GRAMMAR 2: COMPARATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS

as … as	такой же …, как	He is as experienced as people think.
not so … as	не такой…, как	This product is not as expensive as that one.
as much/many … as	столько же…, сколько	Just do as much as you can.
the (bigger) … the (bigger)	чем…, тем	The more you earn, the more you spend.
twice as much/many…as	вдвое больше, чем	They employ 90 people, twice as many as last year.
more than/less than	более, чем/менее, чем	Our company is more interested in development projects than others are.
as (soon) as possible	как можно быстрее	Try to make a decision as soon as possible.
the (highest) possible	наивысший	The competitor’s goods are of the highest possible demand on the market.
as well as	так же как	We usually have lectures as well as seminars.

A. Open the brackets by putting the adjectives and adverbs into the correct form.

Oxbridge

Oxford and Cambridge are the two (old) and (prestigious) universities in Great Britain. Both were founded (many) than 800 years ago. They are often called collectively Oxbridge to denote an elite education. Many Oxbridge graduates often go on to become the (powerful) in British society. The universities have produced a large number of Britain’s (prominent) scientists, writers, politicians, as (well) as noted figures in many other fields.

Today Oxford and Cambridge continue to attract many of the (good) brains and to mesmerize a (great) number of students. The normal length of the degree course is 3 years but some courses in languages or medicine may be 1 or 2 years (long).

Oxford and Cambridge Universities consist of many colleges. Each college is different, but in many ways they are alike. The (large) ones have (many) than 400 members, the (small) colleges have (little) than 30.

B. Complete the sentences using soon, well, much, many and translate them into Russian.

1) This year universities have been given great funding, twice as… as last year.

2) You should get down to work as… as possible.

3) All universities pay as … attention to the entry requirements as to the curriculum.

4) Universities’ advisers will give you advice on your studies as… as on applying to the college of your choice.

5) There are as … British students as foreign ones.

C. Put the words in the right order to form a statement.

1) as / as / groupmates / languages / good / at / he / is / his

2) 500 / were / as / a / basis / competitive / as / applicants / admitted / on / many

3) the / than / ten / grant / possible / our / group / of / more / students / highest / get

4) full-time / work / as / ones / nowadays / well / some / part-time / students / as

5) Andrew / friends / studies / than / my / harder / other