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I can make comparisons.
1 SPEAKING Do you think you are luckier or unluckier than other people? What is the luckiest or unluckiest thing that has happened to you or someone you know?2 What are the rules for forming a) short and long comparative adjectives and b) short and long superlative adjectives?If you were Costis Mitsotakis, you might consider yourself the world's unluckiest man. Costis was the only person in his village not to buy a ticket in the Spanish Christmas lottery. When they won first prize, everyone except Costis received a share of the total prize of nearly £600 million, so he was the (1) poorest / most poor person in his village that Christmas. But there are other contenders. For example, US park ranger Roy Sullivan was even unluckier (2) as / than Costis. He was struck by lightning seven times in his lifetime the world record! However, that's nothing like as bad as Britain's John Lyne, who is perhaps the (3) most / more unfortunate of all. At eighteen months old, he accidentally drank disinfectant and had to have his stomach pumped. And the older he got, the worse things became. He's been run over, nearly drowned and had a car crash. John's life has been more accident-filled than you would think possible. But he doesn't think he's unlucky. As far as he's concerned, most of his accidents could have ended a lot more seriously, so he may actually be the world's luckiest man!
3 Underline the correct words to complete the text.4 Read the Learn this! box. Then find examples of rules (1-3) in the text in exercise 3.
| 5 Complete the sentences with a comparative, using the words in brackets.1 His journey was ....................than he'd expected. (dangerous) 2 The more you worry, .....................the test will seem. (scary) 3 The ........................ it got, the ...................... his parents grew. (late / concerned) 4 Trains usually go..................... but the bus costs less. (quick) 5 Lena's ...................... than she used to be- nowadays she always looks on the dark side. (optimistic)
6 Read the Look out! box and find examples of points 1 and 2 in the text in exercise 3. Then underline the correct words to complete facts (1–5).1 £100 million is almost / nowhere near as much as €300 million. 2 Gold is a little / a lot more expensive than steel. 3 The Pacific Ocean is slightly/far bigger than the Arctic Ocean. 4 Spain's population is just/nothing like as big as China's. 5 Venus is much / a little smaller than Earth. 7 USE OF ENGLISH Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first. Use the words in brackets.1 Maths is far more difficult than history. (nowhere near) History .................................................... maths. 2 Cars are nowhere near as safe as planes. (much) Planes ................................................................. cars. 3 Health is a lot more important than money. (nothing like) Money is ....................................................... health. 4 Facebook didn't use to be so popular. (than) Facebook is ................................................... used to be. 5 You don't need as much money when you're young. (older) The.................................................................. money you need. 8 SPEAKING Work in pairs. Discuss whether you agree or disagree with the statements in exercise 7. Give reasons. |
