Practice and Improve Your Grammar part 1

(8)…..: the substances that make air, water or soil dirty and (9) ….. make

(10)….. unsuitable for people to use.

(11)…..: things that people throw away because (12) ….. no longer want or (13) ….. need (14) ….. .

Exercise 39. Choose the best ending for each beginning and write it in the space, leaving out appropriate words.

she didn't want to come with us	she's working in Boston
he didn't help us move it	we can go by train
no one was caught	she wouldn't tell us what she found
I sat in the back	the others hadn't been there

we are hoping to leave soon

Example: We're packing our bags and …hoping to leave soon… .

1We can go to Edinburgh by bus or ….. .

2Elizabeth is working in New York or ….. .

3I didn't think anyone would be caught and ….. .

4Lucy found something, but ….. .

5We had already been to Athens, but ….. .

6Chris could have helped us move the table, but ….. .

7My grandparents sat in front and ….. .

8I invited Malia to come with us, but ….. .

Exercise 40. Create the shortest possible version of this text by drawing a line through the repeated words that could be left out of each sentence.

He put the money on the table and he sat down. He sat in his hot clothes and he felt heavy. The woman looked over at him and she smiled. Her smile said

111

she was in charge and she could take his money if she wanted to take his money. Of course she could take his money, he thought, but obviously she didn't want to take his money yet. The smile lingered for a moment or two longer, then it disappeared and it was replaced by a dark stare.

'I asked you to pay me a thousand and you agreed to pay me a thousand. This is only five hundred.'

'You'll get your thousand. I'll give you half of your thousand now and I'll give you the other half of your thousand later when I get the orchid.'

'I could get the orchid and I could find someone else who'd want to buy it.' 'You won't find someone else who'd want to buy it. Nobody else is even

looking for this orchid.'

The dark stare wanted to stay, but it was slowly replaced by half a smile. It said she would give me half of the smile now and the other half of the smile later.

Exercise 41. Choose the best ending for each beginning and write it in the space, leaving out words where appropriate.

you can stay in bed longer	they can have fruit juice
he hasn't told us when he's leaving	nobody was interested in it
I didn't use to run	they couldn't afford to go anywhere

1Everyone can have tea or ….. .

2My parents never went anywhere because …... .

3At first all the children were interested in the new game, then ….. .

4I run quite a lot now, but ….. .

5You can have an early breakfast or ….. .

6Richard is leaving soon, but ….. .

112

Exercise 42. Rewrite these sentences minus any words that would usually be left out.

Example: The bathroom's down the stairs and the bathroom is to your right.

The bathroom's down the stairs and to your right.

1 When I'm with my sister, we just sit around and we talk and we laugh a

lot.

2They tried to clean up some of the mess before they had to leave and they had to go to work.

3We were talking about something in last week's report and we were not talking about something in yesterday's report.

4I could ask my friends if they'd like to buy more tickets, but I'm sure they won't want to buy more.

5They manufacture plastic furniture and they sell plastic furniture.

6I learned how to play the piano and I learned how to play the violin when I was young, but I just learned how to play them because my parents told me to learn how to play them and I did not learn how to play them because I wanted to learn how tо play them.

Exercise 43. Correct the eight mistakes in these sentences.

1Elsa is crying because unhappy with her life and no friends.

2I suggested that the children could make lemonade and sell to raise money, but they didn't want.

3I thought Elizabeth would be at school or would be in the playground, but couldn't find.

4They're younger so usually eat first and then the older children after.

113

Adjectives and adverbs

Adjectives are single words (exciting, new, thorough) and compounds (hard-working, well-organized) that modify nouns. We can use them before nouns (The new teacher has exciting ideas) or after linking verbs such as be and seem (She's hard-working and her classes seem thorough and well-organized).

Adverbs are words (always, really, thoroughly, totally) that modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs and sentences (She always does everything really thoroughly and seems totally dedicated to her job).

Exercise 1. Read through this magazine article and find:

1another example of an adverb modifying an adjective

2a set of three adjectives before a noun

THE ANCIENT CHINESE ART of Feng Shui has been adopted by modern designers as a way of creating environments which feel comfortable and harmonious. Originally developed 5 as a means of planning the perfect agricultural system in harmony with the forces of nature, Feng Shui has been used for centuries to improve the physical surroundings in which people live and to maintain balance in their lives.

Those principles of Feng Shui that are beneficial in the organization of outdoor environments can also be used in the design of areas inside the house such as the bedroom, which is considered to be the most important room in the house.

Finding the best position for the bed is very important. The main rule of bed positioning is never to have the foot of the bed directly facing the door. That is what is known as the 'death position'. Traditionally, the dead were laid out

114

with their feet го pointing towards the door to give them better access to heaven. (It also made it easier for the living to carry them out.)

Ideally, you should position the bed diagonally opposite the door, with the head against a wall, not a window. Avoid putting the bed directly under a horizontal beam that seems to cut across the sleeper. Such a position is believed to cause headaches and even illness.

Small tables on both sides (not just one side) at the head of the bed help maintain balance, but it is best to avoid cluttering the room with a lot of furniture. Let air flow easily through the space. Those large heavy wooden wardrobes, often with boxes or suitcases stored on top, are a really bad idea. As they tower over the bed, they can make the sleeper feel vulnerable and cause a restless sleep. Do not position tables or other furniture with pointed edges facing the sleeper as their negative energy will cause health problems.

The bedroom should be kept as a relaxing space and should not be used for work or as an office. There should be a feeling of lightness, not seriousness, in the air. Blue curtains and bedcovers are more soothing than brown ones. Soft natural materials are recommended. With Feng Shui in your bedroom, you can create a peaceful sanctuary from the stresses of contemporary living.

Exercise 2. Using adjectives and adverbs from the Feng Shui text, complete this summary.

You can use Feng Shui to make your bedroom a sanctuary. Finding the

(l) ….. position for the bed is (2) ….. (3) ….. .It should be (4) ….. opposite the door, not (5) ….. under a (6) ….. beam, and with the head against a wall. You can have (7) ….. tables on both sides of the head of the bed, but avoid (8) ….. wardrobes or furniture with (9) ….. edges facing the sleeper. (10) ….. curtains and bedcovers made from (11) ….. (12) ….. materials are also recommended.

115

Adjectives: emphasizing, describing, classifying

Emphasizing adjectives

Emphasizing adjectives are restrictive or intensifying. We use restrictive adjectives when we talk about something as special or unique (1). We use intensifying adjectives to reinforce the meaning of the noun (2). We usually put restrictive before intensifying (3).

1Safety is my chief concern. • Our main problems are financial • Try to give a specific reason.

2I haven't played before, I'm an absolute beginner. • The meeting was a complete waste of time.

3The boy was the only real hero in the story. • Maria got 100%, which was the first perfect score.

Exercise 3. Find the two emphasizing adjectives in the text and add them to these lists of examples. (One is in the first paragraph and the other is in the third paragraph.)

Restrictive	Intensifying
chief, exact, first, major, only,	absolute, complete, entire, extreme,
principal, sole, specific, …..	real, sheer, total, utter, …..

Describing adjectives

When we use more than one adjective to describe someone or something, we usually put them in the order presented in the table below, with age (old) before colour (green), etc. Note that this is the normal order, but it is not the only possible order.

116

4I loved that old green sofa with the lovely round seats and the big soft cushions.

We can often use describing adjectives with different meanings depending on the context.

5The Smiths live in a modest home near Canterbury. (= 'not very large or expensive').

Jill is a very modest young woman. (= 'shy' or 'not willing to talk about her own abilities').

Exercise 4. Find one example of each type of describing adjective in the text and add it to the correct list below.

Opinion	Size	Physical	Age or	Shape	Colour
		quality	Time
excellent,	big, huge,	dry, hard,	new, old,	circular,	green,
lovely,	long, tiny,	hot, light,	recent,	round,	pink, red,
ugly, …..	…..	…..	young, …..	spiky,	yellow, …..
				square,
				…..

Classifying adjectives

When we use more than one adjective to classify someone or something, we usually put them in the order presented in the table below, with material (nylon) before purpose (running) etc. Note that this is the normal order, but it is not the only possible order.

6 I hate nylon running shorts. • Ifs southern French style. • We found a

Victorian medical text.

117

Exercise 5. Find one example of each type of classifying adjective in the text and add it to the correct list below.

Location	Origin or	Material	Type	Purpose
	Source
distant,	African,	leather,	economic,	camping,
indoor,	French,	metal, nylon,	medical,	running,
southern,	Muslim,	plastic, …..	scientific, …..	swimming,
west, …..	Victorian, …..			…..

Exercise 6. Using a dictionary if necessary, complete the definitions with these nouns and adjectives.

bomb	flower	spider	hairy	large	long
device	reptile		small	round	electronic
			hard	tall	narrow
			brightly-coloured

1A tarantula is a ….. .

2A torpedo is a ….. .

3A tortoise is a ….. with a ….. shell.

4A transistor is a ….. .

5A tulip is a ….. .

Exercise 7. Choose the best sentence (a-e) to follow each sentence (1-5) and add these adjectives.

complete exact extreme major only

118

1I had never seen the woman before. (...)

2The old woman had said something. (…)

3The room was full of doctors. (…)

4The woman had no money. (...)

5They had all studied Jane Austen. (...)

aShe had a ….. influence on their writing.

bShe was thing in ….. poverty.

с We wanted to know her ….. words.

dShe was a ….. stranger.

eShe was the ….. woman there.

Exercise 8. Complete the text with one pair of adjectives in each space (not necessarily in this order).

amazing / panoramic	European / southern	Italian / marble
building / imported	interior / living	outdoor / swimming

The house we visited in Kona was really beautiful. It had been constructed using mostly (1) ….. ….. materials and had been designed in a (2) ….. ….. style to give an open feeling to the (3) ….. ….. space. There was an (4) ….. ….. view of the Pacific ocean. At the back of the house, an (5) ….. ….. and recreation area had been carved out of the rock and then (6) ….. ….. tiles had been used all around the pool.

Exercise 9. Correct the nine mistakes in these sentences.

1The medical Canadian teams brought in the real first food that some of the people had received in two or three weeks.

2A lychee is a kind of round small fruit with reddish rough skin and sweet white flesh inside.

3Didn't you have a green old luxurious sofa with round lovely seats and soft big cushions?

119

4 A compromise had to be found between the new scientific western approaches and the traditional teaching methods used in the old religious Christian schools.

Adjectives: position and punctuation

Position

We usually use adjectives before nouns (1) or after linking verbs such as be and seem (2).

1I had an amusing experience. • They faced enormous challenges. • He has a kind, honest face.

2Don't be silly. • She became ill. • They felt angry. • It got cold. • He seemed anxious and upset.

Note that adjectives are called 'attributive' before nouns and 'predicative' after linking verbs.

When we use more than one adjective before a noun, there is a typical order. We usually put emphasizing adjectives before describing adjectives (3) and both of these before classifying adjectives (4).

3The weather has been our principal recent concern. • Her necklace had real red rubies in it.

4Kenya was the sole African representative. • The recent economic news isn't encouraging.

Some adjectives are typically used after a linking verb, not before a noun.

5The old man is asleep. The girl seemed glad. (NOT the asleep man • the glad girl)

Others include: afraid, alike, alive, alone, ashamed, awake, ill, well

120