EX.4 Articles and possessive adjectives

Ex.1 Articles: a/an

Insert a or an if necessary.

1 My neighbour is ... photographer; let's ask him for ... advice about colour films.

2 We had . . . fish and . . . chips for ... lunch. ~ That doesn't sound . . . very interesting lunch.

3 I had . . . very bad night; I didn't sleep . . . wink.

4 He is ... vegetarian; you won't get. . . meat at his house. He'll give you . . . nut cutlet. ~ Last time I had . . . nut cutlet I had . . . indigestion.

5 ... travel agent would give you . . . information about. .. hotels.

6 We'd better go by ... taxi—if we can get . . . taxi at such . . . hour as 2 a.m.

7 ... person who suffers from . . . claustrophobia has . . . dread of being confined in ... small space, and would always prefer . . . stairs to ... lift.

8 Do you take . . . sugar in ... coffee? ~

I used to, but now I'm on ... diet. I'm trying to lose . . . weight.

9 ... man suffering from . . . shock should not be given anything to drink.

10 You'll get. . . shock if you touch . . . live wire with that screwdriver. Why don't you get. . . screwdriver with . . . insulated handle?

11 It costs fifty-five and . . . half pence and I've only got. . . fifty pence piece. ~

You can pay by ... cheque here. ~ But can I write . . . cheque for ... fifty-five and . . . half pence?

12 ... Mr Smith is ... old customer and . . . honest man. ~ Why do you say that? Has he been accused of ... dishonesty?

13 I'm not . . . wage-earner; I'm . . . self-employed man. I have . . . business of my own. ~ Then you're not. . . worker; you're . . . capitalist!

14 When he was charged with . . . murder he said he had . . . alibi.

15 ... friend of mine is expecting . . . baby. If it's . . . girl she's going to be called Etheldreda. ~ What . . . name to give . . . girl!

16 I have . . . hour and . . . half for lunch. ~

I only have . . .half .. . hour—barely . . . time for ... smoke and .. . cup of coffee.

17 I hope you have . . . lovely time and . . . good weather. ~ But I'm not going for ... holiday; I'm going on ... business.

18 He looked at me with . . . horror when I explained that I was . . . double agent.

19 I wouldn't climb . . . mountain for £1,000! I have . . . horror of ... heights.

20 I have . . . headache and . . . sore throat. I think I've got. . . cold. ~ I think you're getting . . . flu.

21 ... Mr Jones called while you were out (neither of us knows this man). He wants to make . . . complaint about. . . article in the paper. He was in ... very bad temper.

22 If you go by ... train you can have quite . . . comfortable journey, but make sure you get. . . express, not. . . train that stops at all the stations.

23 ... few people know (hardly anyone knows) that there is ... secret passage from this house to ... old smugglers' cave in the cliffs.

24 I'm having . . . few friends in to ... coffee tomorrow evening. Would you like to come? ~ I'd love to, but I'm afraid I'm going to ... concert.

25 It's time you had . . . holiday. You haven't had . . . day off for . . . month.

26 He broke . . . leg in ... skiing accident. It's still in ... plaster.

27 I want. . . assistant with . . . knowledge of French and . . . experience of ... office routine.

28 I see that your house is built of ... wood. Are you insured against . . fire? 29 The escaping prisoner camped in ... wood but he didn't light. . . fire because . . . smoke rising from the wood might attract. . . attention.

30 I had . . . amazing experience last night. I saw . . . dinosaur eating . . . meat pie in ... London park. ~

You mean you had . . . nightmare. Anyway, dinosaurs didn't eat. . . meat.

31 I'll pay you . . . hundred . . . week. It's not. . . enormous salary but after all you are . . . completely unskilled man.

32 If you kept. . . graph you could see at... glance whether you were making . . . profit or ... loss.

33 ... little (hardly anything) is known about the effect of this drug; yet . . . chemist will sell it to you without. . . prescription.

34 I have . . . little money left; let's have dinner in ... restaurant.

35 Would it be ... trouble to you to buy me ... newspaper on your way home?

36 ... man is ... reasoning animal.

Ex. 2 Articles:

Insert the if necessary.

1 ... youngest boy has just started going to ... school; . . . eldest boy is at... college.

2 She lives on ... top floor of an old house. When . . . wind blows, all . . . windows rattle.

3 ... darkness doesn't worry . . . cats; . . . cats can see in ... dark.

4 My little boys say that they want to be ... spacemen, but most of them will probably end up in ... less dramatic jobs.

5 Do you know . . . time? ~

Yes, . . . clock in ... hall has just struck nine. ~ Then it isn't. . . time to go yet.

6 He was sent to ... prison for . . . six months for . . . shop-lifting. When ... six months are over he'll be released; . . . difficulty then will be to find . . . work. ~ Do you go to ... prison to visit him?

7 I went to ... school to talk to ... headmistress. I persuaded her to let Ann give up ... gymnastics and take . . . ballet lessons instead.

8 ... ballet isn't much use for ... girls; it is much better to be able to play . . . piano.

9 I am on ... night duty. When you go to ... bed, I go to ... work.

10 Peter's at... office but you could get him on ... phone. There's a telephone box just round . . . corner

11 He got. . . bronchitis and was taken to ... hospital. I expect they'll send him home at... end of ... week. ~ Have you rung . . . hospital to ask how he is?

12 Ann's habit of riding a motorcycle up and down . . . road early in ... morning annoyed . . . neighbours and in ... end they took her to ... court.

13 He first went to ... sea in a Swedish ship, so as well as learning . . . navigation he had to learn . . . Swedish.

14 ... family hotels are . . . hotels which welcome . . . parents and . . . children.

15 On ... Sundays my father stays in ... bed till ten o'clock, reading . . . Sunday papers.

16 Then he gets up, puts on ... old clothes, has . . . breakfast and starts . . . work in ... garden.

17 My mother goes to ... church in ... morning, and in . . .afternoon goes to visit. . . friends.

18 Like many women, she loves ... tea parties and . . . gossip.

19 My parents have . . . cold meat and .. . salad for ... supper, .. . winter and . . . summer.

20 During . . . meal he talks about. .. garden and she tells him .. . village gossip.

21 We have a very good train service from here to ... city centre and most people go to ... work by train. You can go by ... bus too, of course, but you can't get a season ticket on ... bus.

22 ... dead no longer need . . . help. We must concern ourselves with . . . living. We must build . . . houses and . . . schools and . . . playgrounds.

23 I'd like to see ... Mr Smith please. ~

Do you mean ... Mr Smith who works in ... box office or ... other Mr Smith?

24 Did you come by ... air? ~

No, I came by ... sea. I had a lovely voyage on ... Queen Elizabeth II.

25 ... most of... stories that. . . people tell about. . . Irish aren't true.

26 ... married couples with . . . children often rent. . . cottages by ... seaside for ... summer holidays.

. . . men hire boats and go for ... trips along . . . coast; . . . children spend . . . day on ... beach and . . . poor mothers spend . . . most of . . . time doing . . . cooking and cleaning.

27 It's usually safe to walk on ... sand, but here, when . . . tide is coming in, ... sand becomes dangerously soft. . . . people have been swallowed up by it.

28 When . . . Titanic was crossing . . . Atlantic she struck an iceberg which tore a huge hole in her bow. .. . captain ordered . . . crew to help . . . passengers into . . . boats.

29 Everywhere . . . man has cut down . . . forests in order to cultivate . . . ground, or to use . . . wood as ... fuel or as ... building material.

30 But. . . interference with . . . nature often brings . . . disaster.. . . tree-felling sometimes turns . . . fertile land into a dustbowl.

31 ... people think that. . . lead is ... heaviest metal, but . . . gold is heavier.

32 Our air hostess said, '. . . rack is only for ... light articles. . . . heavy things such as ... bottles must be put on ... floor.'

33 ... windows are supposed to let in ... light; but. . . windows of this house are so small that we have to have . . . electric light on all... time.

34 There'll always be a conflict between ... old and . . . young. . . . young people want. . . change but... old people want. . . things to stay . . . same.

35 ... power tends to corrupt and . . . absolute power corrupts absolutely.

36 You can fool some of... people all... time, and all... people some of ... time; but you cannot fool all... people all... time.

EX.3 Articles: a/an, the

Insert a, an or the if necessary.

1 There was . . . knock on ... door. I opened it and found . . . small dark man in ... blue overcoat and . . . woollen cap.

2 He said he was . . . employee of ... gas company and had come to read . . . meter.

3 But I had . . . suspicion that he wasn't speaking .. . truth because . . . meter readers usually wear . . . peaked caps.

4 However, I took him to ... meter, which is in ... dark corner under . . . stairs (. . . meters are usually in ... dark corners under . . . stairs).

5 I asked if he had . . . torch; he said he disliked torches and always read . . . meters by ... light of ... match.

6 I remarked that if there was . . . leak in ... gaspipe there might be . . . explosion while he was reading . . . meter.

7 He said, 'As . . . matter of ... fact, there was . . . explosion in ... last house I visited; and Mr Smith, . . . owner of ... house, was burnt in ... face.'

8 "Mr Smith was holding . . . lighted match at... time of ... explosion.'

9 To prevent. . . possible repetition of this accident, I lent him . . . torch.

10 He switched on ... torch, read . . . meter and wrote . . . reading down on ... back of ... envelope.

11 I said in ... surprise that . . . meter readers usually put . . . readings down in ... book.

12 He said that he had had . . . book but that it had been burnt in ... fire in ... Mr Smith's house.

13 By this time I had come to ... conclusion that he wasn't. . . genuine meter reader; and . . . moment he left. . . house I rang . . . police.

14 Are John and Mary . . . cousins? ~

No, they aren't. . . cousins; they are . . . brother and . . . sister.

15 ... fog was so thick that we couldn't see . . . side of ... road. We followed . . . car in front of us and hoped that we were going . . . right way.

16 I can't remember . . . exact date of ... storm, but I know it was . . . Sunday because everybody was at... church. On . . . Monday . . . post didn't come because . . . roads were blocked by ... fallen trees.

17 Peter thinks that this is quite . . . cheap restaurant.

18 There's been . . . murder here. ~ Where's . . . body?~ There isn't. . . body. ~ Then how do you know there's been . . . murder?

19 Number . . . hundred and two, . . . house next door to us, is for sale. It's quite ... nice house with . . . big rooms. . . . back windows look out on ... park.

20 I don't know what. . . price . . . owners are asking. But Dry and Rot are . . . agents. You could give them . . . ring and make them . . . offer.

21 ... postman's little boy says that he'd rather be ... dentist than . .. doctor, because . . . dentists don't get called out at... night.

22 Just as ... air hostess (there was only one on the plane) was handing me ... cup of ... coffee . . . plane gave . . . lurch and . . . coffee went all over . . . person on ... other side of ... gangway.

23 There was . . . collision between . . . car and . . . cyclist at... crossroads near . . . my house early in ... morning. . . . cyclist was taken to ... hospital with . . . concussion. . . . driver of ... car was treated for ... shock. . . . witnesses say that. . . car was going at . .. seventy miles . . . hour.

24 Professor Jones, . . . man who discovered . . . new drug that everyone is talking about, refused to give . . . press conference.

25 Peter Piper, . . . student in ... professor's college, asked him why he refused to talk to ... press.

26 We're going to ... tea with . . . Smiths today, aren't we? Shall we take . . . car? ~

We can go by ... car if you wash . . . car first. We can't go to ... Mrs Smith's in ... car all covered with . . . mud.

27 He got. . . job in ... south and spent. . . next two years doing . . . work he really enjoyed.

28 It is ... pleasure to do ... business with such . . . efficient organization.

29 ... day after .. . day passed without.. . news, and we began to lose .. .hope.

30 Would you like to hear . . . story about. . . Englishman, . . . Irishman and . .. Scotsman? ~

No. I've heard . . . stories about. . . Englishmen, . . . Irishmen and . . . Scotsmen before and they are all... same.

31 But mine is not. . . typical story. In my story . . . Scotsman is

generous, . . . Irishman is logical and . . . Englishman is romantic. ~ Oh, if it's .. . fantastic story I'll listen with . . . pleasure.

32 My aunt lived on ... ground floor of ... old house on ... River Thames. She was very much afraid of ... burglars and always locked up ... house very carefully before she went to ... bed. She also took . . . precaution of looking under . . . bed to see if ... burglar was hiding there.

33 '. . . modern burglars don't hide under . . . beds,' said her daughter. 'I'll go on looking just.. . same,' said my aunt.

34 One morning she rang her daughter in ... triumph. 'I found . . . burglar under .. . bed . . . last night,' she said, 'and he was quite . . . young man.'

35 ... apples are sold by ... pound. These are forty pence . . . pound.

36 It was . . . windy morning but they hired ... boat and went for ... sail along . . . coast. In ... afternoon . . . wind increased and they soon found themselves in ... difficulties.

EX.4 Articles and possessive adjectives

Insert a, an, the, or my, his, her, our, your, their if necessary.

1 He took off ... coat and set to work.

2 Why are you standing there with . . . hands in ... pockets?

3 At most meetings . . . people vote by raising . . . right hands.

4 The bullet struck him in ... foot.

5 They tied . . . hands behind . . . back and locked him in a cellar.

6 He took . . . shoes off and entered on ... tiptoe.

7 Someone threw . . . egg which struck the speaker on ... shoulder.

8 I have . . . headache.

9 I have . . . pain in ... shoulder.

10 The windscreen was smashed and the driver was cut in ... face by broken glass.

11 He was . . . very tall man with . . . dark hair and . . . small beard, but I couldn't see . . . eyes because he was wearing . . . dark glasses.

12 He tore . . . trousers getting over a barbed wire fence.

13 Brother and sister were quite unlike each other. He had . . . fair wavy hair; . . . hair was dark and straight.

14 She pulled . . . sleeve to attract his attention.

15 She pulled him by ... sleeve.

16 'Hands up!' said the masked man, and we all put. . . hands up.

17 Ask . . . woman in front of you to take off ... hat.

18 He stroked . . . chin thoughtfully.

19 If you're too hot why don't you take off ... coat?

20 I saw him raise . . . right hand and take ... oath.

21 The lioness bit him in ... leg.

22 You should change . . . wet shoes, or you'll catch another cold.

23 There was a shot and a policeman came out with . . . blood running down . . . face.

24 We shook . . . hands with . . . host.

25 He fell off his horse and injured . . . back.

26 The barman seized the drunk by ... collar.

27 Leave . . . coats in ... cloakroom; don't bring them into . . . theatre.

28 He fell down a flight of stairs and broke . . . rib.

29 He pointed to a woman in ... green dress.

30 He is ... thoroughly selfish man; he wouldn't lift... finger to help anyone.

31 You'll strain .. . eyes if you read in ... bad light.

32 She was on ... knees, scrubbing . . . kitchen floor.

33 He has . . . horrible job; I wouldn't like to be in ... shoes.

34 You've got. . . shirt on inside out.

35 'Pull up ... socks,' said his mother.

36 I hit ... thumb with a hammer when I was hanging the picture.

EX.5 a/an and one

Insert a/an or one if necessary.

1 ... of my friends advised me to take . . . taxi; another said that there was quite . . . good bus service.

2 ... friend of mine lent me ... book by Meredith. I've only . .. more chapter to read. Would you like . . . loan of it afterwards?~ No, thanks. I read ... of his books . . . few years ago and didn't like it. Besides I have . . . library book to finish. If I don't take it back tomorrow I'll have to pay . . . fine.

3 ... man I met on the train told me ... rather unusual story.

4 Most people like . . . rest after . . . hard day's work, but Tom seemed to have . . . inexhaustible supply of energy.

5 I've told you . . . hundred times not to come into . . . room with . . . hat on.

6 It's unlucky to light three cigarettes with . . . match. ~

That's only . . . superstition. Only . . . idiot believes in superstitions.

7 He says . . . caravan is no good; he needs . . . cottage.

8 ... plate is no good; we need . . . dozen.

9 Last time there was . . . fog here . . . plane crash-landed in ... field near the airport. The crew had . . . lucky escape. . . . man broke his leg; the rest were unhurt.

10 You've been . . . great help to me; . . . day I will repay you.

11 My car broke down near . . . bus stop. There was . . . man waiting for . . . bus so I asked him for . . . advice.

12 He took . . . quick look at my car and said, 'Buy . . . new . . . .'

13 There was . . . woman there. The rest were men. ~

There shouldn't have been even . . . woman. It was meant to be ... stag party.

14 Don't tell . . . soul! Not even your wife! —

Of course not! I'd never tell . . . secret to ... woman.

15 Most of the staff had been there for only . . . very short time, but . . . man had been there . . . year and . . . half, so he knew . . . little more than the rest.

16 Could you lend me ... dictionary, please? I'm trying to do ... crossword puzzle. ~ I'm afraid I've only got. . . dictionary, and Tom's borrowed it.

17 ... chop won't be enough for Tom; he'll want two; he's . . . small man but he's got. . . big appetite.

18 'I want. . . volunteers for ... dangerous job,' said the captain. There was . . . long silence.

'Isn't there even . . . man who will take . . . risk?' he asked. . . . voice called out from the back, 'Will there be ... reward?'

19 I have . . . flat on the top floor. You get. . . lovely view from there.

20 ... day a new director arrived. He was . . . ambitious, bad-tempered man, and the staff took . . . instant dislike to him.

21 Suddenly . . . bullet struck . . . street lamp . . . little to Bill's left. He looked up and saw . . . man with . . . gun standing at... open window.

22 Bill fired back twice. . . . bullet hit the wall, the other broke . . . pane of ... glass. He heard . . . angry shout.

23 ... day—it was . . . dry day with . . . good visibility—Tom was driving along . . . country road in ... borrowed car.

24 You're making . . . mistake after another. Have you . . . hangover, or something? ~

No, but I had . . . very bad night last night. The people next door were having . . . party. ~

. . . bad night shouldn't have such . . . effect on your work. I often have three bad nights in succession, I live in ... very noisy street.

Auxiliary verbs

Ex.6 Auxiliary verbs

Auxiliaries here are used both alone and as part of various tenses of

ordinary verbs.

Read the following (a) in the negative (b) in the interrogative. These sentences, except for nos. 1 and 13, could also be used for question tag exercises (see Exercise 13).

Note:

1. May for possibility rarely begins a sentence. Instead we use do you think (that) + present/future or is + subject + likely +

infinitive:

Tom may know.

Do you think (that) Tom knows?

Is Tom likely to know?

2.Use needn't as the negative of must.

1 It may cost £100.

2 Men should help with the housework.

3 Tom would pay her.

4 They could play the guitar.

5 We're seeing Mary tomorrow.