(1) The announcement was made a short time ago...
(2) How could you do it in such a short period of time?...
(3) For a few short weeks there was peace...

(1) a pair of socks
(2) He gave him a sock on the jaw.
(3) She got angry and socked him in the mouth.

(1) The camera is guaranteed for twelve months.
(2) twelve men voted for the motion and three against it.
(3) The clock was striking twelve.

(1) "how much is he paying you?" — "Oh, five thousand." —"Not bad."
(2) how much emotional baggage is he bringing with him into the relationship?
(3) "Gimme a break, kid! You know how much those things cost?"

(1) Flat wall paint was on sale at the store.
(2) Among the horses on sale he saw his own lost horse.
(3) Are these items on sale?

(1) Mozart clearly enjoyed good health throughout his twenties and early thirties.
(2) She became quite a notable director in the thirties and forties.
(3) He is thirty inches round the middle.

(1) a big department store
(2) a health food store
(3) a liquor store

(1) Have you hurt yourself?
(2) You don't seem quite yourself today (= you do not seem well or do not seem as happy as usual) .
(3) Enjoy yourselves!

(1) They're both in their twenties and both married with children of their own.
(2) It was written in the Twenties, but it still really stands out.
(3) Rotary Foundation alumnus , Hahn led a Group Study Exchange team to Turkey in 2000.

(1) The call-up of National Guard and reserve units begun in late august.
(2) The letter was franked in London on august 6.
(3) They were married on august 9 in a civil ceremony in Venice.

(1) a long/short/straight/pleated, etc. skirt
(2) the rubber skirt around the bottom of a hovercraft
(3) They followed the road that skirted the lake.

(1) a crisp white shirt
(2) white bread
(3) a set of perfect white teeth

(1) He was jailed in february 1992 and could be released next year.
(2) Sow the seed in a warm place in february/March.
(3) Average weekly cinema attendance in february was 2.41 million.

(1) They were at the door to welcome us.
(2) It is a pleasure to welcome you to our home.
(3) a welcoming smile

(1) The boss often made her work twelve or thirteen hours a day.
(2) Beijing is thirteen hours ahead of New York.
(3) He began to learn English age of thirteen.

(1) regulations governing the sale of alcoholic beverages
(2) I haven't made a sale all week.
(3) She gets 10% commission on each sale.

(1) Boat for sale, price £2 000
(2) house/retail/oil/share prices
(3) to charge a high/reasonable/low price for sth

(1) a pair of shoes
(2) He took his shoes and socks off.
(3) What's your shoe size?

(1) a pair of pants
(2) a new pair of pants
(3) ski pants

(1) You can't see colours at night...
(2) I saw a man making his way towards me...
(3) I saw him yesterday...

(1) very small
(2) very quickly
(3) very few people know that.

(1) She was chatting away, nineteen to the dozen.
(2) They have nineteen days to make up their minds.
(3) It's nineteen hour Beijing time.

(1) Repairs to the cable did not take too long...
(2) Have you known her parents long?...
(3) We had a long meeting with the attorney general...

(1) This young man is wearing a limp grey sweater.
(2) Ann, put on your sweater; you're so cold you have gooseflesh on your arms.
(3) She is good at knitting a sweater.

(1) ...exams taken at the age of sixteen...
(2) He worked sixteen hours a day...
(3) She began dating boys when she was sixteen.

(1) He was greeted with a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday.
(2) happy birthday!
(3) Happy birthday, sweetheart.

(1) In april 1944 he was killed on active service.
(2) The present assembly will be dissolved on april 30th.
(3) Millions of wild flowers colour the valleys, especially in april and May.

(1) There will be a run-off between these two candidates on december 9th.
(2) Last december they hunted down and killed one of the gangsters.
(3) The sides must battle again for a quarter-final place on december 16.

(1) The governors were joined by mr Hunter and his management team.
(2) She met mr and mrs Ricciardi, who were very nice to her.
(3) mr Martin was taken out of his car at gunpoint.

(1) a red car
(2) The lights (= traffic lights) changed to red before I could get across.
(3) Her eyes were red from crying.

(1) I sold my car to James for £800.
(2) I sold James my car for £800.
(3) They sold the business at a profit/loss (= they gained/lost money when they sold it) .

(1) to wear a shirt and tie
(2) a short-sleeved shirt
(3) a football shirt

(1) pale yellow flowers
(2) a bright yellow waterproof jacket
(3) She was dressed in yellow.

(1) I'm sorry that your husband lost his job.
(2) We're sorry to hear that your father's in hospital again.
(3) No one is sorrier than I am about what happened.

(1) a pair of tennis shorts
(2) He was wearing a T-shirt and shorts.
(3) We are in shortage of this sort of comfortable shorts.

(1) Jenny is seventeen years old.
(2) There are seventeen items on my shopping list.
(3) Texas , who died when my father was seventeen.

(1) Not brilliant, Robyn, but I'll give you ten out of ten for effort.
(2) ten to one he'll be late.
(3) Over the past ten years things have changed.

(1) a small house/town/car/man
(2) A much smaller number of students passed than I had expected.
(3) They're having a relatively small wedding.

(1) I want a drink...
(2) Ian knows exactly what he wants in life...
(3) I want to say how really delighted I am that you're having a baby...

(1) chinese waiters stood in a cluster, sharing a private joke.
(2) Her chinese friends referred to the Empress as their venerable ancestor.
(3) Cartons of chinese food were arrayed on a large oak table.