EXERCISE 76. Give the correct collective noun for the following using the words given below
1. a number of people listening to a concert;
2. a number of people at a football match;
3. sailors on a ship;
4. father, mother, son and daughter;
5. a large number of people together but without order or organization;
6. the military forces of the country organized for fighting on land;
7. a group of war ships;
8. players in a game of football;
9. a group of people who share a learning experience about a particular subject;
10. usually an appointed group of people who review particular subjects and make recommendations; 1Г. a group of domestic birds;
12. a group of persons forming a committee to judge;
13. a political, ethnic or family division of ancient cultures;
14. a number of animals, especially cattle herded by man;
15. all the people who act in a film or a play
class, committee, flock, jury, tribe, herd, cast, family, crew, fans, army, team, flotilla, audience, crowd.
EXERCISE 77.Fill the gaps with collective nouns in the correct form, singular or plural. Use each noun once only.
swarm, gang, crowd, pack, herd, team, deck, shoal, flock, group
1. There was a.................of sheep in one field and a................of cows in the next field.
2. The boat had a glass bottom and we could see................of beautifully-coloured fish.
3. She was attacked by a.......................of bees and had to go to hospital.
4. ..........of hungry dogs wandered through the streets looking in rubbish bins for food.
5. A.......................of thieves had broken in and stolen jewellery and paintings worth £1 million. A.......................of detectives is now on the scene looking for evidence.
6. There was a large.......................of people, waving banners and protesting. There were about 500 people there. A small.......................of police officers was trying to hold them back.
7. Have you got a.......................of cards? I've learnt a new game. It's fun.
EXERCISE 78. Use a collective noun to express the same meaning as the underlined words.
Example:The people who played together in the match were congratulated by the captain. The team were congratulated by the captain.
1. The people who work in this company are mostly young people.
2. The people who flew the plane remained calm during the emergency landing.
3. The people who acted in the film were just ordinary people, not famous stars.
4. The people in general have a right to know how the politicians are spending their taxes.
5. The people who act in this theatre are on strike, so there will be no performances this week.
EXERCISE 79.Use collective nouns. What could you call...?
Example:a lot of goats in one field A herd of goats.
1. six tables neatly on top of one another
2. flowers wrapped in nice paper as a present
3. lots of dirty clothes on the floor
4. six wine glasses all exactly the same
5. hundreds of strong complaints
6. a lot of untrue claims or allegations
7. questions asked one after another
8. a large group of elephants
9. a large group of birds
10. a group of wolves
EXERCISE 80.Name the following items.
EXERCISE 81.Explain the difference between each of the two phrases.
Example: a barrel of beer / a can of beer A barrel of beer Is a large, wooden or plastic container holding many gallons (50 liters or more) of beer whereas a can is a. metal container typically holding half a litre.
1 a bottle of milk / a crate of milk
2 flowers in a pot / flowers in a tub
3 a packet of cigarettes / a carton of cigarettes
4 a tube of paint / a tin of paint
5 a shopping bag / a shopping basket
6 a bowl of ice-cream / a tub of ice-cream
7 a cup of tea / a mug of tea
8 a pot of ointment / a tube of ointment
9 a box of sweets / a jar of sweets
10 a jewellery box / a jewellery case
EXERCISE 82.Put the words from the box into the correct column.
chocolates crayons honey instant coffee jam
matches olives paper clips pins tea bags tools
| a box of | a jar of |
| paper clips |
EXERCISE 83.Fill each gap with a suitable collective noun.
1. There are................................. of mosquitoes in the forests in Scandinavia in the summer.
2. As we looked over the side of the boat, we saw a................................. of brightly coloured fish swimming just below the surface.
3. There was a................................ of youths standing on the corner; they didn't look at all friendly.
4. You'll see a................................. of cards on the bookshelf. Will you fetch them for me, please?
5. The government has appointed a................................. of biologists to look into the problem.
EXERCISE 84.In each case, one of the examples is wrong. Which one?
1. Company is often used for: actors opera singers swimmers
2. Cast is often used for people in: a play a book a film
3. Crew is often used for the staff of: an ambulance a plane a hospital
4. Pack is often used for: cats hyenas wolves
5. Flock is often used for: sheep starlings pigs
EXERCISE 85.Draw a line from the left-hand column to the right-hand column joining collective words with appropriate nouns, as in the example.
1 a clump of houses
2 a range of midges
3 a gang of fir-trees
4 a swarm of elephants
5 a row of bed-linen
6 a heap of mountains
7 a herd of schoolkids
EXERCISE 86. Rewrite these sentences using collective words. Don't forget to make the verb singular where necessary.
1. There are some tables on top of one another in the next room.
2. There are a large number of people waiting outside.
3. The people who work there are very well-paid.
4. A large number of sheep had escaped from a field.
5. She gave me six identical sherry glasses.
6. She gave me five or six beautiful roses.
EXERCISE 87.Some collective nouns are associated with words about using language. Underline any you can see in this news text and make a note of them in your vocabulary notebook.
The journalists raised a whole host of questions about the actions of the police during the demonstration. There had been a barrage of complaints about police violence. The Chief of Police replied that he was not prepared to listen to a string of wild allegations without any evidence. In the end, he just gave a series of short answers that left everyone dissatisfied.
EXERCISE 88.Choose words from the box to fit into the sentences. Make the words plural, if necessary.
article breath carton gust loaf
lump means puff spot stroke
Example:Put another lump of coal on the fire.
1. Jo spends all day in the library but I don't believe she does a............of work there.
2. It's very stuffy here. I'm dying for a.......................of fresh air.
3. How many.......................of sugar would you like in your coffee?
4. Customers are permitted to take up to six.............of clothing into the fitting room.
5. When I was walking home, I felt the first...........of rain and soon it was pouring.
6. He took the cigarette out of his mouth and blew out.......................of smoke.
7. The donkey is the main.......................of transport on the island.
8. A sudden.......................of wind blew my papers all over the garden.
9. I'd like two.......................of bread, please, and a.......................of milk.
EXERCISE 89.Change the uncountable nouns to countable nouns in the following sentences by using either a bit/piece of orone of the more specific words.
Example:Could you buy me some bread, please? Could you buy me a loaf of bread, please?
1. My mother gave me some advice which I have always remembered.
2. Suddenly the wind almost blew him off his feet.
3. We had some terribly windy weather last winter.
4. Would you like some more toast?
5. He never does any work at all in the house.
6. Let's go into the garden -I need some fresh air.
7. I can give you some important information about that.
8. We could see smoke hovering over the city from a long way away.
9. There is some interesting new equipment in that catalogue.
10. I need to get some furniture for my flat.
UNIT IV.
Compound Nouns. Formation of Compound Nouns. Combinations of Two Nouns. Verb + Preposition. Plural of Compound Nouns.
IV.1. GRAMMAR POINT
A. Formation
Compound nounsconsist of at least two stems. The meaning of a compound is not a mere sum of its elements. The main types of compound nouns are:
noum stem + noun stem: seaman (моряк),
airmail (авиапочта)
adjective stem + noun stem: bluebell (колокольчик),
blackbird (черный дрозд)
verb stem + noun stem: pickpocket (карманный вор)
gerund + noun stem: looking-glass (зеркало),
dancing-hall (танцевальный зал)
noun stem + prepositions + noun stem: father-in-law(свекор, тесть)
mother-in-law(свекровь, теща)
man-of-war(военный корабль)
substantivised phrases: forget-me-not (незабудка)
pick-me-up (тонизирующий напиток)
Here are some more common examples.
alarm clock dining room (= the room where you eat meals)
credit card film star (e.g. Tom Cruise, Jodie Foster)
table tennis brother-in-law (= your sister's husband, your husband's brother)
T-shirt income tax (= the tax you pay on your salary)
earring writing paper (= paper for writing letters)
sunglasses washing machine (= the machine for washing clothes)
traffic lights cheque book (= a book which has cheques)
tin opener baby-sitter (= he/she looks after children when parents are out)
parking meter *mother tongue (= your first language)
*first aid *science fiction (= stories about the future)
*pedestrian crossing *box office (= where you buy tickets in cinemas and theatres)
In some cases, the meaning of a compound noun is not obvious from the words it consists of.
For example, someone's 'mother-tongue' is not the tongue of their mother but the language they learn as a child, and an 'old hand' is not a hand which is old but a person who is experienced at doing a particular job.
In other cases, the compound noun consists of words which do not occur on their own, for example 'hanky-panky', 'hodge-podge', and 'argy-bargy'. These nouns are usually used in informal conversation rather than formal writing.
The rest of your question I find rhetorical hocus-pocus. She is invariably up to some sort of jiggery-pokery.
B. One word or two?
Compound nouns are usually written as two words (e.g. credit card), but sometimes they are joined by a hyphen (e.g. baby-sitter), or written as one word (e.g. sunglasses). Unfortunately there is no rule for this, so you may need to check in a dictionary.
Use of hyphens
Some compound nouns are written with hyphens instead of spaces between the words.
The only experience I've got of foreign languages is pen-friends.
Can't you find a baby-sitter and come over for dinner?
Judy's brother-in-law lived with his family.
Some are written with either a hyphen or a space between the words. For example, both 'air-conditioner' and 'air conditioner' are widely used.
A few compound nouns which consist of more than two words are written partly with hyphens and partly with spaces, for example 'back-seat driver' and 'bring-and-buy sale'.
... children from one-parent families.
Another route is by active participation in a Parent-Teacher Association.
C. Pronunciation
The main stress is usually on the first part (e.g. parking meter) but sometimes it is on both parts (e.g. mother tongue). In A, the compounds marked *all have the stress on both parts. Some dictionaries show the stress on compounds.
D. Forming new compounds
Quite often, one part of a compound forms the basis for a number of compound nouns, e.g. post/ticket/box office, traffic lights/warden/jam, film/pop/rock star, brother/sister/father/mother-in-law dining/sitting/waiting room.
Note: A traffic jamis a long line of cars which are moving slowly because the road is busy; and trafficwardens patrol the streets to make sure you are not parked in the wrong place illegally. You buy theatre tickets at the box office and train tickets at the ticket office.