7 The environment

S ubject + verb a g re e m e n t I both, e ith e r, n e ith e r as a su b je ct

Subject + verb agreement:

1 Uncountable nouns take singular verbs.

2 We use groups of people [the government, the team) + sing u lar OR p lu ra l verbs.

Clouds form when w ater m olecules evaporate The qovernm ent is/are buildina wind farm s in
into the air. the north of the country.

This/that, these/those
1 We use this/that + sing u lar nouns and verbs. We use these/those + p lu ra l nouns and verbs.

2 We use this/that and these/those to refer back to objects already mentioned. They m ust agree
with the noun already mentioned.

Tropical clim ates produce great biodiversity. These conditions are found mainlv near the equator.

In mv opinion th is qovernm ent's record on protectina w ild life is not aood enouah.

Both/either/neither as a subject
1 We use both... and... + p lural verbs.

2 We use either... or... and neither... nor... + singular or p lu ra l verbs. The verb form agrees w ith
the second noun.

Both wind power and solar power are Either the aovernm ent or the car
alternative form s of energy. m anufacturers need to make carbon
em ission reduction th e ir priority.

Each, every, all

1 We use each and every + sing u lar noun and verb.

2 We use a ll + p lu ra l nouns and verbs.

A ll form s of energy cause some damaqe to Each/everv countrv has to aaree on the
the environm ent. clim ate change penalties fo r o il companies.

Grammar for IELTS

 Unit 7

Quantifying expressions: The + general noun + of + specific noun. The verb agrees w ith the
general noun NOT the specific noun.

The am ount of Dollution has increased The num ber of pesticides in farm inq is
dram atically. declining.

The tvDes of pollution are more varied now The quantities of chem icals in rivers have
compared w ith the 19th century. changed according to environm entalists.

Exam tip: It is im portant to make sure you check subject + verb agreem ent in your
w ritin g fo r Tasks 1 and 2. Mistakes in subject + verb agreem ent w ill reduce your w ritin g
score so you should leave tim e to check your w ork and make any necessary corrections
in the exam.

Practice exercises

Decide on the correct form (singular or plural) of the verbs in brackets and complete the
sentences 1-6.
1 Scientists at Oxford U nive rsity________ [believe) that there are many different
solutions to the w orld 's environm ental problem s.
2 Sunshine and w a te r ________ (/be) both necessary fo r the growth of plants.
3 This new method of breeding disease resistant c ro p s ________ [have] been very
successful.
U The frequency of storm s on the west coast of South A m e ric a ________ (change) w ith
the movement of the Gulf Stream.
5 The varieties of tom ato available as a result of genetically m odified food processing
[be] num erous.
6 In my opinion a ll these conferences________ [do] not help solve the issues of clim ate
change.

Match the sentence halves in boxes A and B so that the subjects and verbs agree and the
sentences are meaningful. You must make sure the sentence halves agree grammatically
as well as in meaning.

A B

1 A vast sum of money a were spent on developing the wind turbines.

2 Both tim e and money b is increasing the cost of e le ctricity and gas for
3 Those energy companies consum ers,

U Every energy company in c was spent on developing the wind turbines,

the EU d are increasing the cost of e le ctricity and gas for
consum ers.

The environment 31
 Look at the following graph and correct seven subject + verb mistakes in the text below it.

Number of birds, butterflies and insects in UK city gardens

m illions

00 Birds
__W B utterflies
|__□ Insects

The graph show the amount of w ildlife in gardens in cities in the UK from the 1980s to
2010s. Overall, the num ber of birds and insects have increased, whereas the num ber of
butterflies has decreased. There were four m illion butterflies in UK city gardens in the
1980s. However, these num ber decreased rapidly from 2000 to 2010 and now butterflies
is the least populous of the three groups with only two m illion in UK city gardens. Both
birds and insects have increased steadily in quantity over the period. The quantity of birds
have increased from 2.5 to 3.5 m illion and insects has increased from 2.0 to 4.5 m illion. In
general it can be said that each decade have seen a rise in bird and insect numbers.

Grammar tip: When you have to complete sentences, rem em ber that the words you w rite
in the spaces must fit grammatically. Check for agreement between nouns and verbs.

4 Complete the sentences 1 -4 with words from the following text.

The problem with climate change

In general scientists agree that clim ate change is happening. However, the point that they
disagree on is the speed at which it is happening. For example, Professor Jenkins and Dr
Brody at Colombia University think that we are entering a period of rapid clim ate change,
whereas some clim atologists from UCLA are of the opinion that the speed of clim ate
change is likely to peak by 2020 and then slow down fo r the rem ainder of the 21st century
as emissions from developing nations stabilise. The fact that each group of scientists has
a different opinion is d ifficu lt fo r people to comprehend and has an effect on the general
public’s reactions to changes in the law related to clim ate change. Both governm ents and
scientists have tried to make the inform ation on clim ate change accessible to everyone but
because of its com plexity this has not been possible.

1 Neither Professor Jenkins nor Dr Brody__________ that clim ate change is slowing down.

2 __________ have the view that clim ate change w ill speed up over the next few years.

3 Difference of o p in io n __________ fo r the general public to understand.

U Due to the fact that clim ate change data is complex, th e __________ have not been able
to make clim ate change data accessible to people.

Grammar for IELTS

 U nit?

Exam tip: Always double check the nouns and verbs in your answers. If you w rite a
sing u lar noun where the answer is plural, your answer w ill be m arked incorrect.

Exam practice: Reading - completing sentences

Read the following passage and answer the questions below, using only words from the text.

Ocean biodiversity
Both the levels of fish stocks and m am m al biodiversity in the w orld's oceans have been declining in
recent years as a result of overfishing and m arine pollution. Yet new equipment and a return to more
traditional ways of fishing have shown how this trend can be reversed. An example of this can be
seen in the south Pacific where tuna fisherm en have started to use deep sea nets to tra w l the depths
of the oceans in order to avoid catching and killing sm aller fish. The amount of sm all fish caught with
these nets has already been reduced in the south Pacific and fisherm en in other oceans across the
world are interested in exploring different techniques to minimize th e ir impact on ocean biodiversity.
This is evident in the Gulf Stream where the seasonal w arm th of the sea is an im portant factor
in m aintaining both quantity and diversity. A few fishing companies have been experim enting
w ith m onitoring chlorophyll levels of the Gulf Stream to identify areas which are likely to a ttract
fish due to the increase in plankton generated by the increased chlorophyll levels. This makes
the fishing companies more efficient and reduces th e ir environm ental im pact by reducing
the am ount of travel. In addition, scientists have been w orking on identifying the sw im m ing
channels of whales in the A tlantic to ensure that ships do not cross the channels and interfere
w ith the w hales’ com m unication. These scientists have discovered that disruption to the whales'
com m unication channels from the noise of ships has a negative effect on th e ir breeding patterns.
Every innovation in this area is useful fo r protecting the diversity of the oceans in the future. With
scientists, conservationists and fisherm en a ll w orking towards solutions, some progress-is being
made in m an’s relationship w ith the oceans’ inhabitants.

QUESTIONS 1-5
Complete the sentences with words from the passage. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each
answer.
1 Pollution and excess fishing have caused a decrease in am ounts o f ____________m arine
diversity and stocks in the w o rld ’s seas.
2 The use o f ____________has caused a reduction in the quantity of sm a ll fish removed from
the sea by the fishing industry.
3 Ocean tem perature is ____________in making sure that the sea continues to have both
variety and sufficient stocks of m arine life.
U According to experts, th e ____________is damaging to the reproduction habits of whales in
the A tlantic Ocean.
5 In order to safeguard the oceans of the future and the variety of m arine life that inhabits
them , each creative id e a ____________

The environment 33