The Improve Your English Thread v3

[Pox Voldius]

I don't know... "He must not be a doctor" might work if you say it with a sort of dejected tone of voice. Like in an "I thought he was a doctor, but he doesn't really seem to know much about medicine, so he must not be a doctor after all" sort of way.

Originally Posted by JJFinch

I just listened to that audio clip - mechanical American accent! This is an "Improve your English" thread. But it's essentially the same.

Yeah, I know, I just didn't have the time to dig for a more natural clip.

[JJFinch]

Originally Posted by Pox Voldius

I don't know... "He must not be a doctor" might work if you say it with a sort of dejected tone of voice. Like in an "I thought he was a doctor, but he doesn't really seem to know much about medicine, so he must not be a doctor after all" sort of way.

Yeah, espescially if you put an emphasis on the "not" and say it in a surprised tone of voice.

[ominous]

Here is my grammar test question.
Which, do you think, is the right answer?

Q. These consumers, all of ____ are heavily in debt, require financial assistance.

(a) that (b) them (c) who (d) whom

[LikeLuna]

Originally Posted by ominous

Here is my grammar test question.
Which, do you think, is the right answer?

Q. These consumers, all of ____ are heavily in debt, require financial assistance.

(a) that (b) them (c) who (d) whom

It's 'whom'. I'm a native speaker so I don't really know all the reasons why, but that's what sounds right to me.

[Pox Voldius]

Some dialects that don't use "whom" much, or at all, would use "which" in that blank.

But I see that "which" was not given as an option.

[ominous]

Thank you guys.

Here are another two questions. Sorry for keeping asking.

By December 10, I _______ my master's degree in economics in my university.
(a) earn (b) will have earned (c) will earn (d) will have been earned

Every precaution _______ to ensure all the students on the field trip return to the school without troubles.
(a) had been taken (b) should be taken (c) was taken (d) is taken

[Pox Voldius]

By December 10, I _______ my master's degree in economics in my university.
(a) earn (b) will have earned (c) will earn (d) will have been earned

People use both B & C on this one, depending on dialect and whatnot. Though, I think B (will have earned) would be a bit more grammatically correct than C (will earn) in the context of that sentence.

Option D would only make sense if the sentence had a passive construction with "my master's degree" as the subject, rather than "I" as the subject. Option A might make sense in a sentence like "I earn my master's degree in December", but it wouldn't work in the given sentence.

Every precaution _______ to ensure all the students on the field trip return to the school without troubles.
(a) had been taken (b) should be taken (c) was taken (d) is taken

For this one, B (should be taken) looks to me like the only one that really fits, because it's the only conjugation in the options that really agrees with "return".

(For option A, "would return" would agree better; for C, "returned"; and for D, maybe "will return"?)

[ominous]

Which sentence is suitably paraphrased?

(Original)
Sales growth in merging markets, including the Middle East, has risen dramatically.

(a) It is that in emerging markets, including the Middle East, that sales growth has risen dramatically.

(b) It is in emerging markets, including the Middle East, that sales growth has risen dramatically.

(Original)
Local farm products are generally more expensive to buy than crops raised abroad.

(a) It is generally more expensive to buy that than crops raised abroad local farm products are.

(b) It is generally more expensive to buy local farm products than crops raised abroad.

(c) It is generally more expensive to buy that local farm procuts than crops raised abroad.

[Pox Voldius]

(Original)
Sales growth in merging markets, including the Middle East, has risen dramatically.

(a) It is that in emerging markets, including the Middle East, that sales growth has risen dramatically.

(b) It is in emerging markets, including the Middle East, that sales growth has risen dramatically.

For the first one, B.
(In option A, the placement of the first "that" is a bit awkward.)


(Original)
Local farm products are generally more expensive to buy than crops raised abroad.

(a) It is generally more expensive to buy that than crops raised abroad local farm products are.

(b) It is generally more expensive to buy local farm products than crops raised abroad.

(c) It is generally more expensive to buy that local farm procuts than crops raised abroad.

For the second one, also B.
(Option A is practically Yoda syntax. Option C puts "that" in a place where you would expect it to specify which "local farm products" are being referred to, but "that" does not agree with "local farm products", as "that" is singular and "local farm products" is plural.)

[ominous]

Questions 153 - 155 refer to the following notice.

Cron Engineering has been working hard, behind the scenes, to develop new and more efficient ways of providing service to the CronWorld community. The Engineering Department is pleased and delighted to announce that our new next generation mail server service is now operational and in production. We aren't totally deployed yet, but we'll be ready in a few days. We expect that you will see vast improvements in response time, uptime, and reliability when the new system is fully in place. We do appreciate your patience as we have worked very hard on this project. We think that you will be just as pleased as we are with this advance.

Q. 153 Who is this notice intended for?
(a) Service members
(b) Engineers
(c) Community volunteers
(d) Production assistants

Q. 154 What is the subject of this notice related to?
(a) A computer system
(b) An operation
(c) A mail box
(d) A company

Q. 155 What is true about the new service?
(a) It is unreliable.
(b) It is slow.
(c) It is down too often.
(d) It is state-of-the-art.

The bold choices are my answers. What are your choices?

Questions 166 - 167 refer to the following news article.

Federal health officials are crediting a steep increase in cigarette taxes for a 21 percent drop in the state's smoking rate during the late 1990s.
Telephone surveys found that the number of adults who smoke dropped from 23.1 percent in 1996 to 18.3 in 1999. Smoking rates fell across age, race, and gender lines. In 1994, voters raised the cigarette tax from 18 cents to 58 cents per pack. About one-quarter of the tax money goes to tobacco control programs which cost $10 to $12 million per year to run. A new study coming out this fall may contain more good news. It is expected to show that the number of teen smokers has decreased by up to 25 percent.

Q. 166 What can be inferred from the article?
(a) Tobacco control programs need more federal funds.
(b) The cost of cigarettes is too high for many people.
(c) Telephone surveys are effective ways to determine percentages.
(d) Health officials wage successful campaigns to deter smokers.

Q. 167 What information is NOT yet known?
(a) The percentage of state funds for a subsidized program
(b) The adult smoking rate for a specified time period
(c) The additional amount of tax as voted on in 1994
(d) The number of young people who have quit smoking

Do you think I'm gonna get an "A" for this test?

[Lisa_Turpin]

Ominous, I think you're going to do just fine. All of those are answers I would have chosen myself. Good luck on the test!

[Murzim]

Originally Posted by ChingChuan

2. Is it one feet or one foot, when you're using the measurement? I know that it's one foot and two feet, but what if you are talking about the measurement (like meter) and not about the body parts?

I've asked that about a year ago on this thread and I'm afraid it's not that simple. You may be interested in the old posts:

previous [Post 595] Author : Murzim Date : July 10th, 2007 8:33 am Thread Title : Re: The Improve Your English Thread v3 Hi, I have another question, it's about measurement and plural: I've been reading an American author and she uses foot and stone and I got confused: When you give a distance it's e.g. five feet away (alright with me), but when she is writing about someone's height it's: she is five foot four Did I get that right, you use singular for height and plural for distance, or is it something else? and is it correct English not to use the plural ? Next thing: Is there a case in which you would use five inch, or would that always be five inches? Is stone the common way to give your weight, and in which English speaking countries? Is the plural stone? And is there any pebble? I mean, would you say: 'I weigh 9,7 stone, or 9 stone and X ... ? [Post 596] Author : Mundungus Fletc Date : July 10th, 2007 8:39 am Thread Title : Re: The Improve Your English Thread v3 I had never thought about foot and feet but I think you're right about height being singular and length plural though I suspect they're interchangeable. I would never use the singular for inches. Stones (14 pounds) are commonly used in Britain for expressing a person's weight and yet again tend to be referred to in the singular as in "I weigh twelve stone six pounds" [Post 604] Author : BublGumPnkHar Date : July 10th, 2007 7:32 pm Thread Title : Re: The Improve Your English Thread v3 Murzim - there is one place (I can think of right away) when the plural "inches" is not used with a plural number: I have a five inch gash in my arm, leg etc. So used that way, as an adjective, you would never say a five inches scar, gash, whatever (at least in the U.S.). I hope this helps. [Post 605] Author : Dawa Lhamo Date : July 10th, 2007 7:37 pm Thread Title : Re: The Improve Your English Thread v3 Wouldn't that be hyphenated to "five-inch gash"? Or am I complicating things? [Post 606] Author : BublGumPnkHar Date : July 10th, 2007 8:10 pm Thread Title : Re: The Improve Your English Thread v3 Wouldn't that be hyphenated to "five-inch gash"? Or am I complicating things? I'm sure you're right, I stewed over that for a while. Hyphenated or not, it did answer the question of whether there was ever a time a plural number was used with a "singular" inch. [Post 610] Author : Mundungus Fletc Date : July 11th, 2007 8:27 am Thread Title : Re: The Improve Your English Thread v3 Murzim - there is one place (I can think of right away) when the plural "inches" is not used with a plural number: I have a five inch gash in my arm, leg etc. So used that way, as an adjective, you would never say a five inches scar, gash, whatever (at least in the U.S.). I hope this helps. I think that because gash is singular because you could also say "the gash on my arm is five inches long" [Post 614] Author : Murzim Date : July 11th, 2007 10:29 pm Thread Title : Re: The Improve Your English Thread v3 I think that because gash is singular because you could also say "the gash on my arm is five inches long" If it depends on the noun it should be: There were three parallel two inches long scars on his chest - is that correct than? My gut feeling tells me it should be three two inch long scars I'm still trying to find the rule, and to find out whether it's also applied to foot and feet. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 615] Author : Pox Voldius Date : July 11th, 2007 11:02 pm Thread Title : Re: The Improve Your English Thread v3 Your gut feeling is correct: "three two-inch long scars". "Two inches long" would be used if the phrase were preceded by "is" (or "are", or another conjugation of the verb "to be"). "He has three two-inch long scars." "His scars are two inches long." -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 616] Author : Murzim Date : July 11th, 2007 11:28 pm Thread Title : Re: The Improve Your English Thread v3 Your gut feeling is correct: "three two-inch long scars". "Two inches long" would be used if the phrase were preceded by "is" (or "are", or another conjugation of the verb "to be"). "He has three two-inch long scars." "His scars are two inches long." Oh, great *celebrates* a rule. Thank you pox voldius Do you have one for when to use foot and feet? (I'm five foot seven, it's five feet away, Dudleys tongue was four foot long before his parents let me shrink it) [Post 617] Author : YellowPoofBall Date : July 12th, 2007 12:53 am Thread Title : Re: The Improve Your English Thread v3 I would say I'm five feet tall, not I'm five foot tall. It seems the rule would be how you're using the word. As a noun, you would pluralize it, as an adjective you would not. [Post 618] Author : Pox Voldius Date : July 12th, 2007 3:19 am Thread Title : Re: The Improve Your English Thread v3 I would say that if it's more than one foot, you would use "feet", with the one exception of giving a height (usually that of a person) in the format of "[number of feet] foot [number of inches]" (as in your example of "I'm five foot seven"). I would have said "Dudley's tongue was four feet long". "The house is five feet away." "I am standing a foot away from you." "The gnome was half a foot tall." "There was only one foot of space between my car and the car behind it." "The tree is twenty feet tall." "My car is thirteen feet long." "I am five foot two." (but "I am five feet, two inches tall." -- different format when you say "inches" after the number of inches) edit: I just thought of one more exception when you would use "foot" instead of "feet" for a measurement of more than one foot -- when you hyphenate the number of feet with "foot" to use the whole measurement as an adjective (as opposed to using it with a conjugation of the verb "to be"). "Dudley had a four-foot tongue." (Here "four-foot" is an adjective describing the tongue.) "Dudley's tongue was four feet long." (Whereas here, "long" is the adjective describing the tongue, and "four feet" is an adverb modifying "long".)

But:

GoF chp.5 Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes brit. ed. ’How big did his tongue get?’ George asked eagerly. ‘It was four foot long before his parents would let me shrink it!’

Maybe Mr. Weasley's grammar isn't that good *shrug*

[kala_way]

Originally Posted by Murzim

I've asked that about a year ago on this thread and I'm afraid it's not that simple. You may be interested in the old posts:

Wow, that's complicated! But I guess it is true. I agree with the whole conversation, but I do think that 'foot' when it's used in sentences like "Dudley's tongue was four foot long." is somewhat regionally based or informal. I wouldn't use foot in that instance at least, and when I read the sentence I read it with an accent because of the grammar. I believe the rule is that when combined with a number in an adjective phrase foot (or the singular whatever it may be) is correct. So it's 'eight foot board' -or- 'the board is eight feet long'. So says this site, and I tend to agree.

[Murzim]

Originally Posted by kala_way

Wow, that's complicated! But I guess it is true. I agree with the whole conversation, but I do think that 'foot' when it's used in sentences like "Dudley's tongue was four foot long." is somewhat regionally based or informal. I wouldn't use foot in that instance at least, and when I read the sentence I read it with an accent because of the grammar. I believe the rule is that when combined with a number in an adjective phrase foot (or the singular whatever it may be) is correct. So it's 'eight foot board' -or- 'the board is eight feet long'. So says this site, and I tend to agree.

, I only added the last quote to show that it doesn't seem to be a rule to be strictly observed. I is a bit confusing for me.

Do the Weasley's, or does Mr. Weasley have a recognizable regional accent ? And where would you put them?

[kala_way]

Originally Posted by Murzim

Do the Weasley's, or does Mr. Weasley have a recognizable regional accent ? And where would you put them?

Oh I'm not English so I couldn't really say, but in reading I always got the impression that the Weasley's had a different accent than say Hermione, and definitely different than people like the Malfoy's. Maybe it was just my own assumption because of their manner, but I think most areas of England have recognizable accent differences which would effect wizards as well.

[ominous]

I'm seriously considering going abroad to study English more.
I'm particularly thinking about going England.
The problem is that (of course it is not the only one) I need IELTS (International English Language Testing System) scores. There is a writing section in this test and I'm worried this the most.
Could you proofread my writing or advise me how to improve it when I post my essay to this site?

Here is my first one

Topic
Today, the high sales of popular consumer goods reflect the power of advertising and not the real needs of the society in which they are sold.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
(Write at least 250 words)

Will advertisement make new needs? The answer is no. We are buying goods because we need them. Advertisement only helps us to choose advertised products among many other candidates only after there are needs for them.

In some cases, advertisement may produce needs for certain goods. The best examples of this are some people who might say “I bought it because I saw the ad on a home shopping channel. However the portion of these kinds of people is relatively small and most people buy goods on actual needs.

Assuming I need a new MP3 players. The reason I need one might be that my previous one became out of order or outdated. I might need one because I want to listen to music while I work out and currently I don’t have any. I don’t think I would feel like buying a new MP3 player after watching an ad on a brand new MP3 player even if I already have one.

When I determine to buy a new MP3 player then the ad on it will come into the scene. It can persuade me to buy the product that it is advertising and probably I will buy the most advertised one among other MP3 players. That is the power of advertising.

In conclusion, we make a purchase because we need it. The big sales of well-known consumer products exactly show the real needs of the community in which they are purchased. Advertisement only helps consumers to choose which product they will buy.

[TheInvisibleF]

Originally Posted by ominous

I'm seriously considering going abroad to study English more.
I'm particularly thinking about going to England.
The problem is that (of course it is not the only one) I need IELTS (International English Language Testing System) scores. There is a writing section in this test and I'm worried this the most.
Could you proofread my writing or advise me how to improve it when I post my essay to this site?

Will advertisement make new needs?

I'm not sure about this sentence. It doesn't sound quite right to me. Maybe "Does advertising ..." ? I think it is the word "needs".

The answer is no. We are buying goods because we need them.

Sentence is grand but I'd use "we buy goods".

Advertisement only helps us to choose advertised products among many other candidates only after there are needs for them.

I'd use advertising instead of advertisement and "after there is a necessity for them" instead for the second bolded part.

In some cases, advertisement may produce needs for certain goods. The best examples of this are some people who might say “I bought it because I saw the ad on a home shopping channel". However, the portion of these kinds of people is relatively small and most people buy goods on actual needs.

Again I'd say advertising.You forgot to close the quotation marks. I think a comma is meant to go after the word 'however'. Saying "based on need" or "because of their needs" or even just "because they need them" would sound a bit better to me.

Assuming I need a new MP3 players. The reason I need one might be that my previous one became out of order or outdated. I might need one because I want to listen to music while I work out and currently I don’t have any. I don’t think I would feel like buying a new MP3 player after watching an ad on a brand new MP3 player even if I already have one.

It should be "Assume I need a new MP3 player". Something becomes outdated but goes out of order (so went in this case).

When I determineto buy a new MP3 player then the ad on it will come into the scene. It can persuade me to buy the product that it is advertising and probably I will buy the most advertised one among other MP3 players. That is the power of advertising.

A factor determines whether you will do something but you have to decide on it.

In conclusion, we make a purchase because we need it. The big sales of well-known consumer products exactly show the real needs of the community in which they are purchased. Advertisement only helps consumers to choose which product they will buy.

I put the word exactly after the verb. Again advertisment to advertising. I think there is an option on whether to use 'to choose' - I think you can just say 'chose' if you want to, at any rate that's how I'd say it.

Hope that helps and no one is needed to correct my corrections!

[ominous]

Thanks TheinvisibleF. It was very helpful.

Here is my second writing. Could you check it too?

Topic
Successful sports professionals can earn a great deal more money than people in other important professionals. Some people think this is fully justified while others think it is unfair.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
(Write at least 250 words)

We often see or hear about the enormous salaries that go to the pockets of famous sports professionals. We all envy them whenever we witness this kind of news and at the same time we often wonder whether this is really fair enough or not.

Some people in favor of these huge salaries of successful sports professionals are arguing that the period of sports professionals in which they can earn money are relatively shorter than that of people in other professionals. They say that an average period of time in sports world is 10 to 15 years, so it is natural that some sports professionals receive a lot of money. Moreover, there are always possibilities that they might get injured and forced to retire early, therefore high salaries are a kind of insurance against possible undesirable situations.

There are other people who are strongly against this trend. They say even if we accept the special environment sports professionals are in, the amount of money is absurdly high. They argue it easily surpasses the amount that ordinary people can’t reach to even if they save all the money they earn in their life time and also can cause the feeling of frustration among other people in the same community.

I think that we should understand the unique setting where sports professionals are involved in. However, the amount of money is still too much. I suggest that sports professional get less money than they are receiving now. I say that is fairer and squarer.

[TheInvisibleF]

Originally Posted by ominous

Successful sports professionals can earn a great deal more money than people in other important professionals. Some people think this is fully justified while others think it is unfair.

Firstly I'd argue with your question. It should be 'in other important professions'.

We often see or hear about the enormous salaries that go to the pockets of famous sports professionals. We all envy them whenever we witness this kind of news and at the same time we often wonder whether this is really fair enough or not.

'All' is unnecessary there unless you are accusing someone of disagreeing with you. The next bit sounds weird, clunky. You're more likely to witness an event but you see or hear the news. So you could say something like 'when we hear that type of news' but even that doesn't seem great. No need for that 'enough'.

Some people in favor of these huge salaries of successful sports professionals are arguing that the period of sports professionals in which they can earn money are relatively shorter than that of people in other professionals. They say that an average period of time in sports world is 10 to 15 years, so it is natural that some sports professionals receive a lot of money. Moreover, there are always possibilities that they might get injured and forced to retire early, therefore high salaries are a kind of insurance against possible undesirable situations.

1)Either "in favour of sports professionals' huge salaries" or "huge salaries for successful sports profesionals". I'm not sure why but it sounds right to me. 2)I would only use "are arguing" if I was responding to something someone had definitely said (e.g. in a debate) but for an essay I would use "argue". 3) the period in which sports professionals can earn money ... 4) You are talking about the period (singular) so I'd say "is relatively shorter..." not "are". 5) In the sports world.

There are other people who are strongly against this trend. They say even if we accept the special environment sports professionals are in, the amount of money is absurdly high. They argue it easily surpasses the amount that ordinary people can’t reach to even if they save all the money they earn in their life time and also can cause the feeling of frustration among other people in the same community.

1)They say that even... 2)It sounds more natural to say "can reach"

I think that we should understand the unique setting where sports professionals are involved in. However, the amount of money is still too much. I suggest that sports professional get less money than they are receiving now. I say that is fairer and squarer.

I'd never say that sentence (but when writing a foreign language exam would). The phrase is 'fair and 'square' so an easy way to change it is to say "I believe that would make things fair and square".

[abelkoh7]

I'm not very sure if this if relevant but i just post it here first since I use English in my essays.

Well for the past ... forever I have stuck to this main format for an essay, General paper or just a standard argumentative essay. It has got me many A's and B's just by following this format, along with many good points and examples. Here goes:

Introduction

Hook
The hook is the thing that gets your reader interested in what you have to say. A good hook is informative and interesting.

there are several different type of hooks :

1. Defining of terms - explain BIG WORDS in your sentence. e.g Happiness, Compassion. The problem about these words is that they mean so many things to different people. Therefore to guide your reader to what specific area that you are trying to focus use the definition of these BIG WORDS.

2. Establish relevance - make the reader feel involved. By using this technique, address what the reader may go through in his or her daily life and how this essay can affect their lives by reading it.

3. Quote somebody - if the topic is of great significance, I'm sure someone would definitely poke his nose into it and say something witty about it. make use of these quotations to give your essay a refined quality about it.

4. Forceful comments - a short direct statement on how you feel on that topic then go on to explain what you mean.

Personally I really like to mix between quotations and defining of terms. I feel it gives a more profound feel to your essay. At the same time by quoting someone you ensure that the reader does not see you as just a opinionated writer, but as a writer who is well researched and knowledgeable in the aspect that you are writing on.

Topic
Tell your reader what the question is. Treat your reader like a bloody idiot. Explain to the reader what your essay is responding to. e.g " The topic I would like to discuss is ..... "

Point of View
This is the MOST IMPORTANT part of your essay so listen up. tell your reader your stand. e.g Yes i agree, No i disagree or Yes I agree to a limited extent so on and so forth. Without this Point of view your essay is a goner. It is absolutely suicidal not to write this point. Write it and you will be alright.

Outline of 3 main Argument
Finally, the 3 main arguments. this section is just a brief outline of what your following paragraphs will be like. It gives your reader a brief view of your essay and this is absolutely essential otherwise your reader will be lost.


As you can see this post is rather long and draggy so I'll stop here. The Introduction of your essay is of utmost importance. Without it your essay will be suicidal. Writing a good introduction is one of the skills of a excellent writer. All teachers look forward to a good introduction, believe me. So Master it and you will do just fine.

As someone once said "Let us watch well our beginnings, and results will manage themselves.