Unit 3. Countable and Uncountable Nouns.

Exercise 1. Use an article to show whether the noun is used as countable or uncountable.

Example: … criminal is … person who has committed … crime. – A criminal is a person who has committed a crime.

1.... victim gave … description of … robber. 2.... jury is... body of … persons sworn to give … verdict on … evidence before them. 3.... iron is an instrument for pressing and smoothing our clothing, but sometimes it is used as … instrument of torture. 4. Оnе of the greatest figures in... Greek thought was Aristotle. 5. He hasn’t got... thought in his head. 6. The prisoner needed... needle and... thread to sew up … button. 7. Convict’s silly mistake makes all … plans hang by... thread now. 8. In the darkness of the cell only... thread of... light came through the keyhole. 9. The Greek myth says that Prometheus stole... fire from Olympus to give it to men. 10. When... night came, the scouts put up... fire to frighten off the wolves. 11. There was... fire in the coal-mine the other day. 12. When the Western Alliance waged... war against Hitler, it was not... war within Europe only.

Exercise 2. Fill in the gaps with a/an or some.

Example: The defendant paid … fine for stealing … meat. – The defendant paid a fine for stealing some meat.

1. When I read … article about … shop-lifting in … newspaper, I immediately wrote … letters to my solicitor and my partner. 2. I need … money. I want to hire … barrister. 3. We met … interesting people at the trial. 4. The clerk of the court is going to open … window to get … fresh air. 5. The strikers didn’t eat much for lunch – only … apple and … bread. 6. The judge lives in … big house. There’s … nice garden with … beautiful trees in front of it. 7. Convicts are going to make … furniture. First, they need … wood. 8. We talked to our lawyer and she gave us … very good advice. 9. The president admitted there had been … breakdown of … law and … order. 10. We had … nice weather when we were on holiday. 11. There is … sand in suspect’s shoes. 12. I decided to buy … burglar alarm after someone broke into my house.

Exercise 3. Choose the most suitable word in each sentence.

Example: The victim’s cloth/clothes were torn. – The victim’s clothes were torn.

1. The detective conducts investigation/investigations. 2. The juveniles are going to buy some drug/drugs. 3. MPs are going to buy some new chair/chairs. 4. The secretary is going to buy some new furniture/furnitures. 5. The convict has got big blue eye/eyes. 6. The tourist guide gave us some information/informations about the town. 7. The merchants saw beautiful cotton/cottons and silk/silks in Thailand. 8. Our advocate gave us useful advice/advices. 9. In England most houses are made of stone/stones. 10. My knowledge/knowledges in the area of civil law is very poor. 11. Students are making great progress/progresses these days. 12. The suspect’s got short hair/hairs.

Exercise 4. Correct the mistakes. Use a/an where necessary.

Example: The trial took a long time as the jury couldn’t bring in verdict. – The trial took a long time as the jury couldn’t bring in a verdict

1. I haven’t got evidence against him. 2. Hijacker took control over plane. 3. Are you looking for job of lawyer? 4. Mary was charged with shop-lifting. 5. Criminal is going to get money by blackmail. 6. After climbing over prison wall Sam stole motorbike and got away. 7. Vandals damage other people’s property. 8. You should never speak with stranger. 9. Britain is island. 10. Suspect made very bad mistake. 11. He left car in no-parking area and had to pay fine. 12. The police arrested drug dealer yesterday.

Exercise 5. Fill in the gaps with a/an or some where necessary.

Example: They accused Arthur of stealing … money. – They accused Arthur of stealing some money.

1. The value of … goods was said to be over 2,000 dollars. 2. The police found two bottles of … wine, … plate of … oranges with … powdered sugar in the room where Bob was killed. 3. Stephen had led … secret life of crime before he was caught. 4. The prisoners began … dinner in … silence. In … silence... soup was finished. It wasn’t … excellent soup, of course. 5. She did not answer the judge’s question, but her face was hard and pale as … stone. 6. The robbers met to plan … bank raid. 7. She hurried in again and found … water almost boiled away. 8. The witness had … brown shining hair which hung down on either side of her face. 9. The maid brought in … pears, … cold chicken, … tongue, … cheese. 10. The detective inspector asked the young officer to make … tea. 11. I was going to cut … grass in … garden when I heard … shots. 12. For the safety of clients … security cameras are installed in all airports.

Exercise 6. Translate the sentences from Russian into English.

1. Президент признал, что государство сейчас находится на пороге войны. 2. Из-за своего криминального прошлого Джек был главным подозреваемым. 3. Контрабанда – это незаконный ввоз товаров в страну. 4. Никто не верит в невиновность подсудимого. 5. Судья приговорил Стива к пятилетнему тюремному заключению. 6. У тебя есть доказательства его участия в данном преступлении? 7. Похитителей поймали, и ребенок уже в безопасности. 8. Полиция отказалась раскрыть личность преступника. 9. После оглашения вердикта в зале суда наступила тишина. 10. Членам жюри присяжных понадобилось какое-то время для того, чтобы вынести вердикт. 11. Вор украл из магазина все деньги, а также много товаров. 12. Поверенный дает советы своим клиентам по делам наследства, собственности и т.д.

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