Comparatives and superlatives

1. A class of students is studying environmental issues with their teacher. Look at the chart and complete their conversation.

TEACHER:   On this bar chart, who recycled (1) __the highest __ percentage of glass in 2017?

FLORA:       The Belgians did.

TEACHER:   And who recycled (2) ________ percentage?

WAYNE:     The Poles.

TEACHER:   Right. What about the Spanish? How well did they do?

JILL:             They did (3) ________ the Poles and Portuguese, but (4) ________ the Czechs.

TEACHER:   Did the Croatians recycle a (5) ________ percentage of glass the Portuguese?

KEVIN:        No, not quite. About five per cent (6) ________ .

TEACHER:   What about the Norwegians?

BRONWEN: They recycled almost (7) ________ percentage the Dutch.

TEACHER:   Yes. That’s over ten per cent (8) ________ the Italians.

ALEX:           But it’s still seven per cent (9) ________ the Belgians.

TEACHER:   True.

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2) the lowest   3) better than

4) worse than or not as well as / not so well as

5) higher … than   6) less

7) the same … as   8) more than

9) less than

2. The class in the previous exercise took part in a paper recycling project. Look at the chart below and write sentences comparing the students’ achievements.

1) (Kevin / Flora / Jill)

      Kevin didn’t collect as much paper as Flora, but he collected more than Jill.

2) (Alex / Bronwen / Jill)

      Alex collected five kilos less than Bronwen or Jill.

3) (Flora)

      Flora collected the most paper.

4) (Jill / Alex / Wayne) ________

5) (Bronwen / Jill) ________

6) (Wayne) ________

7) (Alex / Bronwen / Wayne) ________

8) (Jill / Flora / Alex) ________

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Example answers:

4) Jill collected more than Alex and Wayne.

5) Bronwen collected the same amount as Jill.

6) Wayne collected the least paper.

7) Alex didn’t collect as much as Bronwen, but he collected more than Wayne.

8) Jill collected less than Flora, but more than Alex.

3. Complete the conversations. Use the correct form of the word(s) given and any other words you need.

a JOE:       Why have you bought a new car?

     A:      We needed one with a (1) __bigger __ (big) boot, to take our sports gear.

b MARY:   Which is (2) __the highest __ (high / mountain) in Africa?

      ANNE:   Kilimanjaro.

      MARY: Where’s that? In Kenya?

      ANNE:   No, it’s a bit (3) __further south than __ (far / south) that. It's in Tanzania.

c ANDY:   Are you still having problems with your broadband connection?

     JESS:      Yes. I don’t know what’s wrong. I’ve tried contacting the server, but it’s still (4) __________ (fast) last week.

d ROSA:   Which part of London has (5) __________ (cheap) flats to rent, do you think?

      ANA:     I don’t know. It’s (6) __________ (expensive) city in the country so they won’t be cheap anywhere.

      ROSA:   I suppose the suburbs (7) __________ (far) from the centre would be the place to look.

      ANA:     I’m not sure it works like that in London.

e FRED:     How was your driving test?

     JOSH:     Oh, not so bad really. I passed! It was (8) __________ (much / easy) I’d expected, in fact.

     FRED:     Congratulations! That’s (9) __________ (good) news I’ve heard for ages!

f GAIL:      Shall we go windsurfing? It’s lovely and sunny.

     MICK:     I’m not sure. The wind is good but although the sun is shining, I think you’ll find it’s (10) __________ (not / warm) it looks when you get outside.

g EDDY:   Let’s go clubbing after we’ve eaten.

      SEAN:   Can’t we go (11) __________ (late)? I want to watch a film.

      EDDY:   No. The clubs shut (12) __________ (early / here) they do at home.

h WILL:     Come on! Can’t you cycle (13) __________ (fast)?

      PETE:    Sorry, I’m going (14) __________ (fast) I can already.

      WILL:    Yeah, your bike’s quite a bit (15) __________ (old / mine), I guess.

i CHRIS:   I hear you were having quite a few problems with your business last year. Is it (16) __________ (good) this year?

     JODIE:    No. I’m afraid it’s (17) __________ (bad) if anything.

     CHRIS:   I suppose people just aren’t spending (18) __________ (much / money) they used to.

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4) no faster than   5) the cheapest

6) the most expensive   7) furthest

8) much easier than   9) the best

10) not as warm as / not so warm as

11) later   12) earlier here than

13) (any) faster   14) as fast as

15) older than mine

16) (any) better   17) worse

18) as much money as / so much money as

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