Universidad del Valle Professor: Carlos Martínez

Reading of academic texts in English II

Comparison and Contrast

Exercise 1. How many adjectives do you know from the list below?

1- big 6- thin 11- fat 16- good 21- easy

2- small 7- heavy 12- important 17- pretty 22- colourful
3- tall 8- beautiful 13- bad 18- long 23- difficult
4- hardworking 9- fine 14- dangerous 19- short 24- happy
5- high 10- lazy 15- nice 20- expensive 25- interesting

Write the comparative forms in the box below in the appropriate columns.

more -er -r -ier double letter irregular

important smaller heavier thinner

Exercise 2. Correlative forms. Las formas del comparativo también se usan en las expresiones correlativas e indican una
interdependencia entre dos ideas. La segunda idea varía de acuerdo con lo que se dice en la primera.
1. The richer a man is, the more generous he must be. _______________________________________________________________

2. The more I look at the painting, the more I like it. _________________________________________________________________

3. The more money you make, the more you spend. _________________________________________________________________

4. The more I read, the less I understand. ____________________________________________________________________

5. The more I know about men, the more I love my dog. ______________________________________________________________

6. The larger the size of a container, the higher its evaporative capacity. _________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

7. The more people eat, the fatter and sicker they become. ___________________________________________________________

8. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. _________________________________________________________________

Exercise 3. Fill in the correct form of the words in brackets (comparative or superlative).

1. My house is (big) _____________ than yours.

2. This flower is (beautiful) _______________________ than that one.

3. This is the (interesting) ________________________ book I have ever read.

4. Non-smokers usually live (long) _____________________ than smokers.

5. Which is the (dangerous) _________________________ animal in the world?

6. It is strange but often a coke is (expensive) _________________________ than a beer.

8. The weather this summer is even (bad) ___________________________ than last summer.

9. Who is the (rich) ________________________ woman on earth?

10. He was the (clever) ______________________ thief of all.

Exercise 4. Read the sentences below to decide whether the statements are true or false.

1. Canada 3,849,675 square miles

2. United States 3,679,192 square miles

3. Brazil 3,286,500 square miles

Surface extension of some
4. Argentine 1,073,818 square miles
American countries
5. Mexico 756,066 square miles

6. Peru 496,224 square miles

7. Colombia 440,831 square miles

8. Bolivia 424,164 square miles

1. Bolivia has roughly the same extension as Colombia, but our country is a little larger. T( ) F( )

2. Mexico is almost twice as large as Colombia; Argentine is much more than twice, almost thrice as large (two and a
half, indeed). T( ) F( )

3. Brazil is several times as big as Colombia is, certainly, more than seven times as big, and it is nearly the same size as
the United States. T( ) F( )

4. The United States has approximately the same surface extension as Canada but they (The USA) are considerably much
larger than both Mexico and Argentine. The US are about twice as big as both of them. T( ) F( )

5. Peru and Colombia have around the same largeness but the first one is a bit bigger than the second. T( ) F( )