English Skills with Readings 7th Edition by John Langan

Exercise 69

Other Words Frequently Confused
Following is a list of other words that people frequently confuse. Working in groups of two or three, complete the activities for each set of words, and check off and study the words that give you trouble.
a, an Both a and an are used before other words to mean, approximately, "one."
Generally you should use an before words starting with a vowel ( a, e, i, o, u ):
an ache an experiment an elephant an idiot an ox
Generally you should use a before words starting with a consonant (all other letters):
a Coke a brain a cheat a television a gambler
Fill in the blanks: The women had __________ argument over ____________ former boyfriend.
accept ( k s pt ) receive; agree to
except ( k s pt ) exclude; but
"I would accept your loan," said Bill to the bartender, " except that I'm not ready to pay 25 percent interest."
Fill in the blanks: ___________ for the fact that she can't ___________ any criticism, Lori is a good friend.
advice ( d v s ) noun meaning "an opinion"
advise ( d v z ) verb meaning "to counsel, to give advice"
I advise you to take the advice of your friends and stop working so hard.
Fill in the blanks: I _______ you to listen carefully to any __________ you get from your boss.
affect (uh f kt ) verb meaning "to influence"
effect (i f kt ) verb meaning "to bring about something"; noun meaning "result"
The full effects of marijuana and alcohol on the body are only partly known; however, both drugs clearly affect the brain in various ways.
Fill in the blanks: The new tax laws go into _________ next month, and they are going to ___________ your income tax deductions.
among implies three or more
between implies only two
We had to choose from among fifty shades of paint but between only two fabrics.
Fill in the blanks: The layoff notices distributed ____________ the unhappy workers gave them a choice _________ working for another month at full pay and leaving immediately with two weeks' pay.
beside along the side of
besides in addition to
I was lucky I wasn't standing beside the car when it was hit.
Besides being unattractive, these uniforms are impractical.
Fill in the blanks: _________ the alarm system hooked up to the door, our neighbors keep a gun ___________ their beds.
desert (d z rt) stretch of dry land; (d z rt ) to abandon one's post or duty
dessert (d z rt ) last part of a meal
Sweltering in the desert, I was tormented by the thought of an icy dessert.
Fill in the blanks: After their meal, they carried their ____________ into the living room so that they would not miss the start of the old _______________ movie about Lawrence of Arabia.
fewer used with things that can be counted
less refers to amount, value, or degree
There were fewer than seven people in all my classes today.
I seem to feel less tired when I exercise regularly.
Fill in the blanks: With ____________ people able to stay home with children,
today's families spend __________ time together than in the past.
not fastened; not tight-fitting
misplace; fail to win
Phil's belt is so loose that he always looks ready to lose his pants.
Fill in the blanks: At least once a week our neighbors __________ their dog; it's because they let him run __________.
quiet (kw t) peaceful
quite (kw t) entirely; really; rather
After a busy day, the children are now quiet, and their parents are quite tired.
Fill in the blanks: The ___________ halls of the church become ___________ lively during square-dance evenings.
though (th ) despite the fact that
thought (thôt) past form of think
Even though she worked, she thought she would have time to go to school.
Fill in the blanks: Yoshiko ____________ she would like the job, but even ___________ the pay was good, she hated the traveling involved.