Exercise 3.3. Fill in the gaps with the proper articles, A/AN, THE or X for zero article. Pay special attention to the use of articles with nouns modified by infinitives, participles, and gerunds.

Gap-fill exercise

Fill in all the gaps, then press "Check" to check your answers. Use the "Hint" button to get a free letter if an answer is giving you trouble. You can also click on the "[?]" button to get a clue. Note that you will lose points if you ask for hints or clues!
He was 1) man to attract 2) immediate sympathy.

"Opportunities! Every life is full of them. Every newspaper article is 3) opportunity. Every client is 4) opportunity. Every sermon is 5) opportunity. Every business transaction is 6) opportunity – 7) opportunity to be polite – 8) opportunity to be manly – 9) opportunity to be honest – 10) opportunity to make friends." (Marden, Orison Swett)

11) thought of canceling 12) wedding made me more anxious than 13) thought of going through with it.

There was nothing on 14) stage but 15) grand piano and 16) pianist sitting motionless before it.

"The Spoiled Child" is 17) beautifully crafted story about 18) single mother trying to deal with 19) increasingly tyranical little boy. 20) child's outrageously bad behavior accounts for 21) appearance of Black Peter, 22) creature of 23) Dutch folklore from 24) Middle Ages. Black Peter captures 25) spoiled child and spirits him to 26) family far away.

In 27) house there was 28) covered passage connecting 29) kitchen with 30) garage.

31) Vegetables grown in 32) greenhouses are not so rich in 33) vitamins as 34) vegetables growing in 35) natural conditions.

I’ve toyed with 36) idea of going back to 37) school ever since I graduated four-and-a-half years ago.

I told 38) driver 39) address to drive to.

It's 40) chance not to be missed.