Exercise 1. Explain the use or the absence of articles in bold type in the following text.

A. When Montanelli and Arthur entered their room in the hotel, they saw that the plants Arthur had been gathering during their morning walk in the mountains had begun to wither. “They should have been put in_water immediately, Arthur, ” said Montanelli reprovingly. “How could you forget it? ”

“I don’t know, Padre, ” answered Arthur. “I should not have left them lying the way.”

“They should be sorted and dried up at once. If we wait for the heat to abate, they may wither completely. Let’s go to the terrace. Probably it is not so hot there”.

Montanelli and Arthur took their plants, _Arthur’s specimen box and plunged into a discussion in_Italian.

Two English artists were sitting on the terrace, one sketching the other lazily chatting. It did not seem to have occurred to him that the strangers might understand the English language.

“Leave off your landscape, Willie”, he said, “better look at the Italian boy. What an inspired man he is! He seems to have descended from an old Italian picture. Really, if he had a crucifix in his raised hand and not the magnifying glass, one could paint an early Christian from him”.

“Yes”, said the other man, looking fixedly at both of them. “ The youth really looks as if descended from an ancient picture, but he is not half so picturesque as the father. He has a noble and tragic face.

“Who? ”

“His father. Can’t you see how much they resemble each other? ”

“How dare you say it, Willie. Can’t you see by the dress that he is a priest? He can’t be his father.”

“I see, so he is! Yes, I forgot that priests can’t marry. Well, then, we’ll be charitable and suppose that the boy is not his son. He may be his nephew. “

“What idiotic people! ” Arthur whispered. “I wish I were really a nephew of yours. Padre, what is the matter? How white you are. Shall I help you? ”

“No, you needn’t.”

Montanelli was standing up, pressing one hand to the forehead. “I am a little giddy”, he said in a curiously faint voice. “We must have walked too long this morning. I shouldn’t have been so much in the sun. I will go and lie down. It’s nothing but the hot weather”.

B. How New York Became America’s Largest City

In the 18^th century_New York was smaller than_Philadelphia and_Boston. Today it is the largest city in_America. How can the change in its size and importance be explained?

To answer this question we must consider certain facts about_geography, history and economics. Together these three will explain the huge growth of_America’s most famous city.

The map of the Northeast shows that four of the most populated areas in this region are around seaports. At these points materials from across the sea enter the United States, and the products of the land are sent there for export across the sea.

Economists know that the places where transportation lines meet are good places for making raw materials into finished goods. That is why seaports often have cities nearby. But cities like New York needed more than their geographical location in order to become great industrial centers. Their development did not happen simply by_chance.

About 1815, when many Americans from the east coast had already moved toward the west, trade routs from the ports to the central regions of the country began to be a serious problem. The slow wagons of that time, drawn by horses or oxen, were too expensive for moving heavy freight very far. Americans had long admired Europe’s canals. In New York State a canal seemed the best solution to the transportation problem. From the eastern end of_Lake Erie all the way across the state to the Hudson River there is a long strip of low land. Here the Erie Canal was constructed. After several years of_work it was completed in 1825.

Thus New York became the greatest port for receiving people from European countries. Many of these people remained in the city. Others stayed in New York for a few weeks, months or years, and then moved to other parts of the United States. For these great numbers of new Americans New York had to provide homes, goods and services. Their labour helped the city become great.