Task 3 Focus on Grammar Articles

The indefinite articles (a, an) are used with countable nouns when they are singular (a metal, an element).

The definite article (the) may be used with plural nouns and with either countable or uncountable single nouns:

• to specify something that has been already mentioned:

The elements, I have mentioned, are very active.

• To refer to something that is unique:

a planet - the earth

• To express superlatives:

the heaviest element

• With ordinal numbers:

the twenty-first century; the last paper

• With a noun that is followed by an of phrase:

the atomic number of oxygen

article is not used	only ‘the’ is used
1) before abstract nouns: Life is wonderful!	1) before proper names of groups of islands, chains of mountains, plural names of deserts, coutries: the Alps; the Atlantic, the Thames the USA. the Netherlands.
2) before names of people and places (except those in the right column). But the Smiths (= the Smith family).	2) with certain other names: the Sudan, the Yemen, the Hague
3) after a noun in the possessive case, or a possessive pronoun: this is my book	3) before names consisting of adjective+noun: the Gold Coast, the High Street
4) before ‘home’	4) before names consisting of noun+of+noun the Cape of Good Hope, the Union of South Africa

Exercise 1. Explain the use of the articles or their absence.

1. Gold is a rather rare element. 2. Sheila is a student. Her subject is mathematics. 3. The Hymalayas form a wall along the north of India. 4.They decided to have dinner with the Browns. 5. In fact Russian managers enjoy more freedom to make decisions. 6. Professor Rogers is a physisist. His special field is classical physics. 7. Every fifteen years Mars comes within about 56 million kilometres of Earth (the next approach will occur in the summer of 2003). 8. Physical metallurgy deals with the nature, structure and physical properties of metals and alloys. 9. The chemical elements are devided into metals and non-metals. 10. Man knows how to mine, smelt and work metals. 11. The Mediterranian was one of the main sea-routs to transport metals in ancient times. 12. Very little hydrogen is found free in nature.

Exercise 2. Fill in the spaces with articles whenever necessary.

1. ... iron occurs only sparingly in ... free state. 2. In ... distant times ... Caucasus was probably connected with ... Balcans. 3. ... United States of America is located on ... American continent. 4. ... Manhattan lies at .... mouth of ... Hudson River. 5. They went to ... Swiss Alps for ... Christmas holidays. 6. I like ... tea, but she prefers ... mineral water. 7. ... ancient Greece and Rome were known for their excellent metal workers. 8. She has just returned from ... Hague. 9. I don’t know where ... Cape of ... Good Hope is. ... Geography is not my best subject. 10. ... Doctor Albert Arnott, who is a nuclear physicist, does not have much administrative work to do though he is ... Head of Department of ... Atomic Physics at Cambridge. He has ... very good assistant. 11. When I was in ... London I liked to walk in ... Trafalgar Square. 12. ... body at ... rest tends to remain at ... reat, and ... body in ... motion tends to remain in ... motion. 13. ... Browns are my neighbours. 14. ... Guardian is among ... most popular British newspapers. 15. He stood by ... window of ... sitting-room which overlooked ... Hyde Park. 16. ... capital of ... United States, Washington, D.C., is not located in any state, but lies between ... states of Maryland and ... Virginia. 17. ... future of ... British education depends on ... success of ... radical reforms of ... present Government. 18. ... Britain was ... rural country until ... end of ... 18th century. 19. … effect of radiation on … living things depends on … amount of radiation absorbed and … rate of absorption.