Excuses! excuses!

You may be trying to buy a pair of shoes and there are too many (1) in your size and you can't choose, or there are too ________ (2). Shop assistants are good at inventing excuses. A ________ (3) days ago I was trying to buy ________ (4) birthday cards for three five-year-old children. There were ________ (5) cards for children, but ________ (6) for five-year-olds. 'Five is a very popular age this year ', the assistant said. 'We can't get ________ (7) cards for this age-group.' Then I went to ‘Do It Yourself’ shop and tried to buy ________ (8) orange paint. There was ________ (9) paint in the shop, but in the end I found ________ (10). Then I asked for two small paint brushes. ‘We don't have ________ (11),' the shop assistant explained. 'There's ________ (12) demand for them. No one ever asks for ________ (13). 'Yes, they do!’ I exclaimed. 'I'm asking for ________ (14) now!’

TASK 4. Decide if the sentences below are correct or have mistakes. Make the necessary corrections.

1. Researches into cancer have not yet come up with a cure.

2. Draughts are played on board with black and white squares.

3. What happened when you got to the check in? – We had too much luggage.

4. The public were waiting to see the hated hangman swing from his own gallows.

5. Mumps are an illness which is very dangerous for pregnant women.

6. Two military aircrafts were hanging above the water and the noise of their engines was deafening.

7. Could you lend me 5 pounds? – Sorry, I have no money on me. I left them in my hotel room.

8. There is always a heavy traffic in the centre of the city, that is why jams are frequent.

9. When she came home there were some bad news waiting for her.

10. There was so little furniture in the flat that we hardly found any chairs to sit all the people.

11. What a glorious weather! I don’t remember such hot April!

12. You are not eating anything! Have some fruits, please.

13. The advices you gave me were really useful. I’m so grateful!

14. The number of sheep in the flock is close to 100 heads.

15. The main criteria for buying goods is value for money.

16. Don’t throw pearls before swines.

17. Parenthesis are sentences added to a speech or a piece of writing to give extra information.

18. These Picasso’s paintings will form the nuclei of the new museum collection.

19. Terrorism is a phenomenon of the 20^th century.

20. In everybody’s opinion the headmaster’s politics is extreme.

TASK 5. Give the plural form of the following nouns

a bamboo	a photo	a chief
a focus	a sheaf	a zero
a forget-me-not	a woman-hater	a go-between
a trout	a taboo	a calf
a kilo	a nucleus	a canoe
a leaf	a hoof	a brother-in-law
a hairdo	a cuckoo	a still life
a story-teller	a half	a buffalo
a mosquito	a phenomenon	Jenny
a path	a volcano	a chessman
a Negro	a gulf	a booth
a grouse	a woman-journalist	a looker-on
a thief	a cello	a Hindoo
a dragonfly	a Swiss	a scarf
a louse	a leaf	a youth
a goodbye	a doe	an analysis
a bath	a stay-at-home

TASK 6. Cherry Reid is a famous explorer. Below you can read part of a diary she kept when she was travelling. Open the brackets and fill in the gaps in her diary.

Dec 11. I have walked a long way, and my ________ (foot) are tired. As I sit here, resting, I realize there just aren't enough _______ (page) in my diary to describe this lovely place!

On the hills, some ________ (man) from the nearby village are driving their ______ (sheep) home. In the valley, they are ploughing with ________ (ox) and there are also some people on the river bank, catching _________ (fish) with spears. Oh! One of them has just caught two _______ (fish) with one spear!

The _______ (woman) of the village are colourfully dressed, with red and blue _______ (kerchief) covering their hair. They farm small plots of land where they grow ________ (potato) and ________ (tomato). They carry their ______ (baby) on their backs all the time they are working. ________ (goose) stand outside the wooden houses and warn the _______ (woman) of approaching strangers. Outside the houses the children are picking ______ (fruit) from different fruit-trees. They look healthy, with perfect ________ (tooth). Some of the boys are carving toys with sharp _______ (knife).

Life is very simple here. I have seen no _______ (radio) and the people do not even use _______ (match) to light their fires. Several _______ (person) were very surprised when I showed them their _______ (photo) that I had made with my Polaroid.

TASK 7. Use the nouns given in brackets in their plural form.

As we sailed up the River Hudson towards the (city) of New York and Brooklyn, we experienced a sensation which is, I think, common to all travellers who come to an end of their voyage. Many (people) have tried to analyze this emotion, and I have read many such (analysis), but none ever have really satisfied me. The buildings stood out against the skyline like enormous (box) of (match) stuck on end. The houses and (church) were completely dwarfed by them. As we went up the river we examined them all with our (glass). It seemed as if each building brushed the (sky). There were a lot of ships in the river mouth. They were bringing (cargo) from all over the world: (cargo) of meat and (potato) and (mango), of (machine) and (toy) and many other things. They carried (silk) from China and (tea) from India as well. They flew the (colour) of almost every seafaring nation on the globe.

(Army) of (customs-official), (port-authority) and (other) came on board. The passengers were paraded before the port doctor. He was a huge fat man. The first class passengers filed before him as solemn as (ox). Most of the third class passengers stood waiting their turn as quiet as (mouse), though some were as noisy as a flock of (goose). They carried their (saving) in knotted (handkerchief) and the rest of their (belonging) in bundles. Many seemed to have completely lost their bearings and seemed as bewildered as (sheep), while their (wife) and (child) stared around like startled (deer).

There seemed to be varying (criterion) for the treatment of passengers by the immigration (authority), according to the class in which they travelled. Those in the third were examined for (louse), regardless of their feelings.

We landed with every manifestation of high (spirit). The (hanger-on) stared at us as though we were curious (phenomenon).

TASK 8. Fill in the gaps with is, are, do, does, has or have. Give two forms where possible. Explain your choice.

1. The government ______ bringing in a new bill.

2. All governments ______ trying to control crime.

3. The military ______ occupied the house.

4. The company ______ going to employ six staff.

5. The police ______ interested in this case.

6. The public ______ concerned about it.

7. The jury ______ trying to decide now.

8. How many people ______ coming tonight?

9. A lot of people ______ signed the petition.

10. The youth of today ______ many advantages.

11. The committee ______ meeting now.

12. There ______ vermin in this restaurant.

13. The acoustics in this room ______ very good.

14. Acoustics ______ a subject I know little about.

15. The statistics in this report ______ inaccurate.

16. Statistics ______ a compulsory course in this college.

17. ______ there any statistics for road accidents?

18. This crossroads ______ dangerous.

19. There ______ crossroads every mile.

20. There ______ four crossroads in our village.

21. Many species of moths ______ disappeared.

22. This species ______ green and white spots.

23. Our company headquarters ______ in London.

24. Our works ______ a good canteen.

25. There ______ many series of books on birds.

26. My maths ______ getting worse and worse!

27. ______ there any kennels in this area?

28. The goods you ordered ______ arrived.

29. Where ____ the scissors? – ______ are in the first drawer on the left.

30. How much ______ a good pair of trousers cost these days?

31. If your clothes ______ dirty, please put them in the laundry basket.

32. All their belongings ______ been destroyed in a fire.

33. My earnings ______ not high, but at least I have enough money to pay my rent.

TASK 9. Open the brackets and write the verbs in the correct form: singular or plural.