Count and Noncount Nouns Exercises

Quantity Terms with Count and Noncount Nouns: Exercises
In the following sentences, substitute one of these expressions for the underlined words:

little
quite a little or quite a bit of
few
quite a few
To clarify, little means "not much," but quite a little (or quite a bit of) means "a rather large amount." Few means "not many," but quite a few means "a rather large number."

1 Quite a few students have trouble with economics
2. It requires a quite a little of reading.
3. Few advisors spend as much time with their students.
4. He has little hope of passing his exams.
5. George's advisor spends quite a bit of time with him.
6. He does know few people in the class.
7. Bill does spend little money on clothes.
8. She spends quite a bit of money on CDs.
9. He does have few suits.
10. He does understand little of the reading.

Count and Noncount Nouns Exercises

Count and Noncount Nouns
Exercise 1
Are the following nouns count or noncount? Put an N next to the noncount nouns and a C next to the count nouns. If the noun can be either noncount or count depending on the context, put a D next to it.

world C
textbook C
acid C
smoking N
poetry D
applause N
thought D
banana C
conduct D
progress N
biology N
essay D
crystal C
shopping N


Exercise 2
Put an X next to the words in the following list that can be used as either count or noncount nouns, depending on the context.

defense X
beauty
garbage X
experience X
baggage
rain
rug
nature X
bag
emotion X


Exercise 3
Fill in the blank with the form of the noun in parentheses that is appropriate to the grammatical context of the sentence and the meaning of the passage as a whole.

Diabetes: Beyond the Basics
Because diabetes can cause devastating damage to virtually all body systems people with diabetes should not underrate the seriousness of their disease. Learning to live with a chronic illness such as diabetes must be an ongoing process.

The Hospital's Center for Family Life Education is sponsoring a five-part educational series on diabetes. The series will begin on April 30 and continue through May 29. The programs will be held in the second floor classroom of the Education Center from 7-9 p.m.

The diabetes series is free and open to the public and will be of specific interest to people who have diabetes and their families and friends.

Exercise 4
On the basis of the rules for using articles discussed in the OWL file "Count and Noncount Nouns," which combinations of words below are permitted and which ones aren't? Put an X next to the incorrect combinations.

a table
these person x
this furniture
that assignment
a boy
the poetry
a difficulty
a research
this eggs
those argument x


Exercise 5
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate article if one is needed.

The Computer Jungle
Though you can make a decision on purely economic grounds, buying a computer is often more like joining a religious cult. Buy an Apple, for example, and almost by default you join Apple chairman Steve Jobs in his crusade against IBM. Every machine has its "users' groups" and a band of loyal enthusiasts who tout its merits. That makes it all more difficult for an uninitiated to decide what machine to buy. Students have a huge advantage, however. The computer companies are so eager for students' business (it builds "brand loyalty") that many offer huge discounts.

In the past six months, IBM, Apple, and others have brought out new computers, and a fierce competition has forced prices down. Also, time is on your side: next year at the time you'll have even more choice and more computing power and features for the same price. On the other hand, this will probably be true for many years. So for those who need or want a computer now, it's a great time to buy one.

Man and Eternity

In Tao we see eternity touched several times. Heaven and Earth to him are eternal. Yet he looks at man in a humbling way. We are always seeking eternity yet we can’t even begin to comprehend it, the words in our language can’t begin to describe its immensity. Even heaven and earth which are so great and supposedly eternal can’t reproduce it. “High winds do not last all morning – Heavy rain does not last all day. Why is this? Heaven and earth! If heaven and earth cannot make things eternal, how is it possible for man?” (p.25)We are in a constant search for self-preservation. We are willing to sacrifice anything for this and it is almost an unstoppable instinctive force. Even Gilgamesh’s story for the search of eternity which has lasted for so long will one day fade as everything else. Time passes and it consumes all no matter what it was made of, for what purpose or who wrote it. Even the great tale of Gilgamesh will one day be forgotten.
There is yet another meaning to this phrase. “High winds do not last all morning. Heavy rain does not last all day.” Although as a whole it is making reference to the fact that nothing is eternal but heaven and earth. (And nothing we make can ever be eternal) It can also have a side meaning. High winds and Heavy rains have been always a representation of bad times. Maybe he also wanted to make people see that evil and rough times do not last forever even though they might seem to do so, anything created by man can’t be eternal. In a way it was a method to calm people. “The wise therefore rule by emptying hearts and stuffing bellies, by weakening ambitions and strengthening bones.” (p.7) maybe this part of what he wanted to achieve with this. Not just “filling bellies” but preparing for the bad times when maybe there wouldn’t be enough food to do this. He looks like a very skilled person in handling people and has the potential of being a leader since he sees how to manage a state.

Man and Eternity

In Tao we see eternity touched several times. Heaven and Earth to him are eternal. Yet he looks at man in a humbling way. We are always seeking eternity yet we can’t even begin to comprehend it, the words in our language can’t begin to describe its immensity. Even heaven and earth which are so great and supposedly eternal can’t reproduce it. “High winds do not last all morning – Heavy rain does not last all day. Why is this? Heaven and earth! If heaven and earth cannot make things eternal, how is it possible for man?” (p.25)We are in a constant search for self-preservation. We are willing to sacrifice anything for this and it is almost an unstoppable instinctive force. Even Gilgamesh’s story for the search of eternity which has lasted for so long will one day fade as everything else. Time passes and it consumes all no matter what it was made of, for what purpose or who wrote it. Even the great tale of Gilgamesh will one day be forgotten.
There is yet another meaning to this phrase. “High winds do not last all morning. Heavy rain does not last all day.” Although as a whole it is making reference to the fact that nothing is eternal but heaven and earth. (And nothing we make can ever be eternal) It can also have a side meaning. High winds and Heavy rains have been always a representation of bad times. Maybe he also wanted to make people see that evil and rough times do not last forever even though they might seem to do so, anything created by man can’t be eternal. In a way it was a method to calm people. “The wise therefore rule by emptying hearts and stuffing bellies, by weakening ambitions and strengthening bones.” (p.7) maybe this part of what he wanted to achieve with this. Not just “filling bellies” but preparing for the bad times when maybe there wouldn’t be enough food to do this. He looks like a very skilled person in handling people and has the potential of being a leader since he sees how to manage a state.

How Blind Are We?

In Tao we see he speaks about balance. Most of this balance can be found in simplicity for it makes it easy for us to see the line between what is or isn’t balanced. Part of this balance I believe is on the excess of something. Too much of something good can harm us. “The five colors blind the eye. The five tones deafen the ear. The five flavors dull the taste.” (p.14). Our society, I believe, overwhelms the senses and completely blinds and deafens us. Media is one of the greatest factors in this which finally only works for us to be distracted from the greater problems and to be unable us to achieve true happiness.
There is another way I can see this. There is a great deal of suffering and pain in Colombia. FARC with the Kidnappings and the general insecurity would be something that would shock someone from the United States where even a robbery is something rare. To us this is part of daily life, we became accustomed to it and have grown numb. We can hardly feel the fear or anything from this until we have to face it directly. Here we forget the taste of fear and suffering but in other countries more peaceful and developed they have forgotten the taste of peace and happiness. In most of the times we can only see one thing through its opposite. “Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness. All can know good as good only because there is evil.” (p.4)

Comments

Confucius Understanding by Nicolas Zuleta
I agree with the fact that knowledge is there but people need to find it. Also that everyone is different and their needs are different so imposing a general rule for everyone on anything can harm us greatly.
Who Judges My Goodness by Jose Maria Linares
I agree that no one can judge whether we are good or bad. God will judge us when the time comes but here I am sure that we know deep inside what is good and what is wrong. We know what we should do. Whether we are good or bad is hard because we make mistakes and take the wrong path sometimes. It is one of the things that each one of us has to define about ourselves.
Try Things the Hard Way by Ethan Metzler
I believe that although it’s true our society has given us an image of goodness and of wealth that practically leaves the values and morals behind not all technology is bad. Maybe it is true that due to technology we have become lazy and have lost a great deal of simplicity in our lives. It is up toyou to decide whether what you are doing I abusing of the technology given to you. Sometimes it can really help us do great things. Doing things the hard way may not always be the right way or the best way. It should be up to each person to judge whether they are abusing of their benefits or not. I think that Confucius tried to say to find a simpler way and one in which you didn’t have to hurt other in order to obtain happiness. Because many times happiness is in the simple things which with society the way it is right now can blind us and make us loose our direction.

A Life Style

The Analects are a complex set of rules and ideas that not only represent a way of idealistic thought but a lifestyle. It covers a great amount of aspects that must be taking in to count when ruling. We see that he mentions how to rule a state here: “One governs a state by means of ritual.” (p.33) it includes mostly everything to create a perfect society in which everyone was treated equally (according to their needs) and had their own job which was to follow the Confucian way and in this way help society be a better place. This might sound idealistic but it makes it clear that people aren’t perfect or equal and that there are special circumstances in which people do need different things. We see this here: “The Master said, “Ran Qiu is overly cautious and so I wished to urge him on. Zilu on the other hand, is too impetuous, and so I sought to hold him back.” He treated them differently for their needs were different but always with the same spirit and intentions of doing good to people. This is what I believe a state must also have according to Confucius. Although he doesn’t say this in an obvious way he makes it clear through his actions.
Confucius was a wise man and he helped us see a way of living that was possible and in which everyone aspired to perfection but unlike today’s society no one had to go down for another to go up. Instead we find that wealth is in the spirit and true goodness. Also that instead of doing like today’s society he proposed that everyone raised and helped each other do so in order to reach happiness as a group. This book isn’t just for personal good but a manual that all most follow in order to create a utopia. Sadly his voice was lost not because it wasn’t good but because people didn’t understand. “The master said, “The common people can be made to follow it but they cannot be made to understand it.”” (p.23 8.9)

Course Correction

The quote I used for my first blog entry on analects 7, 8, and 11 was this one: “I once engaged in thought for an entire day without eating and an entire night with outs sleeping, but it did no good. It would have been better for me to have spent that time learning.” (p.45) After seeing those examples on the board about correct textual interpretation I saw that in this case my interpretation might not have had any real connection with what the except meant.
After rereading I was able to extract what I believed was the true meaning of the phrase. Although it does include learning as a major thing, the way I expressed my interpretation in the previous blog failed to show the essence of the meaning. Right now I think that Confucius makes reference to the fact that a great deal of the knowledge and wisdom we need to find in life isn’t easy to find and sometimes we need something out side of us to find it. Thought, although useful for many things, can be insufficient for the purpose of learning at some point. We need other things outside of thought in order to stimulate it in order to explore new things, new ideas, and be able to see things from a different perspective.
Thought is not something useless but because it is based on the previous experiences it can be unreliable when it comes to learning. Although it is necessary for such thing attempting to learn only by thought can be fruitless. The Confucian way asks us to reason and to think beyond. To do so one must open their eyes to appreciate the full picture and not just the part we have already seen.

Excercises

What We Learn

Here we see Confucius talking about learning. This is truly, the most important thing to him. The reason for this is that there will always be something new to learn and even when we discover something new, to learn is still more important because what you discover will only be a small part of that huge universal knowledge. Like showed here “The master said “I once engaged in thought for an entire day without eating and an entire night with outs sleeping, but it did no good. It would have been better for me to have spent that time learning.” (p.45)

 

I believe this is one of the most important part of a Confucian life style. I say this because there is always something new to learn and since all the other things we create on earth are forgotten, what truly matters is the things we learn here. Although through our life we are able to learn very little compared tom all the knowledge and wisdom there is to know it is important to know that even we have limits and that we will only be able to learn so much. Whatsoever, the experience gained, the more important it is, we are to remember it and that knowledge is the only thing we are likely to be able to remember after death.

 

Why is death so important when it comes to all of this? Simple, we are used to the idea that death is the end of the road and that all that we can expect on the other side is nothing for we will be unable to even take the memories of what we had here. Someday we will be able to learn a better way from what we are doing which is causing suffering not only to us but to thing. We destroy nature, our only life support system. We kill ourselves and we continue to do so knowingly. The only power great enough to stop us is death.  

Where Can We Find Joy?

In Confucius we see that there is a lot of talking about where to find Joy. In the end this all adds up to a single thing, simplicity. Confucius insists that when one is wealthy and with a lot of power don’t necessarily are the happiest. But being poor doesn’t make you happy either. It is having virtues and being good what helps you find happiness in life. “The Master said, “The gentleman is self possessed and relaxed, while the petty man is perpetually full of worry.”” (p.22)

Today we are very stressed people because we have complicated our lives to such point it is inevitable. We reach such state of worry that we even have health issues derived from this. But why do we keep fighting for this? Why do we keep living a life style, with enough worry and stress to kill us? I believe we keep on going because society continually tells us that at the end of the road we will find happiness even though the trip there will be tough.

Confucius on the other hand tells us that we should enjoy the trip. How do we do this? Well we keep it simple and through this we can find joy. With this simplicity we will find happiness even in the most common of things. This was said through an anecdote here, “Zengxi the said, “In the third month of Spring, once the Spring garments have been completed, I should like to assemble a company of five or six young men and six or seven boys to go bathe in the Yi River and enjoy the breeze upon the Rain Dance Altar, and then return singing to the Master’s house.” (p.33)

Here, unlike the rest who left right after that, he stayed and continues to talk to “The Master”. He was the one who deserved to know what he thought. It was clear that it was through this aspiration that he acquired his approval. Also, his dream was the simplest of all, for he desired neither power nor land but simply to enjoy life.

Finally, through this teaching apparently they mention nature but as something given to them that would never end. Today this is disappearing faster and most likely rivers in which to bathe like this are polluted. It is always with the help with nature and the peace provided by it that we can find true joy and good within ourselves. If we destroy it and all that remains are cities of cement and clouds of pollution then where will we find peace? Where will we find Joy?   

A Profit Based Society

In Confucius we see a wide variety of teachings that although written an era ago are still applicable today. A very interesting thing about the teachings are the fact they are concise using the language as a mean to communicate the true meaning without any of the elegance that King James’s Bible Has. Although this certainly is influenced by the translation I believe the meaning of what is said truly affects the way it was translated. Confucius really wanted his teachings to be simple yet very meaningful while at many points the bible can turn out to be complicated.

There was a teaching which I believe is very important and it shows how rejected the Confucian way is rejected in western society. “The master said, “The gentleman understands rightness, whereas the petty person understands profit.” (p.12) Here we see that we don’t really listen to this wise voice for everywhere we go we see profit being what rule’s us and not the more spiritual and mental growth that is proposed by the Confucius here. This constant search for a greater profit has made us all small in spirit and due to this we are weak. Because we no longer seek to better ourselves but rather see greater profit we no longer develop in a spiritual way.

This constant fight for a great profit is always bloody and in many cases people are left at a bad situation in order to allow others o have wealth. Confucius opinion about this is clear, “The Master said, “Wealth and Social eminence are things that all people desire, and yet unless they are acquired in the proper way I will o abide tem. Poverty and disgrace are things that all people hate, and yet unless they are avoided in the proper way I will not despise them.” (p.10) this I believe is very important and apparently we, as the human kind, have forgotten this. We are desperate to avoid poverty and achieve Wealth but what we don’t measure is the consequences left behind our path to this status. We leave wounded who will never recover and although it might not take lives it will submerge other in poverty. It is rare to see others acquire wealth in a proper way for society makes us fight against each other in order to achieve anything. An example of this could be, when you are trying to find a University, you must be the best in order to get in to a good one for only the best are admitted in to such. In some cases only those with money can obtain education but the main idea here is that we must compete to survive.

To compete isn’t necessarily something bad but what we have done to it, and taking it to such limits in which such competition is constant goes against The Way. I am not against competition but the fact we take it to such savage way in which other people get hurt ends up doing more damage than what it actually helps.

Maybe we should listen to these ancient texts for they are telling us important things and after all the civilization that was guided through these texts lasted longer than we have. Is this book the only way? Is the society we are following bad? Or could this be an alternative?

Obama’s Acceptance Speech: Rhetorical Analysis

In the acceptance speech Rhetoric was seen everywhere. Here it was used to make those who saw it see that he didn’t only win but he did so with humility. Also here, we see that he tries to make people feel confident about his future presidency.  An example of his attempt to make his victory humble was when he mentioned that McCain had been a great person for the U.S and that he had done great sacrifices for his country that we could only begin to imagine. This made McCain look a good person but overall he was trying to accept the effort made by the opposing team. Also, Obama made people see that his government would be trustworthy by including all the different groups that exist in America at the moment.  Finally he used Pathos by mentioning his grandmother.

When it comes o Gestures Obama has very little facial expressions when he does it is to emphasize on some point. Although, this last one, is more directed to the movement of his hands more than anything else. He moves around a little but nothing too noticeable.

Night and Job

In the Novel Night we see similar themes to those that the book of Job showed. God as the Bible present’s him was against all of those who weren’t with him.  If you didn’t believe in God it was only a matter of time that you were smote. Job also questions the Judgment and the Justice of the Lord when he allowed Satan to do evil on to Job using the hand of God. We also see that Job was silent all during his punishments and accepted them with passivity.

How does this reflect in the novel? Well it’s simple because Job could be the Jews and God could be Hitler. The Jews accepted all that happened to them with passivity and they went in to the oven almost without questioning or any sort of revolt. They questioned the Judgment of the Lord for they didn’t understand why was it that God would punish them in such a horrible way without them doing anything. They didn’t understand why God remained silent after seeing that his people were being killed by the German and that apparently no one cared. Finally you can say Hitler decided to play God with everyone. He decided which people could live and who could die. He decided how they would die and he thought that was good. He believed to know what was good and evil.

Finally I would like to say that the fact Jews didn’t Question the existence of God like Job was very interesting. Because while seeing such silence in a supposedly good being makes it a real challenge to believe in him. Specially because in the bible there have always been some sort of divine interventions. Never has God stayed silent in a war or in any place where a great deal of people were killed. This was a moment where faith was truly put to test and like Job they were able to pass it but at a Huge cost.

The Irrefutable Truth

In this last part of Job we see that although he accepts the as a human he truly knows nothing compared to God, accepts that the only thing he truly knows is that God is there. This is blind faith and although it can be good sometimes it can make it impossible for us to see the truth.

God make it clear that those who don’t believe in him will suffer but those who believe in him get rewarded like Job did. So in the end it might not truly be God we end up believe in him but take this faith as some sort of security that such bad things will happen to us. God tried to prove to us that he was all knowing and Job accepted this and continued to believe in him. The fact that he is all knowing makes his judgment unquestionable and in a certain way this makes the Bible unquestionable for it’s the word of God and therefore, it has to be true.

With the previous examples of the punishments that god gave to those that didn’t believe in him we find it impossible to those who heard about this religion not to join or at least not to leave it. Simply because eternal suffering was all that waited for them.

It was an aggressive religion but also it was similar to the Greeks in the sense that the Gods seemed more human than supernatural and that they punished all those that were against them. There wasn’t the message believed in me or die but those who didn’t respect the gods would suffer greatly.

Finally I would like to say that today is it possible to believe in something that bases itself on fear, almost like terrorism? Could Hitler be following this in the sense that those who didn’t believe in what he did and those who weren’t like him had to be exterminated? (Like the Philistines were constantly killed by the “armies of the living God”) 

Fallacies in Presidential Debates

1.       Straw Man Argument: “And I believe this is a final verdict on the failed economic policies of the last eight years, strongly promoted by President Bush and supported by Sen. McCain, that essentially said that we should strip away regulations, consumer protections, let the market run wild, and prosperity would rain down on all of us.”

2.       Red Herring: Now, I have a plan to fix this problem and it has got to do with energy independence. We've got to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't want us very -- like us very much.

3.       Begging the Question : But the point is it's going to have to be somebody who inspires trust and confidence. Because the problem in America today to a large extent, Tom, is that we don't have trust and confidence in our institutions because of the corruption on Wall Street and the greed and excess and the cronyism in Washington, D.C.

4.       Begging the Question: Let's, first of all, understand that the biggest problem in this whole process was the deregulation of the financial system.

The Meaning of Wisdom

In this section of Job we see that they touch a very important point of wisdom. “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding” (Job 28, 28) Now today we can’t seem to find any wisdom in fear on the other hand those who fear are considered weak for not being able to act over it. Fearing the Lord was what made our intellectual evolution stop during the inquisition.

The second part of this quote is really important as well. Because to depart from evil means you must know evil in order to go away from it. Because this would mean that God did want us to take from that fruit and to understand good and evil. This would be a direct contradiction from all that had been found said before. If we are to be happy under the hands of God and be able to live eating from the tree of life isn’t that the way to achieve true understanding of Life? Apparently God continues to contradict itself or at least, the Bible does.

If God truly is all knowing and all powerful it would be better for us to be in his hands and although right now the feeling of power that knowing and understanding good and evil  give’s is a false sensation. It is only a matter of time before we either realize the wrong of our doings or to simply meet the end of this road. This Bible makes it look as though all those who aren’t takers are simply left behind and makes it look as though they are weak.

What we should analyze here is if true wisdom lies in knowing good and evil? Or could it being understanding that maybe we don’t have the ability to distinguish these two and judge each other in order to see  these two in us? Finally should we really judge God and the Lord for what they have done to us if really we don’t understand good and evil?

God’s Judgment and Justice

Here we see that God isn’t a perfect judge or at least we don’t believe so. It is seen in the bible “Doth God pervert judgment? Or doth the Almighty pervert justice?” (Job Ch8, 3) This is a very important part for it shows us that humans had begun to question the powers of God. Although he was still “Almighty” it showed that he still wasn’t perfect. We didn’t see perfection in him anymore. I would say, that we can say this can go back to the story of David. In the end David started to do what I believe are bad things. An example of this was killing the husband of a woman he wanted in order to get her. God forgave him and wasn’t really angry at what he had done but the fact that this was done without the Lord being conscious about it. This would show me that god isn’t necessarily moral by the definition we follow. He even contradicts himself because he said in the Commandments “Thou shall not commit adultery.” There is another explanation of this which is that there is more than one holy entity in the bible. First the God that created the world is the same one that created the Commandments but the Lord seems to be a different person that doesn’t seem to be affected by what God does. This is why I believe he forgave David so easily for his sin.

Another part of God’s Judgment with people is the tests he puts upon them. Before we were talking about the Justice that the Lord gave but now his judgment is the main idea.  In the book of Job we see that Lord allowed Satan to do as he wished with Job. He did several tests and other things not only to make him suffer but to prove the Lord wrong. What Satan proposed was evil in nature and it shouldn’t have been allowed yet the Lord let him go on and even use his powers to perform the test. This proves that the Lord may be more human than what we thought he was before we started t read the Bible, not only because he can make mistakes and have a bias towards someone but also because he can be apparently easily influenced to do evil as well.

Finally it is clear our version of Judgment and Justice might not be directly related with that of the Lord. We are humans and our view might be too narrow to admire the truth but still if we were made in the image of god shouldn’t we be perfect as well? Shouldn’t we be able to see justice in what he proposes? Finally if humans eventually turn evil as the Bible has proven does that mean that deep inside of God there is a seed of evil waiting to grow?