Articles Work in pairs.

For the sentences in 1-8 below, decide

which sentence requires an article and which does
In the extract below, underline examples of the
not. Explain why.
following:
1 I spent the day visiting ___ old monuments
1. The definite article (the)
2. The zero article ___ monuments I visited were old
3. The indefinite article (a/an)
2 I like ___ climbing mountains

I’d like to go climbing in ___ Himalayas

Contrary to popular belief, the Great
Barrier Reef is not a continuous barrier,
but a broken maze of around 2,900
individual reefs, of which 760 are fringing
3 You shouldn’t look at ___ sun directly
___ stars twinkle because they are far away
4 The Amazon flows through ____

reefs along the mainland or around
islands.
Work in pairs to answer questions 1-10 below. Pay
attention to the articles in your answers.
1. What gives us light during the day?
2. What objects do you see far away in the sky on a
clear night?
3. Is the sun a star or a planet?
4. Are there different solar systems?
5. What is the highest mountain range in the world?
6. Which mountain range is it in?
7. What is the name of the capital in Japan?
8. Is London a capital of the UK?
9. Are there different oceans on our planets? Can
you name three?
Rivers like ___ Nile bring life to desert regions
5 ___ capital city of Mexico is enormous
___ Mexico City is particularly big.
6 ___ United Kingdom is usually just called the
UK
___ kingdoms are ruled by monarchs.
7 ___ prime minister runs the country.
____ prime ministers are appointed by heads
of state or parties
8 ___ heart sends blood around the body.
The body has ___ various organs.

A trip I would like to describe is a journey I went on to the Brazil

a few years ago. I went with my family, two brothers but no the
sisters, five people in all. We flew to the Rio de Janeiro which is
an amazing city with many people and lots of entertainment.
What I really like about the city is that it has the beaches and, of
course, it’s famous for its nightlife. We had lots of the fun there
with a sightseeing and parties, which we went to nearly every
night. The cost of the living is cheap there and a meal in a
restaurant is a real treat as everyone is very lively. I recommend
Brazil as a place for the holidays and relaxing…
Complete the spaces in the text below with the, a, an or no article (-).’

___ third of all employees in ___ UK see ‘taking a sickie’ as an

acceptable part of ___ work, nothing more than light-hearted
flexibility with working hours, yet taking days off when not
actually sick is costing ___ economy ___ billions of pounds ___
year in ___ UK alone. As such ___ reasons for these days off work
need to be addressed to counteract ___ ‘sick culture’ embracing
society.
The reasons for these ‘sick days’ are quite complex. One of ___
main reasons for this kind of absence is ‘work fatigue’, ___ fact
that ___ people are bored with their jobs. As one leading
professor states, jobs have become more fragmented and as such
people cannot give meaning to their work and feel alienated from
their main roles. This can be seen by ___ masses of people who
are sitting at ___ workstation every day for seven or eight hours
doing a job which is only one small part of a process. Bringing back
this kind of meaning into work could be ___ difficult task, one
which may not even be possible. However, ___ most cited reasons
for taking ‘sick days’ is ___ family commitments, such as childcare
or illness within __ family. This is an issue which can be addressed
with such things as ___ flexible working hours and home working.
Perhaps, if employers can be a bit more forward thinking in these
areas, they will, in the long run, be ___ ones to benefit the most.