SEMINAR ASSIGNMENT

ARTICLES - PRACTICE

5. Read the example below and rewrite the sentences. Pay attention to the verb:
E. g. There are some chairs on top of one another in the conference room. There is a
stack of chairs in the conference room.
1. There is a stack of tables on top of one another in the restaurant.
2. There is a mass of people waiting outside.
3. The group of people who work there is very well paid.
4. A crowd of football fans rushed to the pitch.
5. A swarm of insects was flying back into the room.
6. There was a row of cottages along the street.

6. There are some collective nouns connected to the use of language. Read the
text and underline them.

When the meeting was over the students raised a host of questions about the next
semester load. There had been a barrage of complaints about the week schedule. The
dean replied that he was prepared to answer a string of wild allegations, provided they
let him defend his position. Eventually, he just gave a series of short answers and left
the auditorium hurriedly.

7. Look at the following example and operate the same changes by using the
appropriate set of words from the box. Note that some of the sentences may
contain errors.

E.g. She bought an old chair. She bought a piece of old furniture.

A piece of; a bit of; a spell of; a clap of; a flash of; a gust of; a shower of; a
blade of; a puff off; a lump of; a break of

1. They took a piece of our advice.

2. It had been a spell of a good weather that summer.
3. She heard a clap of thunders and instantly saw the lightning.
 4. Can you count a blade of grass?
5. We could see a puff of smoke hovering over the city.
6. I take coffee with a lump of sugar.
7. Tim went out to get a break of air.
8. Suddenly a gust of wind blew off his hat.
9. She bought a new computer last week but still needed new equipment.

8. The phrase a state of can be associated with several unaccountable nouns to

make them singular. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate uncountable noun
from the list below:

chaos; emergency; tension; confusion; health; disorder; uncertainty; poverty;

agitation; despair.

1. When the city mayor returned from abroad, he found his office in a state of
……chaos
2. Following the floods, the Prime Minister announced a state of ……emergency
3. In the aftermath of the competition, there was a general state of ….tension.
4. Every Tuesday when I walk in your studio, I find everything in a state of
…..disorder
5. Georgiana was prowling around the telephone in a state of ….agitation.
6. He couldn’t believe his ears when he heard that Gaudi died in a state of
…poverty.
7. It was bad news for the designer and I wasn’t surprised to find him in a state of
….uncertainty .

PRACTICE
1. Add commas only where needed:

1. Not all writers who become famous have spent years studying.

2. Lavinia Johnson, who was also known as Mama Johnson, is considered the most
important figure in our city.
3. Mama Johnson, who started writing when she was seventy-six ,never had a
literature lesson.

4. Her realistic and simple sketches depicting Midwestern life have been praised by
critics and readers alike.

5. These colorful stories , which are called “primitives”, are based on her early life in
rural Midwest.

6. She began to write at a time when she could no longer walk.

7. This energetic woman, who lived to be 100 ,continued to create works of wonder
and charm until shortly before her death.

8. Mama Johnson, who wrote without any formal training, remains one of the most
famous primitive writers in our country.

2. Read the following passage and punctuate and capitalize it correctly.

Underline the relative clauses. Set off the non-restrictive clauses with commas.

Matisse was a French artist who was born in the 1900s. He was a lawyer by training

and started painting as a hobby. Matisse was the best known of a group of artists

whom critics at one of their exhibits labeled “Fauves” or “wild beasts”. Matisse

simplified his subjects and chose vivid colors that were not necessarily true to nature.

Besides being famous for his paintings Matisse was well known for several other

forms of art: sculpture book illustrations and tapestry design.

3. Combine the sentences by turning one (or more) of the sentences into a
relative clause. Use the first sentence in each group as the base clause.
1. Early Spanish settlement of San Antonio began with the Martin de Alarcon’s
expedition.

2. Martin de Alacron was trying to reassert Spanish dominance over Texas.

3. Martin de Alarcon was the governor of Coahuile and Texas.
Martin de Alarcon, whose expedition started the early Spanish settlement of San
Antonio, was trying to reassert Spanish dominance over Texas .
Martin de Alarcon, whose expedition started the Early Spanish settlement of San
Antonio, was the governor of Coahuile and Texas, over which he was trying to
reassert Spanish dominance.

1. The king of Spain approved the proposal to populate Texas.

2. The proposal was made by the Marquis of San Miguel de Aguayo in 1719.

The king of Spain approved the proposal to populate Texas, which was made by
Marquis of San Miguel de Aquayo in 1719

1. San Antonio grew into the largest Spanish settlement in Texas.

2. San Antonio was the capital of the Spanish, later Mexican province of Tejas.

San Antonio, the capital of the Spanish, later Mexican province of Tejas, grew into the
largest Spanish settlement in Texas.

1. The Mexicans wanted to unite Texas with Mexic.

2. The Battle of the Alamo took place in 1836.
3. The Texian forces defending the deserted mission were outnumbered and killed.
4. The people defending the Alamo were seen as “martyrs” for the cause of Texas
freedom from the Mexicans and ‘Rember Alamo’ became a rallying cry to final
victory.
The Battle of Alamo took place in 1836, for the Mexicans wanted to unite Texas with
Mexico, yet the Texan forces defending the deserted mission were outnumbered and
killed, resulting in the people defending the Alamo to be seen as "martys" for the
cause of Texas' freedom from the Mexican and "Remember Alamo" became a
rallying cry to final

4. Fill in the blanks with appropriate Relative words and make changes, if
necessary.

The Japanese wanted a new and spectacular hotel to replace the antiquated
Imperial …WHICH the Germans had designed for them in the last century, a
structure …THAT would symbolize Japan’s ascent to the forefront of modern nations,
and he was going to give it to them – a building … THAT would be the glory of all
Japan and stand proudly a hundred years and more even if the city around it was
shivered to dust.