NOUN COMPLEMENT CLAUSES MODULE 50
Module 46 1a †Are the NGs in the following examples interpreted as mass or count?
(1) I haven’t time1to go to the gym2these days. But I’m really keen on gym.3 (2) The only things my sister likes are fashion4and shopping.5
(3) I’ll see you in class6on Tuesday – unless, of course, I’m moved to a different class.7 (4) My agent will be handling my appearance8in the show next week.
(5) Cynthia and I are going over to Jean’s this evening to do our homework9together.
(6) My sister’s boy-friend is really good at football.10
1b †Say which of these NGs (apart from those in sentences 2 and 3 could be used in the other sense. Make sentences to illustrate your answer.
2 †Read the following passage by Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, and say whether you interpret each NG as count or mass:
3 †The article theindicates that the referent of a noun is being presented as definite, and can be identified either somewhere in the text or from our general knowledge. Read the following short paragraph from Mario Puzzi’s The Godfather and then do the exercise given below.
It is deep in one’s natureto expect or not to expect material comfortand it starts as ahabitinchildhood. That is why I did not find the cosmonaut’s denialofterrestrial comfortsdifficult.
The space flight was like being born again – not only the satisfactionofthe scientific achievement, but also the impactof seeing how fragile our planet looksfromouter space. It is so beautiful. I wish I could be a painter.The sightconvinced me that we must treat it kindly and that humanitymust have the common sensenever to letatomic flames engulf it. All cosmonauts feel like members of one family but my space experienceinspired me to see the people who live on our planet also as one family.
Health workers in two Birmingham hospitals went on strike yesterday after one of their members had been dismissed. About 300 laundry staff and kitchen staff walked out, and within a few hours, their colleagues at the city’s main maternity and children’s units had stopped work in sympathy. Thishas caused disruption to all areas of health care and forced the cancellation of operations.
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(1) Write out the definite nouns in the text and say how each one is identified, within the text or outside it.
(2) Write out the indefinite nouns in the text, and say how their indefiniteness is marked, e.g.The Don: The article forms part of a proper noun and proper nouns are inherently definite.
the age:Identified by the qualifying information of twelve.
a real man:Marked by aas an indefinite-specific count noun.
4 †In this first paragraph of a short story by Philip Smith, The Wedding Jug, all the ‘things’
mentioned are presented as definite. How does the reader identify them?
Read the paragraph aloud, replacing theanditsbya. Is it possible to do so? If so, how does it change our interpretation of the scene?
5 †The following are generic statements in which the first noun is preceded by a definite or indefinite or zero article. Test each noun for its use with the other two articles, and say whether either of them can also be used to express generic reference.
(1) A liquidhas no shape.
(2) Gaseshave no mass.
(3) A human beingneeds the company of others.
(4) War ispolitics carried out by violent means.
(5) Animalsthat live in captivity play with their food as if it were a living animal.
(6) Television isa mixed blessing.
(7) The bicycle isa cheap form of private transport.
(8) The computerhas revolutionised business methods.
The Don was a real man at the age of twelve. Short, dark, slender, living in the strange Moorish-looking village of Corleone in Sicily, he had been born Vito Andolini, but when strange men came to kill the son of the man they had murdered, his mother sent the young boy to America to stay with friends. And in the new land he changed his name to Corleone to preserve some tie with his native village. It was one of the few gestures of sentiment he was ever to make.
I stood at thebackdoor and looked up atthemoon. Its brightness from over thedark hump of the hillside made clear thepale drifting smoke from somebody’s garden.
Thewood-smoke and themoon made me restless, eager to be moving in thesharp October night.
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6 †Which of the following statements do you interpret as indefinite and which as generic, according to the definition of genericity given in 46.6?
(1) Bicyclesare very useful during a holiday.
(2) We always hire bicyclesduring our holidays.
(3) I have official informationfor you.
(4) Official information isusually difficult to obtain.
7 †What are the two possible interpretations of the final noun in the following sentence?
My sister wants to marry a Frenchman.
Module 47
1 †What type of semantic function is realised by the ’s phrase in each of the following expressions (see 47.2.1)?
(1) the firm’s success
(2) our team’s defeat (by our rivals) (3) America’s film industry
(4) today’s news (5) a stone’s throw (6) the BBC’s director (7) the director’s orders (8) nobody’s responsibility (9) my bus
(10) cow’s milk
2 †Express the following sentences differently, using ’sdeterminatives if you think this structure is acceptable:
(1) I should like the opinion of another doctor.
(2) Have you read the report of the chairman of the examination committee?
(3) The failure of the Regional Training Scheme was inevitable.
(4) The dog belonging to my next-door neighbour barks all night.
(5) The grandmother of one of the girls in my class has died.
(6) Here’s the address of the only person I know in London.
3 †Complete each sentence with a suitable determinative of the class indicated on the left:
(1) (Non-specific): - - - – member of our family has a car.
(2) (Non-exact cardinal): - - - My young brother has collected – of butterflies.
(3) (Non-specific): - - - I had – very good news today.
(4) (Specific) (indef): - - - – people wouldn’t agree with that opinion.
(5) (Partitive): - - - – of the people in this office have a car.
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(6) (Negative): - - - – of this work will be wasted.
(7) (Specific comparative): - - - You will never have – opportunity again.
(8) (Fractional): - - - my friends have given up smoking.
4 †Complete the following sentences with one of the following: each, every, both, either, neither, all, any, none, no(In some cases more than one determinative is possible):
(1) She tells me she plays golf almost - - - weekend.
(2) - - - of the brothers applied for the job but - - - was successful.
(3) Draw a line between - - - item and the next.
(4) - - - child should spend some of its leisure time with - - - - parent.
(5) There are two good films on the television this evening, but I have seen them - - - - - - - -
(6) Ah, in fact there are three and I haven’t seen - - - of them/ I have seen - - - -
(7) He has passed - - - exam so far.
(8) - - - type of coffee except the soluble kind will do.
5 †Complete the following sentences with either alloreverything:
(1) If that happened, she would lose her job. It would be the end of - - - - (2) You need a sports bag to carry - - - your things in.
(3) But how much would - - - this cost?
(4) My father paid for - - - -
(5) They did - - - together and people thought they were twins.
Module 48
1 †Read the following passage from The Sunday Times and discuss with another student which NG heads are modified by epithets and which by classifiers. Is any of the post-head information of a classifying type? Test this by the effect on the meaning when the information is omitted.
MORE THAN 200 young Europeanswill assemble in Lisbon’s national assembly buildingthis weekend to debate issuesranging from the need for a common defence policyto nuclear powerand pollution.
Thestudents, aged between 17 and 19 and chosen after competitions between schoolsthroughout the Community, make up the European Youth Parliament. How they vote over the coming weekof activities will reveal much about young people’s attitudesto major European questions.
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2 †The following newspaper advertisement of a job vacancy consists of twelve NGs, in which each head noun is modified by an epithet or a classifier. Identify these and comment on their distribution between the ‘essential qualifications’ and the ‘outstanding benefits’. Can you explain the difference which you will observe?
3 Write a letter to a business firm or a public organisation in which you would like to work.
Present it in two parts, describing, in the form of Nominal Groups, (a) your qualifications for the job and (b) the working conditions and benefits you would like to receive. Do not use the phrases contained in the example.
4 Choose some of the following nouns and mention three or four subclasses of each general class. Use any form of classifier you wish.
train machine department officer tree
club shop affairs problems life
e.g. passenger train, goods train, express train, etc.
5 †Which of the adjectives in the following NGs function as epithets and which as classifiers?
Remember that classifiers are non-gradable.
(1) cultural activities popular activities (2) a professional attitude a professional opinion (3) medical treatment a medical student (4) a mechanical engineer a clever engineer (5) quick agreement international agreement (6) efficient workers mining workers
(7) electric light bright light Essential qualifications
(1) A good examination record at school (2) Effective self-presentation
(3) Persuasive rapport with others
(4) An optimistic commitment to hard work (5) Sound judgement
(6) Mental agility
Outstanding benefits offered (7) A competitive salary (8) Excellent leave entitlement (9) Non-contributory pension scheme (10) Personal home loans
(11) A company car
(12) Career development and training
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