Worksheet on Articles a, an & the Senior Primary Poon, Ka Chun Jason; Lee, Fung King Jackie The Education University of Hong Kong Name: Class: ( ) Date: Part A Read the following joke about a man and a 3-legged chicken. 1 was driving at 80 km/h one day when 1 passed 2. 1 3 sped up and passed 2. Three minutes later 3 passed 4 2 again as 5 was driving at 100 km/h. 6 tried to catch 4 but 3 5 ran down a side road. 7 followed 6 into an old farmyard 4 but couldn t find 7 anywhere. 8 saw the farmer and told him 5 the story and 9 asked why he raised 3-legged chickens. The 6 farmer said that his family all liked chicken legs so he did so. 7 What do they taste like? asked 10. 8 I don t know, replied the farmer, we couldn t catch one yet 9 because they run too fast! 10 (Adapted from http://iteslj.org/c/jokes-long.html) Worksheet on Articles (Senior Primary) / p.1
In pairs, discuss and complete the following. 1. Work with a partner. One of you is A, and the other is B. A should tell B the beginning of the joke, as shown below. Say a man when you see. Say a (3-legged) chicken when you see. 1 was driving at 80 km/h one day when 1 passed 2. 1 3 sped up and passed 2. Three minutes later 3 passed 4 2 again as 5 was driving at 100 km/h. 6 tried to catch 4 but 3 5 ran down a side road. 7 followed 6 into an old farmyard 4 but couldn t find 7 anywhere. 5 2. What do you think about the joke A has told? Does it make sense? Is there any problem? Worksheet on Articles (Senior Primary) / p.2
3. Work in pairs again. This time B should tell A the joke. When you see a picture for the first time, use a man or a chicken. When you see the same picture again, use the man or the chicken. 1 was driving at 80 km/h one day when 1 passed 2. 1 3 sped up and passed 2. Three minutes later 3 passed 4 2 again as 5 was driving at 100 km/h. 6 tried to catch 4 but 3 5 ran down a side road. 7 followed 6 into an old farmyard 4 but couldn t find 7 anywhere. 5 4. What do you think about the joke? Does it make better sense now? 5. When do we use a and when do we use the? Worksheet on Articles (Senior Primary) / p.3
6. The joke sounds very repetitive. How could you make the joke shorter and clearer? 7. Work in pairs again. When you see the pictures below, think about which word(s) you should use to replace the pictures. You may have to use different words for the same picture in different sentences. Write the words next to the pictures. a man / the man / he / him a chicken / the chicken / it 8. Read the new joke. Does this new joke sound better? Why? Worksheet on Articles (Senior Primary) / p.4
9. Look at 9 and 10 again. Is he or the man a better choice? Why? 10. Similarly, should we replace the farmer in lines 6-7 with he? Why or why not? 11. Why is an (but not a ) used with old farmyard in line 4? 12. Why is an (but not the ) used with old farmyard in line 4? 13. Why is the used with the word farmer in line 5? Worksheet on Articles (Senior Primary) / p.5
Part B Below are a few more jokes. Read the jokes carefully and fill in each blank with the correct word a, an or the. 1. Doctor, I have pain in my eye whenever I drink tea, said the patient. Take spoon out of mug before you drink, said doctor. 2. A: Just look at that young person with short hair and blue jeans. Is it boy or girl? B: It s girl. She s my daughter. A: Oh, I m sorry, sir. I didn t know that you were her father. B: I'm not. I'm her mother. 3. teenage girl was talking on phone for about half hour, and then she hung up. Wow! said her father, call was short. You usually talk for 2 hours. What happened? Wrong number, replied girl. 4. Two boys were arguing when the teacher entered room. teacher says, Why are you arguing? One boy answers, We found ten dollar bill and decided to give it to whoever tells the biggest lie. You should be ashamed of yourselves, said teacher, When I was your age I didn't even know what lie was. The boys gave ten dollars to teacher. (Adapted from http://iteslj.org/c/jokes-short.html) Worksheet on Articles (Senior Primary) / p.6
Part C Read the first part of the joke below. 1. Fill in each blank with the correct article a, an or the and the correct noun. Use the words given in the box below. baby bus bus driver man seat woman got on, holding. said, That s the ugliest baby I ve ever seen. Angrily, slammed her fare into the fare box and took near the rear of. seated next to her felt that she was angry and asked her what was wrong. insulted me, she said. Worksheet on Articles (Senior Primary) / p.7
2. What may happen next? Your teacher will read the ending of the joke twice. Listen carefully the first time your teacher reads, and take notes below when your teacher reads the ending again. Take notes below when you are listening: 3. Now in pairs write the ending as similar to the original text as you can. Pay special attention to the use of articles a, an and the. Worksheet on Articles (Senior Primary) / p.8
4. Do you like the ending of the joke? Now, write your own ending in about 40 words. The End Worksheet on Articles (Senior Primary) / p.9
Text 1 (for Part A) Appendix 1: The original version of the texts A man was driving at 80 km/h one day when a 3-legged chicken passed him. He sped up and passed the chicken. Three minutes later the chicken passed him again as he was driving at 100 km/h. The man tried to catch the chicken but it ran down a side road. The man followed it into an old farmyard but couldn t find it anywhere. He saw the farmer and told him the story and the man asked why. The farmer said that he, his wife and his son all liked chicken legs so he raised 3-legged chickens. What do they taste like? asked the man. I don t know, replied the farmer, we haven t caught one yet because they run too fast! Adapted from the online text at: http://iteslj.org/c/jokes-long.html Text 2 (for Part C) A woman got on a bus, holding a baby. The bus driver said, That s the ugliest baby I ve ever seen. Angrily, the woman slammed her fare into the fare box and took a seat near the rear of the bus. The man seated next to her felt that she was angry and asked her what was wrong. The bus driver insulted me, she said. The man sympathized and said, Why, he s a public servant and shouldn t say things to insult passengers. You re right, she said. I think I ll go back up there and give the bus driver a piece of my mind. That s a good idea, the man said. Here, let me hold the monkey. Adapted from the online text at: https://www.reddit.com/r/jokes/comments/3xkasm/a_woman_got_on_a_bus_holding_a_baby/ Worksheet on Articles (Senior Primary) / p.10
Appendix 2: The ending of the joke in Part C (for the dictogloss activity) The man felt sorry and said, He s a public servant and shouldn t be mean to passengers. You re right, the woman said. I ll go back up there and give the bus driver a piece of my mind. That s a good idea, the man said. Here, let me hold the monkey. (This ending is adapted from the original text and is simplified to cater for the ability of the students.) Worksheet on Articles (Senior Primary) / p.11