Language for writing Comparative and superlative forms 1 Correct the errors. ‘Their marketing department is much bigger that ours. Williams is the better manager we've ever had Prices have increased slowly this year than last year. ‘These are the most bad figures in the firm's history. Family-run firms are sometimes the successful of all Colin works least hard than anyone else in this office. Production didn’t go up any fast last month chan the month before. mre ane 2 Complete the sentences with the comparative or superlative, a. The competition is 1 (intense) than it was five years ago. b_ A global company’s product range is - (wide) than a small firm's. (hard) than © We all need to work wwe did last year. d_ In many companies, labour costs are . (great) expense © Productivity i5 nnn country than it is abroad. (bad) in this f Theyare.... _ (efficient) firm in the industry. 3 Modifiers euch a¢ much can be used with comparatives and by far with superlatives. Examples Sales are usually much higher in summer than in winter These are by far the most popular goods we make, Which of these modifiers indicate a small difference, and which a large difference? Which is used with superlatives only? far significantly easily slightly abit a great deal marginally 4. Study the graph. Complete the sentences wich a modifier plus a comparative or superlative form. a The figures for January to March were (low) in the whole year. b- Overall, the index rose the spring chan in the summer. © By ig) increase was between March and June. d_ The peak in September was... sevens (high) than that in July. © Overall, it went up ... (slow) in the autumn than in the spring. f The index fel... in August. (fat) in October than Write three more sentences about the graph above. Use modifiers with comparatives or superlatives. The Form us ua is uaed Wy express equality, che negative is not as... as or not so... as. Modifiers and quantifiers can be added. Examples ‘Nokia is almost as valuable as McDonald's, ‘Microsoft is not quite as valuable as Coca Cola. ‘Nokia is worth less than half.as much as IBM. Coca Cola is worth just over three times as much as Marlboro. ‘Compare the following brands. In most cases more than one answer is possible a IBM/ Microsoft d_ Marlboro / Toyota b Toyota / GE © GE/ Marlboro € Disney / 18M f McDonald's / IBM UNITS 65Orientation there is move den one chart, graph, or table, the information in them will be linked in some way. Find this link when you first study the di Writing 1 Look at the six media forms in the charts below. In which would you expect to see or hear an adverticement for each af these products and services? cheap flights ccut-price furniture a new model of car a hank a newly-released CD a hairdresser’s 2 Look at the Writing Task 1 below. ‘a Can you explain why a pie chart and a bar chart have been used in each case? b_ What is shown by each section of the pie chart? Which three dominate the market in the pie chart? © What is shown by each bar in che chart? What is the overall wend? The charts below give information about the amount spent an different forms of advertising. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, making comparisons where relevant. Pee eu) Comparing data 66 UNITS ’ Internet s m= a Hi ove mai — i radio . Diet Mai Magazines Vv “= a 4 Radio, 5 3 Look at the data and anewer there questions. 2 Which categories of media match the following descriptions? Write a sentence expressing each. the smallest sum of money the largest proportion of cotal spending the next largest amount of total spending the lowest projected rise by far the highest expected growth increases in the region of 5-10% b Which category is the lowest in one diagram but the highest in the other?Think, plan, write 4. Rewrite the following sentences about the data, using the words given. You may need to change nouns to verbs or verbs to nouns. a. Slightly more money was spent on TV advertising than on direct mail. AlMOSE ose b Newspaper advertising was predicted to grow relatively slowly in comparison with magazines. Relatively nn sennnnne € Taken together, advertising in newspapers and magazines accounts for by far the highest spending. Much d_ Spending on most categories of advertising was forecast to rise by 5-10%, except for two. Apart © More was spent on TY, direct mail or newspapers than on radio, magazines and the Internet combined. Not f No other category was expected to increase even half as much as Internet advertising, Internet 5 Plan your answer to che Writing Task 1 question in 2. Think about these questions before you begin How will you begin your description of the data? Are there any important comparisons to make between the charts? Which ones? ‘Which segments or bars from each chart will you focus on? Why? ‘Which chart will you describe first? ‘What other comparisons will you include? ‘Which verb tenses will you mainly use? 6 Write at least 150 words in answer to the question in 2. Use comparatives, superlatives, and other expressions you have learnt. Where appropriate, adapt phrases, and sentences you have written in this section, 7 Evaluate your partner's completed text, using these ten questions. a Is it appropriate in length and style? Is there a suitable introduction to the topic? Are the points presented in a logical order? Are these points linked together correctly? Dues it cover all ue key points in both diagrams? Ae relevant comparisons and contrasts made? Are there any unnecessary points? Is there any inaccurate information? Is there anything you don’t understand? Are there any obvious language errors? UNITS 67