Spotlight Grammar

LESSON
Articles

B1
learning English in real life with authentic language
 WHAT ARE THESE?

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 I saw a cat. The cat was sitting on a fence. The fence was painted
brown. The cat jumped off the fence when it saw a mouse. The
mouse ran into a hole when it saw the cat so the cat didn't catch
the mouse.The hole was dark.

READ THE TEXT AND

UNDERLINE THE ARTICLES.
INDEFINITE ARTICLES

Singular _________ Plural _________ NEXT, FILL IN THE MISSING

ARTICLES.

DEFINITE ARTICLES

Singular _________ Plural _________

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 Once upon a time, there was _____ cowardly knight. One day,
_____ knight was riding past _____ cave. _____ knight thought
that _____ cave might contain something dangerous. Sure enough,
_____ ogre came out of _____ cave. _____ ogre pulled out _____
large club. _____ club was covered with sharp pointy spikes. _____
knight took one look at _____ ogre with _____ large club and
turned his horse and ran away as fast as he could. FILL IN THE GAPS WITH THE
ARTICLES A, AN OR THE.
The next day, _____ knight came to _____ bridge. There was
something strange about _____ bridge so _____ knight stopped his
horse before crossing _____ bridge. Sure enough, _____ troll
jumped onto _____ bridge and started walking towards _____
knight. _____ troll had _____ large pointy spear. _____ knight took
one look at _____ troll with _____ long spear and turned his

4 horse and ran away as fast as he could.

 About a week later, on _____ dark stormy night, _____ knight was
walking past _____ old castle. _____ castle looked empty so
_____ knight entered _____ gate and went inside to sleep. As soon
as he got inside _____ knight saw _____ ghost floating in the
middle of the room. _____ ghost turned towards _____ knight and
started to head towards him. _____ knight turned and ran away of FILL IN THE GAPS WITH THE
course. But, there outside the castle blocking _____ gate was ARTICLES A, AN OR THE.
_____ troll and _____ ogre. _____ ogre, _____ troll, and _____
ghost surrounded _____ knight and pulled him off of his horse. That
was it for _____ knight.

What is the moral of the story?

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 WHY DO WE SAY:

THE sun

THE president

THE queen of England

THE capital city

THE moon

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 WHY DO WE SAY:

THE Rocky Mountains

THE New York Islanders
THE Amazon River
THE Pacific Ocean
THE Steelworkers Union
THE Great Plains
THE Washington Monument
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 A: Who's he?
B: He's the president of Korea.

A: Who's she?
B: She's a member of parliament. EXPLAIN THE USAGE OF THE
ARTICLES IN THE FOLLOWING
SENTENCES.
A car crashed into a tree. The driver was seriously injured.

A driver was seriously injured when the car he was driving

crashed.

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 1. Scientists have discovered ________ new planet orbiting
________ sun. ________ planet is slightly larger than ________
moon.

2. ________ car crashed into ________ tree this morning.

________ driver was killed and ________ passenger was seriously
injured when ________ tree fell onto ________ car.
READ THIS FUNCTIONAL NEWS
AND FILL IN THE MISSING
3. ________ president of Zimbarba announced that ________
ARTICLES.
large bomb exploded in ________ capital city. ________ bomb
was planted on ________ bus. ________ driver was killed along
with ________ passenger sitting near him.

4. ________ cargo ship ran aground last night. According to

________ crew member, ________ captain had been drinking
when he steered ________ ship into ________ shallow reef.
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 5. ________ airplane has crashed after taking off at 12:42 this
afternoon. ________ pilot sent ________ distress signal shortly
before ________ crash. ________ survivor said he saw smoke
coming from ________ engine on ________ right side of ________
plane.

6. ________ New York Writers Association has announced

________ competition for ________ best story of the year. READ THIS FUNCTIONAL NEWS
________ winner of ________ competition will receive ________ AND FILL IN THE MISSING
trip to Europe and $1,000 in spending money. ________ second place ARTICLES.
contestant will receive ________ prize of $500.00.

7. Three cars collided on Oak Street. ________ driver in one car was
hurt along with ________ passenger in another car. ________ driver
was taken to hospital but is in stable condition. ________ passenger
was treated at the scene of ________ accident.

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 WHAT’S THE LATEST NEWS
YOU HAVE READ OR HEARD?

CAN YOU SHARE IT WITH THE

CLASS?

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 I ate a cookie.

The cookie was delicious.

The cookies are on the table.
I made some cookies for you.

Cookies contain a lot of sugar.

Kids shouldn't eat cookies every day.
I enjoy making cookies.
I never eat cookies at night.

I like cookies.
I like the cookies.

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 1. _________ firefighters face dangers.
2. _________ firefighters were the first to arrive at the scene of the
accident.
3. _________ firefighters are often the first to arrive at the scene of
an accident.
4. _________ firefighters inhale many dangerous fumes on the job.
DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT TO
5. _________ cigarettes are on the table.
USE AN ARTICLE. FILL IN THE
6. _________ cigarettes kill many people every year.
GAPS WITH THE ARTICLE THE
7. _________ cigarette broke before I could light it.
OR JUST LEAVE IT BLANK.
8. _________ athletes were tired after the game.
9. _________ athletes should drink plenty of liquids.
10. _________ sea turtles are endangered.
11. The fisherman released _________ sea turtles that they caught.
12. _________ sea turtles are protected by the government.
13. The zoo nursed _________ sick sea turtle back to health.
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 14. _________ cars are responsible for much of the pollution found
in cities.
15. _________ cars parked in the alley were towed away last night.
16. The driver of _________ car had been drinking.
17. _________ cattle are diseased.
18. _________ cattle often catch diseases from their food supply.
DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT TO
19. _________ doctors make a lot of money.
USE AN ARTICLE. FILL IN THE
20. _________ doctors who examined the patient couldn’t find
GAPS WITH THE ARTICLE THE
anything wrong.
OR JUST LEAVE IT BLANK.
21. _________ doctor said I should exercise more.
22. _________ doctors recommend eating more fish.
23. _________ doctor recommended that I cut down on fats.
24. _________ movies are an important part of modern culture.
25. _________ movie was interesting but a little long.
26. Of all _________ movies I saw last year, it is the only one I
14 remember.
 1. I don’t like _________ cookies.
2. I didn’t like _________ cookies you made.
3. I didn’t eat _________ cookie because I just don’t like _________ cookies.
4. _________ milk is on the table.
5. _________ milk is good for growing bones.
6. I rarely drink _________ milk.
7. Did you drink _________ milk I left on the counter? DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT TO
8. _________ birds have beaks and wings. USE AN ARTICLE. FILL IN THE
9. Dinosaurs may be related to _________ birds. GAPS WITH THE ARTICLE THE
10. The cat ate _________ birds that were nesting in the maple tree. OR JUST LEAVE IT BLANK.
11. _________ lions live in groups called prides.
12. _________ lions we saw were sick.
13. I bought _________ chocolate bar yesterday.
14. I never buy _________ chocolate bars.
15. _________ chocolate bars are bad for your teeth.
16. I love _________ chocolate bars.
15 17. I saw _________ chocolate bars you bought.
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