LEVEL: 2 SUITABLE FOR ALL

Language functions: reading comprehension; discussing issues

Topic: manners / UK towns
Grammar: comparative and superlative adjectives

RUDE AWAKENING
FOR BRUMMIES
STUDENT WORKSHEET

focus on discussion
ACTIVITY 1
Discuss these questions.

1. Do you consider people in your city/town/village more or less

polite than in other parts of your country?

• Do shop assistants in the place where you live say ‘please’ and
‘thank’ you?
• Do people going into public buildings hold the door for those
behind them?
• Do drivers let other cars into rush-hour traffic from side roads?
• Are people willing to stop and help someone who dropped their
shopping?

2. Do people in your country think that some professional / social

groups are ruder than others. Who are they?
3. Which nation would you consider most polite? Why?
4. What can foreigners find rude in the behaviour of your fellow
countrymen?
5. What do you find annoying in the behaviour of other nations?

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before you read
ACTIVITY 2
Inhabitants of some cities in England have nicknames. Match the nicknames to
appropriate cities.
1. Brummie
2. Cockney
3. Geordie
4. Scouser
focus on reading
ACTIVITY 3
Regional Courtesy Rating presents the
findings of the survey carried out by the
Reader’s Digests. Read the text quickly
and fill in the missing names of towns.
A rude shock
Source: Herald Sun, 21 Oct0ber 2005
DON'T expect a helping hand in the English
city of Birmingham – residents there are the
rudest people in Britain, a survey has claimed.
"Brummies", as they are locally known, were
the least likely to pass a series of courtesy tests
such as holding the door for someone behind
them or stopping to help a person who had
dropped their shopping, according to the study
by the Reader's Digest.
Residents in Newcastle, northern England, on
the other hand, were most polite, followed by
inhabitants of Liverpool, in the northwest, and
Exeter in the south east.
The Reader's Digest sent undercover "civility
inspectors" to eight British cities to test them
with a variety of politeness trials.
As well as door-holding and help with dropped
shopping, they checked whether shop
assistants were well-mannered enough to say
"please" and "thank you" and whether drivers
thanked those who let them merge into rush
hour traffic.
www.english-4U.com: NOVEMBER 2005
A. Liverpool
B. Newcastle
C. Birmingham
D. East End of London
Regional courtesy ratings:
1. .................................... 77%
2. .................................... 70%
3. Exeter 63%
4. Cardiff 61%
5. London 54%
6. Southampton 53%
7. Edinburgh 48%
8. ..................................... 43%
Britons overall were polite 59 percent of the
time, while Newcastle residents passed 77
percent of the tests.
In contrast, Birmingham natives managed to
show common courtesy on only 43 percent of
occasions.
While women were generally more polite than
men, chivalry is not dead: 88 percent of men
held the door open for a female researcher,
compared with only 44 percent of women.
"(British Prime Minister) Tony Blair has made
the rebuilding of respect in communities an
official priority," said Readers Digest editor-
in-chief Katherine Walker.
"Given some of the results of this test, he has
his work cut out."
The other cities tested were Cardiff, London,
Southampton and Edinburgh.
2
after-reading discussion

Are you surprised at the results of the survey? What is your opinion about the
British? Are they polite? What is the stereotype of the Brits and what is your
view? Is your opinion based on personal experience?

ACTIVITY 4
Fill in the missing words without looking at the text.

1. The survey claims that the residents of Birmingham are the ……………….. people in
Britain.

2. Brummies were the ………………… likely to pass a series of courtesy tests.

3. The residents of Newcastle were …………………. polite.

4. Women were generally more polite ………………… men.

5. 88 percent of men held the door open for a female researcher, compared …………
only 44 percent of women.

ACTIVITY 5
Complete the following rules on forming comparative and superlative adjectives.

RULE 1
slow > slower > the slowest rude > ruder > the rudest
One-syllable adjectives form comparative and superlative forms by adding …….. /……. . If a
one-syllable adjective ends with –e, we add ……/…….. .
RULE 2
noisy > noisier > the noisiest funny > funnier > the funniest
In case of two-syllable adjectives ending in –y form comparative, we change “y” into ……….
And add ………….. / …………….. .
RULE 3
big > bigger > the biggest hot > hotter > the hottest
If a one-syllable adjective ends with a single consonant after a single vowel, we …………….
the consonant.
RULE 5
dangerous > more dangerous > the most dangerous
Most two-syllable adjectives and longer adjectives form comparative and superlative with
……………. / …………… .
RULE 5
good > better > the best
Remember about irregular comparative and superlative forms of adjectives

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