IMPROVING EXERCISE

IMPROVING EXERCISE
LANGUAGE FOCUS: /i/ and /i:/ - Stress in two-syllable words
Simple Present and Simple Past
EXERCISES
PHONETICS
1. A. break
2. A. children
3. A. alarm
4. A. routine
5. A. office

B. lead
B. contented
B. driver
B. house
B. drop

C. take
C. rest
C. buffalo
C. plough
C. tobacco

D. neighbour
D. friendly
D. passenger
D. without
D. plot

1. A. harrow
2. A. children

3. A. office
4. A. alarm

B. buffalo
B. contented
B. pedal
B. exactly

C. tobacco
C. kitchen
C. repair
C. transplant

D. neighbour
D. friendly
D. fellow
D. dinner

VOCABULARY AND GRAMMAR
A. Match the italicized verbs in column A with their meanings in column B
A
When did the plane take off?
The thieves ran away when the burglar alarm went off.
Let's take a break. We'll go on when you are ready.
Could you wake me up early tomorrow?
She laughed and chatted happily with other women
Did anyone see Sue getting off the bus?
Suddenly, the plane seemed to dip and we realized we were in danger.
I've given up trying to understand her.
We had trouble putting up the tent in the dark.

Fire fighters soon put out the fire.

B
a. building
b. move downward
c. made stop burning
d. leave the ground
e. talked in a friendly way
f. stopped
g. leaving
h. make stop sleeping
i. continue
j. rang

Prepositions
The alarm went ...... at 5.30 and everybody got up.
Why aren’t you usually satisfied ...... everything you’ve got?
The taxi can’t drop us ...... our office because there is a ban on vehicles ...... this street.
Mr. Lam usually helps his passengers put their purchases ...... the cyclo.
My children often chat on line ...... their daily life ...... their friends.
C. Simple Present and Simple Past tenses
There (1)...............(be) three adults and two children in the Bartons. The children (2)............
(be) Ben, aged twelve, and little Stella, who is four. Their parents are Andrew and Marion. The
other adult is Leslie, who is Andrew's brother. He is twenty-four. They (3)........... (live) in
Newcastle, a large city in the northeast of England.
On weekday mornings, everyone (4)……(get up) early. Andrew Barton (5)……(work) for a
company which (6)…… (manufacture) computers. He (7)…… (leave) at seven o'clock. He (8)
……(like) to avoid the rush hour, he says. Marion (9)…….(suspect) that really he (10)……(want)
to avoid having breakfast with the children, who (11)……(be) very noisy.
Ben (12)............... (catch) the school bus at eight-fifteen. Leslie (13)…… (be) at university

studying physics. He (14)............... (live) away from home during term-time, so he (15)……
(avoid) the noise, too.
Stella (16)……(not go) to school yet, of course. Next year, she will start at the nursery school
where Ben used to go. Her mother (17)……(look) forward to this, as it will mean that she can go
back to work. Before her marriage, she (18)……(live) in London, where she (19)……(work) for
the National Gallery. She (20)……(hope) to find the same sort of job in Newcastle.
WRITING Complete the sentences
Dear Aunt Edwina,
I/ write/ give you/ wonderful news.
Richard/ ask me/ marry him/ and/ accept.
B.


I/ not know/ whether/ remember him/ but/ you both/ be/ introduce/ each other/ last year.
We/ get married/ September 29th/ Saint Agather’s church.
We both/ hope/ your leg/ better/ and/ able/ come/ wedding.
It/ seem/ ages/ since/ we last/ see/ each other.
Anyway/ I/ have to/ say good-bye now/ because/ have/ lot/ other invitations/ send.
Lots of love,
Sally
IMPROVING EXERCISE (Week 1)
LANGUAGE FOCUS: /i/ and /i:/ - Stress in two-syllable words
Simple Present and Simple Past
EXERCISES
PHONETICS
1. A. break
2. A. children
3. A. alarm
4. A. routine
5. A. office

B. lead
B. contented
B. driver
B. house
B. drop

C. take
C. rest
C. buffalo
C. plough
C. tobacco

D. neighbour
D. friendly
D. passenger
D. without
D. plot

1. A. harrow
2. A. children
3. A. office
4. A. alarm

B. buffalo
B. contented
B. pedal
B. exactly

C. tobacco

C. kitchen
C. repair
C. transplant

D. neighbour
D. friendly
D. fellow
D. dinner

VOCABULARY AND GRAMMAR
D. Match the italicized verbs in column A with their meanings in column B
A
When did the plane take off?
The thieves ran away when the burglar alarm went off.
Let's take a break. We'll go on when you are ready.
Could you wake me up early tomorrow?
She laughed and chatted happily with other women
Did anyone see Sue getting off the bus?
Suddenly, the plane seemed to dip and we realized we were in danger.
I've given up trying to understand her.
We had trouble putting up the tent in the dark.
Fire fighters soon put out the fire.

B
a. building
b. move downward
c. made stop burning
d. leave the ground
e. talked in a friendly way
f. stopped

g. leaving
h. make stop sleeping
i. continue
j. rang

9
7
10
1
5
8
6
4
3
2

Prepositions
The alarm went off at 5.30 and everybody got up.
Why aren’t you usually satisfied with everything you’ve got?
The taxi can’t drop us at our office because there is a ban on vehicles in this street.
Mr. Lam usually helps his passengers put their purchases into the cyclo.
My children often chat on line about their daily life with their friends.
F. Simple Present and Simple Past tenses
There (1)are three adults and two children in the Bartons. The children (2)are Ben, aged
twelve, and little Stella, who is four. Their parents are Andrew and Marion. The other adult is
Leslie, who is Andrew's brother. He is twenty-four. They (3)live in Newcastle, a large city in the
northeast of England.
On weekday mornings, everyone (4)gets up early. Andrew Barton (5)works for a company
which (6)manufactures computers. He (7)leaves at seven o'clock. He (8)likes to avoid the rush
hour, he says. Marion (9)suspects that really he (10)wants to avoid having breakfast with the

children, who (11)are very noisy.
Ben (12)catches the school bus at eight-fifteen. Leslie (13)is at university studying physics.
He (14)lives away from home during term-time, so he (15)avoids the noise, too.
Stella (16)doesn’t go to school yet, of course. Next year, she will start at the nursery school
where Ben used to go. Her mother (17)looks forward to this, as it will mean that she can go back
to work. Before her marriage, she (18)lived in London, where she (19)worked for the National
E.


Gallery. She (20)hopes to find the same sort of job in Newcastle.
WRITING Complete the sentences
Dear Aunt Edwina,
I am writing to give you wonderful news.
Richard asked me to marry him and I accepted.
I do not know whether you remember him but you both were introduced to each other last
year.
We are going to get married on September 29th at Saint Agather’s church.
We both hope your leg will be better and you will able to come to our/ the wedding.
It seems ages since we last saw each other.
Anyway, I have to say good-bye now because I/ we have a lot of other invitations to send.
Lots of love,
Sally
IMPROVING EXERCISE (Week 2)
LANGUAGE FOCUS: /i/ and /i:/ - Stress in two-syllable words
Simple Present and Simple Past
B. EXERCISES
VOCABULARY
I. Fill each gap in the sentence with one word from the box
brigade, fields, rubbish, weather, experiences
family, danger, routines, children, neighbors

1. When her children are at school, Mrs. White does her usual ………
2. There’s a lot of ……… involving in rock climbing.
3. The success of the crop depends on the ……….
4. We can see many ……… of corn in the village.
5. Turn the radio down, or you’ll wake the ……….
6. Almost every ……… in the town owns a television.
7. Whenever you see a house on fire, call out the fire……….
8. The street is covered with old cans and other kinds of ……….
9. Several ………, aged about seven, were playing in the yard.
10. He had many interesting ……… while he was traveling in Africa.
II. Fill in the blank with the correct form of the word
1. He is ……… (content) to stay in his present job for the time being.
2. Please write your name, age and ……… (occupy) on the form.
3. I find it ……… (interest) to talk to Tom’s grandfather.
4. When he lived in Da Nang, he visited me ………. (occasion)
5. The girl felt quite ……… (satisfy) with her examination results.
6. They are keeping her in the office for her own ……… (safe).
7. It is ……… (frighten) even to think of the horrors of a nuclear war.
8. For further ……… (inform), write to Mr. headmaster.
READING: Fill in each blank with a suitable word
In most of Europe villages, a farmer’s house (1)…… of two parts, home to live and outbuildings
(2)…… are built separately and are often used (3)…… sheds and stores. Every morning, farmers
and farm workers (4)…… their village to work on their land and (5)…… their animals in distant


fields. They have lunch on their fields and only return (6)…… their village at the end of the day.
So, social life is focused around the community center, the (7)……
(8)……… most of North America, a different pattern has been established. It was borrowed (9)
…… Northern Europe, but was put even further in the New World (10)…… land used to be cheap

and even free. Farmers (11)……. and work on very large and isolated farms. The neighbors live
(12)……. from one another. They only meet when they go to the (13)……… market or town to
buy goods, materials, fuels, and services. The (14)…… associated with American farmers stems
from this pattern of farm settlement.
WRTITING: Rewrite the following sentences
1. I like chatting in my free time, but I like listening to music better. I
prefer.....................................................
2. We spend four hours doing our homework everyday. It
takes.........................................................................
3.
He
isn’t
satisfied
with
his
son’s
school
report.
(contented)
………………………………………………….
4. My city has got only one church. There......................................………………………………...
5. What are your favorite subjects? What subjects............................……………………………?
6. “Why don’t we go to the seaside at weekends?” Mary said. “Let’s…………………………”,
said Mary.
7. Remember to shut the windows before you leave. Don’t ...............…………………………….
8. What does Ms Kate do?
What’s………………………………………………...............................................
9. They are good singers.
They………………………………………………………………………………….
10. There is no one that does not know about it.

Everybody……………………………………………………
IMPROVING EXERCISE (Week 2)
LANGUAGE FOCUS: /i/ and /i:/ - Stress in two-syllable words
Simple Present and Simple Past
B. EXERCISES
VOCABULARY
I. Fill each gap in the sentence with one word from the box
brigade, fields, rubbish, weather, experiences
family, danger, routines, children, neighbors

1. When her children are at school, Mrs. White does her usual routines.
2. There’s a lot of danger involving in rock climbing.
3. The success of the crop depends on the weather.
4. We can see many fields of corn in the village.
5. Turn the radio down, or you’ll wake the neighbors.
6. Almost every family in the town owns a television.
7. Whenever you see a house on fire, call out the fire brigade
8. The street is covered with old cans and other kinds of rubbish.


9. Several children, aged about seven, were playing in the yard.
10. He had many interesting experiences while he was traveling in Africa.
II. Fill in the blank with the correct form of the word
1. He is contented to stay in his present job for the time being.
2. Please write your name, age and occupation on the form.
3. I find it interesting to talk to Tom’s grandfather.
4. When he lived in Da Nang, he visited me occasionally
5. The girl felt quite satisfied with her examination results.
6. They are keeping her in the office for her own safety
7. It is frightening even to think of the horrors of a nuclear war.

8. For further information, write to Mr. headmaster.
READING: Fill in each blank with a suitable word
In most of Europe villages, a farmer’s house (1)consists of two parts, home to live and
outbuildings (2)which are built separately and are often used (3)as sheds and stores. Every
morning, farmers and farm workers (4)leave their village to work on their land and (5)breed their
animals in distant fields. They have lunch on their fields and only return (6)to their village at the
end of the day. So, social life is focused around the community center, the (7)village
(8)Throughout most of North America, a different pattern has been established. It was borrowed
(9)from Northern Europe, but was put even further in the New World (10)where land used to be
cheap and even free. Farmers (11)live and work on very large and isolated farms. The neighbors
live (12)far from one another. They only meet (13)when they go to the village market or town to
buy goods, materials, fuels, and services. The (14)independence associated with American
farmers stems from this pattern of farm settlement.
WRTITING: Rewrite the following sentences
1. I like chatting in my free time, but I like listening to music better. I prefer listening to music to
chatting in my free time.
2. We spend four hours doing our homework everyday. It takes us four hours to do our homework
everyday.
3. He isn’t satisfied with his son’s school report. He isn’t contented with his son’s school
report.
4. My city has got only one church. There is only one church in my city.
5. What are your favorite subjects? What subjects do you like?
6. “Why don’t we go to the seaside at weekends?” Mary said. “Let’s go to the seaside at
weekends”, said Mary.
7. Remember to shut the windows before you leave. Don’t forget to shut the windows before
you leave
8. What does Ms Kate do? What’s Ms Kate’s job/ occupation?
9. They are good singers. They are good at singing/ sing well.
10. There is no one that does not know about it. Everybody knows about it.