Exercises

Unit 71 · Countable nouns with a / an and some

71.1

What are these things

1an eagle It’s a bird.(Example)

2a pigeon, a duck and a penguin They’re birds.(Example)

carrots and onions

a tulip

Earth, Mars and Jupiter

chess

a hammer, a saw and a screwdriver

the Nile, the Rhine and the Mekong

a mosquito

Hindi, Arabic and Swahili

71.2

Read about what these people do

1Sarah looks after patients in hospital. She’s a nurse.(Example)

Gary works in a restaurant. He brings the food to the tables. He

Jane writes articles for a newspaper.

Kevin works in a hospital. He operates on people.

Jonathan cooks in a restaurant.

Dave installs and repairs water pipes.

Anna shows visitors round her city and tells them about it.

Lisa translates what people are saying from one language into another, so that they can understand each other.

71.3

Which is right

1Most of my friends are students / some students. (students is correct)(Example)

Are you careful driver / a careful driver?

I went to the library and borrowed books / some books.

Mark works in a bookshop. He sells books / some books.

I’ve been walking for hours. I’ve got sore feet / some sore feet.

I don’t feel very well. I’ve got sore throat / a sore throat.

What lovely present / a lovely present! Thank you very much.

I met students / some students in a cafe yesterday. They were from China.

It might rain. Don’t go out without umbrella / without an umbrella.

People / Some people learn languages more easily than others.

71.4

Put in a / an or some where necessary

Put in a / an or some where necessary. If no word is necessaryleave the space empty.

1I’ve seen some good movies recently.(Example)

2Are you feeling all right? Do you have a headache?(Example)

3I know lots of people. Most of them are − students.(Example)

When I was child, I used to be very shy.

birds, for example the penguin, cannot fly.

Would you like to be actor?

Questions, questions, questions! You’re always asking questions!

I didn’t expect to see you. What surprise!

Do you like staying in hotels?

Tomorrow is a holiday. shops will be open, but most of them will be closed.

Those are nice shoes. Where did you get them?

You need visa to visit countries, but not all of them.

Kate is teacher. Her parents were teachers too.

I don’t believe him. He’s liar. He’s always telling lies. bird (s) flower (s) game (s) insect (s) language (s) planet (s) river (s) tool (s) vegetable (s)

Theory