I. Choose the best form for each noun. More than one is often possible. Is there any difference in meaning?

FISHER. County official County officials A county official A county officials The county official The county officials denounced -- but did not arrest -- group groups a group a groups the group the groups of young man young men a young man a young men the young man the young men who distributed racist literature racist literatures a racist literature a racist literatures the racist literature the racist literatures Monday morning in Fisher Shortly after midnight, police in Fisher discovered four or five men distributing literature bearing namenamesa namea namesthe namethe names and symbolsymbolsa symbola symbolsthe symbolthe symbols of the Ku Klux Klan. They had wrapped Klan flierKlan fliersa Klan fliera Klan fliersthe Klan flierthe Klan fliers with free newspaper free newspapers a free newspaper a free newspapers the free newspaper the free newspapers and advertisement advertisements an advertisement an advertisements the advertisement the advertisements, throwing them into yard yards a yard a yards the yard the yards

II. Complete each noun phrase. Decide if there should be an a, an, or the before the noun, and whether the noun should be singular or plural. Compare your choices with the author's. (If you click on the title above, a new window will appear with the original document. Then you can adjust the two windows so that part of each is always visible, and you can easily move back and forth between them.)

Champaign County State's Attorney John Piland called to denounce and , which used and called for against and Jews. "It's to put out they want to. It's also to call it what it is," said Piland, joined by Fisher Mayor Milt Kelly and . , ranging in from 16 to 20, were stopped by , identified and told they should not be distributing at . They were not arrested. Fisher Police Chief Doug Zook said told that they would need to hand out . They were given . frequently require for anyone who wants to distribute , solicit for or conduct door-to-door in . were not from Fisher but lived elsewhere in Champaign County, Zook said. He declined to identify them or say exactly where they lived, pending of by in Urbana, which was to investigate whether any federal law applied. listed for the American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan at in Rantoul, but also listed for the Klan in Indiana and Pennsylvania. against are unlikely because the First Amendment to the Constitution has traditionally protected of , Piland said. If had suggested , might provide for . "If it called for or , we may be talking about something else," Piland said. should warn that and still persist, said. " is not immune to ," said Tracy Parsons, president of the Champaign County Urban League. of and of were forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said Piland, adding that would "closely monitor" .

Ann Salzmann
Intensive English Institute
University of Illinois