Practice and Improve Your Grammar part 1

16 application form, can opener, fire extinguisher, swimming pool, emergency exit door.

17 detective story, horror movie, junk food, women priests, health food magazine.

18 chicken soup, feather pillows, glass bottle, paper plates, vegetable curry filling.

19 birthday party, morning sickness, street lights, winter coat, dining room table.

20 a house-husband, a get-together, a do-it-yourself store, a live-and-let- live approach.

Exercise 33. Choose one expression from each pair for each space in this verse from a greetings card.

1(Life's troubles / Troubles of life)

…………can sometimes leave us with a frown,

2(each day's worries / worries of each day)

And the ………… can get us down;

3(morning special of news / morning's special news) But this ………… is here

4(world's problems / worlds of the problems)

To make all the ………… disappear;

5(love's woman / woman's love) Because of one …………, we can say

6(Mother Day / Mother's Day)

Thanks and best wishes to you on this…………!

Exercise 34. Part A. Write these noun phrases in the appropriate

spaces in the text.
application forms	consumer groups	credit rating

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money matters	bottom line	credit card offers
give-aways	sense of responsibility	buy-now-pay-later world
credit cards	high-risk borrowers	T-shirts
college student	credit card users	interest rates

Part B. Find two possessive noun phrases with incorrect forms in this text and write correct versions here:

……………………….; ……………………..

Is your child starting school soon? Does he or she have a credit card yet? This isn't as strange as it sounds. According to Cathy Yuen, director of College Marketing Services in Los Angeles, …credit card users… getting younger and younger. You may be surprised to learn that teenagers have become one of the most important (l) ..… . In the USA, those teens spend over $150 billion a year and an increasing amount of that spending is done with (2) ..… . For credit card companies, it has become crucial to establish a credit relationship with consumers as early as possible. That first credit card is the one that people are likely to keep using for the longest time. As a result, the typical (3) ..… receives over forty (4) ..… year. Some lenders are now sending credit card (5) ..… to high school students with offers of (6) ..… such as free (7) ..… . Younger teens used to have to wait until they were eighteen to sign a contract to get a card, but now their parents are co-signing. Credit card companies lose less money with teenagers than with adults, mainly because of parents willingness to help pay off their childrens credit card debt. Yuen says that, in terms of the (8) ..…, teens are not (9) ..… . There is also an advantage to getting an early start in the world of credit. If you establish a good (10) ..… early on, you can get better (11) ..… when you want to borrow money later for a car or a house. Teenagers may not be famous for their (12) ..… when it comes to (13) ..…, but in this (14) ..…, they are learning at an early age how to get what they want by using plastic.

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Exercise 35. Using a dictionary if necessary, complete the definitions with these words.

parody piracy plagiarism computer people person programs style words

1….. is copying other ….. or their ideas, etc. and pretending that they are your own.

2….. is a pieсе оf writing, music, art, etc. that deliberately copies another

…..in order to be amusing.

3….. is making illegal copies of ….. videos, etc. in order to sell them.

Exercise 36. Complete each sentence with possessive or compound noun phrases from one set of words (not necessarily in this order).

bag / bed / sleeping / sofa birthday / friend /party / Wendy banana / grandmother / house / pancakes brothers / farm /father /

sheep

beaches / country / econопту / Spain cake / chocolate / life / pleasures beauty / Keats / nature / poetry company /newspaper / plans / Sunday

Example: I liked staying at my …grandmother's house… because she made ...banana pancakes… .

1One of my ….. used to work on a ….. in Australia.

2I'm sure I read about the ….. in last ….. .

3….. attract a lot of tourists ,providing a boost to the ….. .

4….. is one of the greatest of ….. .

5I think I met that ….. at your ….. last year.

6Common themes in ….. are ….. and how short human life is.

7My parents slept on the ….. and I spent the night in a ….. on the floor.

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Exercise 37. Complete this paragraph with possessive or compound noun phrases from each pair of words.

article / newspaper	conclusion / researchers	helmet / use
car / drivers	cyclists / roadside	helmets / safety
city / traffic	head / protection	study / university

The (l) ….. I read was about the effects of (2) ….. among cyclists. It said that wearing a helmet as you cycle through (3) ….. can provide much better

(4) ….. if you're involved in an accident. However, a recent (5) ….. found that

(6) ….. were less careful when passing a cyclist with a helmet. They were more careful, reduced their speed more and kept further away when cyclists were not wearing (7) ….. . The (8) ….. was that wearing a helmet may sometimes put

(9) ….. in greater danger than they realise.

Articles and nouns in discourse

New, old and restated information

We use articles and nouns in different ways to help readers and listeners interpret information in discourse. We introduce new information with a/an and repeat old information with the.

1A gunman tried to use a female employee as a hostage after a failed attempt to rob a hank this morning. The hostage was released unharmed and the gunman surrendered.

2There was once a king of a far-away country who had a beautiful daughter. The king had searched the whole country to find a young prince to marry his daughter.

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3We read a report in a medical journal about a new treatment for asthma. The report said that the treatment had been effective, but was still experimental.

We can use the plus a more general noun when old information is restated.

4After police surrounded the bank, the woman was released and the situation ended peacefully.

5The beautiful girl was known throughout the land as 'the lonely

princess'.

6Soon after the report was released, the news of the breakthrough brought a barrage of phone calls from asthma sufferers.

Writers sometimes begin stories by presenting introductory information with the as if it is old information and the narrative has already begun.

7The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and began to pick his way toward the lagoon.

Associated and condensed information

We can express associated information with the and a different noun. In most cases, the connection is between two nouns, based on common knowledge (a house usually has a kitchen).

8We were thinking of buying a house in Wimbledon, but the kitchen was too small.

9Luckily there was a taxi available and the driver spoke English.

10She's written a new book. I can't remember the title. The cover is red with gold letters.

In some cases, the connection is between a verb and a noun.

11I really liked it, but didn't buy it because the price was too high.

12He asked me about you. There was something odd about the tone of the question.

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13 We were driving through heavy rain when the windscreen wipers stopped working.

14 I worked there for a while, but the pay was terrible.

We can also repeat information in a condensed way with the plus a compound noun. We can combine elements of information from one or more sentences to form the compound noun.

15 The curve that indicates supply can shift in response to many factors that can't be measured. However, the supply curve shift can be measured.

16 You have to fill out a form to apply for a credit card. The credit card application form actually represents a contract.

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Exercise 38. Add these nouns, plus a/an or the, to these sentences. bicycle board film job owner pay price

restaurant shop teacher

1Suzy got ….. part-time ….. in ….. Italian ….., but ….. was really low.

2I found ….. old ….. in a repair shop. ….. said it had been his son's.

3In class, ….. always writes things on ….. .

4According to Allied Cinemas, it will cost you more to see ….. this summer.

…..increase will take effect on June 1st.

Exercise 39. Write appropriate articles (a, the or no article (-)) in this introduction to a short story.

Inside ...the… station cafe it was warm and light. (l) … wood of (2) … tables shone from wiping and there were (3) … baskets of (4) … pretzels in glazed paper sacks. (5) … chairs were carved, but (6) … seats were worn and comfortable. There was (7) … carved wooden clock on (8) … wall and (9) … bar at (10) … far end of (11) … room. Outside (12) … window it was snowing.

Exercise 40. Choose an ending (a–j) for each beginning (1–10) and add a, one, the or no article (-).

1There was … dog looking lost outside (...)

2She's spending … Christmas in hospital. (…)

3I can't understand … finance report (...)

4There was only … toilet roll left (...)

5There's … girl pounding the grand piano. (…)

6We're going to buy … new lawnmower. (…)

7… young boy had gone missing. (...)

8She has … terrible cough. (...)

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9He spent his teenage years indoors, worrying about … pimples (...)

10As I told you, … my computer keeps crashing. (...)

a She's really banging the instrument. B Youth is really wasted on the young!

с They needed people to help with the search.

dso Mary stopped to help … poor animal.

eI'll get rid of the thing and get … new one.

fbecause the language is too technical.

gso the stuff was treated like … gold.

hThe old machine was always breaking down.

iThe problem won't go away without … medical treatment.

jIt isn't … happiest time of her life, I'm sure.

Exercise 41. The following parts of a description of a car crash are not in the correct order. Write the numbers in the best order to describe how the crash happened.

4 ….. ….. ….. ….. ….. ….. ….. …..

1There was a small white van behind the tour bus.

2I saw a tour bus coming down the main road towards me.

3The bus signalled that it was turning left into the side street,

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4When I was waiting to cross King street,

5There was also a Mercedes waiting to come out of a side street and turn right.

6but it couldn't complete the turn because of the Mercedes.

7and it crashed right into the Mercedes.

8But the white van had already started to pass the bus

9So the Mercedes started to come out and turn right.

Exercise 42. Complete this text with a/an or the.

Little Red Riding Hood is (1) ….. traditional story about (2) ….. little girl who walks alone through (3) ….. forest to go to her grandmother's house. When she arrives at (4) ….. house, (5) ….. wolf has eaten her grandmother and dressed himself in (6) ….. old woman's clothes. (7) ….. young girl is surprised at (8) ….. appearance of her grandmother.

'Grandmother, what big teeth you have,' she says.

'All the better to eat you with!' (9) ….. wolf replies and then he eats her

too.

Later, (10) ….. old woman and (11) ….. girl are saved by (12) ….. hunter who kills (13) ….. wolf and then cuts open (14) ….. animal's stomach to set them free.

Exercise 43. Choose an ending (a–e) for each beginning (1–5) and add the nouns and a/an or the.

address bread car noise pizza price

1 I was going to make ….. sandwich, (...) 2 I know hоw tо drive, (...)

3 There's ….. book I'd like to buy, (...) 4 I know where they live, (...)

abut ….. is too high.

bbut I can't remember ….. .

с but I don't own ….. .

d and ….. has been awful.

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5 ….. flat next door is being renovated, (...) ...............	e but ….. was stale, so
I ended up eating ….. instead.

Exercise 44. Write the numbers of the sentences in the best order to describe what happened.

4 ….. ….. ….. ….. ….. …..

1And the bird flew away.

2It was trying to catch the bird.

3The cat jumped down on the other side.

4I could see a large dog in a garden with a white fence round it.

5A cat jumped up оn the fenсе near the bird.

6The dog saw the cat and ran towards it.

7A bird flew down and landed on the fence.

Exercise 45. Editing. Correct the twenty mistakes in the use of articles in this text.

My grandfather told me a story about woman whose husband was dying. Woman prayed by his bed every day and asked Death to take her first. Friend of her husband's came to visit sick man and told crying woman not to talk like that and never to invite Death into house. He told her she would recognize Death because he comes as naked chicken, one that has no feathers. Woman ignored his words and kept on begging for Death to take her first. Later that day, friend caught large chicken, plucked out all its feathers, and brought it to his friend's house. He pushed it through open door. Chicken ran squawking through house and into room where woman was waiting. When she saw chicken, she ran behind bedroom door and pointed to bed. 'Over there,' she said. 'Person you want is over there on bed!'

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