DISTANCE, DIMENSIONS AND SIZE ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN USE PRE INTERMEDIATE

 

ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN USE PRE INTERMEDIATE UNIT 62 DISTANCE, DIMENSIONS AND SIZE

 

A Distance: how far … British people buy most things in metres, centimetres and millimetres, but they still often talk about distance using the old system of miles [1 mile = about 1.6 kilometres], yards [1 yard = almost 1 metre], feet [1 foot = 30 centimetres], and inches [1 inch = 2.5 centimetres]. Common mistakes   It’s ten minutes’ walk from here. (NOT ten minutes’ walking.) It’s a long way. (NOT It’s far.) But we can say ‘No, it isn’t far.’ B Dimensions: how long or wide … Common mistakes   Mason is quite tall (NOT quite high). It’s a tall tree/building (NOT a high tree/building). It’s a high mountain (NOT a tall mountain). We can ask about the dimensions like this: What’s the length of the garage? OR How long is the garage? It’s five metres (long). What’s the width of the path? OR How wide is the path? It’s a metre (wide). What’s the height of the wall? OR How high is the wall? It’s two metres (high). What’s the depth of the pool? OR How deep is the pool? It’s three metres (deep). C Size: how big or small … We use a range of adjectives to describe the size of something. It was a very thick book – over 500 pages. (opp a thin book) Their living room is huge [very big; syn enormous; opp a tiny room]. We caught a giant crab. [very large or bigger than other similar things] It was a very narrow road for a bus. (opp a wide road) EXERCISES 62.1 Disagree with the speaker in each dialogue. 1 A: It’s only a thin book, isn’t it? B: No, _______it’s quite thick.______________ 2 A: The water’s deep in the middle, isn’t it? B: No, ____________________________________. 3 A: Is the road very wide at that point? B: No, ____________________________________. 4 A: James is quite short, isn’t he? B: No, ____________________________________. 5 A: They only live in a small place, don’t they? B: No, ____________________________________. 6 A: Is it a really huge pool? B: No, ____________________________________. 62.2 Complete the questions (in two ways) about the lake, the mountain, the woman and the football pitch. 1 How _____deep______ is the lake? 2 What’s the lake? 3 How is _______________ the mountain? 4 What’s _______________ the mountain? 5 How _______________ is she? 6 What’s her _______________? 7 How _______________ is the pitch? 8 What’s _______________ the pitch? 62.3

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