You will learn how to:

 To talk about the news

 To describe a movie
GUIDE NUMBER 7 NEW CULTURES

READING

Read the interview to Mary Brian, a person who has lived in Australia and United States, next answer the
questions:
Reporter: Mary, please tell us what you think about Australia and The United States.
Mary: Well, they are really nice countries and I love both of them. They are quite different, though.
Reporter: Tell us about those differences.
Mary: For starters, the US is larger than Australia and there are more people there than in Australia.
Reporter: What about the food?
Mary: I love Australian food, especially Cabanossi; it is a type of sausage. Food in Australia is more
traditional and spicier than in the States.
Reporter: I’ve heard that Americans drive faster than Australians.
Mary: Yeah, that’s right. Roads in the US are usually safer and bigger than in Australia so people can
drive faster.
Reporter: Is it true that people in Australia are taller and thinner than in the US?
Mary: I don’t know. Probably you are right, but I am not sure.
Reporter: Finally, let’s talk about men.
Mary: Men are most of the times more handsome in Australia. However, my husband is American and he
is pretty attractive.
Reporter: Thank you Mary for your time.

1. Does Mary think Australia and The United States are very similar?

2. What’s the different between Australian and American food?

GRAMMAR

Rules for using comparatives and superlatives adjectives:

 Almost all the adjectives add the letters “ER” or
“EST” for comparatives o superlatives.
 When the adjective end in the letter “E” only add “R”
or “ST” and normally the Superlatives use the word
“THE” before the adjective.

Now double the consonant if the adjective has only one syllable finishing in a consonant and one
vowel.
ADJECTIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLAIVE
hot Hotter than The hottest
fat Fatter than The fastest
sad Sadder than The saddest

For the adjectives which finish in “W”, “X” add “ER” and “EST” to the comparatives and superlatives
respectively.
ADJECTIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
low Lower than The lowest
new Newer than The newest
slow Slower than The slowest

For the adjectives which finish in “Y” add “ER and “EST” for the comparatives and superlatives
respectively and the “Y” has to change to “i”.
ADJETIVE COMPARATIV SUPERLATIVE
E
busy Busier than The busiest
early Earlier than The earliest
noisy Noisier than The noisiest

For all the adjectives that have more than two syllables add “MORE” and “THE MOST” to the
comparatives and superlatives respectively.
ADJECTI COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
VE
Difficult More difficult than The most difficult
Polluted More polluted than The most polluted
important More important than The most important

There are some adjectives that are irregular for comparatives and superlatives.
ADJECTI COMPARATIV SUPERLATIV
VE E E
Good Better than The best
Bad Worse than The worst
Far Further than The furthest

Now according to the rules read the text again and write the sentences in COMPARATIVES:
1. the US is larger than Australia
2.
3.
4.
5.
6 ______________________________
Write the comparative and superlative forms of the adverbs below.
Example:. COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
fast faster the fastest
1. hard ___________________ ___________________
2. carefully ___________________ ___________________
3. early ___________________ ___________________
4. quickly ___________________ ___________________
5. slowly ___________________ ___________________
6. beautyfully ___________________ ___________________
7. well ___________________ ___________________
8. clearly ___________________ ___________________
9. late ___________________ ___________________
10. far ___________________ ___________________
11. badly ___________________ ___________________
12. fluently ___________________ ___________________

Complete the following sentences with the correct form (comparative or superlative) of the adverb
provided.
1. I drive ____________________________________ (carefully) than my husband.
2. Angela works ______________________________ (hard) than I do, but our secretary works
________________________________ (hard) of all of us.
3. Anita sings _______________________________ (beautifully) of all the people in the choir.
4. Our teacher explains the lessons ____________________________ (clearly) than your teacher.
5. Robert arrived at the meeting ______________________________ (early) than Francis.
6. Ken arrived _________________________________ (early) of them all.
7. Teenagers usually drive ______________________________ (fast) than their parents.
8. My daughter cooks ______________________________(well) than I do, but my husband cooks
________________________________ (well) of all of us.
9. Rene speaks ______________________________ (fluently) of all the ESL students in the class.
10. The teacher arrived ____________________________(late) than the students.

Write the sentences in the correct order:

a. taller / than / Gary / Rick / is.
b. trousers / John / got / has / new / light.
c. Mary / clothes / likes / bigger
d. an / expensive / Rick / wearing / coat / is
e. the / Carol / has / scarf / got / shortest
f. the / student / he / tallest / is
g. actress / Mary / the / was / popular / most
h. He / the / was / footballer / best
i. plays / than / better / you / Mary
j. father / is / your / than / stronger / mine
Gary is taller than Rick.
________________________________________
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