http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.

org/
The countries of the United Kingdom
In the last video, you watched Richard visit the different parts of the UK. Choose the best answer for each question about the places
he visited.

QUIZ RULES
Quizzes do not count towards your course score, they are just to help you learn
You may take as many attempts as you wish to answer each question
You can skip questions and come back to them later if you wish
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Where is the Snowdonia National Park?
Scotland
Wales
Northern Ireland

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Which National Park does Richard visit in Scotland?
The Cairngorms
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs
Northumberland
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Which World Heritage Site does Richard visit in Northern Ireland?

New Lanark
Stonehenge
The Giants Causeway
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The countries of the United Kingdom

In the previous steps you saw video from all four countries in the United Kingdom. The
United Kingdom can sometimes be a confusing idea. Read this text that explains what
exactly the United Kingdom is.

What is the United Kingdom?

Its full title is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland but you might hear
people call it Britain, Great Britain or simply the UK.

The United Kingdom is made up of four countries - England, Wales, Scotland and Northern
Ireland. The biggest island is divided into three countries England, Wales and Scotland.
This island is about 1100 kilometres long and is 480 kilometres wide at its widest point. At its
nearest point only the 35km of the English Channel separate it from the coast of France.
Englands capital city, London, is also the capital of the UK. Most of England is lowland
although there are upland areas, mostly towards the north west of the country.
Wales is to the west of the island, next to the Irish Sea. Its capital city, Cardiff, is on the south
coast of the country. Wales is more mountainous than England, particularly in north and mid
Wales.
Scotland is to the north of the country. It consists of two very different regions; the highlands,
in the north of Scotland, and the lowlands in the south, on the border with England. As its
name suggests, the Highland region is mountainous and sparsely populated. The lowland
region is where most of Scotlands population (just over five million people) live. The capital
city is Edinburgh but the largest city is Glasgow.
Across the Irish Sea lies the island of Ireland. Only the north east corner (Northern Ireland) is
part of the UK. The rest of the island is a separate country, the Republic of Ireland. Northern
Ireland (population 1.8 million) is a hilly country which boasts the largest inland body of water
in the UK, Lough Neagh, at 390 square kilometres.
The kingdoms of Scotland and England were united in 1707. On 18 September 2014,
the people of Scotland vote in a referendum to decide whether Scotland should remain
in the United Kingdom or become independent.
Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland all have strong senses of national
identity. Are there strong national or regional identities where you live? How do you
feel about them? Have these changed over time? Share your comments in the
discussion below.
British Council

Description - watch and read

Watch Nicole talk about some of the language used in the video then read this
information about gradable and non-gradable adjectives.
Adjectives can be either gradable or non-gradable
Gradable
Gradable adjectives are adjectives like cold hot and frightened. You can be very cold or a
bit cold. Gradable adjectives show that something can have different degrees.
Non-gradable
Non-gradable adjectives are adjectives like married or wooden. You cant be very married
or a bit married. Non-gradable adjectives do not have different degrees. Adjectives

like terrifying, freezing amazing are also non-gradable adjectives. They already contain the
idea of very in their definitions freezing means very cold etc.
Using adverbs of degree
When we use adverbs of degree to modify adjectives we usually have to use different
adverbs for gradable and non-gradable adjectives.

NOT Im completely hot.

NOT It was very fantastic!

With gradable adjectives

Its a bit cold in here. Shall I turn the fire on?

Hes very interested in history. Why dont you buy him a history book?
This exercise is really difficult. I dont know any of the answers.
Im extremely tired. Im going to bed. The adverbs a bit, very, really, extremely and quite can all be used with gradable
adjectives.

With non-gradable adjectives

Its absolutely freezing in here. Shall I turn the fire on?

Hes completely fascinated by history. Why dont you buy him a history book?
This exercise is absolutely impossible.
That film is really terrifying. Dont go and see it on your own.

The adverbs absolutely and completely can be used with non-gradable adjectives. Notice
that really can be used with both gradable AND non-gradable adjectives.
Do you have any questions about the use of adjectives and adverbs?
Share your comments and questions in the discussion below.

Description - watch and read

Watch Nicole talk about some of the language used in the video then read this
information about gradable and non-gradable adjectives.
Adjectives can be either gradable or non-gradable
Gradable
Gradable adjectives are adjectives like cold hot and frightened. You can be very cold or a
bit cold. Gradable adjectives show that something can have different degrees.

Non-gradable
Non-gradable adjectives are adjectives like married or wooden. You cant be very married
or a bit married. Non-gradable adjectives do not have different degrees. Adjectives
like terrifying, freezing amazing are also non-gradable adjectives. They already contain the
idea of very in their definitions freezing means very cold etc.
Using adverbs of degree
When we use adverbs of degree to modify adjectives we usually have to use different
adverbs for gradable and non-gradable adjectives.

NOT Im completely hot.

NOT It was very fantastic!

With gradable adjectives

Its a bit cold in here. Shall I turn the fire on?

Hes very interested in history. Why dont you buy him a history book?
This exercise is really difficult. I dont know any of the answers.
Im extremely tired. Im going to bed. The adverbs a bit, very, really, extremely and quite can all be used with gradable
adjectives.

With non-gradable adjectives

Its absolutely freezing in here. Shall I turn the fire on?

Hes completely fascinated by history. Why dont you buy him a history book?
This exercise is absolutely impossible.
That film is really terrifying. Dont go and see it on your own.

The adverbs absolutely and completely can be used with non-gradable adjectives. Notice
that really can be used with both gradable AND non-gradable adjectives.
Do you have any questions about the use of adjectives and adverbs?
Share your comments and questions in the discussion below.

Adjectives (gradable / non-gradable)

Gradable / Non-gradable adjectives

Adjectives can be either gradable or non-gradable

Gradable
Gradable adjectives are adjectives like cold hot and frightened. You can be very
cold or a bit cold. Gradable adjectives show that something can have different
degrees.

Non-gradable
Non-gradable adjectives are adjectives like married or wooden. You cant be very
married or a bit married. Non-gradable adjectives do not have different degrees.
Adjectives like terrifying, freezing amazing are also non-gradable adjectives.
They already contain the idea of very in their definitions freezing means very
cold etc.
Using adverbs of degree
When we use adverbs of degree to modify adjectives we usually have to use
different adverbs for gradable and non-gradable adjectives.

NOT Im completely hot.

NOT It was very fantastic!

With gradable adjectives

Its a bit cold in here. Shall I turn the fire on?

Hes very interested in history. Why dont you buy him a history book?
This exercise is really difficult. I dont know any of the answers.
Im extremely tired. Im going to bed.

The adverbs a bit, very, really, extremely and quite can all be used with gradable
adjectives.
With non-gradable adjectives

Its absolutely freezing in here. Shall I turn the fire on?

Hes completely fascinated by history. Why dont you buy him a history book?
This exercise is absolutely impossible.
That film is really terrifying. Dont go and see it on your own.

The adverbs absolutely and completely can be used with non-gradable adjectives.
Notice that really can be used with both gradable AND non-gradable adjectives.
NOTE: There are other adverbs of degree that we havent covered in this section.
The ones included here are some of the most common.
Intensifiers:

(Intermediate)

We use words like very, really and extremely to make adjectives stronger:

Its a very interesting story

Everyone was very excited.
Its a really interesting story.
Everyone was extremely excited

We call these words intensifiers. Other intensifiers are:

amazingly

exceptionally

incredibly

remarkably

particularly

unusually

We also use enough to say more about an adjective, but enough comes after its adjective:

If you are seventeen you are old enough to drive a car.

I cant wear those shoes. Theyre not big enough.

Intensifiers with strong adjectives:

Strong adjectives are words like:

enormous, huge = very big

tiny = very small
brilliant = very clever
awful; terrible; disgusting; dreadful = very bad
certain = very sure
excellent; perfect; ideal; wonderful; splendid = very good
delicious = very tasty

We do not normally use very with these adjectives. We do not say something is "very enormous" or someone is "very brilliant".
With strong adjectives, we normally use intensifiers like:

absolutely

completely

totally

utterly

really

exceptionally

particularly

quite

The film was absolutely awful.

He was an exceptionally brilliant child.
The food smelled really disgusting.
- See more at: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/adjectives/intensifiers#sthash.7DSUf6be.dpuf

Intensifiers with particular adjectives:

(Advanced)

Some intensifiers go with particular adjectives depending on the meaning of the adjective:

Im afraid your wife is dangerously ill.

He was driving dangerously fast.
The car was seriously damaged.
Fortunately none of the passengers was seriously hurt.

Some intensifiers go with particular adjectives. For example we use the intensifier highly with the
adjectives successful, intelligent, likely and unlikely:

He was highly intelligent.

Shes a highly successful businesswoman

but we do not say:

We had a highly tasty meal.

That is a highly good idea.

We use the intensifier bitterly with the adjectives disappointed, unhappy and cold:

I was bitterly unhappy at school.

We were bitterly disappointed to lose the match.
It can get bitterly cold in winter.

You need to use your dictionary to find what sort of nouns these intensifiers go with.
- See more at: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/adjectives/intensifiers#sthash.7DSUf6be.dpuf

Intensifiers with comparatives and superlatives:

(Intermediate)

We use these words and phrases as intensifiers with comparative adjectives:

much

far

a lot

quite a lot

a great deal

a good deal

a good bit

a fair bit

He is much older than me.

New York is a lot bigger than Boston.

We use much and far as intensifiers with comparative adjectives in front of a noun:

France is a much bigger country than Britain.

He is a far better player than Ronaldo.

We use these words as intensifiers with superlatives:

easily

by far

much

The blue whale is easily the biggest animal in the world.

This car was by far the most expensive.
- See more at: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/adjectives/intensifiers#sthash.7DSUf6be.dpuf

Adjectives as intensifiers:

(Advanced)

We use some adjectives as intensifiers with nouns:

absolute

total

complete

utter

perfect

real

We say:
Hes a complete idiot.
They were talking utter nonsense.

but we do not say:

The idiot was complete.

The nonsense they were talking was utter.

- See more at: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/adjectives/intensifiers#sthash.7DSUf6be.dpuf

Modifiers (like very, a bit, absolutely) can be used with some adjectives but not with others. Test your knowledge of which
modifiers can be used.

QUIZ RULES

Quizzes do not count towards your course score, they are just to help you learn
You may take as many attempts as you wish to answer each question
You can skip questions and come back to them later if you wish