UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION

I. Present Simple and Present Continuous

Exercise 1: Filling in the gaps, using Present Simple as in the examples
Ø I am (be) a doctor. Ø I am not (not) a bank manager.
1. She .................. (not) a teacher. 6. It .................. eight o’clock.
2. He .................. a student. 7. We .................. from Paris.
3. They ................. at home. 8. We .................. (not) from Korea.
4. They .................. (not) in the park. 9. You .................. (not) twenty-one.
5. It .................. (not) cold today. 10. I .................. twenty-four.

Exercise 2: Put in the words from the box in the correct form. Use the Present Simple.
Use each verb once.
like not know love feel think not like want not understand

Ø She thinks that films are fantastic. She loves films.

1. I ...................... sick. Can I have a glass of water, please?
2. I don’t know the answer because I ...................... the question.
3. I ...................... he’s tired. He works too hard.
4. We ...................... that new painting. We think it’s terrible.
5. I want to telephone Jane, but I ...................... her phone number.
6. They’re thirsty. They ...................... something to drink.
7. I ...................... your new car. It’s very nice. Was it expensive?

Exercise 3: Write sentences about Peter. (ü= like, üü= love, û= not like, ûû= hate)
Ø (tennisû) He doesn’t like tennis.
Ø (musicüü) He loves music.
1. (coffeeü) He .........................................................................................
2. (filmû) He .........................................................................................
3. (his jobüü) ..............................................................................................
4. (fishûû) ..............................................................................................
5. (holidayüü) ..............................................................................................
6. (golfû) ..............................................................................................

Exercise 4: This is an interview with Mary Woods about herself and her husband,
John. Write the questions, using the ideas from the box.
like films read books listen to the radio play golf
watch TV play a musical instrument smoke go to the theatre
drive a car like pop music drink coffee live in London
like dogs speak any foreign languages

Ø Do you live in London? ˜ Yes, I live in north London.

Ø Does John play golf? ˜ No, but he plays tennis.
1. .................................................? ˜ Yes, I speak French.
2. .................................................? ˜ Yes, I like all the programmes on TV
3. .................................................? ˜ Yes, he listens to the radio in the morning.
4. .................................................? ˜ No, but he loves cats.
5. .................................................? ˜ No, I don’t like films.
6. .................................................? ˜ Yes, he has two cups in the morning.
7. .................................................? ˜ No, but I have a bicycle.
8. .................................................? ˜ Yes, he plays the piano.
9. .................................................? ˜ No, I prefer classical music.
10. .................................................? ˜ Yes, I love musicals.
11. .................................................? ˜ Yes, I read one book every week.
12. .................................................? ˜ No, he doesn’t like cigarettes.

Exercise 5: Hazel and Isaac are on the phone. Complete their conversation using the verbs in
brackets in either the Present Simple or Present Continuous. Use short forms if you can.

Isaac: Are you working? (you/work)

Hazel: Yes. 1...................................... (I/finish) a piece of homework for tomorrow. Why?
What are you doing?
Isaac: Well, 2..................................... (I/think) about my homework, but I’m afraid
3
..................................... (I/not/actually/do) it at the moment. I’m tired and bored.
4
..................................... (you/want) to go out?
5
Hazel: No. Look at the weather. ..................................... (it/rain).
6
..................................... (I/never/go out) in the rain. By the way,
7
..................................... (you/know) the new girl in our class, the one with
glasses? 8..................................... (I/think) 9..................................... (she/come)
from Venezuela. Anyway, 10..................................... (she/stay) with Peter’s family
this month.
Isaac: Yes, I know. 11..................................... (she/do/well) at school, isn’t she? Peer says
12
..................................... (she/speak) three languages: Spanish, English, and
French. 13..................................... (I/not/speak/any languages) other than English!
*KEY:
1 I'm finishing
2 I'm thinking
3 I'm not actually doing
4 Do you want
5 It's raining
6 I never go out
7 you know
8 I think
9 she comes
10 she's staying
11 She's doing well
12 she speaks
13 I don't speak any languages
II. Article “a, an, the”
Exercise 1: Put in “a/an” where necessary. If no word is necessary, leave an empty space.
1. What’s wrong with you? Have you got a headache?
2. I know a lot of people. Most of them are ............... students.
3. When I was ............... child, I used to be very shy.
4. Would you like to be ............... actor?
5. I don’t like ............... violence.
6. Do you collect ............... stamps?
7. I don’t feel very well this morning. I’ve got ............... sore throat.
8. I’ve been walking for three hours. I’ve got ............... sore feet.
9. Jack is ............... engineer. His parents were ............... engineers too.
10. I don’t believe him. He’s .............. liar. He’s always telling .............. lies.
11. What ............... beautiful garden!
12. Do you know him? He’s ............... MP, isn’t he?
13. I clean my teeth with .............. toothpaste. I use .............. toothbrush to clean my
teeth.
14. Enjoy your holiday! I hope you have .............. good weather.
15. John has got .............. interview for .............. job tomorrow.

Exercise 2: Put in “the” where necessary. If you don’t need “the”, leave an empty space
1. I haven’t been to the cinema for ages.
2. I lay down on .............. ground and looked up at the sky.
3. She spends most of her free time watching .............. television.
4. .............. television was on but nobody was watching it.
5. Have you had .............. dinner yet?
6. Mary and I arrived at .............. same time.
7. You’ll find .............. information you need at .............. top of .............. page 15.
8. Peru is a country in the South America. .............. capital is Lima.
9. What is .............. longest river in .............. world?
10. The man is in .............. prison. He went to .............. prison two years ago. His wife
goes to .............. prison to visit him every month.

Exercise 3: Complete this story. Put in “a, an, or the”

(1) A man decided to rob (2) .............. bank in the town where he lived. He walked into
(3) .............. bank and handed (4) .............. note to one of (5) .............. cashiers.
(6) .............. cashier read (7) .............. note, which told her to give (8) .............. man some
money. Afraid that he might have (9) .............. gun, she did as she was told. (10) ..............
man then walked out of (11) .............. building, leaving (12) .............. note behind.
However, he had no time to spend (13) .............. money because he was arrested
(14) .............. same day. He had made (15) .............. mistake. He had written
(16) .............. note on (17) .............. back of (18) .............. envelope. And on (19) other
side of (20) .............. envelope was his name and address. This clue was quite enough for
(21) .............. detectives on the case.

Exercise 4: Complete these sentences. Put in the words and decide if you need “the”
1. Have you ever been to ................................. (British Museum)?
2. The train to Paris leaves from ................................. (Waterloo Station).
3. You can take a trip by boat along ................................. (Thames).
4. ................................. (Grand Hotel) is in ................................. (Baker Street)/
5. If you are looking for a good clothes shop, I would recommend .................................
(Harrison’s).
6. The Serpentine is a lake in ................................. (Hyde Park).
7. John works for ................................. (IBM) now. He used to work for (British
Telecom).
8. From there you get a view of ................................. (Houses of Parliament).
9. The Queen lives at ................................. (Buckingham Palace).
10. ................................. (Everest) is the highest mountain in the world.

Exercise 5: Some of these sentences are correct, but some need “the” (perhaps more
than once). Correct the sentences where necessary. Put “right” if the sentence is
already correct.
1. Everest was first climbed in 1953. right
2. Milan is in north of Italy. the north of Italy
3. Africa is much larger than Europe. .................................
4. I visited Mexico and United States. .................................
5. South of England is warmer than north. .................................
6. Portugal is in western Europe. .................................
7. France and Britain are separated by Channel. .................................
8. Jim has traveled a lot in Middle East. .................................
9. Chicago is on Lake Michigan. .................................
10. The highest mountain in Africa is Kilimanjaro. .................................
11. Next year we are going to skiing in Swiss Alps. .................................
12. United Kingdom consists of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. .................................
13. Seychelles is a group of islands in Indian Ocean. .................................
14. River Volga flows into Caspian Sea. .................................
15. Ritz is an elegant hotel. .................................

Key
I.
3. a
4. an
5.⊘
6.⊘
7. a
8.⊘
9. an - ⊘
10. a - ⊘
11. a
12. an
13. ⊘- a
14. ⊘
15. an – a

II,
2. the – the
3. ⊘
4. the
5. ⊘
6. the
7. the – the - ⊘
8. the
9. the – the
10. ⊘ - ⊘ - the

III.
2. a
3. the
4. a
5. the
6. the
7. the
8. the
9. a
10. the
11. the
12. the
13. the
14. the
15. a
16. the
17. the
18. an
19. the
20. the
21. the

IV.
1. the British Museum
2. Waterloo Station
3. The Thames
4. The Grand Hotel – Baker Street
5. Harrison’s
6. Hyde Park
7. IBM – British Telecom
8. The Houses of Parliament
9. Buckingham Palace
10. Everest

V.
3. right
4. the United States
5. The south ... the north
6. right
7. the Channel
8. The Middle East
9. right
10. right
11. the Swiss Alps
12. The United Kingdom
13. The Seychelles ... the Indian Ocean
14. The River Volga
15. The Ritz