Одной из важнейших проблем сегодняшнего дня является установление прочного и длительного мира. Усло­вия жизни трудящихся в странах социалистического лагеря зна­чительно лучше, чем в странах капиталистического лагеря. 7. Можно надеяться, что в ближайшем будущем культурные связи с Англией будут еще более тесными. 8. Точка кипения (the boiling point) спирта ниже точки кипения воды. 9. Платина тя­желее золота; это один из самых, тяжелых металлов. 10. Утро было прекрасное, но к вечеру погода стала хуже, ветер усилился, и темные тучи покрыли небо.

Exercise 5. Translate the following into English using various sentence pat­terns to express comparison:

1. Чем меньше ты будешь говорить, тем лучше. 2. К сожалению, я не смог прийти так рано, как обещал. 3. Кошка упала с крыши, но чувствует себя нисколько не хуже от этого. 4. Комната хорошая, но все же не такая хорошая, как бы мне хотелось. 5. Чем больше человек имеет, тем больше ему хочется. 5. Я не так молод, как вы. 6. Окно узкое, как дверь. 7. Суп хорошо пахнет, а на вкус он еще лучше. 8. Как пройти к ближайшей почте? 9. Если он поможет нам, тем лучше. 10. Если он не делает уроков, тем хуже для него. 11. Чем скорее ты сделаешь это, тем лучше. 12. Он становился все слабее и слабее. 13. На этот раз у вас меньше ошибок.

Exercise 6. Translate the following into English using substantivized adjec­tives where possible:

1. Слепых обучают ремеслам, чтобы они могли работать. 2. Нужны медсестры для ухода за ранеными. 3. Доктор хочет осмотреть раненого. 4. После отъезда сына они перестали приглашать молодежь. 5. Молодежи нравится все делать по-своему.6. Англичане любят чай. 7. В гостинице было много англичан. 8. Больной попросил воды. 9.Он считал своим долгом помочь бедняку. 10. Работа по спасению пострадавших продолжалась до глубо­кой ночи. 11. Ты говоришь как неграмотный человек. 12. Он всегда навещал больных два раза в день. 13. Он надеялся застать юношу дома. 14. Для безграмотных были организованы вечерние занятия. 15. Шестерых из пострадавших было разрешено взять домой.

Exercise 7. Point out all the substantivised adjectives and state whether they are wholly or partially substantivised.

1. He basked in the company of the young. 2. We must take the bitter along with the sweet. 3. She warned the do­mestics not to touch the child, as Mrs. Osborne might be off ended. 4. It was a surprise to the "optimistic: but it was even more of a surprise to the experienced. 5. Oh, I know he is a right good fellow, but it belongs to the rank of the impossible. 6. Imogene turning her luscious glance from one to the other of the "old dears", only smiled. 7. How do I know what's gone on between you? The rights and the wrongs of it; I don't want to know. 8. Willoughby was wearing greens, garrison hat, and all his ribbons." 9. They were like poor savages confronted with a beautiful white girl. 10. This year I covered half the world and saw people in such numbers — it .seems to me I saw everybody but the dead. 11. But they had been such innocents then! 12. He was, as they saw it, part of the rich and superior class and every poor man knew what that meant. The poor must stand together everywhere. 13. I was soon to discover that Gevaert was never interested in what "inferiors" had to say.