Ex 1. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate article where necessary.
1. They travelled by car around ___ Europe last month. 2. ___ Great American Lakes are ___ Lake Huron, ___Lake Superior, ___ Lake Ontario, ___ Lake Michigan and ___ Lake Erie. 3. ___ north of ___ Scotland is known for its wild beauty. 4. Are ___ Urals higher or lower than ___ Alps? 5. It was Burns who wrote "My heart's in ___ Highlands". 6. ___ Mediterranean Sea washes ___ Europe, ___ Asia and ___ northern coast of ___ Africa. 7. What oceans does ___ Panama Canal connect? I suppose ___ Atlantic and ___ Pacific Oceans. 8. ___ Seine flows through ___ Paris to ___ Atlantic Ocean. 9. We get coffee mostly from ___ Brazil and ___ Columbia. 10. ___ Alaska is the biggest and coldest state in ___ USA. 11. Where are ___ Canaries situated? 12. ___ United Kingdom consists of four parts: ___ England, ___ Scotland, Wales and ___ Northern Ireland, or ___Ulster. 13. ___ Himalayas are the highest mountains in ___ Asia. 14. I went to ___ German Republic last summer, but I haven't been to ___ Netherlands yet. Of course, I would like to see ___ Hague. 15. ___ Thames is not the longest river in ___ Great Britain but it is rather wide and navigable. 16. ___ America consists of two parts, ___ South and North America, doesn't it? 17. In ___ north there are ___ Cheviots. These are the mountains which separate ___ England from ___ Scotland. 18. ___ Brazil is the largest country of ___ South America. ___ Amazon, the widest river in ___ world, flows there. 19. What city is the capital of ___ Philippines? 20. ___ Republic of ___ China is the third largest country in ___ world after ___ Russia and ___ Canada.
Ex 2. Which of the following nouns are used with the definite article?
1. Andes
2. Baikal
3. Crimea
4. Hague
5. Antarctic
6. Panama Canal
7. Lake Baikal
8. Niagara Falls
9. Maldives
10. English Channel
11. Cyprus
12. Caucasus
13. Hudson Bay
14. Netherlands
15. Sahara
16. Central America
17. Labrador
18. North Sea
19. Volga
20. Great Salt Lake
Ex 3. Complete the sentences
using the proper articles:
1. ... Easter Island in ... Pacific Ocean was discovered in 1722. It is one of ... most mysterious spots on ... earth.
2. ... Gulf Stream is a warm ocean current which flows from ... Gulf of Mexico, along ... south-east coast of ... United States, and north-eastwards in ... Atlantic Ocean.
3. The highest peak in ... North America is ... Mount McKinley.
4. Monterey Peninsula juts out into ... Pacific Ocean.
5. If you want to see ... Lake Victoria and ... Mount Kilimanjaro, go to ... Kenya.
6. The travellers saw an oasis in ... Gobi, but it was a mirage
7. ... Moscow of the 1950's is not Moscow of the 1990's.
8. It was different Minsk, Minsk he had never been to.
9. ... Mississippi is longest river in USA and Sahara is the biggest desert in North Africa.
10. Lake Ontario, or Ontario, is one of the largest lakes in north of United States on the border with Canada.
11. Greece is situated in south of Eastern Europe on the coast of Mediterranean.
12. Portugal is a small country in west of Europe; on one of its borders is Spain, on the other Atlantic Ocean.
ARTICLES WITH GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES
Article
Rules/Examples
Notes
ZERO article
1. Continents: Europe, Asia, Antarctica, Africa *Zero article with names of continents modi- fied bynorthern, southern, western, eastern,
central, minor, south-west, etc: South America, North America, Central Africa, Asia Minor, Latin America, etc.
But: * the African continent*the Arctic/the Antarctic
2. Countries, states, provinces: France, Italy, China, Belarus, Texas, Hampshire, Wisconsin
But *geographical names having the plural form and *names of states consisting of word groups take the definite article:
the Philippines, the Netherlands, the Highlands; the USA, the UK, the Peoples Republic of China
But: the Argentine (=Argentina), (the) Sudan, (the) Yemen, (the) Congo, (the) Lebanon, (the) Ivory Coast, (the) Senegal, (the) Ukraine, the Ruhr, the Saar, the Crimea, the Caucasus
3. Cities, towns and villages: Rome, Paris, Minsk, Moscow, Orsha
But: the Hague
4. Separate mountains and hills:Ben Nevis, Everest
separate islands: Bermuda, Cyprus, Jersey, Java
But: the Mount of Olivesthe Isle of Man, the Isle of Wight
5. Lakes: Lake Baikal, Lake Ontario *if the word Lake is not mentioned we use the definite article: the Ontario
But: the Great Salt Lake,the Lake of Geneva, the Great American Lakes
6. Bays, waterfalls:San Francisco Bay, Hudson Bay, Niagara Falls, Victoria Falls
But: the Bay of Biscay,the Bay of Fundy
7. Peninsulas and capes: Labrador, Cape Horn
But: the Balkan peninsula, the Hindustan peninsula
The definite article
1. Rivers, canals, streams, oceans, seas, and other sea features:
the Thames, the Panama Canal, the English Channel, the North Sea, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, the Strait of Dover,
2. Mountain ranges and hill ranges: the Alps, the Rocky Mountains
groups of islands: the Hawaii, the Bermudas
3. Deserts: the Sahara, the Gobi Desert
Special cases
It was not the France of his youth. (a limiting article)
It was a different Paris, unknown to him. (a descriptive article)