Inglese Introduttivo (A2)

Dott.ssa Veronica Bonsignori

veronica.bonsignori@uniroma4.it

Lesson 4

[D3] Exercise 4: Listen again and answer the following questions.

1) How does she describe her town?

a) affordable b) beautiful c) expensive d) cheap
2) What is the capital like?
a) green and beautiful b) busy and crowded c) clean and pretty d) clean and dirty
3) How does she describe people at work?
a) They are lazy. b) They are unfriendly. c) They are vain. d) They are nice.
4) How does she describe the food?
a) delicious b) fat c) fit d) expensive

[D3] Exercise 5: Fill in the gaps with the adjectives/adverbs below:

rare, rarely, exact, exactly, hard, hardly, quick, fast, late, well, good, lately

1. I need the __________ figures, not estimates.

2. This exam is too __________ for me. I’m sure I’m going to fail it.
3. The team played really ___________. I think they’ll be the champions soon.
4. I’m sorry I’m ___________. The bus broke down and I had to wait for another one.
5. She ___________ goes to the theatre. She says it’s too expensive and she doesn’t like
watching live plays.
6. What ____________ were the two leaders talking about?
7. I ____________ ever see him anymore. We used to be such close friends, but we’ve just drifted
apart since he started his new job.
8. This ___________ diamond is very expensive.
9. You’ll have to act ____________ if you want to get a ticket.
10. The service is really ____________ in this restaurant.
11. Have you read any ____________ books ____________?

► Grammar point 1: Comparative Adjectives

When we talk about two things, we can compare them. We can use comparative adjectives to
describe the differences. E.g.: John is 1m80. He is tall. But Chris is 1m85. He is taller than John.
Form:

THAN 1
  Short adjectives > add -er  e.g., old > older
 Long adjectives > use more  e.g., interesting > more interesting

Short adjectives
1-syllable adjectives + -er > cold – colder > e.g. Alaska is colder than Hawaii.
1-syllable adjectives ending in -e + -r > safe – safer > e.g. Japan is safer than most countries.
1-syllable adjectives (CVC) + C + -er > big – bigger > e.g. My town is bigger than before.
2-syllable adjectives ending in -y + -ier > angry – angrier > e.g. The boss is angrier in the
morning.
Long adjectives (2 or more syllable adjectives)
2-syllable adjectives not ending in -y >> more > dangerous – more dangerous > e.g. The city is
more dangerous now.
more-syllable adjectives >> more > expensive – more expensive > e.g. Everything is more
expensive these days.

IRREGULAR ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS*:

good  better *well  better
bad  worse (*)far  farther, further

Exercise 1: Read the following texts and put the adjectives in the comparative form
1. Comparing people
My mother and father are very different. My mom is ____older____________ (old) than my dad,
but my dad looks __________older______ (old) than my mom. My dad is ____more
active____________ (active) because he plays sports. My mom is ___more
talkative_____________ (talkative). She loves to talk with people. My dad is
______taller__________ (tall) than my mom. My mom is ________shorter________ (short) than
my dad.

2. Comparing places
Los Angeles and San Francisco are both in California, but they are very different. San Francisco is
_______smaller_________ (small) than Los Angeles. It is also ______more cold__________
(cold). Los Angeles is _____more big___________ (big) than San Francisco, but San Francisco is
_____more expensive___________ (expensive). It is _____harder___________ (hard) to find
housing in San Francisco. I think San Francisco is a ________better________ (good) place to
live.

3. Comparing movies
I think the old Star Wars movies are ________better________ (good) than the new Star Wars
movies. In the old movies, the characters were ________more interesting________ (interesting),
and the story was ______faster__________ (fast). The new stories are __more
difficult______________ (difficult) to follow. I felt _____more happy___________ (happy)
watching the old movies.

4. Comparing food
I like Japanese food more than American food because it is ______more healty__________
(healthy). Japanese meals are _________smaller_______ (small) and
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_______fresher_________ (fresh) than American meals. American food is __________________
(international) though, so I like that about it. Still, I think Japanese food tastes
___better_____________ (good).

Exercise 2: Read the 4 brief texts again and answer the following questions

1) Who is older, her mon or her dad?

a) Her mom b) Her dad
2) Which city is more expensive?
a) San Francisco b) Los Angeles
3) What movies make her happier?
a) New movies b) Old movies
4) Which food tastes better to her?
a) Japanese food b) American food

► Grammar point 2: Superlative Adjectives

We use superlative adjectives to show that something has the highest quality of some trait within
a group of subjects. E.g.: John is 1m75. David is 1m80. Chris is 1m85. Chris is the tallest.
Form:
 Short adjectives > add -est  e.g. old > the oldest
 Long adjectives > use most  e.g. interesting > the most interesting THE

Short adjectives
1-syllable adjectives + -est > cold – coldest > e.g. Winter is the coldest time of the year.
1-syllable adjectives ending in -e + -st > safe – safest > e.g. This is not the safest place to live.
1-syllable adjectives (CVC) + C + -est > big – biggest > e.g. Tokyo is the biggest city in Japan.
2-syllable adjectives ending in -y + -iest > angry – angriest > e.g. He is the angriest man I know.
Long adjectives (2 or more syllable adjectives)
2-syllable adjectives not ending in -y >> most > dangerous – most dangerous > e.g. This is the
most dangerous part of town.
more-syllable adjectives >> most > expensive – most expensive > e.g. This is the most
expensive restaurant in my city.

IRREGULAR ADJECTIVES:
good  (the) best bad  (the) worst
far  (the) farthest, (the) furthest

Exercise 3: Listen to ten statements using superlative adjectives and fill in the
blanks

1) Tokyo is ________________ city in Japan.

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2) Bangkok is ________________ city in Thailand.
3) The Nile is ________________ river in the world.
4) Antarctica is ________________ place in the world.
5) Saudi Arabia is one of ________________ countries in the world.
6) ________________ person in the world is a man.
7) ________________ city in the world is Hong Kong.
8) ________________ people in the world live in Finland.
9) ________________ fish is the Great White Shark.
10) ________________ country in the world is Japan.

Exercise 4: Read about the climate in Madagascar on a travel website. Then choose
true or false.

Madagascar – When to go

Madagascar has two seasons, a warm, wet season from November to April, and a cooler dry
season between May and October. However, different parts of the country have very different
weather.
The east coast is hotter and wetter, with up to 4000mm of rainfall per year. In the rainy season,
there are strong winds, and these can cause a lot of damage. Avoid visiting eastern Madagascar
between January and March because the weather can make road travel very difficult. The dry
season is cooler and more pleasant.
The high, central part of the country is much drier and cooler. About 1,400 mm of rain falls in the
rainy season, with some thunderstorms, but the summer is usually sunny and dry, but it can be
cold, especially in the mornings, with freezing showers, and it may snow in mountain areas above
2,400m, and even stay there for several days.
The west coast is the driest part of the island. Here, the winter months are pleasant with little rain,
cooler temperatures and blue skies. The summers can be extremely hot, especially in the
southwest. This part of the country is semi-desert, and only gets around 300mm of rain per year.

1) Madagascar has four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. T/F
2) There is more rain in January than in June. T/F
3) The wet season is colder than the dry season. T/F
4) It hardly ever rains in central Madagascar. T/F
5) The wettest part of the island is the east. T/F
6) January-March is a good time to visit eastern Madagascar. T/F
7) The centre of Madagascar is the coldest part. T/F
8) Snow sometimes falls in Madagascar. T/F
9) The west coast has the best weather in December. T/F
10) The north-east is hotter than the south-east. T/F

► Grammar point 3: Articles

There are two types of articles: definite and indefinite articles.

Indefinite articles are a/an and they are used to talk about something in general:
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 I saw a star last night.
We want to buy an umbrella.
We use the definite article the to talk about something in particular:
I saw the moon last night.
Have you cleaned the car?
It is sometimes also possible to have no article at all – ZERO article – when we talk about
something in general (with plural nouns, uncountable nouns, abstract nouns)
I like cats.
I eat rice every day.
Health is important to everyone.

Exercise 5: Fill in the blanks using a/an or the

_____ man and _____ woman were walking in Oxford Street. _____ woman saw _____ dress that
she liked in _____ shop. She asked _____ man if he could buy the _____ dress for her. He said:
“Do you think _____ shop will accept _____ cheque? I don’t have _____ credit card.”

Exercise 6: Fill in the blanks using a/an, the or --

1) There are two new students in my class, ____ boy and ____ girl.
2) ____ actors in this film are very talented.
3) We saw ____ film yesterday. ____ film was about an explorer.
4) My mum doesn’t like ____ dogs. She thinks they are noisy.
5) Don’t look at ____ sun. You will hurt your eyes!
6) ____ pollution is a serious issue.
7) That’s ____ last gas station for twenty miles.
8) People are increasingly worried about ____ crime.
9) Let’s go to _____ bar for a drink.
10) _____ life has changed a lot in the last twenty years.