Postcard Town, Full — Quantifiers (B1 Grammar)

B1 quantifiers

Postcard Town

PICTURE

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"In ten years there will be plenty of visitors and none of us."

*too much / too many* · *(not) enough* · *plenty of* · *a few / a little* · *any / no / none*

Reading

Speaking

LEAD-IN

World famous, suddenly

Your town becomes world-famous overnight: a film is shot there, and a million more visitors a year arrive.

• Three ways life gets better.

• Three ways life gets worse.

• Would you stay?

PICTURE

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BEFORE YOU READ

Four million visitors

Porto Sereno had a harbour, a few pastel houses and almost no visitors. Now it has four million a year.

READ ONCE AND ANSWER

PICTURE

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1. What is Alba's main complaint?

2. What solution does the town propose?

READING

Postcard town, full

A letter from Porto Sereno

Fifteen years ago, if you had told anyone here that our little town would appear on "must-see" lists, we would have laughed. We had a harbour, a few pastel houses, plenty of fish, and almost no visitors. Today we have four million visitors a year — and, increasingly, very little of everything else.

"There's too much noise, there are too many suitcase wheels on the stones at 6 a.m., and there isn't enough of the town left for the people who actually live in it," says Alba, 61, who was born above the bakery her family has run for three generations. "We used to have five food shops. Now we have one, and twelve shops selling little ceramic sardines. How many ceramic sardines does the world need? Nobody who lives here buys any."

The numbers support her. The town has plenty of cafés — nearly ninety — but very few doctors: two, for eight thousand residents. Rents have tripled, so

young families have almost no chance of staying; the school, which had four hundred children a decade ago, now has fewer than one hundred and fifty. "My grandson's class has eleven children," Alba says. "Eleven. There isn't enough life left outside the summer."

And yet — the money is real. Tourism brings in a lot, and many residents depend on it: the guesthouses, the restaurants, the boat tours. "Anyone who says tourists bring no benefits is lying," admits Alba. "The problem isn't tourists. The problem is that there are no limits."

That may be changing. Next year the council will trial a cap: a maximum number of day visitors, a tourist tax, and — most controversially — no new holiday apartments in the old town. Too little, too late? "Maybe," says Alba, closing the bakery for the afternoon — something her father never used to do. "But if we do nothing, in ten years there will be plenty of visitors and none of us."

COMPREHENSION

What do these numbers refer to in the text?

1. four million ____________

2. one ____________

3. twelve ____________

4. two ____________

5. eleven ____________

6. ninety ____________

GRAMMAR FOCUS

How much is too much?

a) There's too much noise; there are too many suitcase wheels.

b) There isn't enough of the town left. (compare: The buses aren't frequent enough.)

c) We had plenty of fish, and almost no visitors. / Tourism brings in a lot.

d) Very few doctors... very little of everything else.

e) Nobody buys any. / Tourists bring no benefits. / ...and none of us.

f) How many ceramic sardines does the world need? / Too little, too late?

1. In (a): which noun is uncountable, which is plural countable? So too much + ________ , too many + ________ .

2. In (b): where does enough go with a noun? And with an adjective?

3. In (c): does plenty of mean "a lot" or "more than enough"? Why brings in a lot with no of?

4. In (d): few + ________ nouns, little + ________ nouns. What is the difference between a few / a little and very few / very little?

5. In (e): any goes with a ________ verb, no with a ________ verb, and none stands ________ .

6. In (f): in questions, do we usually use much / many or a lot of?

THE RULES

The quantifier map

• Uncountable: too much · (very) little · a little · much · Plural countable: too many · (very) few · a few · many · Both: a lot of · plenty of · enough · no · any

• enough goes before a noun (enough time) but after an adjective or adverb (wide enough).

• a few / a little = some, and it is positive. very few / very little = almost none, and it is negative.

CAREFUL

no + a positive verb (there are no limits) · any + a negative verb (there aren't any limits) · none stands alone, with no noun after it.

PRACTICE

Circle the correct option. Both are sometimes possible — be ready to say why.

1. There are too much / too many holiday apartments in the old town.

2. We don't have no / any time to waste.

3. Only a few / a little families with children still live in the centre.

4. The bakery doesn't make many / much money in winter.

5. "How many doctors are left?" "None. / No."

6. The streets aren't enough wide / wide enough for all these people.

7. There's plenty of / much accommodation for visitors — and almost no / none for residents.

8. She has very little / very few patience left with tour groups. Understandably.

TASK

The town meeting

Take a role and debate the cap on visitors. Each speaker must use at least four quantifiers accurately.

• A resident like Alba · a guesthouse owner · a young person who wants to stay · the mayor.

• Useful: too many, not enough, plenty of, very little, no / none.

• The mayor decides — and must justify the decision with quantifiers too.

PICTURE

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TEACHER'S REFERENCE · HIDE OR DELETE BEFORE CLASS

Answer key

GIST Tourism has hollowed out daily life — housing, shops, services and the school. The council proposes a cap on day visitors, a tourist tax, and a ban on new holiday apartments in the old town.

COMPREHENSION 1 visitors a year · 2 food shops left · 3 shops selling ceramic sardines · 4 doctors · 5 children in her grandson's class · 6 cafés (nearly ninety)

GRAMMAR FOCUS 1 noise uncountable, suitcase wheels plural countable; too much + uncountable, too many + plural countable. 2 enough before a noun, after an adjective or adverb. 3 More than enough; a lot stands alone when no noun follows. 4 few + plural countable, little + uncountable; a few / a little = some, very few / very little = almost none. 5 any with a negative verb, no with a positive verb, none alone. 6 much / many are more common in questions and negatives.

PRACTICE 1 too many

2 any

3 a few

4 much (a lot of also possible)

5 None.

6 wide enough

7 plenty of; none (no noun follows, so none stands alone)

8 very little