Check

We use the present simple to talk about regular actions or normal situations.

I send sms every day.

We use the present continuous to talk about a temporary situation or something that’s happening now.

I am using Nick’s phone while mine is being charged.

I’m writing a message now.

For more on this, turn to ‘Grammar reference’.

Check

There are some verbs which are almost never used in the present continuous. Most of them come in these some categories:

1. Verbs of mind, e.g. think, know, understand, believe, see, agree.

2. Verbs of feeling, e.g. like, love, hate, prefer.

3. Verbs of wanting and possession, e.g. want, need, own, belong.

For more on this, turn to ‘Grammar Reference’.

adjective	comparative	superlative
cheap small big	cheaper smaller bigger	cheapest smallest biggest
funny early heavy	funnier earlier heavier	funniest earliest heaviest
careful boring expensive interesting	morecareful moreboring moreexpensive moreinteresting	mostcareful mostboring mostexpensive mostinteresting

For more on this, turn to ‘Grammar Reference’.

Example: Sydney is the largest city in Australia.

1. Helen's car isn't very big. She wants a ____ one.

2. My job isn't very interesting. I want to do something ____ .

3. David doesn't work very hard. I work ____ .

4. Your plan isn't very good. My plan is ____ .

5. These flowers aren't very nice. The blue ones are ____ .

6. My bag isn't very heavy. Your bag is _____ .

7. I'm not very interested in art. I'm ____ in history.

8. It isn't very warm today. It was ____ yesterday.

9. Britain isn't very big. France is ____.

10. London isn't very beautiful. Paris is ____.

11. This knife isn't very sharp. Have you got a ____one?

12. People today aren't very polite. In the past they were ____.

Lesson 2 The Nobel Prize

Albert Einstein	Pierre Curie, Marie Curie
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen	Ivan Petrovich Pavlov
William Shakespeare	Boris Pasternak
Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov	Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov	Isaac Newton

1.	The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees	a)	the most prestigious award in its field.
2.	In 1968 Sveriges Riksbank instituted an award that is often associated with the Nobel Prizes,	b)	the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895.
3.	The prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace	c)	in recognition of cultural and scientific advances.
4.	The Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway,	d)	the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
5.	Each Nobel Prize is regarded as	e)	while the other prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden.
6.	The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel,	f)	were first awarded in 1901.