VIII. Put the adjectives into the superlative form.

1. The (tall) US President was Abraham Lincoln, who was 1 m 93, and the (old) was Ronald Reagan, who was 69 when he became President in 1981.

2. The (fast) winner of a London Marathon was the Portuguese runner Antonio Pinto – fourteen minutes better than the (quick) woman, Ingrid Kristiansen, from Norway.

3. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah – Sultan of the Arab State of Bruneix is the world’s (rich) monarch. Many people think that Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain is the (wealthy) female ruler.

4. Elvis Presley – who died in 1977 – was probably the (popular) singer of all time. He always said that the (important) person in his life was his mother.

5. Queen Jane had the (short) time on the throne of any English queens – just five days! King Louis XIV of France was King for the (long) time: 72 years!

IX. Rewrite these sentences, using the words given.

Model: Our product is the cheapest on the market. - No other product on the market is as cheap as ours.

 

1) Our product is the least expensive on the market. All the other …

2) There are fewer competing brands on the market nowadays than ten years ago. There aren’t as many …

3) One third of consumers prefer their product to ours. Three times as …

4) All other features of the product are more important than its colour. The least …

5) Both the price and the design are equally important to our customers. The price is just as …

6) Our product costs slightly less than our competitor’s does. Their product costs a little …

7) It is a bit more difficult to service the new model than the old one. It isn’t quite …

8) Their product is not so reliable as ours. Our product is …

9) Our product is more widely available than most of the competing brands. Most of …

10) Price is not so important as quality, as far as our customers are concerned. Quality …

 

 

X. * Translate the following comparisons into Russian. Make up sentences with them.

a) as different as chalk and cheese.

b) as dark as inside of a wolf.

c) as black as two o’clock in the morning.

d) as happy as a dog with two tails.

e) as cold as an ex-wife’s heart.

f) as ugly as home-made soap.

g) as nervous as a brick wall.

XI. Open the brackets, using correct degrees of comparisons. Translate into Russian.

1. He laughs (good), who laughs last.

2. He who laughs last, laughs (long).

3. Of two evils, choose the (little).

4. Cats are (clean) than monkeys, but monkeys are (intelligent) than cats.

5. Nothing is so (bad) but it might have been (bad).

6. Prevention is (good) than cure.

7. Half a loaf is (good) than no bread.

8. Empty vessels make the (great) sound.

9. The (high) tree has the (great) fall.

10. A man can do no (much) than he can.