4. Portrait of a family;... Bartons
There are three adults and two children in this family. ... children are Ben, aged twelve, and little Stella, who is four. Their parents are Andrew and Marion.... other adult is Leslie, who's Andrew's brother. He is twenty-four. They live in ... Newcastle,... large city in ... north-east of England. On weekday mornings everyone gets up early; Andrew-Barton works for ... company, which manufactures ... computers. He leaves at seven o'clock. He likes to avoid ... rush hour, he says. Marion suspects that really he likes to avoid ... breakfast with ... children, who are very noisy. Ben catches ... school bus at eight-fifteen. Leslie is at ... university, studying ... physics. He lives away from ... home during term-time, so he avoids ... noise, too.
Stella doesn't go to ... school yet, of course. Next year, she will start at... nursery school where Ben used to go. Her mother is looking forward to this as it will mean that she can go back to ... work. Before her marriage, she lived in London, where she worked for ... National Gallery, in ... Trafalgar Square. She is hoping to find ... same sort of job in... Newcastle.
5. Tina wants to buy a car. She has come to see Brian, who is trying to sell his.
T: So, you don't say much in your advertisement. Is this ...old car?
B: Four years old. Come and have ... look at it.
T: Were you ... first owner?
B: No, I got it two years ago.
T: Have you driven it... lot?
B: Well, I drive to my office in ... city centre five days ... week, but I don't use it much at weekends.
T: I see. Now,... thing is, I'm... doctor. I've just started work at... hospital in Hills Road. I'm on call... lot of the time
and I have to find ... car which is really reliable.... car I used to have was always breaking down and giving me
... problems. B: Oh, this one's very good. It may not be ... fastest car around, but it always gets there eventually. And it's got ... new set of ...tyres.
T: Right. It's good to know that. Can I go for ... test drive?
B: Hm, actually, that's not possible right now.
T: Why not?
B: Well, basically, I'm afraid it won't start. You see, ... battery is flat.
6. It was ... wonderful day. We went to ... beach in our old Volvo, and ... children played all day in ... sea. Mary and I walked along ...beach in ... sunshine, looking at... birds and collecting shells. We had .. .meal at... little restaurant on ... way home, and drove back late at... night.
7. I want to thank you for ... lovely kitten. I call her Sheba and she has some lovely ways. If you hang ... piece of... string in front of her she always tries to catch it. Sometimes she plays with ... little rubber mouse if I throw it in front of her. On ... warm days she lies outside in ... garden. When Mrs. Ross, ... cleaner, is working here, Sheba often chases ... vacuum cleaner. But Mrs. Ross says she's... best cat in ... world and we all agree with her.
8. ... robots are common in industry and perhaps they will soon be common in the home.... robot working in the home must be able to behave like ... human. You can ask it to make ... breakfast for you! I'd like ... pot of ... coffee, please, and ... boiled eggs'. - 'How many, sir?' - 'Two, please'. You wouldn't have to worry about bringing friends home to dinner. Tve brought... friends for ... dinner', you would say, 'please prepare ... meal for six'. Your robot would be .. .cook, ... servant and ... cleaner and perhaps it could even do ... shopping. 'We haven't got ... tomatoes', you would say. 'Be ... good robot and get some from ... supermarket'. ... robots would never need to sleep and would never complain. But I wouldn't want them wandering round ... house at... night!
9. I really can't understand why some pupils feel bored when ... history is discussed. Maybe they get... wrong idea about it at ... school. For me, though, ... subject is ... most important part of... education. This is because there are some very worrying trends in ... modern life. Knowing about... development of... society in ... previous centuries helps us to understand ... society we live in now. We must place ... high value on ... historical research if ... survival of ... human race is to be assured. It's ... matter of... life and ... death.
4. PRONOUNS
4.1. PERSONAL, POSSESSIVE AND RECIPROCAL PRONOUNS
4.1.1. Study the forms and the use of personal, possessive and reciprocal pronouns.
Personal
Subjective
Objective
Possessive Proper
Possessive Absolute
Reciprocal
case
case
I
me
my
mine
myself
you
you
your
yours
yourself
he, she, it
him, her, it
his, her, its
his, hers, its
himself,
herself,
itself
we
us
our
ours
ourselves
you
you
your
yours
yourselves
they
them
their
theirs
themselves
Note: Possessive proper pronouns are used before a noun as an attribute. Possessive absolute pronouns are mainly used as a predicative. They are never followed by a noun. Possessive absolute pronouns are typically used in phrases like a friend of mine, that house of theirs, that brother of yours, etc.
It 's not my book, it's yours.
It isn 't her car, hers is brown.
Which coats are theirs?
A friend of mine is coming to see me.
We went to a party last night and enjoyed ourselves
very much.
Can you do it yourself:'
4.1.2. Choose the correct pronoun.
1 Bob is one of (our, us, ours) best pupils. 2. It isn't (my, mine) bag. I've left (my, me, mine) at home. 3. I've just waxed the floor. Don't walk on (itself, it, its) yet. 4. Let (they, them, their) read the story again. 5. Will you tell (we, us, our) about Great Britain? 6. Is this Mary's scarf? No, it is (me, my, mine).7. (Your, you, yours) house is not far from (our, us, ours). 8. Whose cigarettes are these? They may be (our, ours) cigarettes. Oh, yes, they are (our, ours). 9. (Our, ours) car is faster than (their, theirs). 10. A friend of (you, yours, your) came to see (we, us, ours) yesterday. 11. We know (they, them, theirs) very well and both Peter and Nell know (we, us, ours). 12. You can do it without (mine, my, me) help but not without (they, their, theirs). 13. He couldn't lend me the dictionary because it wasn't (he, him, his). 14. She is writing a letter to an old friend of (her, hers, she). 15. This suitcase isn't (us, our, ours). There's somebody's name on it. 16. This is not (my, mine, me) car. (My, Mine, Me) is a 1980 model.
17. Could you help me sort out these things? I cannot tell which are (your, you, yours) and which are (we, our, ours).
18. ( You, your, yours) ticket is on the table and where is (her, she, hers p. 19. She first looked at the title of the story and then at (her, she, hers). 20. Can I borrow (your, yours, you) umbrella? - I'm sorry, it isn't (me, my, mine). 21. I'm sorry, but he's busy. Do you mind waiting for (he, him, his)? 22. Who told you about it? - A friend of (you, your, yours). 23. Don't ask for help. Do it (you, yourself). 24. Did he enjo\ (him, his, himself) at the party? 25. Jill had lived by (itself, herself, her) before (her, hers) marriage, but now she was happy with her husband in (their, theirs) new house which (her, hers) husband had built (him, himself, itself).