GUIDED CONVERSATION 81

Discussion:

Speech:

Explain how it has influenced your life.

2. General questions:

-When was the last time you stayed off work?

-Why were you off work?

-When you are off sick, what must you get from the doctor?

-Have you ever pretended to be ill just to avoid doing something?

-Why?

-How much time off per year are you entitled to?

-Is it enough?

-What do you do on days off?

-When was the last time you went to the beach?

-Where exactly did you go?

-Who did you go with?

-How do you pass the time at the beach?

-Do you use high-factor suncream when sunbathing?

-How seriously do you take the risks of sunbathing nowadays?

-Have you ever been to Australia?

-Would you like to go?

-What do you do when the weather is nice?

-What do you do when the weather is bad?

-Do you prefer outdoor or indoor activities?

-What's your favourite season?

-Which season were you born in?

3. Asking Questions:

Do I need         physiotherapy?

medication?

a plaster cast?

a sling?

a bandage?

crutches?

a blood test?

an X-ray / a CAT scan?

an ultrasound scan?

Have you got         a cold?

the flu?

any symptoms?

a headache?

a migraine?

an earache?

backache?

stomach-ache?

a temperature?

a cough?

a sore throat?

any allergies?

Is         Mr Slater in?

Mrs Johnson

Ms Colbourne

Dr Cullen

Prof Millar your mother

your brother

your flatmate

Matt Janice

the boss

the secretary

FLUENCY EXERCISES

1.

-He thought he couldn't walk another step.

-He felt he couldn't walk another step.

FEEL & FEEL LIKE: Rephrase the sentences below using "feel" and "feel like".

-She thought it was too late to apologise.

-He thought the time was right to move abroad.

-She thought it was too risky to try.  

-He thought his friend was wrong this time.

-She thought she was too old to learn new skills.

FEELS LIKE

-This material seems like silk.

-This material feels like silk.

-It's so hot today - it seems like summer.

-It's so quiet today - it seems like a Sunday morning.  it

-This wool is so soft - it seems like cashmere.

-Your hands are freezing - they seem like ice.

-This interview is terrible - it seems like an interrogation.

2.

-I wonder if you could do/make me a favour.

-I wonder if you could do me a favour.

DO & MAKE: Choose between "do" or "make" in the sentences below.

-Why are you mad at me? What did I do/make?

-It's been a pleasure doing/making business with you.  

-She did/made her driving test yesterday.  

-Some fresh air will do/make you good.  

-Is it my turn to do/make the dishes?  

-He hasn't done/made any work all morning.

-I'm sorry, I did/made a mistake.  

-May I do/make a suggestion?

-The company did/made me an excellent offer.

-It's hard to do/make a king-sized bed.

-I hate it when she does/makes silly excuses.

-I did/made a real effort to be civil to him.

3.

-Ask your doctor to give you a sick note.

-Get your doctor to give you a sick note.

GET SOMEONE TO DO SOMETHING & MAKE SOMEONE DO SOMETHING: Rephrase the sentences below using the above constructions.

-Ask Sam to make you a cup of tea.

-Ask Mary to do the shopping for you.

-Ask Chris to order some takeaway food.

-Ask Simon to move the sofa.

-Ask your mum to lend you some money.

-Ask Alison to book a hotel room for you.

-He told her to do the accounts.

He made her do the accounts.

-He told her to send the email right away.

-He told her to call a taxi to the airport.

-He told her to put her seatbelt on.

-She told him to pay her back before the end of the month.

-She told him to apologise to her friend.

-She told him to go to the hospital.

4.

-We need a place - nice and secluded.

-We need a place that's nice and secluded.

RELATIVE PRONOUNS: Complete the sentences below using the correct relative pronoun.

-I know a restaurant - makes great food.

-I want a car - is reliable.

-She bought a computer - was very expensive.

-He read a novel - was a thousand pages long.

-This is the road - leads to the park.

-Billy gave me flowers - died the next day.

-This is the puppy - barks all day.

-Is that the woman - complained to the police?

-Is that the man - phoned the ambulance?

-Is she the girl - hit Tommy at school?

-Is he the boy - plays football with Joe?

5.

-To bump.  (to meet someone by chance)

-To bump into.

PHRASAL VERBS: Complete the phrasal verbs below. Use the clues provided to help.

- to get…  (to leave your bed in the morning)  

- to put… (to pass a phone call on to someone)

- to look…  (in a hospital, they do this to patients)

- to hurry…  (If it's late you have to…)

- to come…  (to become ill)

- to be…  (to be ill)

- to break…  (machinery that stops working)

- to look…  (to admire)

- to look…  (to think badly of)

- to break…  (when a couple divides)

COUNT AND NONCOUNT NOUNS

(a) I bought a chair. Sam bought three chairs.

(b) We bought some furniture.

INCORRECT: We bought some furnitures.

INCORRECT: We bought a furniture.

Chair is a count noun; chairs are items that can be counted.

Furniture is a noncount noun. In grammar, furniture

cannot be counted.

SINGULAR

PLURAL

COUNT

NOUN

a chair

one chair

Ø chairs*

two chairs

some chairs

a lot of chairs

many chairs

A count noun:

(1) may be preceded by a / an in the singular.

(2) takes a final -s / -es in the plural.

NONCOUNT

NOUN

Ø furniture*

some furniture

a lot of furniture

much furniture

A noncount noun:

(1) is not immediately preceded by a/an.

(2) has no plural form, so does not take a final -s/-es.

*Ø = nothing.

EXERCISE 9. Count and noncount nouns.

Directions: Look at the nouns in the sentences. Write " c " above the count nouns and "NC" above the noncount nouns.

                            C          C              C                                                    NC

1. I bought some chairs, tables, and desks. In other words, I bought some furniture.

2. Ann likes to wear jewelry. Today she is wearing four rings, six bracelets, and a necklace.

3. We saw beautiful mountains, fields, and lakes on our trip. In other words, we saw beautiful scenery.

4. Gold and iron are metals.

5. I used an iron to press my wrinkled shirt.

6. In the United States, baseball is called the national pastime. To play it, you need a baseball and a bat.

NONCOUNT NOUNS

(a) I bought some chairs, tables, and desks. In other

words, I bought some furniture.

(b) I put some sugar in my coffee.

Many noncount nouns refer to a "whole" that is made up of different parts.

In (a): furniture represents a whole group of things that is made up of similar but. separate items.

In (b): sugar and coffee represent whole masses made up of individual particles or elements.*

(c) I wish you luck.

Many noncount nouns are abstractions. In (c): luck is an abstract concept, an abstract "whole." It has no physical form; you can't touch it. You can't count it.

(d) Sunshine is warm and cheerful.

A phenomenon of nature, such as sunshine, is

frequently used as a noncount noun, as in (d).

(e) NONCOUNT: Ann has brown hair.

     COUNT: Tom has a hair on his jacket.

(f) NONCOUNT: I opened the curtains to let in some

light.

    COUNT: Don't forget to turn off the light

before you go to bed.

Many nouns can be used as either noncount or count nouns, but the meaning is different; e.g., hair in (e) and light in (f).

(Dictionaries are a good source of information on count/noncount usages of nouns.)

*To express a particular quantity, some noncount nouns may be preceded by unit expressions: a spoonful of sugar, a glass of water, a cup of coffee, a quart of milk, a loaf of bread, a grain of rice, a bowl of soup, a bag of flour, a pound of meat, a piece of furniture, a piece of paper, a piece of jewelry.

EXERCISE 10. Count and noncount nouns.

Directions: Complete the sentences with the given nouns, adding final -s/-es if necessary.

Use each noun only once.

 advice                 homework        music                stuff

>change        information        progress        thunder

garbage                junk                >river                traffic

hardware        luggage/baggage                screwdriver

1. I have some coins in my pocket. In other words, I have some __change__ in my pocket.

2. The Mississippi, the Amazon, and the Nile are well-known __rivers__ .

3. I like to listen to operas, symphonies, and folk songs. I enjoy _____ .

4. The street is full of cars, trucks, and buses. It is full of _____ .

5. I put some banana peels, empty juice cartons, and broken bottles in the waste can.

The can is full of  _____ .

6. They have a rusty car without an engine, broken chairs, and an old refrigerator in their

front yard. Their yard is full of  _____ .

7. Paul has books, pens, papers, notebooks, a clock, scissors, a tape recorder, and some

other things on his desk. He has a lot of _____  on his desk.*

8. The children got scared when they heard  _____ during the storm.

9. Tools that are used for turning screws are called  _____ .

10. I went to the store to get some nails, hammers, and screws. In other words, I bought

some  _____ .

11. Tonight I have to read 20 pages in my history book, do 30 algebra problems, and write

a composition. In other words, I have a lot of _____  to do tonight.

12. Ann took three suitcases, a shoulder bag, and a cosmetics case. In other words, she

took a lot of _____  on her trip.

13. Toronto is 365 ft./109 m. above sea level. The average annual precipitation in Toronto

is 32 in./81 cm. The population of the metropolitan area is over 3,000,000. I found

(this, these)  _____ in the encyclopedia.

14. I didn't feel good. Ann said, "You should see a doctor." Nick said, "You should go

home and go to bed." Martha said, "You should drink fruit juice and rest." I got _____

from three people.

15. My English is slowly getting better. My vocabulary is increasing. It's getting easier for

me to write, and I make fewer mistakes. I can often understand people even when

they talk fast. I'm satisfied with the _____  I've made in learning English.

BASIC ARTICLE USAGE

 I. USING A or - : GENERIC NOUNS

SINGULAR

COUNT

NOUN

(a) A banana is yellow.*

A speaker uses generic nouns to make generalizations.

A generic noun represents a whole class of things; it is

not a specific, real, concrete thing, but rather a symbol

of a whole group.

PLURAL

COUNT

NOUN

(b) Ø Bananas are yellow.

In (a) and (b):The speaker is talking about any

banana, all bananas, bananas in general. In (c):The

speaker is talking about any and all fruit, fruit in

general.

NONCOUNT

NOUN

(c) Ø Fruit is good for you.

Notice that no article (Ø) is used to make

generalizations with plural count nouns, as in (b), and

with noncount nouns, as in (c).

 II. USING A or SOME:  INDEFINITE NOUNS

SINGULAR

COUNT

NOUN

(d) I ate a banana.

Indefinite nouns are actual things (not symbols), but

they are not specifically identified.

PLURAL

COUNT

NOUN

(e) I ate some bananas.

In (d):The speaker is not referring to "this banana" or

"that banana" or "the banana you gave me." The

speaker is simply saying that s/he ate one banana. The

listener does not know nor need to know which specific

banana was eaten; it was simply one banana out of that

whole group of things in this world called bananas.

NONCOUNT

NOUN

(f) I ate some fruit.

In (e) and (f): Some is often used with indefinite plural

count nouns and indefinite noncount nouns. In addition

to some, a speaker might use two, a few, several, a lot

of, etc., with plural count nouns, or a little, a lot of, etc.,

with noncount nouns.

 III. USING THE:  DEFINITE NOUNS

SINGULAR

COUNT

NOUN

(g) Thank you for the banana.

A noun is definite when both the speaker and the

listener are thinking about the same specific thing.

PLURAL

COUNT

NOUN

(h) Thank you for the bananas.

In (g):The speaker uses the because the listener knows

which specific banana the speaker is talking about, i.e.,

that particular banana which the listener gave to the

speaker.

NONCOUNT

NOUN

(i) Thank you for the fruit.

Notice that the is used with both singular and plural

count nouns and with noncount nouns.

*Usually a/an is used with a singular generic count noun. Examples:

A window is made of glass. A doctor heals sick people. Parents must give a child love. A box has six sides. An apple can be red, green, or yellow.

However, the is sometimes used with a singular generic count noun (not a plural generic count noun, not a generic noncount noun). "Generic the" is commonly used with, in particular:

(1) species of animals:

The blue whale is the largest mammal on earth.

The elephant is the largest land mammal.

(2) inventions:

Who invented the telephone? the •wheel? the refrigerator? the airplane?

The computer will play an increasingly large role in all of our lives.

(3) musical instruments:

I'd like to learn to play the piano.

Do you play the guitar?

EXERCISE 12. Article usage with generic nouns.

Directions: Add alan if necessary. Write Ø in the blank if the noun is noncount. Capitalize

as appropriate.

  1. _A_ bird has wings.
  2. an_ animal  needs a regular supply of food.
  3. _Ø_ food  is a necessity of life.
  4. ___ concert  is a musical performance.
  5. ___ opera  is a musical play.
  6. ___ music  consists of a series of pleasant sounds.
  7. ___ cup  is a small container used for liquids.
  8. ___ milk  is nutritious.
  9. ___ island  is a piece of land surrounded by water.
  10. ___ gold  is a metal.
  11. ___ bridge is a structure that spans a river.
  12. ___ valley is an area of low land between two mountains.
  13. ___ health  is one of the most important things in life.
  14. ___ adjective  is a word that modifies a noun.
  15. ___ knowledge  is a source of power.
  16. ___ tennis  is a sport.
  17. ___  tennis player  has to practice long hours.
  18. ___  tree  needs water to survive.
  19. ___ water  is composed of oxygen and hydrogen.
  20. ___ homework  is a necessary part of a course of study.
  21. ___ grammar  is interesting and fun.
  22. ___ sentence  usually contains a subject and a verb.
  23. ___ English  is used in airports throughout much of the world.
  24. ___ air  is free.
  25. ___ orange  is green until it ripens.
  26. ___ fruit  is good for you.
  27. ___ iron  is a metal.
  28. ___ iron  is an instrument used to take wrinkles out of cloth and fabric.
  29. ___ basketball  is round.
  30. ___ basketball  is a sport.

GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR ARTICLE USAGE

(a) The sun is bright today.

Please hand this book to the teacher.

Please open the door.

Omar is in the kitchen.

GUIDELINE: Use the when you know or assume

that your listener is familiar with and thinking about

the same specific thing or person you are talking about.

(b) Yesterday I saw some dogs. The dogs were chasing a cat. The cat was chasing a mouse. The mouse ran into a hole. The hole was very small.

GUIDELINE: Use the for the second mention of an

indefinite noun.* In (b): first mention = some dogs, a

cat, a mouse, a hole; second mention = the dogs, the cat, the mouse, the hole.

(c) CORRECT: Apples are my favorite fruit.

INCORRECT: The apples are my favorite fruit.

(d) CORRECT: Gold is a metal.

INCORRECT: The gold is a metal.

GUIDELINE: Do NOT use the with a plural count

noun (e.g., apples) or a noncount noun (e.g., gold)

when you are making a generalization.

(e) CORRECT:  (1) I drove a car.

(2) I drove the car.

(3) I drove that car.

(4) I drove Jim's car.

INCORRECT:     I drove car.

GUIDELINE: A singular count noun (e.g., car) is

preceded by a marker:

(1) a or an (or another singular marker such as

one, each, or every);

(2) the;

(3) this or that;

(4) a possessive (e.g., my, Jim's)

*The is not used for the second mention of a generic noun, COMPARE:

(1) What color is a banana (generic noun)? A banana (generic noun) is yellow.

(2) Joe offered me a banana (indefinite noun) or an apple. I chose the banana (definite noun).

EXERCISE 15. Article usage.

Directions: In these dialogues, decide whether the speakers would probably use a/an or the.

1. A: I have __an__ idea. Let's go on __a__ picnic Saturday.

B: Okay.

2. A: Did you have fun at __the__ picnic yesterday?

B: Sure did. And you?

3. A: You'd better have ___ good reason for being late!

   B: I do.

4. A: Did you think  ___ reason Mike gave for being late was believable?

   B: Not really.

5. A: Where's my blue shirt?

    B: It's in ___  washing machine.

A: That's okay. I can wear ___  different shirt.

6. A: I wish we had  ___ washing machine.

   B: So do I. It would make it a lot easier to do our laundry.

7. A: Can you repair my car for me?

   B: What's wrong with it?

    A:  ___ radiator has ___  leak, and one of  ___ windshield wipers doesn't work.

    B: Can you show me where ___  leak is?

8. A: What happened to your bicycle?  ___ front wheel is bent.

B: I ran into  ___ parked car when I swerved to avoid  ___ big pothole in the street.

A: Did you damage  ___ car?

B: A little.

A: What did you do?

B: I left  ___ note for  ___ owner of  ___ car.

A: What did you write on ___  note?

B: My name and address. I also wrote ___  apology.

9. A: Have you seen my boots?

B: They're in  ___ closet in ___  front hallway.

EXERCISE 16. Article usage.

Directions: Complete the sentences with a/an, the, or Ø . Capitalize as appropriate.

1. __Ø__ B beef is a kind of __Ø__ meat.

2. __The__ beef we had for dinner last night was excellent.

3. Jim is wearing __a__ straw hat today.

4. Jim likes to wear  ___ hats.

5.  ___ hat is  ___ article of clothing.

6.  ___ hats are  ___ articles of clothing.

7.  ___ brown hat on that hook over there belongs to Mark.

8. Everyone has ___  problems in  ___ life.

9. My grandfather had  ___ long life.

10. That book is about  ___ life of Helen Keller.

11. Tommy wants to be  ___ engineer when he grows up.

12. The Brooklyn Bridge was designed by ___  engineer.

13. John Roebling is  ___ name of  ___ engineer who designed the Brooklyn

Bridge. He died in 1869 from  ___ infection before  ___ bridge was completed.

14.  ___ people wear ___  jewelry to make themselves more attractive.

15.  ___ jewelry Diana is wearing today is beautiful.

EXERCISE KEY

EXERCISE 12, p. 6.

ANSWERS: 4. A concert 5. An opera 6. (;) 7. A cup 8. (;) 9. An island 10. 11. A bridge 12. A valley 13. e 14. An

adjective 15. 16. 17. A (tennis) player 18. A tree 19. (;) 20. 21. 22. A sentence 23. 24. 25. An orange

26. 27. 28. An iron 29. A basketball 30.

EXERCISE 13, p. 6.

ANSWERS: 5. an accident 6. some homework 7. a table 8. some furniture 9. some chairs 10. some advice 11. a

suitcase 12. some luggage 13. an earthquake 14. some letters 15. a letter 16. some mail 17. a machine

18. some new machinery 19. Some machines 20. some junk 21. an old basket 22. some old boots

EXERCISE 15, p. 8.

ANSWERS: 3. a good reason 4. the reason 5. the washing machine ... a different shirt 6. a washing machine 7. A: The

radiator. . . a leak. . . the windshield wipers B: the leak 8. A: The front wheel B: a parked car. . . a big pothole

A: the car B: a note. . . the owner. . . the car A: the note B: an apology 9. the closet. . . the front hallway

EXERCISE 16, p, 9.

ANSWERS: 4. 5. A hat. . . an article 6. . . . 7. The brown hat 8. . . . 9. a long life 10. the life 11. an engineer

12. an engineer 13. the name .. . the engineer ... an infection ... the bridge 14. . . 15. The jewelry

EXERCISE 17, p. 9.

ANSWERS: 1. a new phone 2. the phone 3. ... ... ... ... . . . . . 4. a sandy shore. . . ... the surface.

. . . . . , , , , . . . . . 5. the sand . . . . . . a crab . . . The crab. . . a good time. . . the beach 6. ,

a person 7. ,. . . . . . the universe 8. ... ... a thin layer 9. a recent newspaper article ... an Australian

swimmer . . . a shark. . . a group. . . the shark. . . the swimmer. . . the dolphins. . . the swimmer's life 10. ... ...

... an average ... 11. ... 12. a fly. . . the ceiling. . . the fly. . . the ceiling

EXERCISE 1, p. 11.

ANSWERS: 2. The girl who/that won the race is happy. 3. The student who/that sits next to me is from China. 4. The

students who/that sit in the front row are from China. 5. We are studying sentences which/that contain adjective

clauses. 6. I am using a sentence which/that contains an adjective clause. 7. Algebra problems contain letters which/

that stand for unknown numbers. 8. The taxi driver who/that took me to the airport was friendly.

EXERCISE 3, p. 13.

ANSWERS: 1. The meeting which/that/I went to was interesting. OR The meeting to which I went was interesting. 2.

The man to whom I talked yesterday was very kind. OR The man who(m)/that/I talked to yesterday was very kind. 3.

I must thank the people from whom I got a present. OR I must thank the people who(m)/that/I got apresent from .

4. The picture which/that/she was looking at was beautiful. OR The picture at which she was looking was beautiful.

5. The man about whom I was telling you is over there. OR The man who(m)/that/I was telling you about is over

there. 6. I ran into a woman with whom I had gone to elementary school. OR I ran into a woman who(m)/that/

I had gone to elementary school with. 7. The topic about which Omar talked was interesting. OR The topic which/

that/Omar talked about was interesting. 8. The people to whom I spoke were friendly. OR The people who(m)/

that/I spoke to were friendly. 9. Olga wrote on a topic about which she knew nothing. OR Olga wrote on a topic

which/that/she knew nothing about. 10. The candidate for whom I voted didn't win the election. OR The candidate

who(m)/that/I voted for didn't win the election.

EXERCISE 4, p. 13.

ANSWERS: 1. I met last night-Did I tell you about the woman who(m)/that I met last night? 2. I was dancing with-The

woman who(m)/that/I was dancing with stepped on my toe . OR The woman with whom I was dancing stepped on

my toe . 3. Joe is writing-The report which/that/Joe is writing must be finished by Friday. 4. who examined the sick

child-The doctor who/that examined the sick child was gentle. 5. I was waiting for- The people who(m)/that/I was

waiting for were late. OR The people for whom I was waiting were late. 6. that occurred in California-Did you hear about the earthquake which occurred in California?

EXERCISE 5, p. 14

ANSWERS: 1. She lectured on a topic which/that/I know very little about. OR She lectured on a topic about which I know

very little. [usual: topic I know very little about] 2. The students who/that were absent from class missed the assignment.

[usual: students who were absent from class] 3. Yesterday I ran into an old friend who(m)/that/I hadn't seen for years. [usual:

friend I hadn’t seen for years] 4. The young women who(m)/that/we met at the meeting last night are all from Japan. [usual:

women we met at the meeting last night] 5. I am reading a book which/that was written by lane Austen. [usual: book that was

written by Jan e Austen] 6. The man who(m)/that/I spoke to gave me good advice. OR The man to whom I spoke gave me

good advice. [usual: man I spoke to] 7. I returned the money which/that/I had borrowed from my roommate. [usual: money

I had borrowed from my roommate] 8. The dogcatcher caught the dog which/that had bitten my neighbor’s daughter. [usual:

dog that had bitten my neighbor’s daughter] 9. I read about a man wholthat keeps chickens in his apartment. [usual: man who keeps chickens in his apartment]

EXERCISE 6, p. 14.

ANSWERS: 1. In our village, there were many people who didn’t have much money. OR In our village, many people didn’t

have much money. 2. I enjoyed the book (that) you told me to read it. 3. I still remember the man who he taught me to play

the violin when I was a boy. 4. I showed my father a picture of the car I am going to buy it as soon as I save enough money.

5. The woman about whom I was talking about suddenly walked into the room. OR The woman about who(m)/that/I

was talking abem suddenly walked into the room. I hope she didn’t hear me . 6. Almost all of the people who/that appear on television wear makeup. 7. I don’t like to spend time with people who/that lose their temper easily. 8. The boy drew pictures of people at an airport who/that were waiting for their planes. OR The boy drew pictures of people who/that were waiting for their planes at an airport. 9. People who work in the hunger program they estimate that 3500 people in the world die from starvation every day of the year. 10. In one corner of the marketplace, an old man whe was playing a violin. OR In one corner of the marketplace, there was an old man who was playing a violin .