A, An, The, or Some
Contrasting
Correct the mistakes
Geography
What is the rule?
100
For lunch I ate _____ dumplings and ______ steak.
For dinner I had soup and a salad.
100
______ teachers are hardworking people. _______ teachers in your school take ______ lot of time to make sure that your homework is graded on time.
(1) Firefighters face dangers.
(2) The firefighters were the first to arrive at the scene of the accident.
100
When you arrive at my house, you don't need to knock on door; you can just walk in.
When you get to my house, you don't have to ring the doorbell. Just walk in.
100
___ Yeman is ____ country in ___ Middle East.
Jordan is a country in the Middle East.
100
Everyone in the class missed_______ question number 20 on the test.
Key: Everyone in the class missed question number 20 on the test.
Rule 48: Do not use an article when referring to numbers or letters in a list.
200
My name starts with ________ 'P' and ends with ________ 'P' as well.
My name starts with an L and ends with a U.
200
_____ cancer kills many people every year because we have no way to cure it. My grandfather recently died from _____ cancer of the pancreas.
(1) Cigarettes kill many people every year.
(2) The cigarette broke before I could light it.
200
The math homework I did last night wasn't too difficult--in fact, I would consider it to be the least difficult so far this semester.
She graduated with a major in mathematics and physics.
200
_______ Natural History museum is on ____ 1st Street and ____ Ohio Avenue, next to _____ school.
My brother is a mountain climber; he has climbed Mount Everest.
200
Did you see him? He just was walking down ____ hallway, and went into ____ his room.
Key: My cousin studies at North Hennepin Community College. I study at the University of Minnesota.
Rule 20: Do not use an article with the names of universities or colleges.

Exception: Use "the" with names of colleges and universities that contain the word "of".
300
_____ Farmers discovered _____ Terracotta Army in ______ Shanxi Province in ______ 1970s.
Indiana Jones found the Ark of the Covenant while in Egypt.
300
I didn't eat _____ slices of bitter gourd because I don't like ______ bitter gourd. I think ______ gourds are far too bitter.
I didn’t eat the/a cookie because I just don’t like cookies.
300
For the past half the month I have been feeling too lazy to study English.
I love rock music; my favorite group is the Beatles.
300
_____ Asia has ____ majority of _____ world's population.
The Museum of Modern Art is on 53rd Street in New York City.
300
Michael Phelps has won _____ first place prize in many swimming competitions.
Key: Henry won second prize in the university jeopardy contest.
Rule 24: Use "the" with ordinal numbers and other ranking words like "next" and "last".

Exception: Do not use "the" with ordinal numbers when referring to names of prizes.
400
_____ Yowling sound you heard was ____ cat. _____ Cats are ____ domestic animals that live in many peoples' _____ homes.
That hooting sound you heard was an owl. The owl is a large predatory bird.
400
____ Politicians often lie to get elected. This is not ______ surprise. _____ Surprise comes when _____ politicians don't even try to deny that they lie!
(1) Firefighters are often the first to arrive at the scene of an accident.
(2) Firefighters inhale many dangerous fumes on the job.
400
"We are thinking of changing our musical theme and genre in my club," she said. Philip replied, "But I love the jazz music! I don't want you to change it."
Correct.
400
____ Shanghai is ____ city in ______ Eastern China.
The Hague is a city in the Netherlands.
400
My cousin studies at ____ North Scottsdale Community College. I study at _______ University of Minnesota.
Key: I will stay in the Hilton Hotel, but my conference will be held at the Anthropology Department which is located in Lincoln Hall.
Rule 32: Use the with the names of hotels, motels, theaters, bridges and buildings.

Exception: Do not use an article with the names of halls or hospitals.
500
My father always wanted to be ____ lawyer, but he couldn't stand ______ sound of ______ arguing.
My cousin wanted to be a surgeon, but he fainted at the sight of blood.
500
Tonight I went to _____ many places. I stopped by _____ park, then swung by ______ Jinhua, and after that I went to _______ Philip's Cafe. It took _____ so long ____ time to hit all _____ these places in _____ night!
(1) Doctors recommend eating more fish.
(2) The doctor recommended that I cut down on fats.
500
Last night I went to the movies with my friend. We saw a couple films, including recent Captain America movie.
We wanted to go to the movies, but instead we stayed home and watched TV.
500
'The City' is a nickname of _____ San Francisco, _____ city near which Philip grew up.
The Dominican Republic is on an island in the Caribbean.
500
The car drove out of ____ city and headed towards _____ South. The plane took off, banked _____ left, then headed _____ South.
Key: The ship sailed out of the harbor and headed north. If you look into the north on a clear night, you will see the North Star.
Rule 42: Do not use an article if a compass direction immediately follows an action verb like go, travel, turn, look, sail, fly, walk, or move.

Rule 41: Use the for compass directions if they follow prepositions like to, in, on, at or from.
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