English_books / MacMillan-FCE.Language.Practice.With.Key(M.Vince) nen in

f)

There are pieces of paper all over the floor!

litter

There

all over the floor.

g)

Can I park my car here?

allowed

Is

here?

I know

very expensive.

a)

Let me give you a

piece

of advice.

b)

There is an interesting

of news in the paper.

c)

A

of stairs takes you to the top of the house.

d)

Could I have another

of paper, please?

e)

Helen has a lovely

of hair.

f)

Do you want another

of toast?

g)

We bought Mike and Lynn a

of cutlery for a wedding present.

h)

The lightning was followed by a

of thunder.

a)

I can't cut this loaf. Do you have a proper

bread

knife?

b)

I'm afraid that 'neice' is a

mistake.

c)

There's usually a/an

space opposite the cinema.

d) We need a/an

box to keep the money in.

e)

The tourist board have built a/an

centre near the castle.

f)

We decided to put a/an

conductor on the

roof.

g)

Marjorie used to write a/an

column in a magazine.

h)

These suitcases are very heavy. We must find a/an

trolley.

i)

I must rush. I'm going to a/an

lesson.

j)

Julie found her flat through a/an

agency.

Food habits

Breakfast is one of those (1)

B..

that varies from person to person,

and country to country. For some (2)

it means a (3)

of toast and some coffee. In various places I've also been offered

(4)

or fruit. (5)

executives might eat breakfast at the

(6)

, while for many schoolchildren breakfast is a

(7)

of milk at home, and then a long wait (8)

the

first break of the morning, when they eat (9)

or

(10)

chocolate bar. Some families sit down and eat together

(11)

the morning, and listen to (12)

news on the

radio or (13)

early morning television. For other people, the early

morning is a rush (14)

work or school, and there just simply isn't

(15)

1)

A times

B meals

C foods

D plates

2)

A people

B persons

C breakfasts

D us

3)

A sheet

B loaf

C slice

D sandwich

4)

A a cheese

B the cheese

C cheese

D cheeses

5)

A Business

B A business

C Business's

D Businessmen

6)

A train

B street

C morning

D office

7)

A glass

B piece

C warm

D box

8)

A to

B is

C until

D which

9)

A sandwich

B the sandwich

C a sandwiches

D sandwiches

10)

A a

B some

C a piece

D a glass of

11)

A for

B in

C at

D while

12)

A a

B what

C some

D the

13)

A look

B watch

C see

D regard

14)

A to

B from

C at

D and

15)

A there

B it

C enough

D time

Key points

1 Check in a dictionary to be sure that a noun is countable or uncountable.

The meaning of a noun may change depending on whether it is used in a

countable or uncountable sense.

Note that some nouns ending in -5 take a singular verb:

The news is bad today

And that some nouns only have a plural form:

The police are arriving shortly.

SEE ALSO

Indefinite article

• With something we refer to for the first time.

{a/an)

I've just had a great idea.

I'll give you a call next week.

Cairo is a very big city.

It's a beautiful day.

one and a half kilos

a dozen eggs

a hundred envelopes

Definite article

• With nouns we have mentioned previously.

(the)

There is a bedroom and a living room. The bedroom is quite large.

regions.

The Thames flows into the North Sea.

the Arctic

Also with plural countries,

or where the country name contains a noun.

the Netherlands

the

People's Republic of China

This is the best.

You are the first.

This is the only one.

•

With media.

What's on (the) television?

I went to

the cinema.

Zero article

•

With uncountable nouns and plural countable nouns when we are talking

(no article)

generally.

Give peace a chance.

Football is life.

I hate wasps.

All he

talks about is cars.

She works for Lufthansa.

I'll see you in January.

- With names of meals when we are talking generally.

It's time for lunch.

(BUT The lunch I had at Cafe Sol was good value.)

What's for dinner?

(BUT The dinner Sue gave us last night was delicious.)

Sally is in prison.

(she's a prisoner)

Sally is in the prison.

(she's a visitor to that specific building)

Similar are: bed, church,

class, court, hospital, school, university

- With means of transport when we are talking generally.

We went there by car.

(BUT We went there in the car that Alex borrowed.)

a)

We went by

/..

- train to

the

west of England.

b)

people who live in

Netherlands are called

Dutch.

c)

judge sent me to

prison for

ten

years.

d)

Columbus was one of

first people to cross

Atlantic.

e)

As

captain of

ship, I have

complete authority.

f)

David learned to play

violin when he was at

university.

g)

Trafalgar Square is near

Charing Cross Station.

h)

Did you read

book I lent you

last week?

i)

We'll put up

shelves and then go to

cafe for

something to eat.

j)

Is that

present Bill gave you for

Christmas?

a)

The butler was

.C

I suspected.

A) last person

B) a last person

C) the last person D) some last person

b)

Where

you borrowed last week?

A) is scissors

B) are the scissors

C) is some scissors

D) are scissors

c)

Why don't we go to the park

?

A) in the car

B) with a car

C) with car

D) by the car

d) Too much rubbish is being dumped in

A) sea

B) the sea

C) a sea

D) some sea

e)

This is exactly

I was looking for.

A) job

B) a job

C) some job D) the job

f)

Of all these cars, I think I prefer

A) a Japanese

B) some Japanese

C) the Japanese one

D) a Japanese one

g)

I try to go jogging at least four times

A) the week B) of the week

C) a week

D) of a week

h)

Sally spent six months out of

A) work

B) a work C) the work

D) some work

a) Some people say that the

9.

a)

Neil Armstrong made

...the

first footprint on

the

Moon.

b)

There was

accident yesterday at

corner of

street.

c)

I need

time to think about

offer you made me.

d)

recipe for

success is

hard

work.

e)

people who live in

glass houses shouldn't throw

stones.

f)

worst part of

living in a caravan is

lack of space.

g)

book you ordered

last week is now in

stock.

h)

dancing is

more

interesting activity than

reading.

i)

people we met on

holiday in

north of England sent us

postcard.

j)

little knowledge is

dangerous

thing.

only

The

only

problem

here

is

the weather.

b) There are no good films on this week.

cinema

There is nothing

this week.

Is

can swim?

d) I haven't been here before.

time

This is

been here.

The

a lot of wine.

f)

If you drive faster, it is more dangerous.

the

The

dangerous it is.

g)

It is difficult to discover what is true.

truth

The

discover.

h)

Are you a good pianist?

piano

Can you

well?

8 Put a/an or the in each space,

or leave the

space blank.

a)

What's the use in taking

/

- medicine for

?!

cold?

b)

Is

happiness of

majority more

important than

rights of

individual?

c)

It's

long way by

train to

north of

Scotland.

d)

philosophers seem to think that

life is

mystery.

e)

most cars start badly on

cold mornings.

f)

There was

time when I enjoyed

skating.

g)

Do you have

reason for

arriving late?

h)

When I arrive

home I feel

sense of

relief.

i)

end of

book is

by far

best part.

j)

friend always tells me

answers

to

homework we have.

Key p o i n t s

1

With some types of building, the meaning can change depending on the use of

the

article.

Helen is at school. (the purpose of the school is important - Helen is a

student or a teacher)

Helen

is at the school.

(the building itself is

important - it is the place

where we can find Helen)

All

-

When all

is used to show the quantity of something, it can be followed by of.

Jim was

there all (of) the time.

It is unusual to use all as a single-word subject or object. Instead we use

everything to mean all the things.

Everything has gone wrong!

(NOT All has gone wrong!)

No

• When no is used to show the quantity of something, it can mean not any.

There are no plates left.

No new students have joined the class.

- No can also be used with a comparative adjective.

It's no worse than before.

There were no less than 500 applications for the job.

- No is not normally used alone before an adjective. Compare:

This book doesn't have any interesting parts.

(usual)

There are no interesting parts in this book.

(unusual - very emphatic)

It is not interesting.

But there is an idiomatic use of no with good.

I tried hard but it was no good, I couldn't reach.

(no good = useless)

Another common idiomatic use is with -ing forms.

Remember, no cheating!

No smoking, please.

None

• We do not use no of. Instead, we use none of or none on its own.

None of the films that are showing in town look

very interesting.

I've checked all the films that are showing in town. None look very interesting.

In everyday speech none is often followed by a plural verb form. In formal

speech or writing it can be followed by a singular verb form.

None of these telephones work.

None of the members of the

committee has arrived yet.