Unit 9ab Book

1. Introduction

Unit 9ab deals with comparison, namely tracking the improvements of similar products. Comparing and contrasting is a very important skill, as to a certain extent, our life is based on choice. Very often, we need to weigh alternatives, evaluate them and choose or recommend the most appropriate one for a particular purpose. We usually do this by measuring the alternatives or items against some criteria such as quantity, and cost. Linguistically, we can use comparison and contrast phrases, but this unit will mainly focus on the easiest method of comparison: comparatives and superlatives. Technical contexts are going to be used: first, we will deal with some transportation systems before touching on electrical topics.

Contents:

• Comparatives of adjectives:

This car is more expensive than that one.

That car is faster than...

• Comparatives of adverbs:

This car can accelerate faster than…

This car can accelerate less quickly than…

This car can accelerate more slowly than…

• Modifying comparatives:

This car is far more expensive than that one.

That car is much faster than...

That car is (only) slightly slower than...

This car can accelerate a great deal faster than…

This car can accelerate a little less quickly than…

This car can accelerate a lot more slowly than…

• Modifying comparatives in a more specific way:

This car is ten percent more expensive than that one.

This car is £1000 more expensive than that one.

That car is three times faster than...

That car is a third slower than...

That car is half as powerful as…

This car can accelerate twice as fast as…

• Superlatives of adjectives:

This car is the greatest of all.

This car is the most powerful one of these three.

This car has the most expensive engine in the world.

This car has the least noisy engine I have ever come across.

This car has the most aerodynamically shaped body I have ever seen.

• Modifying superlatives:

This car has by far the most expensive engine of the three vehicles.

This car is easily the most powerful one of these three.

2. Warm-up: Forum

Think of a normal working day. Lots of people are always in a hurry on their way to work or school. This means that travelling/commuting is something they do on a daily basis. How do you commute to school? What means of transport do you use? Consider this list of vehicles: a motorbike, a bicycle, a conventional car, an electric car and an electric scooter. If money was not a problem, which of them would you prefer for commuting to school? Why? What are your criteria for the most suitable vehicle? And vice-versa, which would be the worst choice and why? If you were allowed to choose the right vehicle from an open list of possible vehicles, in other words, all existing vehicles, would your answer be the different? How? Finally, look at the picture of the Spyder roadster on p. 68 in your coursebook (Bonamy, D. (2011). Technical English Level 3 Coursebook. Pearson Longman). Would that be a good vehicle for your everyday commuting? While deciding on this, consider the criteria listed in Task 1 on p. 68 in your coursebook. Answer these questions in this Moodle forum.

3. Listening: Test Report

Listen to Recording 29 that comes with your coursebook (alternatively, you can read the transcript on p.  124 in your coursebook). You will hear part of a radio car chat reviewing two vehicles. The speakers will speak about the new Spyder roadster and compare it against the Zoomster XL motorcycle. As you listen, complete this task.

4. Grammar: Comparatives and Superlatives

When listening to the radio car show, you may have noticed that the speaker used various grammar forms to compare the two vehicles. However, as it´s only the Spyder roadster, and not the Zoomster XL motorcycle that actually exists, let´s now compare the Spyder to another existing vehicle instead. And in order to make it possible to use the superlative forms as well, let´s compare the Spyder not just to one vehicle, but more than one.  The criteria will be the price, top speed, dimensions, weight, engine output and the maximum range, as you can see below:

Before you start comparing the vehicles, make sure you know how to talk about the criteria listed on the left. Convert the criteria into questions in this task. Also, google the pictures of all the vehicles, so that you know what they look like.

Now, try to recall what the speaker in the recording said:

• The Spyder was as fast as the Zoomster.
• The maximum speed of both vehicles was the same.
• The Spyder´s brakes were more efficient and more powerful than the Zoomster´s.
• Spyder´s acceleration was slower.
• The Zoomster had better suspension.
• The Spyder was less dangerous than more normal motorbikes, but also less exciting.
• The storage space was larger than the container on the back of the Zoomster.
• The Spyder is more expensive than the Zoomster.

Now, what if the Spyder was compared against more vehicles than just one? Let´s compare all the vehicles from the table above:

• The Segway is the cheapest vehicle.
• The Skycar is the most expensive vehicle of them all. (… of all of them).
• The least expensive vehicle is the Segway.
• The Segway is the vehicle which is the least heavy of the four vehicles.
• I think the Carver is the best one.

Why do we say: cheaper/the cheapest but: more expensive/the most expensive? Well, this is the basic grammar related to the comparatives and superlatives of adjectives. You had probably learned this grammar before you entered university, but if you feel you need to revise this grammar point, read this grammar overview. Then practise comparative and superlative adjectives by completing this task.

Sometimes, it´s not only adjectives that are used to compare and contrast phenomena. Sometimes adverbs can be used as well. The main difference between adjectives and adverbs is that adjectives modify nouns, but adverbs modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. Basically, they answer the question “how?” while adjectives answer the question “what?” Regular adverbs are formed by adding -ly to adjectives: slow + -ly = slowly. However, some adverbs are irregular or have a slightly different meaning when adding -ly. Look at these regular and irregular examples of the use of comparative and superlative adverbs:

• You can buy the Segway more cheaply than the Skycar.
• You cannot buy the Skycar as cheaply as the Segway.
• You cannot buy the Skycar so cheaply as the Segway.
• You cannot buy the Skycar less cheaply than the Segway.
• You can operate the Segway more economically than the Skycar.
• I would never buy the Skycar because it is only possible to operate is less economically than the other vehicles.
• The Skycar can go fastest of all the vehicles. It can go faster than all the other vehicles.
• The Skycar can go furthest of all the vehicles. It can go further than all the other vehicles.
• The Carver can last longer than the Skycar. The Carver can last longest of all the vehicles.
• The Skycar can last less long than the Carver. The Skycar can last least long of all of them.

Like in adjectives, comparative and superlative adverbs is a grammar point usually covered at elementary schools. Still, if you feel that you need to brush off your knowledge, read this grammar overview and then practise the grammar by completing this quiz and this gap-fill task.

Comparatives and superlatives of adjectives and adverbs can even be further modified to fiddle with the tiny nuances of meaning. Thus, instead of just saying that something is more expensive or cheaper, you can say that it is much more expensive or much cheaper. One car may be faster than another, but you can be more specific by saying that it is twice as fast as another one. You can do a job more effectively or even far more effectively. There is a long list of these modifiers and you can find at least some of them in this document. After going through it, practise the modifiers here by comparing two types of bulb.

5. Writing: Comparing Processors

Look at the specs of some AMD processors here and compare them using the modifying comparatives and superlatives covered in this unit. It is up to you which of the processors features you will compare, but write at least six sentences. Submit them via this Moodle portlet.

6. Specialist Reading: The Skycar

This is the final task in this unit. Read about one of the unusual cars discussed in this unit here. As you read, complete all the gaps in the task.

7. Word list

The key terms related to the topic of Unit 9ab can be found:

• in the Excel format here.
• in the interactive flash card format here. This format is particularly good for drilling the new vocabulary.
• in a zip file here. This file is downloadable, so that after unpacking it, you can drill the new vocabulary on your desktop, laptop or any other portable device where you have a browser installed. The recommended one is Mozilla Firefox. Important: after unzipping the zip file, make sure to keep all the related files in the same directory at all times. Do not change any file names and do not transfer or delete anything.

Recommendation: Remember that the best way to learn new vocabulary is to see each new word in a context; that is, seeing it in the contexts provided in the tasks you complete in the unit.

8. A printer-friendly version of Unit 9ab

A printer-friendly version of Unit 9ab exercises and the keys to these exercises can be found here.