Page 120 - Student's Book IELTS 6.5-7.5

phrase example
very s )T S HIGHLY VERY EXTREMELY It’s highly unlikely that WE LL BE ABLE TO PREVENT THE !RCTIC ICE
certain likely/unlikely that ... from melting.
s 4HERE S LITTLE NO DOUBT THAT There’s little doubt that the climate is changing.
s ) VERY MUCH DOUBT WHETHER THAT I very much doubt that we shall be able to reverse the process of
global warming.
s 4HERE S EVERY A STRONG LIKELIHOOD There’s every likelihood that man will return to the Moon in the
that ... near future.
s IS BOUND TO Space travel is bound to continue.
s )T S VERY POSSIBLE PROBABLE THAT It’s very probable that tigers will become extinct in the wild.
moderately s IS QUITE LIKELY TO Governments are likely to reach a new agreement on carbon
certain emissions in the future.
s MAY MIGHT COULD WELL In 20 years, all cars may well be electric.
s T S QUITE FAIRLY LIKELY UNLIKELY THAT It’s fairly unlikely THAT THE !NTARCTIC ICE CAP WILL MELT COMPLETELY
)
...
s WILL PROBABLY Space tourism will probably BECOME QUITE COMMON
s 4HERE S A STRONG POSSIBILITY THAT There’s a strong possibility that environmental policies will
dominate politics in the future.
s 4HERE S A GOOD FAIR REASONABLE There’s a fair chance that severe storms will become more
chance that ... common.
neither s MAY MIGHT COULD POSSIBLY We could possibly experience the coldest winter on record next
certain nor winter.
uncertain s 4HERE S A POSSIBILITY CHANCE THAT There’s a chance that SEA LEVELS WON T RISE VERY MUCH
very s 4HERE S LITTLE ALMOST NO CHANCE There’s little likelihood of western societies abandoning
uncertain likelihood of/that ... consumerism.
s 4HERE S A SLIGHT POSSIBILITY THAT There’s a slight possibility that the whole environmental
situation will improve one day.

Superlative forms
The chart shows that the second most important reason
We form superlatives by adding: for emigrating is work.
s the + adjective/adverb + -est to one-syllable adjectives To express a big difference between the largest, most
and adverbs and two-syllable adjectives ending in –y, important, etc., we use by far, much:
-le, -er, -ow: Getting useful qualifications is by far the most important
They all work hard, but René works the hardest. (adverb) reason for studying abroad.
Mateu is the cleverest student in my class. (adjective) The job was much harder than I expected.
s the most to all other two-syllable adjectives, all To say something is a little less than the largest, most
adjectives with more than two syllables and all adverbs important, etc., we use nearly, almost, not quite:
with two or more syllables: It is not quite the oldest university in the country.
Fleming made one of the most important discoveries of
To say something is part of a group of the largest, most
the 20th century.
important, etc., we use one of and among:
To say something is less than everything else, we use the Abba is one of my least favourite groups.
least with all adjectives and adverbs: The Komodo dragon is among the largest reptiles in the
The least dangerous animal on the chart is the rhinoceros.
world.
Note: we use least with amounts, but lowest with numbers:
Note: we say least favourite to mean the opposite of
The 60–75 age group ate the least amount of food.
favourite, but we do not use most with this adjective:
Men in their 70s engaged in the least lowest number of most favourite.
calls.
We can make comparisons using superlatives by using the
second, the third, the fourth, etc.: