degrees of adjectives

1. Degrees of
Adj ect ivesComprehension
of text
MODERN
PARADOXES
Teacher: Áurea
Christina

2. Modern Paradoxes
The paradox of our
time in history is that
we have taller
buildings but shorter
tempers,
wider freeways, but
narrower viewpoints.
And this is just the
beginning...

3. • The paradox of our time is
that we spend more, but
have less,
we buy more, but enjoy
less.
We have bigger houses
and smaller families,
more comforts, but less
time.
We have more
information, but less
knowledge,
more questions, but fewer
answers.

4. • We build more
computers to hold
more information,
but we communicate
with each other less
and less.
We have more
possessions, but
fewer values.
We are now long on
quantity, but short
on quality

5. • We drink too much,
smoke too much,
laugh too little,
drive too fast,
get too angry,
read too little,
watch TV too much.
We know much about the Moon and Mars,
but avoid crossing the street to meet a new neighbor.
We are masters of outer space but not of inner space.
We say “yes” to a bigger car in the showroom,
but “no” to a homeless street kid who tries to sell us a
bag of cookies.

6. • These are the times of
fast foods and slow
digestion,
tall men and short
character,
large profits and shallow
relationships. These are
the days of luxurious
houses,
but broken homes.
These are the times of
more leisure, but less
fun,
overweight bodies, but
selfish souls.

7. It is a time when technology brings this message
to you, and a time you can choose either to
make a difference and pass it on, or to just hit
“delete”.
(Adapted from “The Paradox of Our Time”, by Dr Bob Moorehead, in Words Aptly
Spoken, 1995)

8. Word Study
Find the Opposites. Scan the text to find the
words that are antonyms of the words below:
1-fast 9- tall
2-work 10 - outer
3- sell 11-questions
4 –ignorance 12-calm
5 – taller 13-wider
6 - less 14-fewer
7- bigger 15-deep
8- altruistic, selfless 16-bodies

9. Find the words that are missing in these
expressions:
• * digestion
• * men
• large *
• * space
• a new *
• * homes
• less *
• Wilder *
• * kid
• * souls
• more *
• * houses
• * buildings
• * bodies
• * space
• a bag of *
slow
tall
profits
outer
neigborhood
broken
knowledge
freeways
street
selfish
information
luxurious
taller
overweight
inner
cookies

10. Comprehension
• Mark the correct answer:
• 1) If you have narrow viewpoint,
A)you are a tolerant person
• B)you do no t accept opinions that are
different from yours.

11. • 2- Some people drive to fast
• A) on wide freeways,
• B)on narrow streets.
• 3- If you avoid meeting a new neighbor,
• A)you ignore someone who lives very near
you
• B)you choose to across the street and walk
away