by R. S. Karunaratne

Simple present questions

We make simple present questions with ‘do / does + subject + infinitive (without ‘to’).

Statement 			Questions 
I work five days a week.	Do I work five days a week? 
You know the answer.		Do you know the answer? 
We sleep every day. 		Do we sleep every day? 
He writes novels.		Does he write novels? 
She smiles whenever 		Does she smile whenever I meet I meet her. her? 
It barks at strangers.		Does it bark at strangers. 
They walk to school. 		Do they walk to school? 

Activity 1:

Put in ‘do’ or ‘does’ in the blanks and check your answers with the key.

1. .......... you know my uncle Sam?
2. .......... this train go to Kandy?
3. .......... Mary want to work here?
4. .......... your friends live near here?
5. .......... she speak Chinese?

6. .......... you go to school on Sundays?
7. .......... you sleep six hours a day?
8. .......... he work hard?
9. .......... policemen take bribes?
10. ........ the boy know the answer?

We use question words to make questions.
What do you mean?
When does the meeting start?
Where do you want to go?
Who is your best friend?
Why are you late?

How much does it cost?
How many apples do you want?
What time do they come to office?

Activity 2:

Put in question words in the blanks and check your answers with the key.

1. ......... do you want to do now?
2. ......... does Alice live?
3. ......... much does a pair of shoes cost?
4. ......... time does he come to school?
5. ......... do they want?

6. ......... much does he want?
7. ......... do you do this?
8. ......... many girls are there in your class?
9. ......... do you want to leave the island?
10. ........ do you remain silent?

Be careful when questions have long subjects.
Where does your father’s friend live?
Where do their parents work?
Where do the minister and his wife stay?
When do Rex and his children go to school?
What time does the film on our heritage start?
What does the second sentence of this paragraph mean?

Activity 3:

Put in ‘do’ or ‘does’ in the blanks. Check your answers with the key.

1. How ........... you and your friends come to school?
2. Where ...........Amanda go every day with her parents?
3. How .......... this sentence read without an apostrophe?
4. When ......... mothers, fathers and relatives become happy?
5. Why ......... young adults smoke and drink?
6. What ........... she know about driving although her father drives her to school?
7. How .......... clerks, typists and minor employees manage with their meagre income?

8. When ......... children go to bed?
9. Why ......... people doing responsible jobs take bribes?
10. How ....... a child learn to write words and sentences?

Key:

[Activity 1]

1. Do 2. Does 3. Does 4. Do 5. Does 6. Do 7. Do 8. Does 9. Do 10. Does

[Activity 2]

1. What 2. Where 3. How 4. What 5. What 6. How 7. How 8. How 9. When 10. Why

[Activity 3]

do 2. does 3. does 4. do 5. do 6. does 7. do 8. do 9. do 10. does

Match words and meanings

Here’s an interesting quiz to enrich your vocabulary. Read the words in column ‘A’ and match them with the meanings in column ‘B’. Check your answers with the key.

Column A Column B

1. Aquiline A. not straight or level
2. Arable B. extremely stupid
3. Arbiter C. to discover
4. Arboreal D. to move up
5. Arcane E. simple and honest
6. Archaic F. a skilled performer

7. Archangel G. a clever trick
8. Archery H. able to express thoughts and feelings clearly
9. Ardent I. clever and skilful
10. Ardour J.unpleasantly proud
11. Arduous K. a strong pleasant smell
12. Arid L. a large group of war ships
13. Aristocrat M. a person of high social rank
14. Armada N. very dry
15. Aroma O. needing a lot of effort and energy
16.Arrogant P. great enthusiasm
17. Artful Q. showing strong feelings
18. Articulate R. the sport of shooting arrows
19. Artifice S. an angel of high rank
20. Artiste T. of or belonging to the past
21. Artless U. mysterious
22. Ascend V. of or living in trees.
23. Ascertain W. somebody who makes a judgement.
24. Asinine X. suitable for growing crops
25. Askew Y. of or like an eagle

Key:

1. Y
2. X
3. W
4. V
5. U
6.T
7. S
8. R
9. Q
10. P
11. O
12. N

13. M
14. L
15. K
16. J
17. I
18. H
19. G
20. F
21. E
22. D
23. C
24. B
25. A

Starters:

Simple present negatives

We make simple present negatives with ‘do/does not + infinitive’ (without ‘to’).

Study the statement (S) and its negative (N).

S: I think you’re right.
N: I don’t think you’re right.
S: You think you’re smart.
N: You don’t think you’re smart.
S: He likes ice-cream.
N: He doesn’t like ice-cream.
S: She remembers all the facts.
N: She doesn’t remember all the facts.

S: It barks at policemen.
N: It doesn’t bark at policemen.
S: We want to earn a lot of money.
N: We don’t want to earn a lot of money.
S: They buy the latest wristwatches.
N: They don’t buy the latest wristwatches.

Activity 1:

Make negative sentences using ‘do not’ (don’t) or ‘does not’ (doesn’t). Check your answers with the key.

1. I play cricket.
......................

2. You speak French.
......................

3. Nethmi plays the violin well.
......................

4. We earn money by selling vehicles.
......................

5. Prem and Susila live near our school.
.......................

6. My sister writes poems.
........................

7. Mallika works as a teacher.
........................

8. Semini buys old books.
.........................

9. He likes pop music.
.........................

10. The train stops at Beruwala.
........................

Activity 2:

Choose one verb to make the following sentences negative. Check your answers with the key.

1. It ........... very often in Saudi Arabia. (rain, bark, flood)
2. I like novels, but I ........... short stories at all. (like, think, remember)
3. He lives in England, but he ......... a word of English. (speak, sing, work)
4. I am sorry, I .......... your name. (write, like, remember)
5. My friend lives in Australia, but I .......... what he does. (know, use, beg)

6. Careem’s really tired, but he ............ to relax. (help, want, keep)
7. We ........... a big house to live. (want, play, keep)
8. Edward ............. very hard, but he gets a big salary. (stop, work, sleep)
9. Kamal’s parents ........... their son is bright student. (read, think, write)
10. Amanda .............. boisterous people. (like, keep, play)

Key:

Activity 1:

1. I don’t play cricket.
2. You don’t speak French.
3. Nethmi doesn’t play the violin well.
4. We don’t earn money by selling vehicles.
5. Prem and Susila don’t live near our school.

6. My sister doesn’t write poems.
7. Mallika doesn’t work as a teacher.
8. Semini doesn’t buy old books.
9. He doesn’t like pop music.
10. The train doesn’t stop at Beruwala.

Activity 2:

1. It doesn’t rain very often in Saudi Arabia.
2. I like novels, but I don’t like short stories at all.
3. He lives in England, but he doesn’t speak a word of English.
4. I am sorry, I don’t remember your name.
5. My friend lives in Australia, but I don’t know what he does.
6. Careem’s really tired, but he doesn’t want to relax.
7. We don’t want a big house to live.

8. Edward doesn’t work hard, but he gets a big salary.
9. Kamal’s parents don’t think their son is a bright student.
10. Amanda doesn’t like boisterous people.

Form adjectives from nouns

Words often come in families. You can expand your vocabulary by becoming familiar with these word families. In the following quiz we give you 25 nouns in column ‘A.’ Write the relevant adverbs in column ‘B’ and check your answers with the key.

Column A Column B

1. Consequence ..............
2. Consideration ..............
3. Continuation ..............
4. Control ..............
5. Convenience ..............

6. Cool ..............
7. Correction ..............
8. Cover ..............
9. Creation ..............
10.Crime ..............

11. Criticism ..............
12. Cruelty ..............
13. Culture ..............
14. Custom ..............
15. Danger ..............
16. Dare ..............
17. Dark ..............
18. Day ..............
19. Death ..............
20. Deception ..............

21. Decision ..............
22. Decoration ..............
23. Depth ..............
24. Defence ..............
25. Definition ..............

Key:

1. consequently 2.considerably 3. continuously 4.uncontrollably 5.conveniently 6. coolly 7. correctly 8. undercover 9. creatively 10. criminally 11. critically 12. cruelly 13. culturally 14. customarily 15. dangerously 16. daringly 17. darkly 18. daily 19. deadly 20. deceptively 21. decidedly 22. decoratively 23. deeply 24. defensively 25. definitely