Ex 0 introductory exercise Contrast or concession? Whether something expresses concession or contrast is open to interpretation, so the answers in this first exercise reflect my ideas, not necessarily some golden rule Simple Concession Contrast Sally is blonde, but her sister is brunette Although Sally originally wanted to become a lawyer, she finally decided on a career in medicine This plan is fraught with problems. Nevertheless, I think we should go ahead with it Mark's idea would be quite expensive. Sandy's, however, sounds relatively cheap In spite of the crisis, this sector of the economy has been doing quite well The South of England is relatively flat. The North, on the other hand, is much hillier He's not the greatest conversationalist. Mind you, he is rather goodlooking In Geneva, most people speak French, whereas in Zurich they mainly speak German Recent sales have been disappointing. However, this month is looking rather better 10 Much as I trust your judgement, this time In think we'll do it my way Random Idea English http://randomideaenglish.blogspot.com Exercise 1a Complete the sentences Use although + a sentence from the box, as in the example we don't know them very well we'd never met before there was a light on upstairs I really like her they still lost I've never met him we live in the country she never went to university we took a taxi Eg Although we took a taxi , we were still late , he sounds really interesting , life is never dull Nobody seemed to be at home We asked them round for dinner , we clicked immediately She's very bright They played really well , she can be a bit distant sometimes Exercise 1b Choose the best option Although / Despite the rain, it was a great afternoon We had a great time though / in spite of it rained a bit She passed her test easily although / despite not doing much revision Although / Despite the salary wasn't great, she took the job Although / Despite coming first, she felt she could have done better Although / In spite of coming first isn't everything, it sure helps I managed to get tickets although / despite the queue was rather long I didn't manage to get very good seats although / , though Random Idea English http://randomideaenglish.blogspot.com Exercise 1c Convert from although to despite Rewrite the sections in italics using despite and an ing form Although he was a director, he didn't play a strong role in the company , he didn't play a strong role in the company She always seemed to be short of cash, although she had plenty of money in the bank She always seemed to be short of cash, Although he talked a lot, he didn't often come up with any useful ideas , he didn't often come up with any useful ideas Rewrite the sections in italics using despite and his/her/its + noun Although she was beautiful, she was quite shy , she was quite shy We're going to buy this anyway, although it is expensive We're going to buy this anyway, Although he promised to call me back, he never did , he never did Random Idea English http://randomideaenglish.blogspot.com Exercise 2 Choose the word that fits best . Sometimes both answers are possible, so try and decide which the sentence expresses more strongly concession (although / while), or contrast (whereas / while) I see what you're getting at, I don't necessarily agree with you Whereas While France is quite centralised, Germany is more federal in nature although whereas she's only lived here a few years, she speaks English fluently Although Whereas The elder daughter is training to be an engineer, her sister is studying medicine whereas while the climate on the west coast is relatively warm and wet, on the east coast it's colder and drier Although While She's usually right about these things this time I think she's mistaken although while I got completely lost, I'd been there a couple of times before although whereas in the past this type of information was only available to a few, now it is available to anyone with an internet connection Although Whereas Most first year students live in student residences, those in their second and third years tend to prefer living in flats although while 10 The Prime Minister has announced early elections nobody really knows quite why although while 11 United have won five out of their six matches so far, City have only managed to win one although whereas 12 the company haven't made an official announcement, many commentators expect them to launch the longawaited new model next week Whereas While Random Idea English http://randomideaenglish.blogspot.com Exercise 3 even though or even if choose the best option She stayed out late even though / even if I told her to be back early Even though / Even if they win, they can't get through the next round He agreed to meet them even though / even if he knew that it was pointless I really enjoyed the film, even though / even if I don't usually like Westerns It's worth going for the interview, even though / even if they turn you down We're going for a walk later even though / even if it doesn't clear up Even though / Even if we've met a few times, I don't know him very well Even though / Even if we did turn up a bit late, it wouldn't really matter Random Idea English http://randomideaenglish.blogspot.com Exercise 4a although · as · despite · however · matter · much · still · whatever · whereas · wherever · whichever · whoever The people were incredibly friendly, I've made my mind up, No We went for a long walk, Tired I've always been fairly relaxed, 10 much she practised, she just couldn't get the hang of it we went we had already eaten, we went for a pizza she says about it how hard I try, I just can't open this jar the wet weather we were, we managed to make it to the top of the hill we spoke to told us the same thing my sister gets a bit uptight as I love our holidays in Spain, I do like a change sometimes 11 He did a lot of revision, but 12 We're going to be late, failed the exam way we go Random Idea English http://randomideaenglish.blogspot.com Exercise 4b Match the sentence halves, giving special emphasis to the adjectives by moving them to the front of the sentence and adding though, as in the example It sounds fascinating He is rich He was exhausted He was outclassed He is good His answer was unlikely It may seem strange The train is fast The food was delicious eg Delicious though the food was , I couldn't eat another thing , he hasn't had a holiday for years , he isn't as talented as my brother , it still took us most of the day to get there , I think I'll give it a miss , he's not exactly generous with his money , it turned out that he was actually correct , he managed to complete the whole course , he still put in an excellent performance Random Idea English http://randomideaenglish.blogspot.com Exercise 8a Complete the sentences by entering ONE word into each gap She decided to take the job, even No She loves long walks in the country. Her sister, in visiting museums I just couldn't keep up with them, It does sound rather a long way to go just for an icecream. On the other taste a better one We still felt quite energetic, I know she speaks English quite well. Even speech Well I'm not going to his stupid party, I'm not usually very partial to red wines, although I Sauvignon the salary was less than she had hoped for what we talk about, she always disagrees with me , prefers to spend her weekends hard I tried our long walk 10 We're leaving in five minutes even , it's a bit much expecting her to make a you say! like Chilean Cabernet he hasn't turned up by then 11 We didn't particularly want to go to the function but we did so all the 12 We took a taxi but we managed to arrive late for the concert 13 I'm afraid I have to go now, 14 You as I would like to help you pack well think that's the case, but I couldn't possibly comment 15 Tell them I'm out, , you won't it is Random Idea English http://randomideaenglish.blogspot.com Exercise 8b Choose the word or expression that fits best She's very friendly, a little shy albeit no matter despite He doesn't have a lot of experience but they decided to offer him the job albeit although nevertheless they've known each other since they were children, it's only recently that they've started going out together Nevertheless Whereas While I haven't bought the tickets yet, but I don't think there'll be a any problems, in contrast although though He earns quite a decent salary, his brother has to make do on very little whereas in spite of albeit He borrowed my bicycle I particularly told him not to when albeit however the number of red squirrels in Scotland is declining, the grey squirrel population continues to increase Whereas However No matter Funny it may seem, I've never seen Star Wars even though though although The houses next to the park are quite expensive. Those a street or two away, , are a bit cheaper however nevertheless even so 10 The old house, somewhat delapidated, has a lot of charm if as when 11 I've always wanted a Ferrari. , it would be a bit impractical, but think of how much fun you could have However Still True 12 not having arrived at at a firm decision yet, we're increasingly inclined to accept their offer While Whereas When Random Idea English http://randomideaenglish.blogspot.com