Exercises

1. Write degrees of comparison.

hot badly bitter much yellow

little easy far thin

difficult fine big old

2. Put the adjectives and adverbs in the comparative or superlative degree.

1. St.-Petersburg is one of (large) and (beautiful) cities of our country.

2. The days in summer are (long) than in winter.

3. This text is (interesting) of all.

4. My friend knows English (badly) than me.

5. I have (little) time than you have.

6. He is the (good) student in our group.

7. English is (difficult) than German.

8. Today the weather is (bad) than it was yesterday.

9. Her house is not (far) from the University than mine.

10. I have (much) free time than my sister has.

3. Say.

1. who knows English best of all in your group;

2. who is the tallest student;

3. who is the most active;

4. who is the most diligent (усердный, старательный);

5. who is the gayest;

6. who is the most optimistic (pessimistic);

7. who is the best sportsman.

Unit 7

Text: Travelling by Air

Grammar: The Passive Voice

Read the text:

Travelling by air

Travelling by air is more convenient than by train because it saves you time considerably though it does not save money. Distances more than 2,000 km can now be covered by modern passenger planes on non-stop flights without landing to refuel. Statistics shows that travelling by air is as safe as travelling by train.

Last time I travelled by air two years ago when I was on holiday in the Caucasus. I booked a ticket fifteen days in advance. On the appointed day after packing my luggage, I proceeded to the airport by bus.

In the hall of the airport there were a lot of people waiting for boarding the plane. Before the flight passengers must register at the airport. When registering the passenger is required to have his luggage weighed after which the attendant attaches a special tag to it. Each passenger is allowed twenty kilograms of luggage free of charge. There is no need to worry about your suitcase, it will be looked after.

The registration stopped half an hour before the time of take-off. Soon we heard the voice of the announcer calling the plane going south: “Boarding the plane Flight 217 begins. Passengers are invited to take their places.” I said good-bye to my friends who came to see me off and with the other passengers went to a special bus which took us to the plane on the runway.

On board the plane the stewardess helped everyone get comfortable in the reclining seats adjustable to some positions. I sat back and relaxed. Very soon the plane took off. At that moment we saw a notice “No smoking. Fasten your seat belts.” In a few minutes we were above the clouds. During the flight we got information of the altitude, speed, the weather and the distance covered. The stewardess served us mineral water, juice, tea, sweets and sand­wiches. Besides, newspapers and magazines were offered to the passengers. Everybody felt comfortable and nobody was airsick.

The plane landed exactly on time.