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SpiralStaircase
Joined: 14 Feb 2008
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 10:09 pm Post subject: Possible mistake on the recent National Exam--- HELP! |
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Question number 22, Second year high school Jongro National exam
Several students have brought this to my attention.
Question:
Which is grammatically incorrect?
Imagine you have had a hard day at work. On the way home you get stuck in traffic. When you reach home, you find the phone ringing off the hook. 1)Thinking it might be an emergency, you run and grab the phone, only to find it is a telemarketer 2) sells insurance products. Your mood gets 3) bad for the rest of the evening. But now you are listening to a radio channel full of jokes or 4)that uplifts your mood. The time passes very fast.
The answer of course if number 2. But students believe and I tend to agree that 4 is incorrect too. Whether it relates to the clause is uncertain. Should one not write, �Or a channel that uplifts your mood.� Or one could omit the or completely. But the �or� seems out of place.
Thoughts? |
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Underwaterbob

Joined: 08 Jan 2005 Location: In Cognito
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 10:25 pm Post subject: |
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That capitalized "but" drives me bonkers. The whole thing is awkward. |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 10:39 pm Post subject: |
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It's a parallel construction and is grammatical. 2, of course, is incorrect because it's missing a word.
If one were to omit the or in 4, the meaning would change to jokes that uplift your mood. (There would be an error with agreement, though.) The way the test is written, the radio station is either full of jokes or it uplifts your mood. |
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genezorm

Joined: 01 Jul 2007 Location: Mokpo
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 10:42 pm Post subject: |
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Tell the students if they got it wrong because of that, to go to the education office, complain, have a protest or throw some molotovs.
I have been told at my school I must provide copies of all my performance tests, accompanied by the correct answers. Which is all fine and good in Korea where all tests are multiple choice. But if you are teaching English conversation, and your tests contain questions like "What do you usally do on your birthday?" or "How often do you go to restaurants?" or "What musical instrument(s) can you play?" having a clear cut correct answer is a joke.
They want all this, and they can't even make an error-free National exam? Tell them to lick a sack. |
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Justin Kimberlake
Joined: 20 May 2008
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 11:03 pm Post subject: |
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2 & 4 are wrong.
I like the above idea. Tell your students to hold daily candle-light vigils for a month and burn stacks of Standardized tests. |
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JustJohn

Joined: 18 Oct 2007 Location: Your computer screen
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 11:33 pm Post subject: |
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Flame alert:
Are you guys on crack? There is nothing wrong with 4 except that it doesn't flow well. Three is more wrong than 4 is. Starting a sentence with a conjunction? Ick.
At any rate, 2 is drastically more wrong than any of the others. Given that it's so obvious what the answer is I wouldn't worry about it. Just let it slide. |
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Kimchi Cowboy

Joined: 17 Sep 2006
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 11:37 pm Post subject: |
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fast is an adjective. It should not be used to modify the speed with which time passes.
Time passes quickly.
4 is incorrect.
To be frank, though, the whole thing stinks. "Your mood gets bad..."? Ugh. |
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Drew345

Joined: 24 May 2005
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Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 11:49 pm Post subject: |
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I think the "or" before the "4" is part of the question, not the text. As in:
1, 2, 3, "or" 4.
Agreed that 2 is just plain wrong. Although
You mood gets bad is pretty awkward. "turns bad" maybe better; but that wasn't even listed as possibly being wrong. |
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SpiralStaircase
Joined: 14 Feb 2008
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 12:01 am Post subject: Yes but... |
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It's a parallel construction and is grammatical. |
A parallel construction yes. Grammatical yes. Grammatically right... no.
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Are you guys on crack? There is nothing wrong with 4 except that it doesn't flow well. Three is more wrong than 4 is. |
More wrong?
As in wronger?
Flow well?
Are you kidding me?
If 4 is not wrong but 3 is 'more wrong' than 4, does that not mean that 4 is indeed wrong?
Besides, this is an exercise in grammar. There is no such thing as 'more wrong.' The point is this is a national exam and students are privy to the fact that the entire question is flawed. |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 1:06 am Post subject: Re: Yes but... |
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SpiralStaircase wrote: |
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It's a parallel construction and is grammatical. |
A parallel construction yes. Grammatical yes. Grammatically right... no. |
Grammar and Pragmatics are two separate issues. The question posed was not about Pragmatics. If something is grammatical, it is grammatically correct (by definition). Pragmatics, on the other hand, is partly concerned with the flow of the expression. |
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rsmm0224
Joined: 06 Feb 2008 Location: Changwon
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 3:01 am Post subject: Re: Yes but... |
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SpiralStaircase wrote: |
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It's a parallel construction and is grammatical. |
A parallel construction yes. Grammatical yes. Grammatically right... no.
Quote: |
Are you guys on crack? There is nothing wrong with 4 except that it doesn't flow well. Three is more wrong than 4 is. |
More wrong?
As in wronger?
Flow well?
Are you kidding me?
If 4 is not wrong but 3 is 'more wrong' than 4, does that not mean that 4 is indeed wrong?
Besides, this is an exercise in grammar. There is no such thing as 'more wrong.' The point is this is a national exam and students are privy to the fact that the entire question is flawed. |
Um, you're wrong. Wronger is not a word. Therefore, you are more wrong that the other poster is.  |
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