Способи утворення ступенів порівняння

а) У односкладних (не більше двох складів) прикметників – за допомогою суфіксів.

Розгляньте таблицю односкладних прикметників та зверніть увагу на правопис.

Позитивний ступінь	Вищий ступінь	Найвищий ступінь
fine clean hot happy	finer cleaner hotter happier	(the) finest (the) cleanest (the) hottest (the) happiest

б) У багатоскладних (більше двох складів прикметників) – за допомогою додавання особливого слова.

Позитивний ступінь	Вищий ступінь	Найвищий ступінь
difficult wonderful useful	more difficult more wonderful more useful	(the) most difficult (the) most wonderful (the) most useful

в) Виключення з правил:

Позитивний ступінь	Вищий ступінь	Найвищий ступінь
g ood well bad m any much little far old	better worse more less farther, further older, elder	(the) best (the) worst (the) most (the) least (the) farthest, (the) furthest (the) oldest, (the) eldest

(Більш детально див. підручник Верба Л.Г., Верба Г.В. Граматика сучасної англійської мови. Довідник. – К.: Логос, 1999. – С. 145-147 (прикметник), 174-175 (прислівник).

Вправа 1. Утворіть ступені порівняння наступних прикметників:

Short, long, busy, poor, nice, clever, polite, pretty, shy, merry, early, sweet, talented, interesting, beautiful, unpleasant, comfortable.

Вправа 2. Визначте ступінь порівняння, перекладіть речення.

1. The longest river in Ukraine is the Dnieper.

2. He is my best friend.

3. This text is more interesting than that one.

4. The more you learn, the better you know.

5. The nearer the winter, the colder the days.

6. Cotton is more flexible than linen.

7. Cotton fibres are smoother, stiffer and straighter than wool.

8. Fibres saturated with water are 20 per cent stronger than dry ones.

Вправа 3. Розкрийте дужки, використовуючи потрібну форму ступенів порівняння.

1. He was only five years (young) than I was.

2. They stopped at one of (good) hotels in town.

3. At that moment he was (happy) person in the world.

4. Please, show me (short) way to the department store.

5. I hope to read this book (fast) than that one.

6. Ann plays the piano (bad) than the other girls.

7. I have (little) time for reading than my friends has.

8. Tom is (good) student than John.

as ... as – такий же ... як і ...

not so ... as – не такий ... як ...

Вправа 4. Заповніть пропуски, використовуючи сполучники as ... as, (not) so ... as.

1. The weather in Moscow is ... rainy ... in London.

2. Mathematics is ... important ... physics.

3. Cotton is ... elastic ... wool.

4. She is ... beautiful ... her sister.

5. She isn’t ... busy today ... she was yesterday.

6. This book isn’t ... interesting ... that one.

ІІІ. Робота над текстом за професійним спрямуванням.

1. Прочитайте та перекладіть текст.

State and Government of Great Britain

Great Britain is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch — Queen Elizabeth II — as head of the State.

Political stability owes much to the monarchy. Its continuity has been interrupted only once (the republic of 1649–1660) in over a thousand years. The Queen is impartial and acts on the advice of her ministers.

Parliament

The Parliament comprises the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Queen in her constitutional role. The Commons has 650 elected Members of Parliament (MPs), each representing a local constituency. The Lords is made up of hereditary and life peers and peeresses, and the two archbishops and 24 most senior bishops of the established Church of England. The centre of parliamentary power is the House of Commons. Limitations on the power of the Lords — it rarely uses its power to delay passage law — are based on the principle that the House as a revising chamber should complement the Commons and not rival it. The proceedings of both houses of Parliament are broadcast on television and radio, sometimes live or more usually in recorded and edited form. Once passed through both Houses, legislation receives the Royal Assent.

General elections to choose MPs must be held at least every five years. Voting, which is not compulsory, is by secret ballot and is from the age of 18. The candidate polling the largest number of votes in a constituency is elected. In the election of June 1987, when 75 percent of the electorate voted, the Conservative Party gained an overall majority of 101 (Conservative — 375 seats, Labour — 229, Liberal — 17, Social Democratic — 5 and others — 24). In 1988 the Liberal and Social Democratic parties merget and are now Liberal Democrats.

Government

The Government is formed by the party with majority support in the Commons. The Queen appoints its leader as Prime Minister. As head of the Government the Prime Minister appoints ministers, of whom about 20 are in the Cabinet - the senior group which takes major policy decisions. Ministers are collectively responsible for government decisions and individually responsible for their own departments. The second largest party forms the official Opposition with its own leader and “shadow cabinet”. The Opposition has a duty to criticise government policies and to present an alternative programme.

Policies are carried out by government departments staffed by politically neutral civil servants. They serve the government of the day regardless of its political complexion.

Party gained the right to form a Government by winning the general election in May 1997. Mr. Blair, the leader of the Labour Party, became Prime Minister. He selected a team of Ministers to serve in his Ministries. There is no limit on the size of the Cabinet but the number of salaried Secretaries of state is limited to 21. Cabinet meetings are usually held on a Thursday morning in the Cabinet room at 10 Downing Street.

Local government

Parliament in London is responsible for carrying out national policy, but many public services are provided by local government. The United Kingdom is divided into administrative areas known as “counties” and each county has a “county town” where the offices of the local government are located. Local government is responsible for organising such services as education, libraries, police and fire services, road-building and many others.