Language use and communication

Exercise 24. Compare using much + a comparative and not nearly as … as … (VI, VII)

1. Thailand (hot) Ireland

2. Mexico City (big) Munich

3. Greek culture (ancient) Roman culture

4. historical novels (interesting) science fiction

5. the Statue of Liberty (high) the Nelson Column

6. hamburgers (bad) paella

7. a holiday in early spring (good) a holiday in late autumn

8. bananas (sweet) pears

9. leather boots … rubber boots

10. children … adults

Exercise 25. Compare in as many ways as possible.

1. 

2. 

3. 

Exercise 26. Compare two cities or towns using all the comparative patterns.

Talk about:

the streets: clean, dirty, wide, busy …

the buildings: modern, high, beautiful …

the climate / the weather: warm, cold, rainy, windy …

the people: polite, friendly, hospitable, wealthy, poor, happy, busy …

the city / town in general: big, noisy, polluted, interesting, exciting, noisy …

Exercise 27. a) Do the QUIZ.

1. Which is the highest mountain? A) Everest B) Kilimanjaro C) Mont Blanc

2. Which is the longest river? A) the Amazon B) the Mississippi C) the Nile

3. Which is the smallest country? A) Lichtenstein B) Vatican City C) Monaco

4. Which is the fastest animal? A) ostrich B) antelope C) cheetah

5. Which is the most spoken language? A) Chinese B) English C) Russian

6. Which is the deepest ocean? A) the Pacific B) the Atlantic C) the Arctic

7. Which is the largest lake? A) the Michigan B) the Caspian Sea C) the Baikal

b) At home make up a similar quiz. Let the other students do it.

Exercise 28. a) Put the words in brackets in the superlative degree.

1. It’s one of … (good) places to eat in.

2. It’s one of … (big) parks.

3. It’s one of … (old) buildings.

4. It’s one of … (expensive) shops.

5. It’s one of … (bad) areas.

6. It’s one of … (beautiful) streets.

7. It’s one of … (nice) bits.

8. It’s one of … (relaxing) bits.

b) Think what places in Moscow (or any other city or town) you could describe

using these sentences.

c) In pairs. Share your information with the partner.

Example: – Our VGIK cafeteria is one of the best places to eat in.

– Thanks for telling me.

Exercise 29. Match the sentence-halves to make whole phrases. (VIII)

1. the longer the flight a. the more things you want

2. the more one reads b. the more you have to pay

3. the earlier I get up c. the more fluent your English becomes

4. the more things you have d. the more experienced you become

5. the fewer classes you miss e. the sooner I leave

6. the more you speak f. the more one learns

7. the more films you shoot g. the better your tests

Exercise 30. Make up mini-dialogues and then act them out. (VIII)

1. Is it all right if I bring a friend to your party?

2. When should I start?

3. I’m sorry, I’m late. Family emergency.

4. Which do you want to buy?

5. What time do you expect us?

1. The cheaper, the better. I don’t see much difference.

2. The sooner, the better, really.

3. The later, the better, to be honest. At least, not before 6.

4. The more, the merrier.

5. It’s all right. Better late than never.

Exercise 31. a) Complete in ways that are true for you. (VIII)

1. As for … , from my point of view, the more modern, the better.

2. As for … , personally, I think the cheaper, the better.

3. As for … , in my opinion, the less you think about it / them, the better.

4. As for … , if you ask me, the more, the better.

b) In pairs. See if you agree with your partner. When discussing it, use

the following expressions: