Revision

Exercise 1. Supply the required articles for countable nouns in the following text.

The teacher rode to … place where … small brook crossed … road. … few logs, laid side by side, formed … bridge over … brook. This had always been considered … haunted place, and as he approached it, his heart began to beat fast. He gave his horse … kick; … animal rushed forward but stopped just by … bridge so suddenly that he nearly flew over … horse’s head. On … edge of … brook stood something big and black. It did not move. The hair of … frightened teacher rose upon his head with terror. It was too late to turn back. Therefore he asked in … trembling voice: “Who are you?” He received no answer.

Just then … thing began to move, and stood in … middle of … road. Though the night was dark, … teacher could see … gigantic horseman mounted on … huge black horse. He became horror-struck. But the horror grew still worse when he saw that … head which should have been on … horseman’s shoulders, was carried before him. … teacher kicked his horse and went away, … figure following. He looked behind him. He saw … figure raise … head and hurl it at him. He tried to get out of its way, but it was too late. It struck his head … terrible blow — he fell into the dust, and his horse, … black horse and … headless rider passed by like … whirlwind. When a little later … teacher came to, he found … hollow pumpkin by his side.

Exercise 2. Supply the required articles for countable nouns in the following text.

… story that impressed me concerned … old Indian who kept … snake in … box. It was … hooded cobra, and … box had … thick glass lid. Whenever there were … new arrivals in … barracks he always made … same bet with them — to double their money if they could keep … hand on … glass for fifteen seconds. It seemed … easy bet; … glass was too thick to break. But as soon as … snake struck at … glass, no one could control … impulse to snatch … hand away. In this way, … old man made … great deal of money from … new arrivals. One day, … soldier with … wooden hand asked if he could be allowed to wear … glove while he laid his hand on … box. … old Indian agreed; he was aware that … glove makes no difference to … reflex of self-defense. … soldier laid … high stake. Everyone in … barracks gathered round, hoping to see … old man beaten at last. They were not disappointed; … soldier kept his gloved hand on … box while … cobra struck again and again. … old man suspected trickery and demanded to see … hand, but … crowd of … British soldiers felt he had been fairly beaten, and forced him to pay up.

Exercise 3. Supply the required articles for common nouns in their various uses in the following texts.

1. Although it was … early afternoon all … lights in … restaurant were on. … plane from New York had been delayed. … usual gloom of … airport was intensified by … weather. In … corner of … restaurant, … man and … woman waited, drinking … coffee, watching … two small children, … boy and … girl who were plastered against … big window that overlooked … field. … woman was in her early thirties, with … pretty figure pleasantly displayed by … modest grey suit. She had … short black hair swept back in … latest fashion, and her large grey eyes were cleverly accented by … make up.

2. I did not feel too good. I had … headache and … sore throat, and I went to .. bed at eight o’clock with some lemon and honey. When I woke up in … morning I was so full of … cold that I could hardly breathe. I got up and took my temperature, and upon finding it was … hundred point four I went straight to … bed again. … Father wanted to send for … doctor, and I said I did not want … doctor.

I slept most of … day. At … teatime … Father came up to see me. He was carrying … huge parcel. He put it down on … bed. I started to undo … brown wrappings. It was … enormous doll. It had … real hair and several complete changes of … clothes, with … hats and … gloves and … shoes and … socks and … parasol. I was overcome. I stared at … bright cheeks and … black curls and … blue china rolling eyes and … long lashes. “I think it’s lovely,” I said.

3. … moment I flung open … door, I smelt … strong smell of … gas. I flew up … stairs and into … kitchen. … air was thick with it, and I could tell from … noise that … oven was on, unlit. I switched it off, pulled open … window and retreated … whole house stank. … sitting-room light was on. So I went in and found David sitting on … sofa reading … magazine.

“What do you think you are doing?” I yelled. “… whole place is full of … gas. Can’t you smell it?”

“Gas?” he asked. “Is it really? I thought there was … funny smell when I came in. and I have got … headache, come to think of it.”

“You’re lucky you’re not dead,” I said and went out into … corridor.

Exercise 4. Supply the required articles for common nouns in their various uses in the following text.

Mr Sutton was … engineer who lived in … next street, and he was probably … only good mathematician in our district. I was at … school with his son Gerald, … gentle, bespectacled lad who was not particularly brilliant. Like myself, Mr. Sutton was interested in … theory of … numbers. I had … tea with Gerald one day and talked to his father; I produced my copy of … Diophantus’s arithmetic, and we sat over it for … rest of … evening. I began making … habit of seeing him two or three evenings … week and talking over … problems that interested me.

Apart from his engineering, Mr Sutton had been self-taught. He had left … school at fourteen and studied at … night-school; consequently he had … enormous respect for … education. He had taught himself … German and … French, and even play … piano. He was not much liked by my father, who thought he was … know-all. Mr Sutton enjoyed standing in … garden on … starry nights and explaining … names of all … constellations to me; if we walked in his garden on … sunny day, he would break off … talk about … mathematics to tell me … botanical names of … flowers. He spoke … few words of … dozen languages, and liked to be considered … good linguist.

Exercise 5. Supply the required articles for common nouns in their various uses in the following text.

… fire was low, and James asked me if I would mind getting in more coal, since my shoes were thicker than his and therefore more waterproof. … coal was kept in … shed at …bottom of … back garden, on … other side of … lawn. I took … scuttle and … shovel, and walked across … wet lawn; it was … dusk, and … rain had stopped. Behind … coal shed flowed … stream, and I pushed my way through some stinging nettles to peep down at it. I always loved … sound of … running water. It was so pleasant that I stood there for … few minutes, enjoying … clean air and … smell that came from … orchard on … other side of … stream. Then I turned back to … shed, and began to fill … scuttle with … coal. As I did so, I had … feeling of someone standing behind me. I cannot explain why I felt sure of this. When I turned round, holding … full scuttle, I was aware that someone was looking at me from … upstairs window of … cottage, and I thought I could see … face through … dusk.

Exercise 6. Supply the required articles for all kinds of common nouns in the following texts.

I. I came home from … school one afternoon and found my uncle sitting at … table, sipping from … pint mug of … tea, and making … calculations on … sheet of … paper. My mother was sitting opposite, reading … newspaper. I sat down and ate … bread and … jam.

II. I came home from … school one day with … slight headache, and took … two aspirins from … bottle in … medicine cupboard. They left … curious after-taste in my mouth, and when my mother came home half … hour later I told her what I had done. She shrieked and ran to … telephone; I had taken some tablets that … doctor had prescribed for her stomach cramps, and she had been warned that it was dangerous to exceed … stated doze — one tablet … day. She had broken … bottle that morning, and transferred … tablets to … empty aspirin bottle.

Exercise 7. Supply the required articles for all kinds of common nouns in the following text.

Early in … morning, … knight started again on his journey, hoping to cover … long distance, but … way through … forest was very difficult so that, when … evening fell, he found himself only on … edge of … Yorkshire forests.

By this time … man and … horse were very tired. It was necessary to find … place to spend … night but looking around … knight saw only … deep woods with … few open glades and paths. … sun, by which … knight directed his course, had now sunk, and he did not know which path to follow. At last he decided to let his horse follow his own instinct and find … right way. … tired horse at once seemed to become more lively and took … path which turned off from … former course. Soon … path grew … little wider and … sound of … small bell gave … knight to understand that he was near … chapel. At last he reached … open glade and saw … small hut. At … little distance on … right hand there was … fountain of … purest water. Beside … fountain were … ruins of … very small chapel … green bell hung at … entrance of … chapel. It was … sound of this bell that … knight had heard some time before. He sprang from his horse, approached … hut and knocked at … door.

Exercise 8. Supply the required articles for all kinds of nouns in the following sentences.

1. When he arrived in … Russia he was virtually blind, and it was only thanks to … skill of … late Professor Filatov, … great Russian eye specialist that he became able to see again.

2. I felt sure that … Colonel MacAndrew would not remember me.

3. … French didn’t allow … publication of … book in … French.

4. It was … quarter to three when … telephone rang. Mr Morley was sitting in … easy-chair, happily digesting … excellent lunch. He did not move when … bell rang but waited for … faithful George to come and take … call.

5. Mr Pyne amused himself that evening by going to … cinema.

6. In … dining-room … child Terry was howling at … top of his voice.

7. … boy Roger had arrived home with … measles; his mother blessed … measles that brought him home.

8. … Adamses were … pleasant people with … large family.

9. “Is your father … businessman?” “Not really. He is … professor.” “… teacher?” she asked with … note of … disappointment. “Well, he is … kind of … authority, you know. … people consult him.” “About … health? Is he … doctor?” “Not that sort of … doctor. He is … doctor of … engineering, though.”

10. She said she was going to … pictures and invited me to go with her.

11. … three sat talking over … plans for … future.

12. He spoke with … indifference, like … man weary of … whole subject.

13. I was sitting up in … bed, sipping … hot coffee, when … nurse came into … room.

14. Together they walked through … mud and … slush.

15. “All … men are … sinners,” my aunt used to say.

16. I spent half my time teaching … law and … other half in London as … consultant to … big firm.

17. In … afternoon … three friends almost quarreled.

18. Andy grinned from … ear to … ear.

19. I had read … poetry at … school, but as … task.

20. Let’s not bother about … present troubles and look forward to … future.

21. “You sit down,” he said, “I’ll cook you … big breakfast.”

22. We were up before … dawn and didn’t stop … work till … nightfall.

23. … hour after … hour struck, and still he wandered on and on from … room to … room, from … house to … house, from … corridor to …corridor.

24. Andrew replaced … receiver with … deepening sense of … distress.

25. We had … breakfast before … daylight and set off before … sunrise.

26. Margie soon came down with … grippe and was very hard to deal with.

27. … morning after … bridge party Mrs Hopper woke with … sore throat and … temperature of … hundred and two.

28. There I attended his lectures on … Far East.

29. Mr Humble was … large, freckly man who collected … insects, and was … skilled botanist.

30. To cover her embarrassment she lit … cigarette with … elaborate casualness and tried to change … subject.

31. I don’t want to excite … attention.

32. You and I will talk … tomorrow morning.

33. Lanny picked up … copy of … “Times”.

Exercise 9. Supply the required articles for all kinds of nouns in the following text.

When I was nine or ten I borrowed … book from … library called “Men of Mathematics”, … life stories of … various mathematicians. I read it from … cover to … cover in one week-end, spending all … time in my bedroom. I can still remember that week-end clearly. It was … midsummer; … lilac tree in our garden was in … bloom, and our neighbour moved his lawn so that … cut-grass smell came into … bedroom. My father told me I should be in … garden because it was … shame to waste such … weather, but I ignored him, and went on reading. I had always loved … mathematics, but this book somehow altered my whole approach to it. It produced on me … kind of … effect that … poetry of Keats and Shelly produces on some teenagers. It seemed to me that … mathematicians were … élite of … world. … kings and … emperors treated them with … respect. Most of them seemed to live to … great age. In … world of … men who squabbled and intrigued, they stood apart.

From that time onward, I had … book out of … library almost permanently — until, some time later, I was able to buy … second-hand copy. Later still, I bought … paper-covered edition in … two volumes and carried it around with me; probably I should have bought … dozen copies if I had found them; it seemed to me one of … greatest books ever written.