Grammar in Context
The following sentences appear in this unit. Reflect on the use of the articles in the sentences by answering each of the following questions. Then do the following two tasks.
1) A professor of education who has conducted major studies of super-achieving students revealed that top grades do not always go to the brightest students. (Para. 1, Text A)
Question:
Can we change "A professor ofeducation" to "he professor ofeducation"? Why or why not?
2) A top student who is also a top athlete memorises biology terms as he works out every day. (Para. 2, Text A)
Question:
What would thesentence mean if we changed "A topstudent" to "The top student"?
3) Top students believe that a secret of their success is the taking down of good notes during lessons and using them for revision. (Para. 4,Text A)
Question:
What would the sentence mean if we changed "a secret of their success" to "the secret of their success"?
4) It is easy to look around for villains — to blame the colleges for charging too much money, the professors for assigning too much work, the parents for pushing their children too far, the students for driving themselves too hard. (Para. 1, Text B)
Question:
Can we omit "the" in the italicized phrases? Why or why not?
5) When a teacher gets more and more effort from his class, the student who is doing normal work can be perceived as not doing well. (Para. 16, Text B)
Question:
Can we change "a teacher" in the original sentence to "the teacher", and "the student" to "a student"? Why or why not?
冠词 的用法：
一、不定冠词的用法:
1、表示某一类人或某事物中的任何一个，通常在第一次提到某人或某物时用a / an，以表示与其他事物的区别。
I gave him a book yesterday.
2、用其中的任何一个代表他们所属种类的特性。
A horse is useful to mankind.
3、用在事物的度量单位前，如时间、速度、价格等，表示“每一个”。
The potato is sold at about 30 fen a jin.
4、用来泛指某人、某物或地方。
A boy came to see you a moment ago.
5、用于某些特定的词组。 例如：a few 几个， a little 有点，等等。
She has a few friends in this city.
There is a little milk in the bottle.
二、定冠词的用法
1、定冠词特指某（些）人或某（些）事物。
Do you know the man in back?
It is not the car we are looking for.
2、如果第一次提到某人或事物的时候，用a / an，那么以后再提到的话，就变成特指的人或事物了。
I saw a film yesterday. The film ended at eight o'clock.
3、定冠词用于表示世界上独一无二的事物或用于自然界现象或方位名词之前。这些事物当然是特指的事物，不可能有两个或两个以上。
the sun the moon the earth the sky the world
4、定冠词与单数名词连用，也可以表示这一类人或事物。
The cat is an animal.
5、定冠词与形容词连用，可表示某一类人或事物。这可看作是省略了名词的用法。
The wounded were brought to the hospital.
注意：the 用在姓名复数之前，表示一家人：the Greens
三、零冠词的用法
1、国名，人名前通常不用定冠词：England，Mary
2、泛指的复数名词，表示一类人或事物时，可不用定冠词。
They are teachers.
3、抽象名词表示一般概念时，通常不加冠词。
Failure is the mother of success.
4、物质名词表示一般概念时，通常不加冠词，当表示特定的意思时，需要加定冠词。
Man cannot live without water.
5、在季节、月份、节日、 假日、日期、星期等表示时间的名词之前，不加冠词。
We go to school from Monday to Friday.
6、在称呼或表示官衔，职位的名词前不加冠词。
The guards took the American to General Lee.
7、在三餐、球类运动和娱乐运动的名称前，不加冠词：
have breakfast, play chess
8、当两个或两个以上名词并用时，常省去冠词。
I can't write without pen or pencil.
9、当by 与火车等交通工具连用，表示一种方式时，中间无冠词：by bus，by train
10、有些个体名词不用冠词。
school，college，prison，market，hospital，bed，table，class，town，church，court 等个体名词，直接置于介词后，表示该名词的深层含义；
go to hospital 去医院看病
go to the hospital 去医院（并不是去看病，而是有其他目的）
11、不用冠词的序数词；
a. 序数词前有物主代词
b. 序数词作副词 He came first in the race.
c. 在固定词组中 at (the) first,first of all, from firstto last
Now, do the tasks on Page 30 in your textbook.
