The Man Who Gave Up Money — Articles (B1 Grammar)

B1 - articles

No Money

PICTURE

"My mother still tells her friends I'm between jobs. I've been between jobs for three years."

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*a / an* first mention and jobs · *the* when we know which one · no article for generalisations

Reading

Speaking

LEAD-IN

A month without money

Could you live for a month without spending anything at all? Make a list of the first three problems you would face, then compare.

1. What would be completely impossible?

2. What could you get for free, or in exchange for something?

3. Who would you have to ask for help — and would you?

PICTURE

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BEFORE YOU READ

The man who gave up money

Elias, 47, was an engineer with a flat, a car and a good salary. Three years ago he gave all of it away.

READ ONCE AND ANSWER

PICTURE

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1. How does Elias survive without money?

2. What does he say is the hardest part?

READING

The man who gave up money

Elias, 47, used to be an engineer. He had a flat, a car, and a salary that most people would envy. Three years ago, he gave it all away and became something much rarer: a man who lives entirely without money.

Elias sleeps in a small wooden cabin that he built himself on a friend's land. He grows vegetables, he repairs bicycles in exchange for bread and cheese, and he washes in a river — even in winter. "People think it's a hard life," he says. "It's a simple life. That's not the same thing."

His day follows a strict rhythm. He gets up when the sun rises and he's usually asleep by ten. He never has breakfast — "an old habit from the office years, funnily enough" — but lunch is sacred, eaten slowly and always outdoors. In the afternoons he works: the vegetables, the bikes, the endless repairs to the cabin. The cabin is tiny, but the door is always open,

and neighbours who once thought he was crazy now come round for advice, tools, and tomatoes.

What does he miss? "Music, sometimes. A concert is a wonderful thing, and nobody exchanges concert tickets for carrots." And the hardest part? He doesn't hesitate: "Winter? No. Hunger? No. It's other people's opinions. Society tells us that money is safety, that success is a number. My mother still can't tell her friends what I do. She says I'm 'between jobs'. I've been between jobs for three years," he laughs.

Next spring, Elias is planning his most ambitious project yet: a "free café" in the nearest village, where everything — the coffee, the cake, the conversation — will cost nothing. "People are generous," he says. "They've just forgotten. I'm building the place where they can remember."

COMPREHENSION

Correct ONE factual mistake in each sentence.

1. Elias used to be a teacher.

2. He sleeps in a caravan that he bought.

3. He never has lunch.

4. His neighbours still think he's crazy.

5. The hardest part of his life is the cold in winter.

6. Next spring he is planning to open a free cinema.

GRAMMAR FOCUS

Which one, any one, or all of them?

a) He had a flat, a car, and a salary...

b) He sleeps in a small wooden cabin... The cabin is tiny, but the door is always open.

c) He used to be an engineer. / A concert is a wonderful thing.

d) Money is safety... success is a number... People are generous.

e) He gets up when the sun rises. / ...the nearest village.

f) He never has breakfast. / Next spring, Elias is planning...

1. In (b), why a cabin the first time, but the cabin the second time?

2. In (c), which two uses of a/an do you see — talking about a job, and saying what something is?

3. In (d), are these specific things or generalisations? Compare: I love the people in my village — why does that one need the?

4. In (e), why the sun and the nearest village? How many suns are there? What kind of adjective is nearest?

5. In (f), which two situations take no article — before m________ , and before next / last + a time word?

THE RULES

Complete the rules

Complete each rule with a / an, the or — (no article).

• ________ : first mention; jobs; What a day!; frequency (twice a week).

• ________ : second mention; when it is clear which one; unique things (the sun); superlatives; places in town (the cinema).

• ________ : generalisations with plural and uncountable nouns; home / work / school after at, to, from; meals; days and months; next / last + time.

CAREFUL

Careful with the difference: I like dogs* (all dogs, a generalisation) vs I like the dogs next door* (specific ones we both know).

PRACTICE

Complete with a / an, the or — (no article).

1. My sister is ____ nurse. She loves ____ job, but she hates ____ night shifts she has to do.

2. ____ happiness is more important than ____ money — easy to say when you have ____ salary.

3. What ____ terrible day! Let's just stay at ____ home.

4. We're having ____ dinner with Elias ____ next Friday, apparently in ____ garden.

5. He's ____ most interesting person I've ever met, and I include ____ man who cycled here from Mongolia.

6. I go to ____ gym three times ____ week, in theory. In practice, I go to ____ café next to ____ gym.

SPEAKING

The rules of a good life

In pairs, write five "rules for a good life" as generalisations (no article): Money can't buy..., Friends are..., Work should never...

• Swap with another pair.

• Attack their rules with specific counter-examples, using articles: Yes, but the money I earned last year bought me...

• Which rule survived the attack?

PICTURE

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TEACHER'S REFERENCE · HIDE OR DELETE BEFORE CLASS

Answer key

GIST He grows vegetables, repairs bikes in exchange for food, and lives in a cabin he built himself. The hardest part is other people's opinions — social judgement.

COMPREHENSION 1 an engineer, not a teacher. 2 a wooden cabin, which he built himself. 3 he never has breakfast — lunch is sacred. 4 they now come to him for advice, tools and tomatoes. 5 the hardest part is other people's opinions. 6 a free café, not a cinema.

GRAMMAR FOCUS 1 First mention → a; second mention, when we know which one → the. 2 Jobs (an engineer) and saying what something is (a wonderful thing). 3 Generalisations → no article; the people in my village is a specific group. 4 The sun is unique; nearest is a superlative. 5 Meals, and next / last + time.

RULES a/an · the · — (no article)

PRACTICE 1 a / the (= her job) / the

2 — / — / a

3 a / —

4 — / — / the

5 the / the

6 the / a / the / the