Exercise 1. Choose an appropriate noun group to complete the following sentences.

1. Vietnam is to ………….. of China.

2. Scotland is to ………….. of England.

3. The Conservative Party is on ………….. of British politics.

4. London is in ………….. of England.

5. ………….. is a term applied to Western Europe and North America.

6. In Britain, India an some other countries, you should drive on ………….., but in most of the world people drive on ………….. .

7. News is that which comes from ………….., ………….., ………….. and ………….., and if it comes from only one point on the compass, then it is a class publication and not news. (B. Disraeli)

8. The Labour Party is to ………….. of the Liberals.

9. ………….. defeated ………….. in 1865.

10. Heathrow airport is a few kilometers to ………….. of London.

Diseases

Ø Article usage with the names of illnesses and other conditions is sometimes inconsistent, and can vary with the same word. Normally nouns referring to illnesses are uncountable and are used with a zero article. Here is a list of common words like this:

Ø ‘Cancer’ can also be countable, but combinations with it are uncountable, for example ‘lung cancer’.

Ø With the names of some common infectious diseases the definite article can be used, as well as a zero article, but it is not as common. This applies to ‘flu’ (but not ‘influenza’), ‘measles’, ‘mumps’, and ‘chickenpox’.

· She’s coming down with the flu./ I had a mild attack of flu.

· ...unlike the measles itself. / ...the first symptoms of measles.

Ø The definite article is found with names of diseases when the speaker refers to some particular case (with less dangerous diseases).

Ø Certain nouns which are not special medical terms are used to name diseases; they behave as countable or uncountable nouns: ‘a cold’, ‘a chill’, ‘a cough’, ‘a high blood pressure’, ‘a heart attack’, ‘a sore throat’, ‘a pain in the back/ in the knee’ are treated as simple countable nouns; ‘heart trouble’, ‘liver trouble’ – as uncountable nouns.

Ø Words ending in ‘-ache’ behave in different ways, in British English. ‘Earache’, ‘toothache’, ‘backache’, ‘stomach-ache’, and so on can be uncountable or countable, so you can say ‘I’ve got earache’ and ‘I’ve got an earache’.

· He was suffering from severe earache.

· One morning she developed an earache.

· ...various infusions which she used for sore eyes, toothache and muscular pains.

· ...when a woman with a toothache was brought to us.

Ø ‘Headache’, however, is a countable noun, and so you can have ‘a headache’ or regular ‘headaches’, but you cannot say ‘I’ve got headache’.

· Next morning she complained of a headache.

Ø In American English, all ‘-ache’ words are countable nouns, so it is not possible to say ‘I’ve got earache’, and so on.

Ø NoteThe noun ‘heartache’ is used figuratively denoting deep sorrow or grief.

Exercise 1. Insert articles where necessary.

1. I forced a smile, and did not answer him, aware now of a stab of panic, __ uneasy sickness that could not be controlled. (D. du Maurier)

2. The boy Roger had arrived home with __ measles; they were all in __ quarantine. I could not help blessing __ measles. (D. du Maurier)

3. When Amory had __ whooping-cough four disgusted specialists glared at each other hunched around his bed; when he took __ scarlet fever the number of attendants, including physicians and nurses, totalled fourteen. (F. Sc. Fitzgerald)

4. Half an hour before she was going to start she had __ side ache and __ high fever. (F. Sc. Fitzgerald)

5. In actuality Dick was sick with __ flu. (F. Sc. Fitzgerald)

6. Unfortunately, she is in __ coma, and the doctors have no way of knowing if she will ever come out of it. (M. Gabot)

7. On an evening in early July, James Cameron suffered __ heart attack. (S. Sheldon)

8. Dick has had __ grippe and is starting home to-morrow. (F. Sc. Fitzgerald)

9. This cancer wing I’ve donated is particularly important to me, as you know that __ cancer was what took your beloved grandfather from me. (M. Gabot)

10. Oh, Mel, about Aaron. Look, can’t you throw me a bone? He’s no good to me like this. And all that Wagner is giving me __ migraine. (M. Gabot)

11. She had suffered __ stroke. (S. Sheldon)

12. He’s got __ asthma.

13. I am writing this from home to let you know I will not be in today due to the fact that I have woken up with __ sore throat, fever, and runny nose. (M. Gabot)

14. We recommend that children and teenagers are inoculated against __ meningitis.

15. Love’s like __ measles – all the worse when it comes late in life. (D. Jerrold)

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 1612