Garry Nelson's Left Foot
Well-known member
O.K, this is for all the grammar pedants...
Laughably, i am employed as an English teacher. My company is looking for new teachers(maybe to replace me
...). So the Japanese staff have devised a test to, er, test the literacy and grammatical nous of the candidates. My boss was moaning about the perceived lack of linguistic ability of those who had taken the test. So, she has given it to me to do. Now, having read it, there seems to be a bit of ambiguity in some of the possible answers, and indeed I think some of the 'correct' answers are infact wrong. Now, i'm prepared to admit i don't know a great deal about grammar(i'm a victim of thatcher's education system), so i was wondering if the grammar scholars of nsc could give their valued judgment(and the answers) to the following questions...
1)I couldn't sleep......................very tired.
a)although i was
b)in spite of being
Personally i'd say 'even though' or despite being' but...
2)I must go now. I promised.........
a)not to be late
b)I wouldn't be late
They're both o.k, right?
3)...............a hotel, we looked for somewhere to have dinner.
a)after finding
b)having found
Again, they both seem good to me.
4)..............a problem in most big cities.
a)crime
b)the crime is
c)the crimes are
It seems obvious to me that the answer is...crime IS a problem. But my company have deliberately left out 'is' and have marked as correct the person who chose b. WTF!!!
5)It ....... rain later.
a)may
b)might
c)could
Aren't all three options acceptable?
6)It's late. It's time...........home.
a)we should go
b)we went.
I say b, but they say a. I understand why they say a, but i've never said, nor ever heard anyone say 'it's time we should go'. Everyone i know says 'Its time we went.'
Your help and insight will be much appreciated.
GNLF.
Laughably, i am employed as an English teacher. My company is looking for new teachers(maybe to replace me
...). So the Japanese staff have devised a test to, er, test the literacy and grammatical nous of the candidates. My boss was moaning about the perceived lack of linguistic ability of those who had taken the test. So, she has given it to me to do. Now, having read it, there seems to be a bit of ambiguity in some of the possible answers, and indeed I think some of the 'correct' answers are infact wrong. Now, i'm prepared to admit i don't know a great deal about grammar(i'm a victim of thatcher's education system), so i was wondering if the grammar scholars of nsc could give their valued judgment(and the answers) to the following questions...1)I couldn't sleep......................very tired.
a)although i was
b)in spite of being
Personally i'd say 'even though' or despite being' but...
2)I must go now. I promised.........
a)not to be late
b)I wouldn't be late
They're both o.k, right?
3)...............a hotel, we looked for somewhere to have dinner.
a)after finding
b)having found
Again, they both seem good to me.
4)..............a problem in most big cities.
a)crime
b)the crime is
c)the crimes are
It seems obvious to me that the answer is...crime IS a problem. But my company have deliberately left out 'is' and have marked as correct the person who chose b. WTF!!!
5)It ....... rain later.
a)may
b)might
c)could
Aren't all three options acceptable?
6)It's late. It's time...........home.
a)we should go
b)we went.
I say b, but they say a. I understand why they say a, but i've never said, nor ever heard anyone say 'it's time we should go'. Everyone i know says 'Its time we went.'
Your help and insight will be much appreciated.
GNLF.
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