5.

2 Nouns review

2 Some uncountable nouns can be made singular if

they are used with a bit of or a piece of. They can
Corpus spot
also be made plural by adding bits of or pieces of.
Several of the sentences below, some from the Cambridge
However, many uncountable nouns have special
Learner Corpus, contain common mistakes connected with
countable and uncountable nouns. Correct the sentences words to make them singular or plural, for example a
which are wrong and leave the ones which are correct. loaf of bread.
options
EXAMPLE: It gives you new informations, I would say a larger
window on the world.
Match the noun with its special word.
Information is uncountable and should be singular. a a burst of glass
a The acoustics in this room are terrible. b a pane of smoke
b How many luggages did you bring with you? c a stroke of abuse
c Doctors and scientists, with their researches, have
managed to give us a better life. d a grain of dust
d The news this morning were terrible – more price rises and e a gust of thunder
a teachers’ strike. f a speck of luck
e Thanks to the revolution in transports, travelling has
become easier. g a stream of emergency
f Marco Polo set off on his travels from Venice. h a ray of wind
g Drivers should watch out for roadworks on the M25 this i a source of sunshine
morning.
h Equipments such as the tape recorder and stereo are very j an item of applause
outdated. k a rumble of sand
i My advice to you is to keep quiet about what is happening
l a puff of amusement
in the office.
j The future behaviours of our children will depend on a m a state of clothing/news
good upbringing.
k I live on the outskirt of the city. 3 You must spell correctly in the examination. Read
l The fishmonger weighed out three kilos of fishes. through the following advertisement and find the
m I was never much good at statistics. nouns which are spelled wrongly. Use your dictionary
n The sceneries in New Zealand are spectacular.
o Traffic is becoming a problem in most cities nowadays. to help you.
p The police is aware of the break-in.
q My father is a Professor of Economic.

G page 181

1 Some nouns have different meanings according to Look around. You’re in the midst of
whether they are used uncountably or with a or an a global maelstrom. A swirling mass
or in the plural. Write sentences which show the two of converging technologies and new
meanings of the following nouns. business oportunities unleashed by the
example: damage Internet. All waiting to be harnessed by
The fire did enormous damage to the large IT service providors. As one has
town. said: ‘We’ve focused our energy and
The judge awarded her £1 million in resauces on creating technology to solve
damages. the unique problems of thousends of
a work f language individual businesses. Last year alone we
b iron g comfort invested $2.5 bilion of our global IT and
c disorder h experience telecomunications revenus on R & D.
d speech i capital Innervations that keep your company
e room j coffee one step ahead of the Internet. And light
years ahead of the compettition.’

44 u n it 5
4 There are three ways of showing
possession in English:
Vocabulary
Prepositions
A The apostrophe 5 Read the article and fill the spaces with a suitable preposition.
– used with people, e.g. customers’
rights (NB the customer’s rights
refers to one customer; the
customers’ rights refers to more
than one.)
– used with time and distance, e.g. a
day’s pay

B Using ‘of’
– usually used with objects, e.g. the
price of petrol
– used to talk about position, e.g.
the back of the room

C Using a noun as an adjective

e.g. a table leg, a travel agency

Complete the following sentences using

one of the forms above, A, B or C.
a (seat, back) Can I sit in the
on the way home?
b (boss, wife) His
in hospital having a baby.
c (room, corner) The boy was sitting
in the .
d (day, pay) When is
e (week, holiday) Mary only had one
last year.
f (wine, glass) Would you prefer a
or a tumbler for
your drink?
g (delay, moment) The decision was
taken without a
h (Anne, best friend)
has just got a job in Milan.
i (door, handle) Take care with that
– it’s loose.
j (field, sports) The team went out
onto the , wearing
their new strip.
G page 181
SPOILTFORCHOICE
is
? There has been a huge rise (1) the number
of sports ‘superstores’ on the High Street. You go in and are
faced (2) a giant wall, consisting entirely
(3) shoes, each model categorised
(4) either sports affiliation, basketball star,
economic class or consumer niche.
I noticed a boy (5) even greater awe
. (6) the towering selection of footwear than
I was. His eyes were glazed (7) a psycho-
physical response (8) the overwhelming
sensory data. This phenomenon, known as the ‘Gruen Transfer’,
is commonly observed (9) a shopping mall or
High Street store.
Having finished several years (10) research
(11) this exact psychological state, I knew to
proceed (12) caution. I slowly made my way
(13) the boy’s side and gently asked him,
‘What is going (14) in your mind right now?’
He responded (15) the slightest hesitation,
‘I don’t know which trainer is me and I’m no good
(16) making choices!’

the consumer society 45