Thread: Use of articles

Hello. I've done two exercises that were suggested in my student's book, but I'm not sure I've done them correctly. The all thing about articles is the most difficult in English. I'd be pleased if anybody checked them.
Thanks in advance.

Britain's hardest working man?
The hardest working man in ___ Britain has decided to take life ___ little easier. James McSporran has retired as the only police officer on the tiny island of Ghina in ___ north-west Scotland. However, he will continue to serve Ghina's 200 inhabitants in ___ number of other roles. for he is also  a  postman,  an ambulance man,  a  shopkeeper and  a  taxi driver for the island. Police job wasn't that demanding, he told The Times newspaper. People on the island are either ___ relatives or ___ friends, so ___ crime is unknown.

Teenager on the road to millions
As  a  teenager, Chris Mole dreamed of studying ___ marine engineering. But disastrous exam results ended any hope of going to ___ university. However, the eighteen year old didn't allow this failure to make him depressed: instead he borrowed $75,000 and used the money to start  a  company selling second-hand computers to ___ students. The company was the immediate success, and in the first year it made  a  profit of $12 million.
Chris still lives with his parents in Morpeth,  a  small town in north-east England and he still works in  a  garden centre at weekends. 'It helps keep me in touch with ___ reality,' he says.

Britain's hardest working man?
The hardest working man in ___ Britain has decided to take life a little easier. James McSporran has retired as the only police officer on the tiny island of Ghina in ___ north-west Scotland. However, he will continue to serve Ghina's 200 inhabitants in a number of other roles. for he is also a postman, an ambulance man, a shopkeeper and a taxi driver for the island. I'd say that he's probably the only one in each capacity, so all the 'a's have to go. Police job wasn't that demanding, he told The Times newspaper. People on the island are either ___ relatives or ___ friends, so ___ crime is unknown.

Teenager on the road to millions
As a teenager, Chris Mole dreamed of studying ___ marine engineering. But disastrous exam results ended any hope of going to ___ university. However, the eighteen year old didn't allow this failure to make him depressed: instead he borrowed $75,000 and used the money to start a company selling second-hand computers to ___ students. The company was an immediate success, and in the first year it made a profit of $12 million.
Chris still lives with his parents in Morpeth, a small town in north-east England and he still works in a garden centre at weekends. 'It helps keep me in touch with ___ reality,' he says.

Thank you, bitpicker.
Did you mean that all 'a's in that sentence should be replaced by 'the'? I think they should, because that man really is the only postman - and so on - on that island. I'm asking just to check.

No, it should be no article at all. He can be the only postman, but he is postman, ... and taxi driver for the island.

Robin

Originally Posted by bitpicker

No, it should be no article at all. He can be the only postman, but he is postman, ... and taxi driver for the island.

Robin

I disagree. If someone is the only member of a group then "the" is normally used.

So you'd put a 'the' in each instance in the original exercise text?

However, he will continue to serve Ghina's 200 inhabitants in a number of other roles, for he is also the postman, the ambulance man, the shopkeeper and the taxi driver for the island.

Robin

Originally Posted by bitpicker

So you'd put a 'the' in each instance in the original exercise text?

However, he will continue to serve Ghina's 200 inhabitants in a number of other roles, for he is also the postman, the ambulance man, the shopkeeper and the taxi driver for the island.

Robin

Looking at it one more time, I think putting one in front of "postman" would be enough. Since the nouns after that are all parallel you only need to attach something to the first one. If it were a speech I might put "the" in front of each for emphasis.

Sergey, are you going to get an official solution to this? I'd be interested to know.

Robin

Sergey,

is this from a Headway book? It looks familiar to me.

Thanks everyone.
It's from my students book (Cutting Edge). This exercise is from area of my book that doesn't have answers. Otherwise I wouldn't ask you I'd check my answer in the "Answer keys" section.
I can ask my English teacher next Tuesday.

I agree with both of you guys. Either "the" (as specified) or nothing.

The police job....

a garden center or the garden center, depending on how many you think there are (if only one use THE, otherwise A).