C. Supply the text with the missing words. They can be auxiliary verbs, articles, prepositions, conjunctions or pronouns.

Biologically, there is only one quality which distinguishes us from animals: the ability to laugh. In the universe which appears to be utterly devoid of humour, we enjoy this supreme luxury. And it is a luxury, for unlike the other bodily process, laughter does not seem to serve a biologically useful purpose. In a divided world, laughter is a unifying force. Human beings oppose each other on a great many issues. Nations may disagree about systems of government and human relations may be plagued by ideological factions of political camps, but we all share the ability to laugh. And laughter, in turn, depends on that most complex and subtle of all human qualities: the sense of humour.

A sense of humour may take various forms and laughter may be from a refined tinkle to an earthquaking roar, but the effect is always the same. Humour helps us to maintain a correct sense of values. It is the only quality that political fanatics appear to lack. If we can see the funny side, we never make the mistake of taking ourselves too seriously. We are always reminded that tragedy is not really far removed from comedy, so we never get a lopsided view of things.

D. Focus on phrasal verbs. Fill in the gaps with the correct form of the phrasal verbs below:

a) run away / stand back / deal with / look out / shake up

When he woke up, he was lying on the pavement, with many people staring down at him. The last thing he could remember was his friend shouting, "Look out !" as a car came onto the pavement. Then everything went blank.

Now he was conscious again, he could feel a sharp pain in his leg, and there was blood on his shirt. He asked about his friend, and was relieved to discover that she was OK - the car had missed her, but she had been shaken up by the event and was being looked after by a passer-by.

Then he heard the siren of an ambulance, and someone said, " Stand back ! " Let the paramedics through to deal with him." They were very professional and soon he was lying in a hospital bed, wondering what had happened.

Later, the police came to visit him and he discovered that the driver of the car had been drunk, and had jumped out of his car after the accident and run away. The police had gone to the man's house and found him there, and he was now in custody awaiting trial.

b) put on / cut down on / give up / take up / do up

Last Friday night I was going to the new disco in town, so I decided to wear my favourite trousers. Unfortunately, although I could pull them on, I couldn’t do them up – I had obviously put on weight! I was too depressed to go to the disco, so I spent the evening alone, watching TV. The TV was really boring and I realised that I couldn’t avoid going out forever, so I decided to go on a diet.

I’d never been on a diet before, so I asked one of my friends for some advice. She told me that I should give up eating chocolate biscuits, but when I told her that I couldn’t possibly stop eating them completely, she said that I should cut down on them; I shouldn’t eat more than 5 a week. She also advised me to take up some form of exercise because this would use up the extra carbohydrate and fat in my diet, and also keep me fit and healthy and help me feel better about myself.

Well, this week I’ve been to the swimming pool twice, and I’ve only had 3 chocolate biscuits. I still can’t fasten my favourite trousers, but my friend was right – I feel much better about myself. In fact, I’m going to the new disco next week with someone I met at the swimming pool!

Date: 2016-03-03; view: 1290