(logman) practise your comparatives.pdf

7/17/2019 (Logman) Practise Your Comparatives.pdf

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Introduction

Comparative structures ar e a sour ce of confusion to many

students of English. Pr actise Y our Comparat ives pr ovid es clear

examples and pr actice exer cises f or each as pect ofthese

structur es that is lik ely to cause pr o blems for intermediate

stud ents.

Like the other workbook s in the Practise Y our ... series, Pr act ise

Y our Com parat ives is suita ble f or self-access and classr oom use

and benef its from the f ollowing featur es:

• Language is practised in context to mak e it easier to see themeanings which d etermine the choice of a par ticular f orm.

• There is variety of exercise ty pes, contexts and text types.

• The units are grad ed , fr om items with simple rules at the

beginning of the book to mor e complex items toward s the end.

• Pictures, artwork , diagrams, charts, realia and f actual and

sometimes amusing inf ormation all help to maintain inter est as

well as providing clear contexts and relating language to thereal world .

• Personalisation exer cises at the end of some units enable

students to relate structures to their own lives and id eas. These

more o pen-ended exercises ar e always pr eced ed by contr olled

exercises in order to minimise the risk of error s. However ,

students may find it helpful to check their work in these

exercises with a teacher .

It is hoped that this workbook willbe f ound enjoya ble and useful.

The author and the publisher s welcome comments fr om user s.



[ I J Comparative adjectives: short words andlong words

Short words and -y words

cheap - cheaper happy - happier old -older noisy - noisier

Long words

expensive - more expensive

modern ~ mor e moder n

This shop is cheaper t han that one.

That shop is mor e ex pensive t han this one.

.D A letter from New York

An English girl, Anna, went to New Yorkon holiday. She wr ote a

letter to an English fr iend .

Choose one of these adjectives for each s pace in the letter on the

next page. Wr ite each one in its corr ect comparative f orm.

( ~ ) I I, n n n n n n n n n n - i .

dn n n n n n n n n n O O h J o rn n n n ' nnn n r



lJ e c u r . 1Il1 .(Jfl. if I

. He/Te r a -n t. m new Y crvIt .I If )] 8J1eaf .' And

If},; L!U!lf dlll&7er cf fo irnr .don.. flze /f .tJ71.M Me

f L o n ger an d . 2 + 1 z . a A - W L ir nt d . (J7It I

+Ae hui J dintp M e 3 and _ 4 _

and I iI e - I I . . e J 7 e VJ 5 - e uur f / {f 11 e l.<J 1/n a : .1 u < . r z JU.I,.' I o f I r . au9 - I ti-H Ie /J 11Op4 W CJU f d . he

6 · d fA tU I-- m i.cnddU .- hu f mO/J7- f lu~~/.J

co.11 al J ou-t -lite . /Jt U 11.e. I UJa/.l -r t.bl7JCTU/.J TOO

lJec(U(A~ p~o-pte fiatt of lt..af 11ew ' Yo~ ia

7 +- It&{'}Il iundcr vt l

hu.T I - Aaue~f . J t a.d

ani i/"{ou6Ie.de e tf(/7,{ / . J (Jtnt,

iiiAnna lik ed New York so much that she d ecid ed to stay ther e. Now

she is married to an Amer ican. Her friend s from England

sometimes ask her about her opinion of American people.

Complete their q uestions with the words in br ackets.

1 (nice) Do you think Americans ar e nicer t hem English people?2 (ambitious) Do you think Amer icans English peo ple?

3 (kind ) Do you think Americans English people?

4 (inter esting) Do you think Americans English people?

5 (d emocr atic) Do you think Americans English people

6 (happy) Do you think Americans English people?

7 (r eligious) Do you think Americans English peo ple?

8 (gener ous) Do you think Amer icans English people?

IIThink of some towns or cities that you know.

Write true sentences about them, using the wor ds in br ackets.

1 (small)

2 (inter esting)

3 (cold )

4 ( beautiful)



~ Spelling

1hot -hotter 2 thick - thicker

big- bigger clean - cleaner

3 luck y -luck ier 4 nice-nicer healthy - healthier wid e-wid er

1Final consonants ( e xcept w and y) are d oubled ifthey f ollow a single vowel.

2 A f inal consonant is not doubled if it follows a consonant or two vowels.

3 A final Y. becomes an i if it follows a consonant.

4 If a wor d ends in e , only an r is add ed.

IIWr ite these adjectives and their comparative f orms in the corr ect box below.

saf e cloudy dr y br ight fit k een neat wealthy

fr ee pr oud late thin wet sad wid e sunny

hot-hotter thick - thicker

lucky -luckier nice-nicer

s af e - saf er

BHow many com par ative adjectives can you find ? Begin each word

with a letter fr om column 1,then tak e a letter from column 2 and

so on. Use each letter only once.

I R

sG) A 0)T R

0 I C D E R R

S G F G 00U L G Y E E

F A L T E E R

A N Y R

W U S R



IIBritish people frequently talk about the weather because the

weather changes so often in Britain. Can you com plete these

ty pical conversations?

1 A It isn't ver y nice today, is it?

B No, J 1 & > t e r d a 0 _ W ~ M _ Y 1 _ i _ c e r _ . _

2 A It isn't very warm today, is it?

B No, 'b lAt L V > W C l r m er - them l1e1terM~_. _

3 A It isn't ver y sunny tod ay, is it?

B No,

4 A Isn't it fine tod ay!

BYes,

5 A Oh d ear ! It's cloud y tod ay.

BYes,

6 A It's cool tod ay, isn't it?

BYes,

7 A I t's been wet today, hasn't it?

BYes,

8 A It hasn't been ver y hot today, has it?

B No ,

m , " " U l " 12'(i9'C

'.,...- . . , ..... , . .,. . . • . . . . . . ,...

/

/ /

/

n t" "24'c U J ' " .20G

.,-,~...~. -' ~~



W Two-syllable ad jectives: -e r or rrw re + adjective

IISyllables

I-syllable words 2-syllable words 3-syllable words blue cru-el beau-ti-f ul

clean car e-f ul dan-ger-ous

Which of the' word s below have two syllables? Write the num ber

of syllables in the br ack ets besid e each ad jective,

1 surprised (2)

2 round (I)

3 ser ious ( )

4 str aight ( )

5 useful ( )

6 ugly ( )

7 sensi ble ( )

8 strange ( )

9 quiet ( )

10 thir sty ( )

11 br oad ( )

12 af r aid ( )

13 d iff er ent ( )

14 excited ( )

15 horr ible ( )

m Adjective + -eror mo re + adjective?

Write one gr oup of examples (a-e) in each of the s paces in the

grammar notes below.

(a) mor e surprised , mor e car ef ul, mor e boring, mor e famous

(b) narrow, hollow, clever , bitter , sim ple, gentle

( c) happier , heavier , dirtier

(d ) stupid , pleasant, common, hand some, polite

( e) quiet, cruel, tired

Grammar notes

Nearly all2-syllable adjectives ending in -y form the comparative with -ier;

f or example: 1 _

Most other 2-syllable adjectives form the comparative with mor e + ad jective;

for example: 2 _

However , a few 2-syllable words can use either f orm.

They are (a) words which sound almost lik e I-syllable words;

for example: 3 _

( b) words ending in -ow , -er and -le

for example: 4 _

(c) 5 other common words

These are 5 _

Remember : ifyou ar e not sur e, use more + adjective. It is hard ly ever wrong.



IIRight or wrong?

Here is a page fr om a student's exercise book . There ar e mistak es

in si x of the sentences. Put a line through the mistakes and write

the cor r ections on the right. Do not put a line through a word

unless it is d efinitely wr ong.

Ca mpa r a 1 . L ue 5

1 l' m cLeverer than my brath.,er .

2 N e .u J Y O T R h ~n..er th.arl Lon..dan.

3 Mary)s pLea.l5a.n .:te r th ..a .n JQJle.t.

4- Bu:t Jan eLs mare poiite th.an Mary.

5 TM.y're bU5Ler th...aJ1 we are.6 Pluvse be qu.i.eter ~

7 Yau flW.,.5t be more 9 en:tLe !

8 My sen.te n..ce i., .s carrecter than ~aurs.

q ll1.ih ~erMe l,s mare eMy tha.n t : h . . o . L one.

ro A l..e J n a n ~ mo re b i .i : ter than a ..n cr ra.ng e .

II Yau rru .vs t be carefu.Ler ~12 Why ca.rtt ~au be rTUJT'e h.one5t ?

1 3 C a..n . you b e €h<a.cter?

14 Dartt m .a..ke IUm tTUJre a.n.noyed. .

15 I u r o . . . s ll'UJT'e su .rp r i.- s ed th.a..n h .e l..lJUIS.

16 Trllis m .a ..ch i . n e i , .s S lm p L e r th .. a .n the others.

17 "fhi.s rcro..cC s n.ar rawer th a.n the o th ..e.rs .

1 8 T h ..i .- s l . I 5 mo r e urgertt tharl tha.t.

Iq He gets stup i..d .er euery day.

20 Can y011 come more ea.r4 l ne.xt tUne ?

2/. I) m h ..a.n ,d ;sam er th.a.n rn.y brath er .

22 5 pain its d.r LeA thaJl Bri.tain .



4 One- two- and three-syllable adjectives

Examples

This is older than that.

It's narrower than that.It's more common than that.

It's more interesting than that.

IIIt is Mark's birthday tomor row. Lisa has just bought a pr esent for

him. Use the words in brackets to complete Lisa's sentences.

M ARK: What is it? Tell me!

LISA: If I tell you it won't be a surprise tomorrow.

MARK: I know but ... Is it a recor d?

LISA: No. It's (expensive) 1 m o r e exQ _ erIlj __ w _ e _ t r I _ G f _ Y 1 _ t r T _ G f _ t _ . _

MARK: Really? It isn't a computer , is it?

LISA: You must be jok ing! It's (cheap) 2 _

M ARK: Oh. A picture?

LISA: No. It's (useful) 3 _

MARK: Useful? Oh, then it must be a jacket.

LISA: No. It's (small) 4 _

MARK: A shirt!LISA: No! It's (special) 5 _

MARK: Oh, I can't guess.

LISA: Good!

M ARK: Wait! I knowl It's a book - one of those big Art books.

LISA: No. It's (necessary) 6 _

MARK: Ah. A pair of tr ousers?

LISA: No. It's (infor mative) 7 _

MARK: Informative? You mean it gives information. A video cassette?

LISA: No. It's (mechanical) 8 _

MARK: Oh, I give up!



1 ! 1 Choosing presents

R ead the infor mation about eight people and then com plete the

dialogue.

Tim likes tunny books. "t 'l ms a nd m us ic .. .ous boo"s, IAndrea likes sen . and dar k colours.

Lisa likes delicate leweller y

O' "likes swee t things.niC" .

Simon likes old things.

Peter likes.mo de rn thin gs. . \Iy tor the kitchen) .

h' s (es peC laPaul likes usetul t Ing d romantic tilms.

Angela likes bright colours an

A Would Andr ea lik e a f unny book ?

B She'd lik e 1 M methi A 1g m are / ,)er i0 " !A 6 t i 1 a V l that.

A What a bout a box of chocolates f or Rick ?

B He'd lik e 2 _ t l 1 _ V l _ t _ o _

A What would Andr ea think of A H ist ory of West ern Philosoph y?

B She'd lik e 3 _

A Do you think Tim would lik e a book a bout animals?

B He'd lik e 4 _

A Would Tim lik e a book called The World ' s Best J okes.?

B He'd lik e 5 _

A NowAngela: would she lik e a black hat?

B She'd like 6 _

A OK . Now Lisa. She lik es jewellery. What about a big black br acelet?

B She'd lik e 7 _

A I've thought of the perfect pr esent for Simon: an old swor d!

B He'd lik e 8 _

A Would Peter lik e an old swor d ?

B He'd lik e 9 _

A What about a record f or Paul?

B He'd lik e 10 _

A What about a James Bond vid eo cassette f or Angela?

B She'd lik e 11 _

A Would Lisa like a ver y small white bracelet?

B She'd like 12 _



[ ] ] More or less?

Examples

Foot ball is more d angerous than tennis.

Tennis is less d angerous than foot ball.

IIWho is speaking?

The pictures show what Peter , John, Jenny, Hazel and Sam d id yesterd ay.

After each of the sentences (1-5), write the name of the person who is s peaking.

J e n Y l ! 1went V r ( i { y t g -

g lA d w r g .

Peter Wertt t o 1 : i h e

denMt.

S amwrote a(epart.

1 'It was more frightening than the d entist but less uncomf or ta ble.' _~___ says.

2 'It was mor e painf ul than wor king and less pr of ita ble.' says.

3 'It was less enjoya ble than a holid ay but mor e ur gent.' says.

4 'It was less noisy than a d isco and it was easier to talk to people there.'

5 'It was less exciting than a foot ball match but mor e usef ul f or my studies.' ----

.--- says.

says.



I!IWrite tr ue sentences a bout the places and activities below.

Be car eful I Some sentences ar e negative (less) and some ar e

positive (more or -er).

1 Golf I danger ous I f oot ball

G o I f t o /,eM

dange r- au o t hvlt1 fuotba U .

IIWhat's your opinion?

Write some mor e sentences (with mor e or less) a bout activities

and places.

interesting _

exciting

difficult

12 _

3 _



0 0 1 /

[ i l l Negatives: not as ... as

Examples

A motor cycle is not as expensive as a car.

A car is not as chea p as a motor cycle.(less ... than may be used with long adjectives but is

not nor mally used with short adjectives.)

IILook at the pictur es of thr ee f ilm stars and then complete the

dialogues below, using the not as adjective as structur e.

1 A Chris Carter 's r icher than Bernar d Bjorg.

B Yes but n e i t odt Mr0tM A l f ie AVlder MYl.,

2 A Ber nard Bjorg's more attr active than Chris Carter.

B Yes,but

3 A Alf ieAnder son is mor e intelligent than Chr is Carter .

B Yes, but

4 A Alf ie Ander son is younger than Ber nard Bjor g.

B Yes, but

5 A Alfie Anderson is stronger than Bernard Bjorg.

B Yes, but

6 A Alf ie And er son's face is mor e sensitive than Chris Car ter 's.

iii Now write some sentences about some r eal film star s.

1

2 _

3 _



III VVhyisitcheaper?In this exercise wr ite an as ... as sentence and , if possi ble, a less ... t han sentence.

( J

,~<;.

I . :I : )

0: .. '

(a) The chea per chair l .6 Y 1 't Mcomfortable M thea t : l 1 e r 0Yl e .

(a) The chea per car 14 I~ comfortable them the

ather one .



I T ] Irregular ad jectives and quantifiers

Ad jectives Quantif iers

bad -worse much-more

good - better many~mor efar - further little (quantity) -less

few-fewer

IIUse one word f r om the box above to fill each space in the weather

for ecast below.

have even 1 ____ sunshine tomorrow. There will be2 ____ cloud than there has been today and the wind will ~

be stronger , especially in the nor th of England, where ther e will

be storms and heavy rain.

The south of England is 3 _

over Scotland, so the weather in the south will not be as

4 ____ as in the north and ther e will be 5 _

storms in the south. However , it will remain 6 _

usual for this time of year in all parts of the country.

The good news is that ther e is high pressur e coming across the

Atlantic. This will br ing some 7 ____ weather by the

week end .

III What's the weather like where you are?

Is it better than last month or not as good?Is it cloud ier ? sunnier ? hotter? cooler than last month?

Write some true sentences.

1

2 _

3 _



.II Quantifiers

Examples

She buys less chocolate than I do.

I buy more.

She d oesn't buy as much as I do.

C ho c o la te c o n sum ptio n

K ilo g r a m s p e r p ers Q n p e r y e a r

People in Switzer land , Britain and Nor way eat 1 _

chocolate 2 ____ anyone else. A ty pical Swiss eats 8.7 k ilos

of chocolate per year , which is 165 grammes a week . The

Norwegians and the British eat 3 k ilos than the Swiss

but 4 _ ______ anyone else.

At the other end of the scale are the southern European

countries: Portuguese and Italian people do not

buy 5 chocolate 6 any of their

northern neighbour s. Perhaps this is because of their climate: in

the north there are not 7 ____ hot days 8 _ __ _ in

the south, wher e melting is a problem. However , in parts of

Austr alia and the United States the climate is ver y hot and a lot of

chocolate is eaten anyway. Amer icans and Austr alians

eat 9 ___ _ k ilos 10 __ __ the Fr ench and the Finns

but not 11 _

the Danes.

It is inter esting that the Japanese buy very little chocolate;

Although they do not eat 13 _ _ _ _ __ the Por tuguese,

they eat 14 _ _ _ _ ___ other people from industrialised



e m Negative and positive comparisons (regular andirregular)

Examples

Living in the countr y is healthier than living in the town.

Living in the town isn't as healthy as living in the countr y.

IIDo you know what is good for you?

John and Peter always disagr ee.

Com plete Peter 's answer s and d ecid e whether he is right or wr ong.

Write R for right or W for wrong in the boxes.

/'0":""' _

~< ~ '< ~ ~ ~ iP '~~=-~

~':Walking f or an hour isn't as good for you asr unning for ten minutes.

running for

D

Smoking too much isn't as bad f or your healthas sleeping too much.

2you must be jokingl Smoking too much is

D

Cycling isn't as good for your hear t as playing

tennis. ________ playing tennis. D

Taking long holidays isn't as healthy as

working hard all the time.

D

Eating a big meal in the evening is less

fattening than having a big lunch.

D



iiiHow calm and r elaxed are you?

You can find out by answering the questions in this per sonality

quiz f r om a popular magazine

No . ~

Are you relaxed? Tick l j)the boxes and

Yes.

I Idon't

find out. agr ee agr ee

1 Doing something useful is mor~ .. ble than watching teleVIsion .

en loy a

2 Playing f or fun is less satisf ying than

playing to win. .

3 Being admired is nicer than being l iked.

4 Competing is more enjoyable than

cooperating.

5 Dr iving safely is less impor tant than

arriving on t ime.

6 People who drive too slowly ar e worse

than people who drive too f ast.

7 Chatting is less interesting than

discussing work.

. en ts is better 8 Visiting Importan t monum

than lying on the beach.

~ .. . • .

IIR ewr ite the sentences f r om Exer cise 2, using not as ... as.

Write Y O U R opinion.

1 EITHER Y M . W atd 1 i+1g TV L,1V1tM eV l jQ Y ab le M d o i M g ,oamethi-trg lA t1e fu l.

OR No. D oing . .oam eth i-ng L iOef iA l ~Vl't a1 en jQYabl..e M w a t c n it n < 3 _ T _ V _ . _ _

2 as3 _

4 _

5 _

6 _

7 _

8 _



[Q ] Adjective or quantifier + noun

Positive Negative

a better job not such a good job

better f riend s not such good friend smore friend s not as/so many friends

IIPositive sentences

You ar e shopping. The shop assistant shows you some things that you d o not lik e.

1 Q b,im Would you lik e to tr y this hat?iV too

ASSISTANT:

..•...•.••.•...••... nar row YO U: Have you got one with (A wider b ri t m ?

2Would you lik e to tr y this shir t?ASSISTA NT:

YOU: Have you got one ?

3

~bU'k1e

What a bout this nice belt?ASSISTANT:

: , o , g e YO U: Have you got one ?

4

These tr ouser s are ver y good .ASSISTANT:

YO U: Have you got some ?

5Do you lik e this umbrella?ASSISTANT:

YO U: Have you got one ?

6Would you lik e to tr y this coat?ASSISTA NT:

YO U: Have you got one ?

7

~fo~::: These sunglasses ar e ver y popular .ASSISTANT:

YOU: Have you got some ?

8This is an extr emely nice jacket.lapels: ASSISTANT:

TOO wideHave you got one ?YOU:

20



[ ! Q ] Comparative adjective phrases

Examples

Tim's mor e int er est ing to talk to t han Wayne.

Lee isn't as easy to work with as Clint.

IIA dog, a cat or a horse?

Two par ents ar e trying to d ecid e which animal to buy for their children.

They talk a bout looking after , playing with and f eeding animals.

Com plete the conversation.

WOMAN: Let's buy a dog f or the child r en.

MAN: A cat would be (easy) 1 e at1 ier to look

WOMAN: But cats ar en't (exciting) 2 ________ play

MAN: No, but cats ar e (cheap) 3 ________ feed

WOMAN: What the children would really like is a hor se.

a dog.

dogs.

dogs.

But hor ses ar e (expensive) 4 _

d ogs, and they'r e (difficult) 5 _

feed

look

Because you'r e (nice) 6 be with anyone

else!



m Write an advertisement.

Use the inf ormation a bout each item to d escribe its ad vantages in one sentence.

Using this computer is sim ple.

You can also carr y it easily.

It's ~ i.- r n R I,e r 1 :0 ~ e and ea 6i er 1:0 ca rr !1 t¥I(iH1

atl1eY c a m p _ u t e _ r . - 1 _ . _

This lad der is saf e when you stand on it.

You can store it conveniently, too.

It's

You can run this car cheaply.

You can also park it easily.

It's

Sitting in this chair is comfor table.

And it's nice to look at.

It's

Listening to this personal stereo is enjoya ble.

Carrying it is easy.

It's

Visiting this holiday r esor t is exciting.

Leaving it is difficult.

It's



[ T I J Superlative adjectives - short words and long

words

Adjectives of I-syllable and -yadjectives 2- or 3-syllable adjectives

old ~ (the) old est beautif ul ~ (the) most beautif ulear ly ~ (the) earliest useful ~ (the) most useful

A few 2-syllable adjectives

form the su perlative with -est

and the comparative with -er (see Unit 3, Exercise 2)

Examples: Harrod s is the most jamous shop in London,} (Art' I+ d ' f + )Harr od s is not the cheapest shop in Lond on. lC e a Jec Ive noun

Har r ods is London's most jamous shop. (No article after a possessive f or m)

IIComplete each sentence with one of the following adjectives in the super lative form.

1 Geor ge MacAree, on the left of the picture is

man in Britain,

2 The man on the r ight, Christopher Greener , is Br itain's

spider

is the black widow, whose

bite can kill a man in a few

4 The insect with

milliped e which has 710 legs.

5 The world 's

bottle.



8 Richar d Latter , who d ied in 1914, had

bear d in the wor ld .

of all songwriter s have

been John Lennon and Paul McCar tney.

land animal is the cheetah, which can run

at nearly 100 k ilometr es per hour .

11 insect, the cicada, can be heard at a



~ Spelling

The spelling rules for su perlatives ar e similar to the rules for

com par atives, except that the end ing is -est instead of -er. (see

Unit 2)

IICrossword

Wher e the base for m is given, write the superlative f or m.

Wher e the superlative f or m is given, write the base f orm.

ACROSS

2 close

4 busy

6 bluest

7 hungr y8 wisest

9 thirsty

13 sof t

14 tame

15 tightest

16 slow

22 low

23 wet

DOW N

1 big

3 sour

5 stick y

7 hot

8 white

10 safe

11 sim ple

12 fit

17 wid est

18 sof test

19 f ewest

20 hottest

21 wettest



~ Irregular adjectives and quantifiers

Adjectives Quantifiers

" bad - (the) worst much - (the) most

good - (the) best many - (the) mostf ar - (the) furthest little - (the) least

Examples: She's the best friend he's got.

She's his best fr iend . ( No ar ticle af ter the possessive form)

R ead the inf ormation below.

Then complete the sentences with a su perlative and an article ijpossible.

IIMieko, Petra and Mar ie have just flown into Lond on Airpor t f r om

dif ferent par ts of the wor ld. Petra is now further fr om home thanMarie but not as f ar f rom home as Miek o is. Surprisingly, the

per son who is f ur ther fr om home than the others hasn't the most

luggage. But that per son has more luggage than Petr a. Petra had

quite a good trip. Marie says it was the wor st flight she has ever

had. However , Mieko had a wor se flight than Marie did : her plane

was d elayed f or 14hours.

1 Mieko has travelled

2 This has been Mar ie's

3 Mieko has had

distance.

4 Mar ie has luggage.

_ _____ luggage.

iiiMieko, Petra and Marie ar e all going to stud y English at a language

school in Oxf ord . One of these stud ents is going to live in a school

house. In fact she has got the best r oom in the house. It is quite

lar ge and has a nice view. The other two stud ents willlive with

English families as paying guests, which willbe cheaper . One of

the families is not far from the school; the other family is on the

other side of the city but ther e is a good bus ser vice. The cheapest

room is the furthest one f rom the school and it is quite lar ge.

Marie will have to s pend mor e money on bus f ar es than Petra but

less money on her accommodation. Petr a's r oom is not the most

expensive one but it is larger than Miek o's.

1 Marie is going to s pend _

2 Petra's r oom has

3 Mieko will be in the school's

______ __ one f r om the school.

money on bus f ar es.



[ H l Superlative adjectives: mixed types

B Advantages and disadvantages

Three students ar e going to shar e a flat. The flat has thr ee r ooms,

a big k itchen and a bathroom. Youmust help them to d ecid e

which room each student should have.First look at the plan of the flat.

C ! ) . t 3 0 per wee k A ver~ warm andcomfortable r oom.

The easiest roomto clean.

® .£ 40per week

A very sunny rooQuite comf orta bleand I-Ior m.

Saut hUpsta irs Room

®i25 per week.

Less comfortablethan ofher moms.Quite sunny.

-ihis room has thebest view.

Mak e notes of the advantages and disadvantages of each room.

Use the superlative f orm of the f ollowing adjectives and phr ases:

war m noisy quiet sunny little sunlight cheap expensive

lar ge a good view small comforta ble easy to clean

many wind ows good for work ing in near the kitchen

Room!

WClYWle1t



fJ Read about the thr ee students. Then fill each space with one of

the words or phrases from your notes in Exercise 1.Use an article

(the) wher e possi ble.

PETE is the most serious student. He spends a lot of time working

in his room so he likes to have a good view from his window. He

has not got much money.

JOHN is the friendliest of the three students. He likes to invite a lot

of friends to his room. He enjoys cooking, hates dark rooms and

has plenty of money.

EDDY is rather lazy. He likes to do as little as possible. He likes

warm rooms.

room is 2 _

so it is 3 _

has 4 _

is that it is 5 room.

room. He would also like it because it

. The only disadvantage

because he is the one with the most friends and so he needs a large room in which

to enter tain them. The r oom is also 7 _ ____________ one to the

kitchen and John likes cook ing. Sunshine is one of the most important things for

9 ___ _ _ _ _ _ _____ wind ows and faces south. It is also

10 room but John can af f ord it.

EDDY, the lazy one, would pr efer not to have to walk upstair s to his room. He hates

cold rooms so he would lik e to have 11 ____ _ ________ room.

He also hates cleaning and this room is 12 _

Comfor t is important for Eddy, and this is 13 _

r oom. Ed d y does not stud y much so he would not mind that it is the flat's

14 _______ _____ _room. He stays in bed for much of the d ay

and would not mind that the room gets 15 _



IIIHave you got br others or sisters?

1 _

2 _

3 _

4 _

IIThe Planets

Look at the diagr am carefully and then complete the text. Use a

compar ative structur e ( positive or negative) or a superlative

structur e ( + pr eposition if necessary).

On the edge of our family of planets, or solar system, is Pluto,

which is (cold ) 1 the cotd e1tof all the planets and (far )

Mercur y although no other planet is ( close) 4 _

the sun. Mercur y, with a surface temper ature of about 420°C is

(hot) 5 Venus, which has a surf ace

temperatur e of about 475°C.

Mercur y is (small) 6 the nine planets and

Jupiter is (large) 7 ______ the solar system.

Mercur y, Mars and Venus ar e similar to Earth in some ways.

Venus is (close) 8 to Earth. However it is less similar

to Earth than Mar s is. Although Venus is a small planet, it look s

(bright) 9 ______ the f our large planets. In fact, of all

the planets it is (bright) 10 in our sky.

Look at the diagram again and check that it agr ees with your

sentences.



[§] Superlatives and comparatives with eve r and

never

Superlative

worst

This is the most horr ible meal I've ever eaten.

best

Comparative

bad

I've never eaten such a horrible meal (as this).

good

IIWhat are the peo ple in the pictur es saying or thinking?Write sentences using the word s in brack ets.

1 ( boring/see) That's th e moot b O Y i t t r g fU tm I've

ever l1eeVI.



B Write each sentence fr om Exer cise 1in a d if ferent way, beginning with I 've never ...

1 I've Y l e v e r ,1 e e V J 4 U c Y l a b o r i r t g _ f _ U t m _ _ , _

2 I've

3 I've

4 I've

5 I've

IIWhat might you say in the following situations?

Wr ite two things that you could say.

1 Youhave just seen a ver y good film at the cinema.

(a) That's the bMt f i -W n I've ever- ,, 1 een ,

( b) I've t 1 e v e r 4eer t ,1 U c h a gavd __ f l. W Y 1 _ ' _ ' _

(a) It's

(b) I've

(a) He's

( b) I've

(a) She's _

(b) I've

5 Youhave just been to a ver y nice party.

(a) That's

( b) I've

IIWr ite true sentences about your self .

1 is the best film I've ever seen,

2 is the worst _

3 book

4 place

5 _



[ T I J One of the -est

, The Amazon is one of the longest r iver s in the wor ld .

The Amazon is the second longest river in the world.

IIR ead these f ascinating f acts and then und er line the corr ect word s in the exer cise.

The richest people

in Britain and the

USA

1 Gordon Ge~ty (USA)

2 Queen Elizabeth

3 The Duke of

Westminster

4 Sam Walton (USA)

The most common

words in English

The most populated

cities in the

wor ld

1 the

2 of

3 and

4 to

Mexico

2 Shanghai

3 Tokyo

4 Cairo

One of 1 {tah } richest 2 { peOPle} in the world 3 {is }the Duke of ~ per son ar e

Westminster , who owns par t of Lond on. He is still in his late

h·· d ' h 4 {two }. h 5 { peOPle}. B' .t Irties an ISt e d nc est m ntam.secon per son

P . . 6 {some} f h 7 {wor d }.r eposltlOns ar e ate most common d m

one war s. . 8 {second } 9 Iof }

Enghsh. 'Of IS the second most f r eq uently used word Iin

the language and 'to' is also 10 {~~;r } of the most f r equently

occurr ing wor d s.

One of the largest 11 {c~ttY } in the world 12 {is } Cair o inCIIes ar e

Egypt. However , Shanghai and Tok yo ar e lar ger. They ar e the

. 13 {Of the lar gest} .. 14 {Of }

second and third largest CItIes in the world.

M . C'ty' 15 {the lar gest }eXlco 1 IS th f ir tIt .e s ar ges

The longest

r ivers in the

world

1 The Nile

2 The Amazon

3 The Yangtse

4 The Zaire



iii What do you know about ...

1 The Yangtse?

2 The word 'and '?

3 Sam Walton?

I t : 1 O Y l e o f t r r e l.m1q~t river-~ in tl 1 e wor ld.

1M e r n e

IICom plete the conversations.

1 Is the Duke of Westminster the richest per son in Britain?

No, h~ the l 1 ec o n d r L c Y J e 1 t p _ e r. ; _ I1 _ O tI _ " _

IIWr ite some sentences about people and places that you know.

________ inter esting cities in my country.

_ people that I know.

1 _

2

3 _

4 _



~ Zero article superlatives

This d rink is best in cold weather . (It's not so good in hot weather .)

This drink is the best I've ever tasted . (It's better than other d r inks.)

This hotel is least ex pensive in winter. (It's chea per than it is in sununer ).This hotel is the least e x pensive in the town. (It's cheaper than other hotels.)

Most (without the) sometimes has the meaning of near ly all, the majority.

E xam ples: Most cars have four wheels.

Most of my f r iends have cars.

D Write the in the spaces wher e possi ble. (Sometimes you must leave the s pace em pty.)

'11' -'~s~ofpeo ple visit Br itain as tour ists, and 1 _ Ever y year ml lOn . 2

. . . the capital London, which has some of ---visitor s s pend some tIme m, f h

3 most a t em at. .' hts in the wor ld. You can see ---

most mterestmg Slg .

. Th Tower of Lond on is the monument whIch hasany time of the d ay. e

most visitor s." > best time to visit Britain is pro ba bly in late S pring, Summer or

--- 6 best in Julv and August (althoughear ly Autumn. The weather is ---

'7 best weather in Eur o pe \ ) However .,even then it is certainly not .---

8 most crowd ed in August, and the museums and monuments are ---

h' b 9 bestLondon can be unpleasantly hot at this time. So t ISmay e

time to get out of the city and see the rest of the countr y.



I!IWrite senteI\s:es \lsmg the words given.

1 Geneva / one of / modern cities in Europe.

G e tr e v C f i-1 O l1 e of the m oot mode rn M e 1 Itt1 E I A Y 'Q 1 2 _ e _ . _



[ i l l Com parative and superlative adverbs (regular)

car ef ully - mor e caref ully - most caref ully

easily - more easily - most easily

slowly - mor e slowly - most slowly

Terr y drives mor e dangerously than Jane but not as

dangerously as Erica.

Erica drives (the) most dangerously of all. (the =f ormal; t)re =less f ormal)

People drive most dangerously when they are tir ed .

Short adverbs (loudly, slowly, etc) are often given -er and -est end ings in spokenEnglish: 'He shouted loudest of all.' instead of 'most loudly' or

'the most loudly'.

'He dr ives slower than me.' instead of 'more slowly'.

But this is considered incorr ect by some people.

IIHow did they speak ? Use the words in brack ets to write tr ue sentences, positive or negative.

LOOK what you've d o ne to m y CAR!Y o u IDIOT

1LOOK AT ITl

1 Belinda (angr y) c i U ; i _ · _ r l _ o _ t _ I - l _ , Q e a R Mc m g r i k y _ C L 1 Char les

2 Belind a and Charles (rud e) I1 _ R ak e m o r e r lA d e A l1 _ th _ l4 _ n _ _ _ Angela and David

3 David (calm) Charles

4 Char les (polite) David

5 Char les (loud ) any body

6 David (ner vous) Angela

7 Belinda(impatient) Angela

8 Nobod y(impolite) Char les



IIICompar e yourself with the people in the pictur es.

Fir st tick ( j) the true or f alse box f or each sentence, then wr ite some mor e true sentences.

1 Inever speak as angr ily as Char les.

2 I usually speak less impatiently than Belind a.

3 I do not always speak as calmly as David .

4 I sometimes speak mor e nervously than Angela.

5 I d o not of ten shout as loudly as Charles.

6 It's good to speak as calmly as David .

7 _

8 _

9 _

10 _

IIWrite the word in br ack ets in the superlative form to complete the sentence.

Then use a tick ( j) to show whether you agr ee or disagr ee.

1 David s pok e ( polite)

2 Belind a spok e (angr y)

3 Belind a spok e (impatient)

4 Angela s pok e (ner vous)

5 People get angr y (easy)

they ar e tired or worried .

6 In my family I am the one who gets angr y ( q uick )

moot Q~ _ of all.

7 The peo ple who win arguments ar e usually the ones who can

speak (calm)

8 The people who shout (loud )

are usually the stupidest peo ple.

9 The str ongest people often behave (gentle)



~ Irregular comparative and superlative adverbs

Adjective

fastgood

bad

Adverb

fastwell

badly

Comparative

faster better

worse

Superlative

fastest best

worst

Other irregular adverbs are: hard - harder - hard est

early - earlier - earliest late -later -latest

little -less -least near - near er - near est

long (time) -longer -longest

soon - sooner - soonestf ar - further - furthest

much - more - most

IIAfter the match. Some foot baller s ar e talking about a f oot ball match that has just finished.

R ewrite the sentences so that they end with the word s given.

6 Nobod y played as

badly as Ernie did

tod ay.

9 Leon has never

ar gued with the

ref er ee so little.

1 P _ e _ t e r " _ R L a l ; 1 e d harder t h em

2 J _ o t J _ r J _ R W l ; 1 W h ard fA u

3 _ 4 _

5 . ever before.

6 of all

7 of all

8 than usual.

9 than usual.

than usual.

ever befor e.



@ 1 J Adverb or adjective comparison?

He's a sa f er driver than I am. (safer = adjective)

He drives mor e sa fel y than I do. (more safely = adver b)

Who makes the fast est cars?

= Which cars are the fastest? (ad jective)

Who makes cars t he f astest ? = Who work s the fastest? (ad verb)

IIAdverb or adjective?

mcnt Wj ,Q~ __ -s poken widest or

most widely?languages in the wor ld?

2 Which gr ou p of languages has the _

ver b for ms?

3 Is it tr ue that most male Ja panese speaker s do not s peak

most complicated or most complicated ly?

loud or

loud ly?

speaker s?

4 Is it tr ue that people in Oxf ord speak English

_______ _ _ than elsewhere?

more correct or

more correctly?

5 Which is the

English al pha bet?

6 Which language has

English or Italian?

7 In which countr y are the

nacivelanguagess pok en?

most common or

most commonly?

clearer or

mor e clear ly?

most or

mostly?

Schmidt from France, can speak

than anyone else. How many languages can he speak ?

9 Do gir ls usually learn than

boys?

languages more

or more languages?

languages faster

or faster languages?

iiiHere ar e the answers to the q uestions in Exer cise 1. One answer is wr ong. Which one?

1 English and Chinese. 2 Some of the North American Indian languages.

3 Yes. 4 Yes. 5 e. 6 Italian. 7 India. 8 30. 9 Yes.



~ Quantifiers, adjectives and adverbs: positive andnegative form s

Examples of positive forms Examples of negative f orms

Quantifier (much/many - mor e)

I buy more books than you d o You don't buy as many book s as I d o.

(mor e used as a deter miner ).

I've got mor e (than you) Youhaven't got as many (as I have).

(mor e uSed as a pronoun).

I like books more than you d o You d on't lik e books as much as I do.

(more used as an ad verb).

Adjective (popular - mor e popular )

Thr illers ar e mor e popular than classics. Classics aren't aspopular as thr illers.

These are more popular books than those. Those ar en't such popular books as these.

Adverb (quickly - mor e quick ly)

I r ead more quickly than you d o. You d on't r ead as quickly as I do.

D Nine of the sentences below come fr om a news pa per ar ticle about the k ind s of book s that men and

women r ead. The inf or mation in one sentence is not true. Which sentence d o you think is not true?

1 Romantic book s ar e mor e popular with women than with men.

2 R omance is a mor e po pular type of book than biogr aphy.

3 Thr illers ar e read mor e than classics.

4 Men read mor e thriller s than women d o.

5 Men are mor e inter ested in humor ous book s than women ar e.6 Men read mor e book s a bout history (non-fiction) than women do.

7 Men en joy violent stories mor e than women do.

8 Men read more classics and mod ern novels than women d o.

9 Women r ead mor e biography than men d o.

10 Horr or is a mor e inter esting subject f or men than it is f or women.

III,Write the nine true sentences in the corr ect negative form.

1 R a m C «1U c b C J t J k ; . ) C A r e n o t M 12Q J2 ~ r w i M l m e n a 1 wilth W 011 1erT.

2 BiQgr@h~ _

3 _

4 _

5 _

6 _

7 _

8 _

9 _



IILook at the diagram and answer the questions.

Write complete sentences comparing men with women.

W o m en p r e f e r ro m an c e , m en p re f er s ci · fi

S ub je c t o f b o o k s b e in g r e ad a t th e tim e o f t h e s u r v e y , 1 9 8 6

S ou r c e : R ese a rc h S u r ve y s o f G r e a t B r it ai n lE u rom on it o r 1 p e r c e n t / _ -- - - _ _

: : '= = = = = = = = = = = : : : : I ~ o f m en

' " ~~ 5 0>

E >

: £ ~ ' " g

>c

~ ';:: c: ~ . ,

00

~-0

8 .~ " t; 0

:I:;,;:: :: ;;:

c

.~ "3 c

;;:: g .~ >-~ ~ 5

-<=u " ' " ;;:: >- ~

.~ ce 0'"

< 5 5,' " §"< 3 < 5 -< = " In 0

U U) :I: :I: < 5 I [D

[ _[1 mF ic tion

1\ N on f ic tio n

'" ~ r o

I~ ~ c

5 c >- ~ ' " ~ 2 5 ~ t < a c ~u ac

'~.~

0> .. § 0 .~ < 5 " ~~~

u.~ ~E o S > .~

~ § " I n ~ ~"2

~g ;;:: ;;::I 5, "0;

1 § ~~ ;;::

0 <il U '" :I: ;:ex : I ~ -0 ~ U e '" 0

" ' " c -c

§ ~ c < 5 - < = [D

0 ~ i; " B l 0 0

-0

'" < 5 c

'"U ~ 0 "< 3 :I: g, t ' = '" 1 !:: ;;: U) co

"c '0; < 5"' " a:>

~t9

1 Do men read much science fiction?

Y M . T Y l~ t 'ea a m a re t1cie n ce f i 'c t io r l them w a m e+1 d o ,



~ V erbal comparisons

She's older than she looks.

Cigarettes are more expensive than they used to be.

It d idn't tak e as long as we thought it would.

IICom plete the conver sation about the photographs.

A That's Mary.

B Howald is she?

A She's a bout 57, I think .

B R eally?A Yes. She's 1 look s.

B What a bout John?

A He's 2 looks. He's only 23.

B John d oesn't look very f riend ly.

A Oh, he's 3 looks.

B What's Mar y like? She look s f riendly.

A Well, she's the o p posite of John: she looks 4 _

1 _

2 _



III The economic situation

Two politicians ar e s peaking on television.

Write their sentences in a d iff er ent way, beginning with the word s given.

1 We are ex por ting much less than we ar e im por ting.We ar e impor ting m l A v t ! mo re th em w e a r e e 4 < Q a Y t 1 v r q _ . _

3 We can't aff ord a high standar d of living but we have one.

We have a higher

4 We should have planned our economy mor e car ef ully than we d id .

We didn't plan

5 The government did n't intend to spend so much money last year .

Last year the government spent

6 The pr o blem seems serious but it isn't really.

The pr o blem isn't r eally

7 We thought pr ices would go u p faster than they have.

Pr ices haven't gone

8 Things could be gQingwor se than they ar e.

Things ar en't going

9 The situation was bad but now it is better.

The situation isn't

10 Things d on't look good now but they will soon look better .

Things will soon



~ Modifiers

++f ar

much

alotquite alot

quite a bit bigger

more quickly

+ ., mor e

a bit

a little

slightly

very slightly

-

not quite as bigas q uickly-- as much

not nearly

nothing like

n P R O D U C T IO N

IR E S E R V E S

T he w or ld o il p ic tu r e : o il a lr e a d yp r o d u ce d a n d b u rn e d is a b o v e th e lin ea n d r e s e r v e s a r e b e lo w it.

IIChoose the best way to f inish each sentence, accor ding to the

inf ormation in the world oil pictur e.

1 Canada's oil r eserves ar e (a) slightly smaller than Latin Amer ica's.

( b) a bit smaller than Latin America's.( c) far smaller than Latin America's.

2 The Midd le East has not pr oduced (a) anything lik e as much oil as the USA.

( b) quite as much oil as the USA.

( c) nearly as much oil as the USA.

3 Middle-Eastern r eser ves ar e (a) a little lar ger than any other area's reser ves.

( b) a bit lar ger than any other ar ea's r eser ves.

(c) f ar lar ger than any other ar ea's r eserves.

4 Com pared with the USA,Canad a has pr oduced (a) nothing lik e as much oil.

( b) q uite a lot less oil.

( c) a little less oil.

5 The USAhas (a) slightly less oil than the USSR and China together .

( b) not near ly as much oil as the USSR and China together .

(c) not quite as much oil as the USSR and China together.

6 The USSRand China have (a) far mor e oil than other Eastern countries.

(b) much less oil than other Eastern countr ies.

(c) a bit mor e oil than other Eastern countries.



fJ Answer the q uestions by giving the name of the countr y or area of the world .

1 Which countr y has q uite a lot less oilthan Latin Amer ica but a

bit mor e than Western Eur ope?

2 Which countr y has prod uced much mor e oil than it now has in

reserve?

3 Which ar ea has not prod uced anything lik e as much as it has

in r eserve?

4 Which ar ea has produced a bit less than Latin Amer ica but a lot

mor e than Canada?

5 Which ar ea. has pr oduced a bit less than the USSR and China?

7 Which ar ea has pr od uced quite a lot less oil than the USAbut

quite a lot mor e than Afr ica?

IIFill each gap in this news pa per ar ticle with one wor d . ,

The information in the list willhel p you to choose the correct word .

Women ar e not represented well in parliaments

f m the table onld This can be seen r o

ar ound the wor .

n countries haveh . ht Eastern Eur o peat e ng .

MPs than the USA or 1 mor e women

-'-'-T-h-USSR and East Germany have 32% and Bntam. e .

2 more. Women in IndiaRomania has

are r e pr esented at 4 __ ---

Britain, the USA and Fr ance but no

d Denmark . Womenas well as in Nor way, Swed en an .

5 a bit more common In mostMPs ar e ----- .

. r ments than in Britain Itself English-s peakmg par la

6 lik e as numerouS as in the but. . d East Eur o pean countries.

Scandmavlan an

t of women members of parliament in

Percen age

selected countries

Austr alia

Britain

Canada

China

CzechoslovakiaDenmark

FranceGermany (East)

Germany (West)

India

Nor way

poland

Romania

Swed en

USA

USSR

10%

6%

10%

21%

28%

26%

4%

32%

10%

8%

23%

23%

34%

29%

6%

33%



~ Equal comparison

Examples

She is as good (a manager ) as anyone in the com pany.

She wor ks as jast as the other s.She works at the same s peed as the others.

She's as t all as she is clever.

She is the same (height) as her br other .

He eats lik e a pig.

He tries as har d as he can.

D Situations

Write what you would say in each situation, using 'as... as ... I.

1 A fr iend wants to stay in your house for the weekend.Perhaps he would lik e to stay longer.

Y O U : Stay ~ long M l: 1 _ O U _ '_ a _ U R _ ' _ e _ t o _ . _

2 At lunch time your f riend d oes not take much f ood .

Perhaps he wants to tak e mor e.

Y O U : Take

3 Your friend is planning to visit you again af ter two months.

Perhaps he can come sooner .

Y O U : Come

4 You ar e taking your fr iend to the station in your car .

'Can't you go f aster ?' he ask s.

Y O U : I'm _

I! I Asorlike?

Use as or like to complete these common descriptions of people.

1 She's as light a feather.

2 He smok es a chimney.

3 That little boy is as good

4 He's always hungr y: he eats

5 She's as hard nails.

6 I sle pt a log last night.

7 He dr ives a maniac.

8 He drinks a f ish.

9 After the par ty I was as sick

48



IIJumbled sentences

Arrange the wor ds to make sentences about people. Then wr ite the sentences.

1 lis beautiful 1 1 intelligent l p i S ] i she is I ~ 1 she I

2 Istupid i ! he is j Bf is ugly \ {B ~

3 j she's I i per son I E J ~ 1 anyone I've met ~ G I nice?

4 E1B If ather I (gener ous ~ ~ 0 {anyone could wish for 1

5 lany that I k now of i lhonest 1 I he's r ~ 80 ~ politician \

6 Id o 1 f smokes ~ I T ? \ heavily I ~ [g G

7 I str ength I }he's got! ~in his little finger j G§I much f {I've got in my r ight arm 1

9 ~ ( in the ~ ~behaves \ { his brother ~ f same J ~ wayiG



WT .~ wu;eas ... as .. .

B is three t imes as tall as A.

B is more t han t wice as tall as C.

IIReading

Tr y to guess which sentences ar e tr ue and which ar e false. Or may be you know the answer sl

The sentences ar e all gr ammatically correct but only half of them are true.

~

)~:~J~~ D··G:).

J ~' ~<3o' ~., _ .•~ _ fYV?-, ~.Q.•.•••• ~

4 In Br itain ther e ar e nearly thr ee times as many cats as people.

6 The population of Af rica is gr owing mor e than seven times as quick ly as the

population of Eur o pe.

7 In Ja pan ther e ar e nearly thr ee times as many f emale bank manager s as

male ones.

9 The number of peo ple in Eur o pe und er 16 is about twice as great as the number

of people over 65.

D DD D

D

DD

D

D

DD

DD DD D

D DD D



iii The pay ladder in Britain

'd ge earns

H hCour t J UA l pg

n,rue M.inister -

The ', l'ne ca ptain

An an 1

A surgeor: r of essor

A universlty p her , h 01 teac

AseUlor sc 0I or uan -

A policeruan w

(beloWser geant)

A coal ruiner

A nur seA secretaryA farru wor ker

A hairdresser

£70,000 per year

£65,000 per year £45,000 per year

£33,000 per year

£22,000 per year

£16,000 per year

£14,000 per year

£12,000 per year

£ 8,000 per year

£ 7,000 per year

£ 5,000 per year

£ 4,000peryear

1 A sur geon / a nur se

A ~L ArqO OY1 ear rJ ,6 m a re them fo lA r ' f i ..m M e M m u c h ~ a Y l /A (/,)e .



~ Continuous change: more and m o re ...

In Spring the sun shines mor e and more strongly

and the weather gets war mer and war mer .

M or e and mor e flower s appear .

Coats and um br ellas become less and less necessar y.

B Use these ad jectives and ad verbs to complete the sentences below.

interesting fast f at painf ul bad f ed up

1

I'm getting fa t ter " aV l c ( fcr t ter ".



B Changes in developed countries

Look at the lists of changes that ar e taking place in many

countries; then write true sentences a bout modern lif e.

the price of computer s

the number of peo ple who

attend chur ch r egularly

the number of peo ple who

work in factories

the number of old people

the number of divor ces

the number of car s on the

roads

the number of holid ays in

f or eign countries

1 Computers / becoming / expensive

Campvfter~ a re b e c o m i n g ~ and L e M e - x p _ e r t 6 _ _ w _ e _

IIWhat other continuous changes are taking place?

Write about your countr y, a bout the weather or a bout your self and your f riend s.

1

2 _

3 _



~ Parallel change: The rrwre ... the rrwre

Examples

The harder I worked the richer I became.

The more money I earned the less careful I became.The more I had the more quick ly I spent it.

D Aromance

Underline the correct phrase in each of the brack ets.

Alison first saw David at a par ty. She had gone to the party with

R onald but he had met some old fr iends and was talking to them.

Alison saw David on the other sid e of the room. Suddenly he

tur ned and saw her watching him. She f elt a little embarrassed

and look ed away. When she looked again, he was walking towardsher . l(The closer / Closer) he carne 2(more she felt nervous / the ~

mor e nervous she felt).

He intr oduced himself and they talked. They talked for a long

time, and 3(mor e / the more) they talked 4( she liked him more /

the more she liked him).

They met again the following week , and again a few days later .

5(The more they became fr iendly / The fr iend lier they became)

the more of ten she wanted to see him. 6(More often / The more

often) she saw him 7(the more happily / the happier ) she was, and

8(more she felt lonely / the lonelier she f elt) without him.

9(Ronald the more he / The more Ronald) saw them together the lO(morejealous / more jealously) he became. However ,

11(worse / the worse) he felt the less he said.

Then Ronald fell in love with Mary, and everybody was happy.



r J Personal relationships

Agree Disagree

1 If you get married early, it's better ;

in fact the ev t r l ier ljOU get married the better it k\. D D2 If you are generous, you will be popular ;

in f act D D

3 If you have many boy/gir lfriends, you will be happier ;

in f act D D

4 If you ar e honest, you will have f ewer pr o blems;

in f act D D

5 If you smoke, you will be k issed less often;

in f act D D

6 When you ar e k ind , people r es pect you less;

in f act D D

7 If you put a lot into a r elationshi p, you get a lot out of it;

in f act D D

8 If you ar e hard to catch, you will be mor e d esirable;

in f act D D

9 When you win an ar gument, you may lose a f riend ;

in fact D D

10 When you love someone, you have fewer ar guments;

in f act D D



~ Popular sayings

IIFor each of these conunon sayings a meaning is given below.

Which meaning goes with which saying? Write the cor r ect number

in each box next to the saying.

c

1 Better sa fe than sorry. 0J

o Better lat e th

an never .

E

F or bet ter , fo r wo r s e; fo r r icher , fo r poore r ;

G. d than d on e .

It 's eas ie r sat

H '1 o u kn o w t han th e Bette r t he devt yd evi l yo U d o n 't .

The best things in life are free.

JTh e

g r as s i s a lwa ys greener on t he o th er 0s id e.

1 It's better not to talk a bout it.

2 T"ak e pr ecautions.3 An un pleasant but familiar situation is better than a new one.

4 It's a nice plan but not ver y practical.

5 Other situations always seem more attractive than your own

situation.

6 Money d oes not buy ha ppiness.

7 In ever y situation in life. (A man and a woman say these wor ds

when they get mar r ied .)

8 It's easier to find an answer if someone thinks with you.

9 Family ties ar e ver y strong.

10 Doing something late is not as bad as f or getting it com pletely.



.m Choose the best saying fr om Exercise 1 f or each of these situations. Wr ite it in the space pr ovid ed .

6 A 'My car d oesn't go ver y well but I can't af f or d to buy a new

one. Do you think I should sell my car and buy another old one?'

B ' _

7 A 'Tom's br other has never been nice to Tom; so why does

Tom d ef end him when other peo ple cr iticise him?'

8 L et m e h elp /f ou with

that. _

/'. .

• I , I t '

Trlf to keep c al m /

~ A 4 "10 What's Wl'OYlCj wi t h

/1our husbaYlr;( coda ?



~ Idiom s

IIMatch the idioms on the left with their meanings on the right.

(Write a letter fr om (a) to (i) in each of the boxes.)

1 He's got bigger fish to f r y.2 Put your best f oot for ward .

3 All the best.

4 It went from bad to wor se.

5 Better luck next time.6 He's d oing'his best.

7 My better half .

8 I thought better of it.

9 He's bitten off mor e than he can chew.

(a) I wish you good f or tune. (Usually whenfr iends say goodbye)

(b) He's got mor e im por tant things to do.

(c) He's tr ying to d o too much.

(d ) He's doing as well as he can.

(e) My wif e. (inf ormal and humor ous)

(f ) It became wor se and wor se.

(g) I changed my plan.

(h) Tr y to give a good impr ession.

(i) I wish you success if you try again.

I t : : I Use the idioms below to com plete the dialogue.

at least

mor e or less

as long as not any longer mor e often than not

the best of both world s at the most

A How much d o you want for it?

B 1 _ __ _ _ __ _ £2,000. It's in good condition.

A £2,000! It's wor th £1,5002 _

B Come on! It's a good car l Most car s ar e either bad and cheap or

good and ex pensive; but this car 's good and cheap. So you'll

get 3 _

A Well,what's it like? I mean does the engine start easily on a

cold day?

BYes, 4 _

A Youmean it doesn't always?

B Well, it used to give a bit oftrouble, but 5 _

.It's OK now 6

remember to k ee p your f oot on the ped al.

A I see. And it's ten year s old , is it?

B 7 _



IIIn each of these situations wr ite the most suitable id iom f r om the previous page.

1 Do you want t o play f ootball with us?

No.

2 I've failed my driving test.

4 I think the train is going to leave now. Goodbye John.

Goodbye Mar y, and

5 I'm ver y ner vous about my inter view tomorr ow.

Well, just

6 Who's that woman?

She's

7 Where's your new sports car? You told me you were going to buy one.

8 Did you have good weather on your holiday?

No. It rained on the fir st day and then it _

9 You don't seem to be mak ing much pr ogr ess.

I'm

10 Have you finished your homework ?

11 Do you still live in Lond on?

N o ,

to Manchester .

12 I've got a small fiat in the city and a cottage in the countr y.

So you have



Answer key

Comparative adjectives

Shor t word s and long words(page 4)

1 longer (or str aighter ) 2 straighter ( or longer) 3 taller 4 moremoder n 5 faster 6 moreex pensive 7 more dangerous

• 2 ar e mor e am bitious than 3 ar ekinder than 4 ar e mor einteresting than 5 ,ar e mored emocr atic than 6 ar e happier than 7 ar e mor e r eligious than8 ar e mor e generous than

[ g J Spelling (page 6)

• fit - fitter thin - thinner wet -wetter

sad -sad d er

cloudy - cloud ier d r y - d r ier wealthy - wealthier sunny - su~er

bright - br ighter keen - keener neat - neater pr oud - pr oud er

safe - safer fr ee -f r eer late -later wide-wider

• hotter , bigger , safer , uglier , f latter,faster, longer , wid er , busier , deeper

3 but it's sunnier than yester d ay.4 it's finer than yesterd ay.5 it's cloud ier than yester day.6 but it isn't as cool as yesterday.7 it's been wetter than yester d ay.8 yesterday was hotter.

Two-syllable adjectives( page 8)1 ( 2 ) 2 ( 1 ) 3 ( 3 ) 4 ( 1 ) 5 ( 2 )6 ( 2 ) 7 ( 3 ) 8 ( 1 ) 9 ( 2 )10 (2) 11 (1) 12 (2) 13 (3)1 4 ( 3 ) 1 5 ( 3 )

1 ( c ) 2 ( a ) 3 ( e) 4 ( b) 5 ( d)•II2 mor e moder n 8 mor e corr ect

9 easier 11 more car eful 13 mor eexact 20 earlier

[]] One- two- and thr ee-syllable adjectives(page 10)

• 2 cheaper than that. 3 more usef ulthan that. 4 smaller than that.5 mor e s pecial than that.6 more necessar y than that.

7 mor e informative than that.8 mor e mechanical than that.(Lisa has bought a watch.)

• 3 that. 4 something funnier thanthat. 5 that. 6 something brighter than that. 7 something mor edelicate than that. 8 that.9 something mor e moder n than that.10 something mor e useful than that.11 something more romantic thanthat. 12 something darker than that.

[K ] Mor e or less? (page 12)

• 1 Jenny 2 Peter 3 Sam 4 Hazel

5 John

• 2 Tennis cour ts ar e smaller than .,.f ootball pitches. Ell

3 Walkingis less tiring than r unning.4 Playing tennis is less ex pensive

than f lying a plane.5 Discos ar e noisier than cinemas.6 Li brar ies ar e quieter than

bookshops.7 Wr estling is less violent than

boxing.

8 Polo is less popular than football.9 Motor -cycle r acing is less peacef ul

than f ishing.10 Motor-cycle r acing is mor e

expensive than jogging.11 A swimming pool is war mer than

the sea.12 The sea is less crowd ed than a

swimming pool.

Negatives: not as ... as(page 14)2 he isn't as attractive as Alfie

And er son.3 he isn't as intelligent as Bernard

Bjor g.4 he isn't as young as Chris Car ter ..5 he isn't as str ong as Ch.risCar ter.6 it isn't as sensitive as Ber nar d

B jor g's.

2 (a) isn't as fast as the other one.3 (a) isn't as convenient as the other

one.(b) is less convenient than the

other one.4 (a) isn't as long as the other one.5 (a) isn't as famous as the other one

(b) is less famous than the other one.

6 (a) isn't as powerf ul as the other one.

(b) is less powerf ul than the other one.

7 (a) ar en't as f r esh as the other ones

(as the others ).

•II

Irregular adjectives and q uantifier s (page 16)1 less 2 mor e 3 fur ther 4 bad 5 fewer 6 wor se 7 better

1 mor e 2 than 3 f ewer 4 mor ethan 5 as much 6 as 7 as/so

many 8 as 9 mor e 10 than11 as many 12 as 13 as little as14 less than

Negative and positivecomparisons ( page 18)1 better ... than2 worse for your health than slee ping

too much.3 Cycling is better for your hear t than

playing tennis.4 Tak ing long holidays is healthier

than working hard all the time.5 eating a big meal in the evening is

mor e fattening than having a

big lunch.(Peter is right ever y time.)

Ifyou agr eed with most of thesentences, you ar e probably ambitiousand energetic. Success is important toyou. But be car eful: you ar e morelik ely to suf fer fr om str ess and hear t problems than other peo ple ar e unlessyou r elax mor e.

If your answer s wer e half and half,you ar e pr o bably quite active and d ynamic but still r elaxed and not tooanxious.

If you d isagr eed with most of thesentences, you ar e pr oba bly calmer

and more r elaxed than other people.However , if all your answer s were'd isagr ee' you may be too r elaxed!

II2 Yes.Playing for fun isn't assatisf ying as playing to win.OR . No. Playing to win isn't assatisfying as playing for fun.

3 Yes.Being lik ed isn't as nice as being ad mired .ORNo. Being admir ed isn't as nice as

being lik ed .4 Yes.Cooperating isn't as en joyable

as com peting.ORNo.Competing isn't as en joya bleas cooper ating.

5 Yes.Driving safely isn't as importantas arriving on time.ORNo. Arriving on time isn't asimpor tant as d r iving saf ely.

6 Yes.People who dr ive too f ast ar en'tas bad as people who d rive tooslowly.OR No. Peo ple who drive too slowlyaren't as bad as peo ple who drivetoo fast.

7 Yes. Chatting isn't as interesting asdiscussing work ORNo. Discussing wor k isn't asinteresting as chatting.



8 Yes. Lying on the beach isn't as good as visiting impor tant monuments.OR No. Visiting importantmonuments isn't as good as lying onthe beach.

[]] Ad jective or quantifier +noun ( page 20)

• 2 with a lower collar ?3 with a smaller buckle?4 with longer legs?5 with a larger (bigger) handle?6 with fewer buttons?7 with thinner f r ames?8 with narr ower la pels?

2 such a high collar . 3 such a lar ge buckle. 4 such shor t legs. 5 such asmall handle. 6 so many buttons ..7 such thick frames. 8 such wid elapels.

The saloon car ...

has got mor e door s than the spor tscar .has got a bigger boot than the sportscar .hasn't got such comf or ta ble seats asthe s por ts car .hasn't got such a power f ul engine asthe s poq ;s car .

Comparative adjective

phr ases (page 22)2 as exciting to ... with as3 chea per to ... than4 mor e expensive to ... than5 more difficult to ... after

6 nicer to ... than

2 safer to stand on and mor econvenient to store than other lad d er s. 3 cheaper to run and easier to park than other cars. 4 mor ecomf or table to sit in and nicer to look at than other chairs. 5 mor een joya ble to listen to and easier tocarr y than other per sonal ster eos.6 mor e exciting to visit and mor edifficult to leave than other holid ayresorts.

Adjectives of one, two and three syllables (page 24)1 the heaviest 2 tallest3 The most danger ous 4 the lar gest5 most expensive 6 The old est7 The deepest 8 the longest9 The most successful10 The f astest 11 The loud est12 The most intelligent

1 1 ] ] S pelling ( page 26) ACROSS: 2 closest 4 busiest 6 blue7 hungr iest 8 wise 9 thir stiest13 sof test 14 tamest 15 tight16 slowest 22 lowest 23 wettestDOWN: 1 biggest 3 sourest5 stickiest 7 hottest 8 whitest10 safest 11 simplest 12 fittest17 \vide 18 sof t 19 f ew 20 hot21 wet

Irr egular adjectives and

quan~if ier s (page 27)1 the fur thest 2 worst3 the worst 4 the most5 the least

Superlatives and

comparatives with ever and

never (page 32)2 the most uncomfor table chair I 've

ever sat on.3 the worst hotel I've ever stayed in

(at).

4 the laziest hor se I've ever r idden.5 the r udest man ( per son) I've ever

met.

1 the least 2 the most 3 best4 the fur thest 5 the most

Superlative adjectives:

mixed ty pes ( page 28)

Room!war mestnoisiestleast sunlightmost comfor ta bleeasiest to clean

2 never sat on such an uncomf ortablechair .

3 never stayed in (at) such a bad hotel.

4 never r idden such a lazy hor se.5 never met such a rud e man

(person).

2 (a) the most beautiful view I'veever seen.

( b) never seen such a beautifulview.

3 (a) the most generous person I'veever met.

( b) never met such a generous per son.

4 (a) the most inter esting per son I'veever talked to.

( b) never talked to such aninter esting person.

5 (a) the nicest par ty I've ever beento.

(b) never been to such a nice par ty.

One of the -est and thesecond -est (page 34)

2 peo ple 3 is 4 second 5 per son 6 some 7 wor ds8 the second 9 in 10 one11 cities 12 is 13 largest 14 in15 the largest

Room 2sunniestmost expensivelar gestmost \vindowsnear est the k itchen

R oom 3quietest

cheapest best viewsmallest best for work ing in

II1 the chea pest 2 the best f or wor k ing in 3 the quietest4 the best view 5 the smallest6 the lar gest 7 the near est8 sunniest 9 the most10 the most expensive11 the war mest 12 the easiest toclean 13 the most comfor table II2 it's the four th longest river.14 noisiest 15 the least sunlight 3 it's the thir d most pQpulated city.

[I§ Superlative or com par ative? 4 it's the second most cor nmon (the. second commonest) wor d .

•(IPhiagbe3

hO ) 2 Ch 13th M Zero ar ticle superlatives

s rot er s as ar es efamily 4 the four 5 the brother s • (page 36)6 as Edwar d 7 than all the other s 1 - 2 the 3 - . 4 the 5 The8 of all 6 - 7 the 8 - 9 the

2 the fur thest from 3 the hottest4 closer to 5 not as hot as 6 thesmallest of 7 the lar gest in 8 theclosest 9 brighter than10 the br ightest

2 of the most common word s inEnglish.

3 He's one of the r ichest people in theUSA (the world).

4 It's one ofthe most populated citiesin the wor ld.



2 Venice is the most r omantic city inEur o pe.

3 Par is is most beautiful in Spring.4 Se ptember is the best time to visit

India.5 Austr alia is hottest when it is

Winter in Eur o pe.6 S pain is the most popular

destination for Br itish tourists.7 Amer icans, Germans and Fr ench

peo ple are the most f r equentvisitors to Britain.

8 Public tr ans por t in Lond on is themost ex pensive in Eur o pe.

9 The beaches of Eur ope ar e mostcr owd ed in August.

10 Ther e is something interesting tosee in most countries.

Adverbs: Comparative and

superlative

Com parative and

superlative adverbs(regular ) (page 38)3 s pok e mor e calmly than4 d id not s peak as politely as5 s pok e mor e loud ly than6 d id not s peak as ner vously as7 s poke mor e im patiently than8 s pok e as impolitely as (spok e more

impolitely than)

81 2 most angrily 3 most im patiently4 most ner vously 5 most easily6 most quick ly 7 most calmly8 most loudly 9 most gently10 most politely

Note: It is possible but r ather f or mal touse the ar ticle (the) with thesesuperlatives.

~ Irregular comparative and su perlative adverbs( page 40)

•• 3 Bo b r an f aster 4 The matchstar ted later than 5 We had to waitlonger than 6 Ernie played wor st7 Torn can kick the ball fur thest8 Dave ar gued with the ref er ee mor e9 Leon ar gued with the r efer ee less

llil Adver b or adjective

com par ison? ( page 41)•• 2 most com plicated 3 loud ly

4 mor e corr ectly 5 most cor nmon6 clear er 7 most 8 gr eatest ...mor e languages 9 languages f aster

II4 iswr ong

Comparative structures with ~

ad jectives, adverbs and ••

quantif iers

~ Quantifier s, adjectives and adver bs: positive and negative f <;lrms( page 42)

•• 8 is not tr ue

2 Biography is not such a popular ty pe of book as romance.

3 Classics are not r ead as much asthr iller s.

4 Women d o not r ead as manythr iller s as men d o.

5 Women ar e not as inter ested inhumor ous book s as men ar e.

6 Women do not r ead as many book sabout histor y as men do.

7 Women do not en joy violent stor iesas much as men do.

8 Men do not r ead as much biogr aphyas women d o.9 Horr or is not such an inter esting

sub ject f or women as it is for men.

81 2 No. They do not r ead war stor ies asmuch as men do.

3 Yes.They r ead mor e histor icalnovels than men d o.

4 No. They ar e not as inter ested as(They are less inter ested than)women are.

5 No. It is not such a po pular subjectf or them as it is f or men.

6 No. They d o not r ead as muchhistor y as men do.

7 Yes. They r ead educational book smor e than women d o.

Ver bal com parisons(page 44)

1 old er than she 2 younger than he3 f riend lier than he 4 friend lier than she is

2 hard as we used to. 3 standard of living than we can afford .4 our economy as car efully as weshould have (should have done).5 more money than it intend ed to 6 asserious as it seems. 7 up as fast as

we thought they would . 8 as bad lyas they could be. 9 as bad as it was.10 look better than they d o now.

Modif iers ( page 46)

1 ( c ) 2 ( b) 3 ( c ) 4 ( a )5 ( b) 6 (a)

1 The USA 2 The USA 3 TheMid dle East 4 Af r ica 5 LatinAmerica 6 The Midd le East 7 TheUSSRand China

81~

• •

1 far 2 slightly 3 bit I little4 nearly 5 quite 6 nothing

Eq ual com par ison( page 48)2 as much as you want (to ).3 as soon as you can.4 going as f ast as I can.

II

81

1 as 2 lik e 3 as 4 lik e 5 as6 lik e 7 lik e 8 lik e 9 as

1 She is as intelligent as she is beautiful.

2 He is as stupid as he is ugly.3 She's as nice a per son as anyone I've

met.4 He's as gener ous a f ather as anyone

could wish for .

5 He's as honest a politician as anythat I k now of .

6 He smok es as heavily as I d o.7 He's got as much str ength in his

little f inger as I've got in my rightar m.

8 He's almost the same height as me.9 He behaves in the same way as his

br other .

T wice as ... as; three timesas ... as (page 50)IT2T3F4F5F6T7F8T9FlOT• •II2 A policewoman ear ns twice as

much as a secr etar y.3 A High Cour t jud ge earns mor e

than twice as much as a surgeon.4 Auniversity pr of essor earns nearly

twice as much as a coal miner .5 The Prime Minister earns thirteen

times aBmuch as a farm worker .·6 A coal miner ear ns thr ee times as

much as a hair dr esser.7 A coal miner ear ns one and a half

times as much as a nur se.8 A surgeon earns mor e than twice

as much as a senior school teacher.9 An air line ca ptain earns mor e than

twice as much as a univer sity pr of essor .

lOA policeman earns thr ee and a half times as much as a farm wor ker .



Continuous change(page 52) .2 f aster and faster 3 mor e and mor e inter esting 4 mor e and mor efed up 5 wor se and worse 6 mor eand mor e painful

2 People ar e living longer and longer .3 Going to chur ch is becoming less

and less po pular .4 Divor ce is becoming mor e and more

common.5 Peo ple ar e'taking holidays a br oad

mor e and mor e of ten.6 Factor ies ar e employing f ewer and

f ewer wor kers.7 Mor e and mor e peo ple ar e giving up

smoking.8 The r oad s ar e becoming mor e and

mor e cr owded with car s.

~ Par allel change ( page 54)

•1 The closer 2 the mor e nervousshe f elt 3 the mor e 4 the more

. she lik ed him 5 The f riendlier they became 6 The mor e often7 the hap pier 8 the lonelier she felt9 The mor e R onald 10 mor e jealous11 the wor se

2 the mor e gener ous you ar e the IImor e popular you will be.

3 the mor e boy/girlf r iend s you'havethe ha p pier you will be.

4 the mor e honest you ar e the f ewer problems you will have.

5 the mor e you smok e the less of tenyou will be kissed .

6 the kinder you ar e the less peopler espect you.7 the more you put into a

r elationshi p the mor e you get outof it.

8 the har der you ar e to catch themor e d esirable you willbe.

9 the more arguments you win themor e friends you may lose.

10 the more you love someone thef ewer ar guments you have.

•IIPo pular sayings( page 56)A8 B9 C2 DlO E7 FIG4H316J5

I Better saf e than sor ry.2 Better late than never .3 For better , for wor se; f or richer , f or

poor er ;4 The grass is always greener on the

other side.5 The best things in lif e ar e f ree.6 Better the devil you know than the

d evil you d on't.7 Blood is thick er than water .8 Two head s ar e better than one.9 It's easier said than done.

10 The least said the better .

~

•IIIdioms ( page 58)

I b2h3a4f5i6d7e8 g 9 c

1 at least 2 at the most 3 the bestof both worlds 4 more often thannot 5 not any longer 6 as long as7 Mor e or less

1 I've got bigger fish to fr y.2 Better luck next time.3 He's bitten of f mor e than he can

chew.4 all the best.5 put your best foot f or ward 6 my better half .7 I thought better of it.

8 went f r om bad to wor se.9 d oing my best.

10 Mor e or less11 not any longer 12 the best of both worlds.



Practise your

Comparatives

[=:J The Practise your . .. series is a series of workbook s designed to

give intermediate students practice in particular areas of English.

Each book features:

_ contextualised practice to make it easy to see the meanings

which determine the choice of a particular f orm.

_ varied pr actice, with a mixture of exer cise ty pes focusing on both

form and meaning.

_ graded practice, from items with simple rules to more complex

language uses.

_ well-integrated and attractive artwork .

_ answer key.

_ material suita ble for self -stud y or classroom use.

[=:J Practise your Compar atives is the only book of its kind providing

thorough practice in the many and often confusing varieties of

comparative and superlative structures. Real facts are used to make

realistic and interesting contexts, and personalisation exercises help

students to relate structures to their own experience .

." .Longman:

(logman) practise your comparatives.pdf

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