UNIT 1

Learning English

Read the text and choose the best answer for each question.

Today, millions of people want to learn or improve their English but it is

difficult to find the best method. Is it better to study in Britain or
America or to study in your own country?

The advantages of going to Britain seem obvious. Firstly, you will be able
to listen to the language all the time you are in the country. You will be
surrounded completely by the language wherever you go. Another
advantage is that you have to speak the language if you are with other
people. In Italy, it is always possible, in the class, to speak Italian if you
want to and the learning is slower.

On the other hand, there are also advantages to staying at home to

study. You don't have to make big changes to your life. As well as this, it
is also a lot cheaper than going to Britain but it is never possible to
achieve the results of living in the UK. If you have a good teacher in
Italy, I think you can learn in a more concentrated way than being in
Britain without going to a school.

So, in conclusion, I think that if you have enough time and enough
money, the best choice is to spend some time in the UK. This is simply
not possible for most people, so being here in Italy is the only viable
option. The most important thing to do in this situation is to maximise
your opportunities: to speak only English in class and to try to use
English whenever possible outside the class.
 1. What is the article about?
How many people learn English.
The best way to learn English.
English schools in England and America.
2. What is one of the advantages of going to the UK to learn English?
There are no Italians in Britain.
You will have to speak English and not your language.
The language schools are better.
3. What is one of the advantages of staying in your country to learn English?
The teachers aren't very good in Britain.
You have to work too hard in Britain.
Your life can continue more or less as it was before.
4. People who don't have a lot of time and money should...
Learn English in Britain.
Try and speak English in class more often.
Go to Italy to learn English.
Choose the most suitable word for each space
After more than fifty years of television, I might seem only obvious to conclude that it is
here to (1) ……….. There have been many objections to it during this time, of course,
and (2)………….. a variety of grounds. Did it cause eye-strain? Was the (3)
………………. Bombarding us with radioactivity? Did the advertisements (4)
…………………. subliminal messages, persuading us to buy more or vote Republican?
Did children turn to violence through watching it, either because so (50) ………………
taught them how to shoot, rob, and kill, or because they had to do something to
counteract the hours they had (6) ………… glued to the tiny screen ? or did I simply
create a vast passive (7) …………………………… drugged by glamorous serials and
inane situation (8)……………………..? On the other hand did it increase anxiety by
sensationalising the news (or the news which was (9)..…………….. suitable pictures)
and filling our living rooms with war, famine and political unrest? (10)
……………………….in all, television proved to be the all-purpose scapegoat for the
second half of the century, (11) ……………….. for everything, but above all, eagerly
watched. For no (12) ……………………. How much we despised it, feared it, were
bored by it, or felt it took us away from the old paradise of family conversation and
hobbies (13) …………….. as collecting stamps, we never turned it off. We (14)
……………….. starting at the screen, aware that our own tiny (15) ……….. was in it if
we looked carefully.
1) A) long B) stay C) exist D) be
2) A) with B) over C) by D) on
3) A) screen B) danger C) machine D) reason
4) A) contain B) of C) take D) having
5) A) that B) far C) many D) what
6) A) almost B) spent C) quite D) madly
7) A) programme B) personality C) audience D) tense
 8) A) comedies B) programmes C) perhaps D) consequently
9) A) taken B) presented C) capable D) accompanied
10) A) Taken B) All C) Somewhat D) Thus
11) A) broadcasting B) looking C) blamed D) ready
12) A) one B) matter C) difference D) reason
13) A) known B) even C) described D) such
14) A) refused B) received C) turned D) kept
15) A) fault B) reflection C) situation D) consciousness

GRAMMAR
LEVEL I
Grammar Practice:
Let's remember the verb "to be" in the Present Simple Tense.

Affirmative :
I.............................................
you.........................................
he/ she/ it...............................
we .........................................
you.........................................
they.......................................

Interogative:
1___________________________________________
2___________________________________________
3___________________________________________
4___________________________________________
5___________________________________________
6___________________________________________

Negative:
1___________________________________________
2___________________________________________
3___________________________________________
4___________________________________________
5___________________________________________
6___________________________________________
Fill in the blanks with the right subject / personal pronouns (I, you, he, she,
it, we, they):
1.Angelina Joli is American. ............. isn't French.
2.Brad Pitt is American, too.............. isn't German.
3.Brad and Angelina aren't French............... are American.
4.My friend and I are high school students............. aren't primary school
students.
5.The Statue of Liberty is in New York. ............. isn't in Washington.

Fill in the blanks with the right form of to be ( am, are or is):
1.............. you the new student?
2.Yes, I.................. .
3.Leila and Nancy ..................... students.
4.Nancy ................... Australian .
5.My sister and I ...................students.
6.The girls ............... tired.
7.These women ................ beautiful.
8.The tea .................. delicious.
9.Nadia and Leila ....................friends.
10.The newspaper .................... cheap.

Choose the correct answer (negative or affirmative form of to be):

1.Is Julia Robert French? No, she is not/is French.
2.What about Robert de Nero? Is he an American actor? Yes, he is not/is.
3.Are New York and Los Angeles Spanish Cities? No, they are not/are
Spanish cities.
4.Is Big Ben in Paris? No, it is not/is in Paris.
5.Is Mount Everest in Africa? No, it is not/is in Africa. It is in Asia.

Put the words in the right order so that the sentences are correct:

1 I am years twenty-five old.

2 Venezuela. from We are

3 is I'm Anton name student. My and a

4 my This book. is

5 a nice It's day today.

6 name brother's Paul. is Her

7 engineer. an John is

8 Johansson. husband's is My name

9 in students twelve class. my are There

10 new address of letter. My the the at top is

1. Complete the sentences with am, is, or are.

a) I ____________ a student. Am/is/are
b) My parents ___________ great people. Am/is/are
c) My sister ____________ very pretty. Am/is/are
d) Her cousins ___________ musicians. Am/is/are
e) His uncle ____________ at the movies. Am/is/are
f) My sister and I ___________ best friends. am/is/are
g) Kara ___________ Kelly's sister-in-law. Am/is/are
h) My cat ___________ lazy. Am/is/are
i) Our aunt ____________ a French teacher. Am/is/are
j) You ___________ really tall! Am/is/are

Choose the correct answer: am / is/ are

1. Rita _______ my friend. 7. Sara and I ______ happy.

a. am b. is c. are a. am b. is c. are
2. The chair _______ brown. 8. The summer ______ hot.
a.am b. is c. are a. am b. is c. are

3. It ________ late. 9 Tami and Rina _______ pupils.

 a. am b. is c. are
10. My jacket______ blue and pink.
a. am b. is c. are
4. Monkeys ______ funny. a. am b. is c. are

a. am b. is c. are

5. Dana and I______ teachers. 11. They _______ not at home now.
a. am b. is c.are
6. The sky ______ full of stars. a. am b. is c. are

a. am b. is c. are 12. The weather ______ rainy today.

a. am b. is c. are

GRAMMAR LEVEL II
Adverbs
Adverbs usually describe verbs, adjectives, other adverbs or sentences. An adverb can be
one word (carefully) or a phrase (in the morning). Adverbs can describe manner (how),
place (where), time(when), frequency (how often), degree (to what extent), etc.
a) He drives carefully. b) Your bag is here. c) They’ll leave tomorrow. d) He
sometimes goes fishing at the weekend. e) She is very polite.
FORMATION OF ADVERBS
- We usually form an adverb by adding – ly to the adjective. Serious- seriously

- Adjectives ending in –le drop the – e and take – y. Gentle- gently

- Adjectives ending in consonant + y drop the –y and take –ily happy- happily
- Adjectives ending in –l take – ly. Awful – awfully
- Adjectives ending in – ic usually take – ally Dramatic- dramatically BUT: public-
publicly
- Adjectives ending in – e take –ly Polite – politely BUT: true- truly
- The following words end in –ly, but they are adjectives: elderly, cowardly, friendly,
likely, deadly, lively, lonely, silly, ugly, lovely, etc.

Find the adjective in the first sentence and fill in the blanks with the corresponding
adverb.
1. James is careful. He drives .
2. The girl is slow. She walks .
3. Her English is perfect. She speaks English .
4. Our teacher is angry. She shouts .
5. My neighbor is a loud speaker. He speaks .
6. He is a bad writer . He writes .
7. Jane is a nice guitar player. He plays the guitar .
8. He is a good painter . He paints .
9. She is a quiet girl. She does her job .
10. This exercise is easy. You can do it

Fill in the blanks with suitable adverbs from the box. Write the kind of adverb
against each sentence. The same adverb can be used more than once.

Occasionally Sometimes Usually Rarely Once

Very Never Mostly Often always
1. I …………………….. go to bed at 10 o’clock. (…………………………………)
2. I have …………………. been to the USA. (…………………………………)
3. I have been to Australia just ………………….. (…………………………………)
4. I ………………….. take a bath before I go to bed. (…………………………………)
5. My grandparents live in Kerala. I visit them ……………………
(…………………………………)
6. My friends are ………………… non-smokers. (…………………………………)
7. I was …………………… impressed with her performance.
(…………………………………)
8. I ………………….. go for a walk in the park. (…………………………………)
9. I watch English films …………………. (…………………………………)
10. They …………………. go out. (…………………………………)

Complete the following with suitable adverbs. Choose from the given box.
Almost Very There Ever So
Sometimes Clearly Perhaps Seldom Certainly
1. I have ………………….. finished.
2. He is ………………… clever.
3. There is …………………. something wrong.
4. ……………….. I think I should take a long break.
5. ………………… her train is late.
6. He is ……………….. late for work.
7. She is ……………….. the right person for the job.
8. Have you ………………. wanted to run away?
9. You can see lots of flowers ……………….
10. They are ………………… beautiful.

Complete the following sentences using adverbs.

1. They laughed (happy)
2. The dog ran (quick)
3. Ruth solved the problem (easy)
4. Bob spoke about his new job (dramatic)
5. She is always dressed. (beautiful)
6. You are writing too (slow)
7. She spoke about him. (nice)
8. I think you are working (hard)
9. He drives very (careful)
10. His temperature went up (fast)

Choose the correct word

1. She could hard hardly walk after the accident.

2. My book is near nearly finished.
3. She is too short shortly. She cannot be a model.
4. I would like two tickets for the late lately tonight
5. I will let you know my decision short shortly.
6. This problem is too hard hardly for me.
7. I live near nearly the supermarket.
8. He has been very sick late lately.
9. There is near nearly no money left.
10. We will go on vacation short shortly.
11. This is hard hardly the way to speak to your teacher.
12. He is often late lately to work.
13. The operation is near nearly over.
14. Your composition is too short shortly. It looks like a telegram.
15. He has been working too hard hardly , late lately.

Fill in with the correct form: adjective or adverb.

1. The movie had a ending. (comic)

2. She will get home . (short) I hope she will drive . (careful)
3. She described the accident . (dramatic)
4. We studied for the test. (hard)
5. Do you think you could drive more ? (slow)
6. I thought Gil did in his test. (good). He studied really . (hard)
7. The quiz is . (easy)
8. The plane flew to London. (direct)
9. David ran in the competition. (fast)
10. I ate the sandwich . (hungry)