ARTICLES WITH PLURAL AND COUNTABLE NOUNS (THE)

In this context, the usage of the definite article (the) with plural and countable nouns are explained. THE 1. 2. 3. 4. Specific / Definite Used before singular or plural nouns Also used with countable and uncountable nouns. Known as the definite article

RULE 1 The can be used to refer to a particular person or thing The man wearing the blue jacket is Malik. The questions that you asked are difficult.

RULE 2 The is also used to refer to someone or something mentioned previously. Kenny saw a snake in the garden. The snake was a cobra.

RULE 3 Refers to something that is only one of its kind. The The The The The sun East Coast world moon universe

RULE 4 Used for plural nouns and to make the plural nouns specific. She bought the books by Professor Baker. The results of his actions were awful.

RULE 5 Used before comparatives and superlatives Mansur is the stronger of the two This is the largest box I have.

RULE 6 With the word same We are in the same class.

RULE 7 Before the names of buildings, rivers, straits, oceans, seas, mountain ranges, deserts, countries beginning with union, republic or united etc. The The The The The The The The The The The The The Petronas Twin Towers British Embassy Indian Ocean Main Range Commonwealth Philippines Klang River Strait Of Malacca South China Sea Gobi Desert United States of America Republic of China Great Wall of China.

RULE 8 Refers to position, an order of things, events or time. He won the first prize in the competition. I dont want to leave the last bus.

REMINDERS!!! 1. If the things mentioned are not made to be only one, use the indefinite article a/an. She is a teacher of English ( Not the only English teacher) I have a feeling that he is lying ( Not the only feeling I have) I have an idea that will save us. ( Not the only idea I have) 2. Use the articles (a, an, the) if they refer CERTAIN aches and illnesses such as flu, cold, fever, and headache He has the flu I have a cold However, most aches and illnesses DONT require articles. People now are getting worried about getting cancer She went to see a doctor because she has diabetes. The old lady is suffering from mouth cancer. Are you suffering from high blood pressure?

SUMMATIVE EXERCISES (A, AN, THE)

Fill in the blanks with a, an or the where necessary. Not so long ago, many of us resisted separating and paper out of our garbage. What

glass, cans,

hassle. Today, of course,

every second-grader knows that world's resources are limited and that recycling helps preserve them. We act locally, while thinking globally. It's time to bring

same consciousness to

health care as we face growing medical crisis: loss of antibiotic effectiveness against common bacterial illnesses. By personally refusing -- or not demanding -- antibiotics for viral illnesses they won't cure, we can each take prolonging overall antibiotic effectiveness.

step toward

Media reports have likely made you aware of this problem, but they have neglected that turns into

implications. Your brother catches

cold

sinus infection. His doctor treats him with

antibiotics, but bacteria are resistant to all of them. The infection enters his bloodstream -- a condition known as septicemia -- and few days later, your brother dies. (Septicemia is what killed Muppets creator Jim Henson a few years ago.) Or instead of

cold, he has

infected cut that won't heal, or any other

common bacterial disease, such as

ear or prostate infection.

Far-fetched? It's not. antibiotics crisis is real. Consider Streptococcus pneumoniae: This common bacterium often causes post-flu pneumonia. (Pneumonia and influenza combined are country's sixth leading cause of death, killing 82,500 Americans in 1996.) Before 1980, less than 1 percent of S. pneumoniae samples showed any resistance to penicillin. As of last May, researchers at Naval Medical Center in San Diego discovered that 22 percent of S. pneumoniae samples were highly resistant to it, with another 15 percent moderately so. And

most recent statistics from

Sentry Antimicrobial Surveillance Program, which monitors

bacterial resistance at 70 medical centers in U.S., Canada, Europe, and South America, show that 44 percent of S. pneumoniae samples in the U.S. are highly resistant, and worldwide, resistance is at

all-time high (55 percent).

Strains of S. pneumoniae are also now resistant to tetracycline, erythromycin, clindamycin, chloramphenicol, and several other antibiotics. And there's a "plausible risk" that we'll run out of options for treating other types of pneumonia as well, according to infectious disease expert Joshua Lederberg of Rockefeller University in New York.

not-too-distant future promises

potential

failure of medicine's ability to treat broad range of bacterial infections -- from urinary tract infections to meningitis to tuberculosis. Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is a direct outgrowth of the overuse of these drugs. In classic Darwinian fashion, doctors prescribe antibiotics,

more

more likely it is for some lucky

bacterium blessed with minor genetic variation to survive antibiotic assault-and pass its resistance along to its offspring. The solution is obvious: Doctors should prescribe antibiotics only as

last resort.

This strategy works. In early 1990s, Finnish public health authorities responded to rising bacterial resistance to erythromycin by discouraging its use as a first-line treatment for certain infections. From 1991 to 1992, erythromycin consumption per capita dropped 43 percent. By 1996, bacterial resistance to antibiotic had been cut almost in half. But American doctors are doing

spectacularly lousy job of keeping their pens off their

prescription pads, most notably by prescribing antibiotics for common cold and other upper respiratory tract infections (URIs). Data from

National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey show that

bronchitis and URIs account for third of nation's antibiotic prescriptions. Antibiotics treat only bacterial infections and are completely powerless against viral illnesses. Every doctor knows this. Yet, according to recent study by Dr. Ralph Gonzalez, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, when adults consult physicians for URIs and

bronchitis that often follows them, more than half walk out

with prescription for antibiotic. If doctors simply stopped prescribing antibiotics for conditions they know don't respond to them, we'd instantly be well on our way to minimizing antibiotic resistance.

Why are doctors so ready to prescribe antibiotics? Physicians are quick to blame public. Patients, they say, demand antibiotics, and doctors are so terrified of malpractice suits they prescribe them to keep their customers happy and their lawyers at bay. There's another side to

story: Doctors are trained that there's

pill for every ill (or there should be). All of their medical antibiotic prescription their knee

education conspires to make

jerk reaction to any infection, which may or may not have bacterial cause.

"Cold Comfort" by Michael Castleman from Mother Jones Magazine, March/April 1998; reprinted with permission.

ANSWERS FOR THE EXERCISES 1. the 2. a 3. the 4. the 5. a 6. the 7. a 8. the 9. a 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46.

a the a a an an the the the the the the an the the a the the a a the the a the the a the a an the a an the the a an a