Wednesday, February 20th

A. Quantifiers

1. With Uncountable Nouns

• much
• a little/little/very little *
• a bit (of)
• a great deal of
• a large amount of

2. With Both

• all
• enough
• more/most
• less/least
• no/none
• not any
• some
• any
• a lot of
• lots of
• plenty of

3. With Countable Nouns

• many
• a few/
• a number (of)
• several
• a large number of
• a majority of

When to use A FEW or FEW and LITTLE or A LITTLE

A few and a little express a positive idea. They indicate that something exists or is present.
Although she has been here only two weeks, she has already made a few friends.
This is a positive idea. She has made some friends.

I'm very pleased. I've been able to save a little money this month. This is a positive idea. I have saved some money instead of spending all of it. 

Few and little give a negative idea; they indicate that something is largely absent.

I feel sorry for her. She has few friends.
Negative idea: She does not have many friends; she has almost no friends.

I have little money. I don't even have enough money to buy lunch. 
Negative idea: I have almost no money.


4. Exercises
In the following sentences, fill in the gaps with one of the following quantifiers:

A FEW | A GREAT DEAL | A LITTLE | A LOT | A LOT OF | A MAJORITY OF | ENOUGH | MANY | MUCH OF | PLENTY | SEVERAL OF | SOME 

1. I'm having  of trouble passing my driving exam.

2.  the movies were rated PG.

3.  information proved to be outdated.

4. We're close to the project deadline, but there is still  time left.

5. Although there are  brilliant students in this state -- thousands, even, only  will choose to remain in the state after graduation.

6. We were able to destroy  the parasites with our antigen, but  of them survived to cause trouble.

7.  a student has passed through these doors.

8. Although  of the lawn is open to the sun, there are  of shade trees to make it comfortable.

9. I think he drank  wine last night.

10.  the evidence was taken from the police safe last night.

In this exercise you will practise using the determiners few, a few, and fewer, little, a little and less.

Instructions: Choose the correct answer in each of the following sentences:

 I waited for  fewa littlea fewlittle minutes and then tried to call him again. 

 We have very  a littlefewlittleless chance of reaching London before lunchtime; it's still another 100 miles away. 

 Unfortunately, he has  fewlittlea few a little money to live on, as his salary is quite low. 

 Unfortunately,  fewa fewlittlea little of the companies which we sent offers to showed interest in our products. 

 There wouldn't be so many accidents if there was  a fewfewfewerless traffic on the roads. 

 Last month was a good month for the company. We found  a fewfewlittlea little new customers and also increased our profit. 

 The taxi driver spoke  very fewa littlevery littlea few English. I couldn't understand him. 

 We have to speed up - there is very  a littlefewlittlea fewless time to finish the project. The deadline is next Friday.

 There were  littlefewfewera fewless people than usual in the supermarket. 

 I have  littlefewerlessa fewa little money but more time than I did ten years ago. 

 It will take me  littlefewa fewleasta little time, but I'm sure everyone will learn how to use the new software eventually. 

 There were too many applicants for too  a fewlittlefewa littlefewer jobs. 

B. Thinking about moving to the US Doctor? Think again...
A very interesting article about the tough and long process immigrant doctors have to undergo to practice medicine in the US.  This article has tons and tons of great vocabulary.  Please click on the link and answer the questions below:

Link to the audio file: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=172108835&m=172130755

Link to the transcript: http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=172108835

Questions

1. What is the pay difference between doctors in the US and Western Europe according to the economist interviewed (Dean Baker)?
2. What was the experience of Dr Wilandy from Canada when he tried to get his license in CA?
3. What's the reason why the requirements are so stringent according to the president of the Medical State Board, Dr Chaudhry?
4. What percentage of the doctors in the US are foreigners? Does Dean Baker, the economist, think we need more foreign doctors? Why?
5. What is Dean Baker's idea to simplify the licensing process for foreign doctors?
6. According to Dean Baker, what is the main advantage of having a large flow of foreign doctors coming to the US to practice medicine?