CBSE - Class 9 - English (Comm.) Workbook - Unit 2- Determiners

Unit 2 Determiners

1. Complete the introduction given below to the story The Story Teller by Saki (H.H. Munro), by using 'a' 'an' or 'the'.

Answer:

The afternoon was hot, and so was (a) _the_ railway carriage. (b) _The_ next stop was at Templecombe, nearly (c) _an_ hour ahead. In the carriage were a small girl, (d) _a_ smaller girl, and a small boy. (e) _An__ aunt belonging to (f) _the_ children sat in (g) _a_ corner seat, and in (h)_the_ further corner seat on (i) _the_ opposite side, was a man who was a stranger to them, but (j) _the_ small girls and the small boy were (k) _the_ ones who filled the compartment.
The children chatted on and on to their aunt, like (l) _a_ housefly that refuses to be put off. Most of the aunt's remarks seemed to begin with "Don't", and nearly all of (m) _the_ children's remarks began with "Why?"

✎Note: if you read Saki's story, he used 'one'  at placeholder (g) i.e.  sat in (g) _one_ corner seat. 'One' is a cardinal determiner which can be used here.

1.1 Answer the following questions

Answer:

(a) Where were the characters at the time of narration?
⇒ They were in a railway carriage.

(b) Who was travelling with the aunt?
⇒ A small girl,a smaller girl,a small boy and a stranger were travelling with the aunt.

(c) How did the children pass their time?
⇒ They passed their time by chatting on and on to their aunt.

(d) How long would they take to reach Templecombe?
⇒ They would take nearly an hour to reach Templecombe.

(e) How does the aunt respond to the children's antics? Why do you say so?
⇒ The aunt tried to put them off. Most of her remarks began with "Don't".

(Note: antics means amusing behaviour)

2.1 An astronaut is speaking to the Mission Control from her capsule, describing geographical features she can see on Earth. Decide which features she is talking about. Fill in the gaps in the astronaut's description below. Use the names given in the box with the correct determiners (a, an,
the). (The first two have been done for you).

Rule: 'The' is used before names of gulfs,rivers,seas,oceans,group of islands and mountain ranges.

"There is very little cloud cover at the moment. I can see (1) India right below me. (2) The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are clearly visible, and of course there is (3) ____________ to the south. I can see where (4) ____________flows into (5) ____________. A little higher are the glistening snows of (6) ____________ but I can't see (7) ____________ itself. I can just make out (8) ____________ to the west. I'm passing over, (9) ____________ right now. To the north, I can just see (10)____________ in the centre of the vast expanse of (11) ____________. In the far north, the ice of (12) ____________is clearly visible."



Answer:
(1) India
(2) The Andaman and Nicobar Islands
(3) Sri Lanka
(4) The Ganges
(5) The Bay Of Bengal
(6) The Himalayas
(7) Mount Everest
(8) The Persian Gulf
(9) The Tropic Of Cancer
(10) The Lake Baikal
(11) Asia
(12) The Arctic Ocean

3. Choose a suitable word from the options given and complete the story from Tunisia.

A weary traveller stopped at a Bedouin's tent and asked for shelter for the night. Without (a) ____________ delay, the man killed (b) _________ chicken and handed it to (c) ________ wife for (d) _______guest's supper. As the woman stirred the meat in (e) ______________ copper cooking pot, she smelled the rich steam and could not resist tasting (f) _________of the meat and soup, to see if it was soft and tasty. But mouthful followed mouthful, and there wasn't (g) _________ chicken left, but for the neck piece, which she gave to her little son to nibble. The boy found it so tasty that he whined, "Give me (h) ______ more chicken, mother!" The woman slapped the little boy and scolded him: "It's a shameful habit (i) ______ father taught you, enough of it, I tell you!" On the (j)_______ side of the wooden hanging which screened the woman's part of the tent from the rest, the traveller overheard them. "What habit has (k) _________ father taught (l) ___________ child?" he asked curiously. "Oh," said the woman, "whenever a guest arrives at (m) ________ tent, he cuts off his ears and roasts them over the fire for (n) _______ son to eat." Making not a sound, the traveller picked up (o) ______shoes and ran.

✎ Note:

little vs a little:  In general,  'little' is used in negative sense. While 'a little' is used in positive sense.

Answer:
(a) (iii) any
(b) (iv) a
(c) (iii) his
(d) (i) the
(e) (iii) the
(f) (i) some
(g) (i) any
(h) (ii) a little
(i) (ii) yours
(j) (iii) other
(k) (iv) his
(l) (iii) the
(m) (ii) our
(n) (iv) our
(o) (ii) his

3.1 Based on your reading of the above story, answer the following questions.

(a) How did the Bedouin and his wife extend their hospitality to the weary traveller?
⇒They offered him shelter and killed a chicken for his supper.

(b) Why didn't she have any meat left to serve her guest?
⇒ Because she and her son ate the whole chicken.

(c) Why was her son crying out aloud?
⇒ Because he asked for more chicken.

(d) How did she cover up her mistake?
⇒ She scolded her son and called it a shameful habit.

(e) Why did the traveller flee from the tent?
⇒The traveller was afraid after hearing that Bedouin had a habit of cutting ears and roasting them. To save his life, he fled from the tent.

4. Why do you use the determiners? Match the determiners with their uses, using the clues given below:

         show numbers;                 show quantity;            show possession;
         show place/positions;                 to express a negative idea

Answer:

(a) their; his; her; your;      show possession;
(b) a few; a little; some;     show quantity; Degree determiners,
(c) any                                elective determiners
(d) this; these; other           show place/positions; Demonstratives
(e) two                                show numbers, cardinal determiners

5. Here are a few questions and statements written down by the Cultural Secretary, that she/he needs to share. Tick the correct words from those given in brackets.

Answer:
(a) How (much/many) (chair/chairs) do we need?
(b) (Much/ Several) (school/ schools) will be participating.
(c) (Several/much) (student/students) have arrived.
(d) How (much/many) (information/ informations) does this brochure give?
(e) We have only (a few/ a little) sponsors for (some/ much) events.

5.1 In pairs, study the completed sentences in 5 above. You will notice that words like a little and much go with certain nouns. Are these nouns Countable [C] or Uncountable [U]?

Answer: 'much' and 'little' go with uncountable nouns.

6. Comparing Quantities

Study the following graph depicting major exports from Medland in the current year.

much less

almost the same amount of
far more
slightly more
fewer
a little less
the same number of
many more

Write a short report on major exports from Medland this year compared with the last year. Use words from the box above. Divide your report into two paragraphs as indicated.

Answer:

Medland's Export Trends

On the whole, Medland exported slightly less this year than the last year. Concerning foodstuffs, it exported a little less than the last year. Palm oil was exported slighty more than the last year. Bananas exports in this year were also fewer than the last year. However the exports of Peanutes were far more than the trends in the last year. This year exports of cocos were slightly more as compared to last year figure. But the rice exports declined a little less this year.

As regards non-edible goods, the exports were far more than the last year. Guns exported in this year were many more than the last year. On the other hand, almost the same amount of cottons goods were exported this year in comparison to last year. It exported much less iron ore this year than the last year.

7. In pairs, match A and B to produce likely phrases.

A	B
A (n) Some A pair of A piece of	horse equipment oil trousers chicken furniture scissors snow people information goods air glasses water work medicine clothing fact binoculars news glass

There is sometimes more than one sensible combination as in the example

Answer:

(i) A horse, A chicken, A fact, A glass
(ii) An equipment
(iii) Some oil, some furniture, some information, some goods, some snow, some people, some news, some work
(iv) A pair of trousers, A pair of scissors, a pair of glasses, a pair of binoculars
(v) A piece of clothing, A piece of furniture

8. Compounds - someone, nothing etc

someone
somebody
something
somewhere
anyone
anybody
anything
anywhere
none
nobody
nothing
nowhere
everyone
everybody
everything
everywhere

(Words ending with one and body mean the same.)

Fill in the gaps with some of the words from the table above.

(a) He can't hear __anything__. He's completely deaf.
(b) Everything__ is going blurred. I can't see!
(c) He's looked everywhere_ but he can't find it.
(d) It must be _somewhere! Look carefully.
(e) Nobody_must move or the horse will be scared.
(f) It doesn't matter what you wear, _anything_will do.
(g) She is very popular. _Everybody_likes her.
(h) Shh! There is _someone__ moving downstairs.
(i) Don't worry ! It's _nothing_frightening. It is only the wind.
(j) It's a public holiday, so_nothing_is open.

9. Both, all, neither, none

 One
Two
Three
Neither
None
All
Both




of them








is a …
are……s.

9.1 Work in pairs and recognise how many words belong to each set. Complete the sentences as in the example. Use words only from the box above.

1. Chemical elements?
    Mercury, iron, ammonia

    Two of them are chemical elements.

2. Countries in South America?
    Brazil, Syria, Sumatra
    One of them is a country in South America.

3. Rivers?
    Hwang Ho, Mekong
    Both of them are rivers.

4. Languages?
    Telugu, Bengali, Punjabi, Holland
    Three of them are languages.

5. Capital Cities?
    Pokhara, Mandalay, New York, Melbourne
    None of them is a capital.

6. Grow on trees?
    Pineapple, tomato
    Neither of them grows on trees.

7. Religions ?
    Taoism, Democracy, Communism
    One of them is a religion.

8. Units of currency?
    rupee, kyat, yen, dollar, baht, rupiah
    All of them are units of currency.

10. Personal Pronouns

Read the following conversation

Malavika and Deepak are looking through some photographs of Malavika's family.
Malavika : Now … this is my brother Shantanu. Shantanu is in Class VIII. Shantanu is brilliant at playing tennis. Shantanu is also good at singing. Shantanu sings a lot.

Deepak : Shantanu sounds interesting. I'd like to meet Shantanu. I'm looking for someone to play tennis with.

Malavika : Well … why don't you come around tonight and meet Shantanu? My parents will be out. My parents always go out on Tuesdays.

 Improve the above conversation by using suitable pronouns where required.

Answer:

Malavika : Now … this is my brother Shantanu. He is in Class VIII. He is brilliant at playing tennis. he is also good at singing. He sings a lot.

Deepak : Shantanu/He sounds interesting. I'd like to meet him. I'm looking for someone to play tennis with.

Malavika : Well … why don't you come around tonight and meet him? My parents will be out. They always go out on Tuesdays.