March 27th


A. Quantifiers

1. With Uncountable Nouns
  • much
  • a little/little/very little *
  • a bit (of)
  • a great deal of
  • a large amount of

2. With Both

  • all
  • enough
  • more/most
  • less/least
  • no/none
  • not any
  • some
  • any
  • a lot of
  • lots of
  • plenty of

3. With Countable Nouns

  • many
  • a few/
  • a number (of)
  • several
  • a large number of
  • a majority of

When to use A FEW or FEW and LITTLE or A LITTLE

A few and a little express a positive idea. They indicate that something exists or is present.
Although she has been here only two weeks, she has already made a few friends.
This is a positive idea. She has made some friends.

I'm very pleased. I've been able to save a little money this month. This is a positive idea. I have saved some money instead of spending all of it. 

Few and little give a negative idea; they indicate that something is largely absent.

I feel sorry for her. She has few friends.
Negative idea: She does not have many friends; she has almost no friends.

I have little money. I don't even have enough money to buy lunch. 
Negative idea: I have almost no money.



B. Exercises
In the following sentences, fill in the gaps with one of the following quantifiers:

A FEW | A GREAT DEAL | A LITTLE | A LOT | A LOT OF | A MAJORITY OF | ENOUGH | MANY | MUCH OF | PLENTY | SEVERAL OF | SOME 


1. I'm having  of trouble passing my driving exam.

2.  the movies were rated PG.


3.  information proved to be outdated.


4. We're close to the project deadline, but there is still  time left.


5. Although there are  brilliant students in this state -- thousands, even, only  will choose to remain in the state after graduation.


6. We were able to destroy  the parasites with our antigen, but  of them survived to cause trouble.


7.  a student has passed through these doors.


8. Although  of the lawn is open to the sun, there are  of shade trees to make it comfortable.


9. I think he drank  wine last night.


10.  the evidence was taken from the police safe last night.





In this exercise you will practise using the determiners fewa few, and fewerlittlea little and less.
Instructions: Choose the correct answer in each of the following sentences:




 I waited for  minutes and then tried to call him again. 

 We have very  chance of reaching London before lunchtime; it's still another 100 miles away. 

 Unfortunately, he has  money to live on, as his salary is quite low. 
 Unfortunately,  of the companies which we sent offers to showed interest in our products. 
 There wouldn't be so many accidents if there was  traffic on the roads. 
 Last month was a good month for the company. We found  new customers and also increased our profit. 
 The taxi driver spoke  English. I couldn't understand him. 
 We have to speed up - there is very  time to finish the project. The deadline is next Friday.
 There were  people than usual in the supermarket. 
 I have  money but more time than I did ten years ago. 
 It will take me  time, but I'm sure everyone will learn how to use the new software eventually. 
 There were too many applicants for too  jobs. 




C. The different uses of the verb GET

1. TO GET + direct object = to obtain, to receive, to buy:
To obtain

Examples

  • She got her driving license last week.
  • They got permission to live in Switzerland.
2. To receive

Examples

  • got a letter from my friend in Nigeria.
  • He gets $1,000 a year from his father.
3. To buy

Examples

  • She got a new coat from Zappaloni in Rome.
  • We got a new television for the sitting room.
4. TO GET + place expression = reach, arrive at a place:

Examples

  • We got to London around 6 p.m.
  • What time will we get there?
  • We got to the party at midnight
  • When did you get back from New York?
5. TO GET + adjective = to become, show a change of state:

Examples

  • It's getting hotter.
  • By the time they reached the house they were getting hungry.
  • I'm getting tired of all this nonsense.
  • My mother's getting old and needs looking after.
  • It gets dark very early in the winter.
  • Don't touch the stove until is gets cool.
6. TO GET + preposition / adverb is used in many phrasal verbs. Here are some of the most common ones:

Examples

Phrasal Verb
Meaning
get at
try to express
get away with
escape punishment for a crime or bad action
get by
manage (financially)
get down
descend; depress
get off
leave a form of transport
(train, bus, bicycle, plane)
get on
enter/sit on a form of transport
(train, bus, bicycle, plane);
have a relationship with someone;
manage
get out of
avoid doing something, especially a duty
get over
recover (from an illness, a surprise)
get through
use or finish the supply of something
get up
leave your bed

Examples

  • He got on his bicycle and rode down the street.
  • He gets up at 6.00 a.m. every morning.
  • She got out of the washing-up every day, even when it was her turn.
  • We got off the train just before the bomb exploded.
  • We've got through all the sugar - can you buy some more?
  • I typically get off at the Albert Premier tram stop
  • It was very hard for me to get over the pain caused by the death of my father

D. Find and Replace
Find all of the uses of the verb get in the paragraph below and replace them with a different verb/phrase.

I get a lot of emails every day, and some of them are junk mail. I am tired of getting junk mail, aren’t you? I get bothered by spam, and there is so much of it nowadays that one can get a headache from it! I want to get some software that will catch the junk emails before they get to my inbox. Otherwise, I spend too much time going through them in the morning to see which ones are real emails. I just don’t get why people send such junk mail. What do they hope to get by doing so?  

E. exercises

1. I get about $2000 a month from my job.
2. He got angry when he heard about the news.
3. I don't get how the machine works.


4. Did you get the e-mail I sent you this morning?


5. My manager got me to do the report, even though I didn't want to.


6. At what time will you get to New York?


7. It wasn't easy, but I finally got her to sign the contract.


8. I got 75% in my maths exam.


9. I would like to get her a watch for her birthday.


10. Somebody is calling. Can you get the phone?


11. I get the bus to work every morning.
12. Sorry, it's noisy here. I didn't get what you said.


13. They got the new service contract.  

F. Debate of the day: Immigration - How to deal with it

Listen to the following program (http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/02/21/172501563/three-ways-to-totally-transform-u-s-immigration-policy) that discusses three proposals to deal with immigration in the US or anywhere else for that matter.  After listening to the podcast from Planet Money, please do the following:

  1. Do a presentation containing the following information
    • List of the proposals with a concise description of each
    • What are the main advantages and disadvantages of each proposal
    • Which one do you think is the best proposal and why?
    • Could this proposal ever work in France and how?
  2. If you were a business owner, what immigration policy would you favor in order to have a better or larger pool of qualified workers

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