Names of Books, Newspapers, Periodicals

Ø Names of newspapers published in English tend to have the definite article, including almost all the British national daily newspapers: the Times, the Guardian, the Independent, the Daily Telegraph, the Financial Times, the Daily Mail, the Daily Mirror, theSun, the Star; the one exception is: Today.

· … the cityeditor of the Washington Post.

· … in an article in the Times.

Ø You use a zero articlewith the names of foreign newspapers: Pravda, Le Monde, Der Spiegel.

· ...a long and thoughtful article in Le Monde.

Ø Names of periodicals such as magazines and journals have either the definite article or a zero article: Punch, Newsweek, ELT Journal, the Journal of American Psychology, the Spectator.

· ...a collection of tales which previously appeared in Punch.

· ...a cartoon in the Spectator.

Exercise 1 . In the sentences below, only one of the underlined alternatives is appropriate. Cross out the one that is wrong.

1. Newsweek/ The Newsweek appears, not surprisingly, every week.

2. Is Pravda/ the Pravda a daily or a weekly newspaper?

3. The article was published in Spectator/ the Spectator.

4. British newspapers are usually divided into popular papers, like Today/ the Today and Sun/ the Sun, and quality papers, like Guardian/ the Guardian.

5. Times/ The Times is a daily newspaper.

6. One of them was reading Mail/ the Mail and the other was reading Express/ the Express. (G. Orwell)

7. Have you got a Guardian/ the Guardian that I could borrow?

8. I was reading a piece in News Chronicle/ the News Chronicle the other day where it said that bombing planes can’t do any damage nowadays. (G. Orwell)

9. Dick was in his own room in the hotel reading New York Herald/ the New York Herald when the swallow-like nun rushed in – simultaneously the phone rang. (F. Sc. Fitzgerald)

10. It appeared in New York Times/ the New York Times.

 

 

Names of Political Institutions

Ø The names of most political or government bodies and institutions have the definite article: the House of Commons, the House of Lords, the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Department of Trade and Industry, the State Department, the Cabinet.

· It was defeated in the House of Commons on 13 December.

· Look at the percentage of lawyers in the Senate.

Ø This is true also of foreign institutions, translated or not: the Bundestag, the Dail, the Supreme Court, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of the Interior, and so on.

· ...at a special meeting of the Bundestag.

· ...regular briefings by the Interior Ministry and the Foreign Ministry.

Ø Exceptions to this are: Parliament (but the Houses of Parliament), Congress, and names of councils: Kent County Council, Leeds City Council.

· ...when I was elected to Parliament in 1964.

· He attended Congress only nine times.

Ø Names of locations and buildings that are used to refer metonymically to political institutions stay as they are: Whitehall , Westminster, Downing Street, Washington, the Kremlin.

· But the final decision may be made in the Kremlin.

Exercise 1.In the sentences below, only one of the underlined alternatives is appropriate. Cross out the one that is wrong.

1. Whitehall/ The Whitehall has denied any knowledge of the affair.

2. The proposal was rejected by Finance Ministry/ the Finance Ministry.

3. House of Lords/ The House of Lords will vote on the bill tomorrow.

4. Kremlin/ The Kremlin has so far made no response to the protest.

5. … the state opening of Parliament/ the Parliament by the Queen.

6. He was one of the youngest to be elected to Senate/ the Senate.

7. There was also a secretary from American Embassy/ the American Embassy. (W.S. Maugham)

8. “This is nineteen-seventy-nine, Gary, people like you are forming Thatcher Cabinet/ the Thatcher cabinet.” (S. Fry)

9. “Adrian, I want you to deliver this note to British Consulate/ the British Consulate,” said Trefusis. (S. Fry)

10. As they powered upstream, Big Ben/ the Big Ben and Houses of Parliament/ the Houses of Parliament were silhouetted against the moonlit sky. (H. Fielding)

11. President Nixon resigned to avoid impeachment, and Gerald Ford stepped into White House/ the White House. (S. Sheldon)

 

 

А RTICLES IN NOUN GROUPS

Exercise 1 .  Insert articles where necessary.

1. She told him in __ answer to his polite inquiry __ whole story and gave him her opinion of __ travel agency, __ railway company, and __ general inefficiency of __ human race. (W.S. Maugham)

2. If I have given __ reader __ impression that Elliot Templeton was a despicable character I have done him __ injustice. (W.S. Maugham)

3. I never had __ remotest idea. She kept it __ secret from everyone, even Danny. (D. du Maurier)

4. One of her most amiable traits was that she was never affronted by __ naked truth. (W.S. Maugham)

5. I haven’t __ slightest idea, Mrs. Danvers. (D. du Maurier)

6. It’s not __ slightest use your losing your temper with me. (D. du Maurier)

7. He was __ admirable host and he took __ delight in displaying his virtuosity. (W.S. Maugham)

8. Are you going to keep __ house? (F. Sc. Fitzgerald)

9. Perhaps you will do me __ honour of accompanying me to the card room? (S. Fry)

10. As with a jigsaw puzzle, what I hoped to do was to familiarize myself with the picture on the box lid and then proceed to put the pieces together one section at__ time. (S. Grafton)

11. You’re to nurse it Nelly: to feed it with sugar and milk, and take care of it __day and__ night. (E. Bronte)

12. And of Wuthering Heights Catherine was thinking as she listened; that is, if she thought or listened at all; but she had the vague, distant look I mentioned before, which expressed no recognition of material things either by__ ear or__ eye. (E. Bronte)

13. I was marking time until I had a chance to talk to Lonnie, who Ida Ruth kept assuring me was temporarily out of__ service. (S. Grafton)

14. On many __ night I have rolled over and wished he was just half the Leon that he used to be: tender and attentive and sexy and a little wild. (Terry McMillan)

15.  ‘Oh, I have nothing,’ I replied, thinking it best to speak __ truth at once. (E. Bronte)

16. Rosemary stood beside Tommy Barban – he was in __ particularly scornful mood and there seemed to be some special stimulus working upon him. (F. Sc. Fitzgerald)

17. It was a sweet substitute for the yet absent murmur of the summer foliage, which drowned that music about the Grange when the trees were in__ leaf. (E. Bronte)

18. __day and __ night he was watching and patiently enduring all the annoyances that irritable nerves and a shaken reason could inflict… (E. Bronte)

19. He subdued it, however; heard her saying, ‘__ truth, __ whole truth, and nothing but __ truth,’ and looked up. (John Galsworthy)

20. I knew that you could not keep up an acquaintance with your cousin, without being brought into__ contact with him. (E. Bronte)

21. From __ dinner to__ tea she would lie in her breeze-rocked cradle, doing nothing except singing old songs – my nursery lore – to herself, or watching the birds, joint tenants, feed and entice their young ones to fly. (E. Bronte)

22. While Michael was refastening the lock of the park door in the afternoon, I got __ possession of the key. (E. Bronte)

23. The place was filled with sunshine, and the door stood wide open; but nobody seemed at __ hand. (E. Bronte)

24. You know, I was wild after she died; and eternally, from__ dawn to __ dawn, praying her to return to me – her spirit – I have a strong faith in ghosts. (E. Bronte)

25. I knew no living thing in__ flesh and__ blood was by. (E. Bronte)

26. If he could only give tangible proof enough of his determination to let __ bygones be__ bygones, and to do all in his power to please her, why should she not come back to him? (John Galsworthy)

27. And they had gone __ hand in__ hand. (John Galsworthy)

28. Winifred was at __ heart so deeply undecided… (John Galsworthy)

29. The issue had been so satisfactory on the whole that it was advisable to tell James, who never failed to say __ day after__ day that he didn’t know about Winifred’s affair, he couldn’t tell. (John Galsworthy)

30. Of course, there’s nothing very much at__ present, but there will be. (John Galsworthy)

31. I’m as good __ man as you. (John Galsworthy)

32. Stay in __ close touch. (Jack Higgins)

33. Her grandfather had gone__ bankrupt in the lace-market at __ time when so many lace-manufacturers were ruined in Nottingham. (D.H. Lawrence)

34. ‘Only dare!’ she said in __ loud, ringing voice. (D.H. Lawrence)

35. Then he caught__ sight of the Highland bonnet with its ribbons. (D.H. Lawrence)

36. Never forgetting that by__ birth she was a gentlewoman, she cultivated her aristocratic tastes and feelings, so that when __ opportunity came she might be ready to take the place from which poverty now excluded her. (Louisa May Alcott)