6E Articles and quantifiers

A Complete the text with a/an, the or no article.

La Tomatina is held annually on 1 last Wednesday of

August in 2
Buñol, Spain. Thousands of participants
come from all over 3
world to fight in 4 brutal
battle, in which over one hundred tons of over-ripe tomatoes
are thrown in exactly 5 hour. 6 tomatoes are
brought into the town centre by 7
truck and 8
cannon is fired to signal 9 beginning of the fight.
Generally, there are 10 very few rules to follow, but all
tomatoes must be crushed before being thrown and participants are advised to wear 11 old clothes
and goggles.
The fight has been a strong tradition in Buñol since 1944, but its original meaning remains 12
complete mystery. Whatever happened to begin 13 tradition, it was enjoyed so much that it was
repeated 14
following year, and the year after that, and so on.

B Complete the sentences, by choosing the correct quantifiers.

1 The supermarket has much / many different brands of coffee, but none / neither of them are fair trade.
2 I need to pop to the shop. We haven’t got some / any milk and there’s a little / little bread left.
3 You can have either / both a biscuit or a cake, but you’re not having both / neither!
4 We’ll have to make any / some meat-free dishes for the party, as a few / few of the guests are vegetarian.
5 Few / Little of my friends enjoy cooking, but the whole / all of them adore eating.
6 I don’t think Dad added any / no salt to the dinner. It doesn’t have much / many taste.
7 I can’t believe you ate the whole / all tub of ice cream. We’ve got none / no dessert now.
8 Are you OK doing all / most the cooking or would you like some / any help?
9 You can choose each / any pizza as long as there are any / no olives on it.
10 All / Both of my brothers are couch potatoes. Neither / Either of them ever helps out around the house.

C Use the quantifiers to complete the sentences so they are true for you. Read your sentences to a partner. How similar
are your answers?

(a) few (a) little a lot all hardly any many most much nearly all none several some

1 of the people in my family are good at cooking.

2 I spend of my money on junk food.
3 of my friends have food allergies.
4 of the drinks I have contain caffeine.
5 of my friends are vegetarian.
6 At home, I spend of my time in the kitchen.
7 of the food I eat is organic.

D Work in a group. Find out about an unusual festival which involves food. Write a short text about it, similar to the one
in task A. Take care with articles and quantifiers!

Solutions 2nd edition  Upper-Intermediate © Oxford University Press • Photocopiable

 6E Articles and quantifiers

Aims  To review and practise articles and quantifiers

Time  10–15 minutes + extra time for group project
Materials  1 handout for each student; Internet access is
required for students to complete the project
• Give each student a handout and tell them to complete task
A. Check answers as a class, taking the opportunity to review
the rules for using articles.
Answer Key
1 the 5 an 9 the 13 the
2 / 6 The 10 / 14 the
3 the 7 / 11 /
4 a 8 a 12 a
• Tell students to complete task B. Check answers as a class,
ensuring that students can explain their choice of quantifier
in each case.
Answer Key
1 many/none 6 any/much
2 any/little 7 the whole/no
3 either/both 8 all/some
4 some/a few 9 any/no
5 Few/all 10 Both/Neither
• Tell students to complete task C to make the sentences true
about themselves. Divide the class into pairs and tell them to
read their sentences out to each other. Encourage them to
provide extra details about each situation.
• Get some feedback from students on what they found out
about their partner.
• Divide the class into small groups and give them time to
research an unusual festival involving food. They should
make notes and then use these to write a short text of about
150 words. The completed texts can be displayed in the
classroom for students to read their classmates’ work.

Solutions 2nd edition  Upper-Intermediate © Oxford University Press